To Lead Is To Love

 

Did you know that a new puppy or even an older adopted dog new to your family, bonds, blends and thrives in a family environment with clear, consistent boundaries and expectations?  Your new family dog looks to his new owner for leadership and definition of his place in the PACK.  You are human, but to him you are his pack and dog packs have an inherent hierarchy.  Without this hierarchy, dogs will tend to seek out an equal or higher position than that of yours or your family members.  This creates behavior problems.  Clear training, instruction and consistency is essential in creating a happy, loving and balanced relationship between you and your dog.  It takes more than love, it takes leadership.

How do you achieve this?  Well first, any dog should receive basic obedience training through a class or even on your own as long as you are able and willing to do the research in books or online.  Then every day, the rules you set need to be consistently followed.  For example, if you say “No” to the dog being on the couch, it should be “No” from everyone in the family.  Teach him “Off” and stick with it.  Later, once well trained and behaved, you can “invite” him up if you so desire.

Do not let him INSIST on treats or beg for food at the table.  Reserve treats for when you ask him to do something like “sit”, and he does it.  He should be in a designated place, like a crate, a dog bed, in another room or even outside when the family is at the table.  Later when trained and well behaved you can invite him to be nearer to the family at meal time, if you so desire.

Do not “FREE FEED”.  In other words, give him his meal and if he does not eat it within 20 minutes, pick it up until the next feeding time.  The LEADER always controls the food in the pack.

Be a responsible dog owner by not allowing excessive barking, jumping up on guests, soiling the neighbor’s yard or being off leash in public.

Practice with your dog every day.  Working with your dog gives the dog a “job” and it gives you a sense of accomplishment when you see progress.  You can’t expect your dog to learn or improve without investing some time and energy

These are just a few basics to consider with the most important being training. Remember, “To lead is to Love”.

Jann Watts, Legacy Dog Training

Prescott Arizona

 

Why Dog Obedience Training is Important

 

Many people may believe that it isn’t that important to have any formal training lessons or classes for their new dog.  The truth is that our shelters are unfortunately filled with dogs with unwanted behaviors or were surrendered for perceived behavior issues.  Much of the time, the problem lies in a misunderstanding of what is expected between dog and owner.  The owner expects that with some guidance, general good manners should develop somewhat naturally.  The dog on the other hand expects a certain set of boundaries, consistency, expectations, leadership, companionship and pack mentality.  The things the owner expects in relationship to what the dog expects often collide and with detrimental consequences. 

People tend to humanize our canine companions, but dogs are dogs, not people.  In a good obedience class or with a good trainer, the education of what the dog is looking for in a leader, should be painstakingly pounded into the psyche of the new owners.  Love, affection, food and a home are not enough for the future to be compatible.

An obedience class, though basic, gives the new dog owners a set of expectations, guidelines and a game plan.  The exercises are simple, “sit”, “down”, “stay”, “heel’ and “come”.  Why are these important?  Because each of these commands teaches the owner how to be a leader, it teaches the dog to listen to the leader.  They teach the pair consistency, follow through, consequence and reward.  When a dog owner sees the dog respond to the above, by successfully performing the simple commands like “stay”, it creates a confidence, motivation and desire continue further.  As the dog learns what is expected and that there is a positive reward, he too develops confidence, motivation and desire to listen and respond. It’s a WIN WIN situation.

The classes offered through various organizations public or private are only the beginning, however.  It is essential for dog owners to go into a class situation knowing that the training is a long-term venture and that the tips and philosophies learned in the class MUST be continued and worked on daily throughout the dog’s life.  The time spent in the obedience class and each practice session at home is time well spent bonding and exercising the dog’s body and mind as well as the owners.   I had a student at one time that had severe back pain.  She was concerned that she may not be able to do the exercises that are required, walking, bending etc.  To the contrary, the commitment to the dog training got her out every day, walking, going up and down stairs and actually helped to build the muscles that had been weak in her back.  She credits her little Pomeranian and the training she did, with helping to lessen her pain and improve her health!

If you are a new dog or puppy owner, I urge you to consider training.  It is a good experience for both of you and will set the foundation for what will hopefully be a long lasting, loving relationship.

Jann Watts, Legacy Dog Training                               928-223-9660                     www.legacydogtraining.com