Leadership and our skills to be a good pack leader is the most important part of dog training and actually something every dog owner should master. Naturally there is a difference in the importance of these skills based upon if you own a Rottweiler or a Chihuahua but the fundamentals are the same.
If you are a good leader you will have a much easier and a lot richer life with your best friend. When you trust your dog you are comfortable to do so much more with him.
These tips are not in any particular order and all of them are important to remember.
- Always let your dog wait for his food until you give permission to eat. This is actually very natural for the dog as the alpha dogs always eats first. Depending on your dog eating habits you should also have your own meals before your dog eats.
- Never let your dog go out of the door before you. You as the pack leader have to go first. This also goes for gates, stairs, when you are out walking your dog. There are some exceptions and they are related to working dogs. When your dog is tracking, he obviously will go first but there aren’t any leadership problems with that.
- Your dog should never jump out of the car before he gets permission to do so. This is also an obvious one but unfortunately far too many haven’t taught their dogs this life saving manner.
- As a pack leader you are the one that initiates everything. When you notice that your dog wants something e.g. go out for a walk, you should ignore him. When you see that he has forgotten the walk it’s time for you as the leader to tell him that now is the time to go out.
- This is almost the same as above but this is about finishing something. You are the one that tell your pack that we quit. That’s it for now!
- Most of this list is kind of negative things. Situations when you don’t allow your dog to do certain actions or behave as he would like to. As I see great leadership (not only in the dog world), it’s something that we earn. We don’t get it only with denials and strict rules. When you combine the rules with activities that your dog loves to do you have found the best way to manifest yourself as the leader of the pack. You are the one that organize these happenings that are the most wonderful things in your dog’s life. Yes, now I am talking about tracking but it can be all kinds of projects where the dog really gets the ability to work.
Can I never relax and forget about some of these rules?
Well, that depends of several things. The breed, the sex of the dog, age, and this is also very different between individuals in the same breed.
I have owned three Rottweiler, and seen three very different levels of needed leadership. Duffy, who was my latest, was always trying me out if he for some reason could take over as a leader.
There are a lot more to add to this discussion and I will certainly post more articles. I would like to hear your opinion about how to be a good pack leader. What is missing in my list?
