Are you a leader?

Are you?  Are you your dog's leader?  How about your pack, are you the leader of the pack?  No matter what your pack exists of; whether it consists of one dog, three or more, you should be leader of the pack.

Leader -  a person who manages or controls other people, esp. because of his or her ability or position.

So what does this mean?  A canine pack leader guides, educates, creates rules and enforces them.  A leader is understanding, patient and firm.  Being a great K9 leader is about giving your dog the tools to maneuver seamlessly through their life in a human world.

From the moment your dog becomes a member of your family; it is time for you to be a leader.  Feedback is a huge part of living with dogs.  Feedback is a great thing for humans as well.  If no one ever offers us feedback we are at a disadvantage, so too are our dogs.  

Just yesterday I called Elsa into the house.  She is typically very obedient and comes in quickly.  But there is a rabbit that has taken up residence in our backyard (wonderful).  This means that Elsa is very preoccupied much of the time that she is out there, even if the rabbit is not present.  There are many footprints to smell and trails to follow.  I needed her to come in, so when I called and she ignored me, out I went, immediately.  If I didn't need her in and saw that she was otherwise preoccupied I would not have called her.  She was having fun being a dog and I like her to have fun.  But I needed her to come in.

I kept my very serious body posture and said "in now."  She looked at me like "crap, really?"  With one last look over her shoulder she did as she was told.  Much of our day to day is very casual; as I offer suggestions of things to do rather than strict rules.  "Wanna come in?" I ask her and leave the decision up to her.  But when I give a rule that must be followed it is essential to enforce. 

Life rules are all about what is okay and not okay to do.  Many puppies will leap all over their new guardian at feeding time that might seem cute and funny at the time.  If you do not change this at that point in time then you will have a large adult dog trying to get the bowl of food away from you at feeding time.  Not okay.  

If you don't teach your new family member not to dig in the backyard or give them an alternative activity to replace that; you may come home one day to your yard totally destroyed or a missing dog who dug underneath a fence.  

Being a leader is not about being bossy.  A leader offers guidance to their dog so that they don't make mistakes down the road.  It is our job to do this.  Often we fail to educate and then become furious when our dog acts like a dog.  That is our failure, not theirs.   

Training

Train, trained, training.  Do you, is yours, going to, are you?  Train?

Train:  to develop or form the habits, thoughts, or behavior by discipline and instruction.  To make proficient by instruction and practice, as in some art, profession, or work.

 

So do you?  Do you train your dog?  Training is a funny thing, or perhaps I should say funny word.  Many people think of it as a very official practice; while others think that it is mean and bossy to do.  There are many meanings of the word 'train.'  But when talking about dogs and training; for me it means to offer an education.  Sure our dogs can be trained for a very specific purpose.  Agility, flyball, scent work, search and rescue, guide dog etc etc etc.  But, what about the average 'Joe dog?'  You know the one that is sitting at your feet, beside you on the couch or on your bed?  What about them? 

 

I for one love training.  I love dog behavior so when I can connect a human and canine together in a cohesive manner, it makes me  very happy.  I am continually fascinated how just a little goes a long way.  That is with regards to humans and dogs.  Teaching a human is often be much more difficult than a dog.  Dogs learn through association, humans learn when and if they want to.  Many humans shut down when you discuss the art of training; they don't want to hear it.  Not dogs, dogs love to learn and the only thing you need to do to teach them is to find out what makes them tick, what motivates them. 

 

Every dog is different so training should never be thought of as a science.  There are certain basics to teaching a dog and when you've been doing it for a long time, you hopefully will know them.  That is of course if you are paying attention and open to the learning curve.  If you are a know it all type, then I am sorry to say that your learning curve will be very short and dead ended quite quickly. 

 

Training does not mean that your dog must act as a robot; it does not mean that you are being mean to them by telling them what to do.  Everyday basic training is a way to offer our dogs an easy way to live in our human world.  Without human guidance, our dogs know how to be dogs.  Not all dog behaviors are desirable in our world; that is where we step in and guide.  Training encompasses a whole spectrum of activities; from the tiniest of lessons to full on life saving maneuvers. 

 

Never underestimate the power of training; even the smallest act of guidance can have a huge ripple effect.  Training should never be considered a single act as it is an ongoing process.  Some dogs learn quickly while others need much longer to absorb a lesson.  All dogs are intelligent, it is sad to see a canine mind wasted; never given the chance to thrive in life.  When I ask someone if their dog is trained; they often do not understand the question.  I then say "the basics," do they sit, down, stay on command?  These are the things that dogs should know as a very bottom line basic maneuver training.  Can you move your dog without touching them?  Does your dog understand directions in movement?  It can be very frustrating to a dog to be hauled around by the collar because their owner never took the time to teach them a few movements. 

 

Training is not a bad word; perhaps we should just call it what it is, educating.   

Spoiled

 

This was an image I took years ago of my little JRTs paw.  It was a special request for a grooming magazine.   Some would consider this to be a very spoiled dog.  Our dogs care nothing for things like this; that we label as important "for us."   No I don't paint my dog's toe nails or have them wear jewelry. 

 

 

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Spoiled, one of those terms that people use incorrectly all the time.  I hate when people say "wow, your dog is spoiled," when I am just treating them as they should be treated.  I buy a new bed for my dogs and people think that I am spoiling them?  Really?  To spoil a dog is to let them get away with things that will create undesirable behaviors.  I hate the term "spoiled" almost as much as I hate "people food."

Spoiled:  to impair, damage, or harm the character or nature of (someone) by unwise treatment, excessive indulgence. 

When you look at the dictionary meaning of the word, it doesn't look so wonderful does it?  Over indulgence of material goods does not spoil a dog; a child maybe but dogs could careless how many toys, collars or beds they have.  It does not go to their head and create a monster like it can with people.  Making sure that our dogs are comfortable is how we should treat them.  Buying a bed to match the couch is strictly for us; our dogs don't care about the color of the bed. 

For me, the term spoil means to over indulge a behavior.  Allowing a dog to get away with inappropriate or unwanted behaviors is spoiling.  Take a good dog and turn it bad or spoil it by lack of or incorrect response.  Feedback, we all need it.  If you never offer feedback to your dog, how will they learn?  No dogs don't come to us knowing the rules of our human world; we need to teach them and guide them along the way.  Very basic "do this, don't do that" rules can go a long way.  But eliminate any guidance and you spoil.  Allow or fuel an undesirable behavior and you are spoiling. 

I don't know how many dogs I've met over the years who have displayed obnoxious behaviors.  They have learned that they can get away with murder.  As a trainer I will ask "is this okay with you?" When a dog is counter surfing, bullying another dog, barking orders to their owner etc etc.  The owner usually looks at me like they don't understand the question.  That is until I break it down and explain what is going on.  But there are those owners who think that they are doing right by doing nothing at all.  They don't want to break their dog's spirit by telling them what to do. 

Many people think that they are showing their dog how much they love them by allowing really annoying behaviors to continue.  To them the idea of telling their dog what to do is a bad thing.  But with a lack of teaching, guiding and leading our canines, we are failing them.  Spoiling our dogs is a bad thing. 

Buying our dogs new toys is giving them things to play with so that they don't play with our shoes, not spoiling.  Buying them their own bed is not spoiling, it is giving them comfort to lay on.  Feeding them really nutritionally food is caring for our dogs, not spoiling.  Bringing our dogs on a trip with us is not spoiling.  Baking homemade cookies for them is not spoiling. 

Allowing them to push us around, bark orders at us that we follow and drag us down the street, that is spoiling.  When they receive no feedback for inappropriate behaviors, discipline us if we cross the line, tell us where we can and cannot sit or laydown, give us the finger when we ask them to come, growl at us and tell us what to do and when to do it...THAT IS SPOILING. 

Have you noticed that friends don't come over anymore?  Since you got your dog things have changed?  Maybe, just maybe there is a spoiling issue and it's not the new collar.  Would you allow your child to walk up to another child and push them down without consequence or feedback?  Would you allow your child to jump all over a guest without feedback?  Would you allow your child to take a whole loaf of bread off of the counter and eat it with no feedback?  Why then would you allow your dog?