What A Dog Needs III

A Dog Needs Leadership

Part 1

Some people call it  discipline, some training, I prefer the term

“Leadership”

Dogs are animals of instinct, and to change how they act or to have them perform tasks, is at times, going against their instinct, you must have good leadership skills to do this, without being cruel to your dog. Leadership is the ability to see the potential in your dog and bring it out in fun and productive ways. Leadership enables you to overcome the instinctual response of your dog and replace it with the one you want. In the following video you will see my dog Teal’c on a windy day, Teal’c gets stressed when there is high winds, loud noises, or thunder. I have worked with Teal’c since he was a pup he is close to five now, in the beginning on a windy day like this I would have to keep him on a lead to control him, or the flight response would kick in and I would have to go searching for him.

Of course you have to work first with your dog when it is not stressed, you need to be able to recognize when your dog is stressed, upset, happy, or angry, and this can only be accomplished by working with your dog and educating yourself. When you work with your dog do it in the same frame of mind every time, have fun, be calm, do not change your approach if the dog is stressed, just be mindful that the dog is stressed and things may not go as usual. The calmer you are the  easier the task will be.

Teal’c likes to chew on sticks when stressed.

Educate yourself, read books, talk to other dog owners, research the things that give you problems. Never take the point of view that you are correct or that you know it all, yea I have done it and the kick in the pants you get when you realize you were a fool is not a necessary part of leadership but it is a good and important lesson to learn!

Understand your Dog.

Observe all dogs you meet, look for signs of happiness, fear, stress, sadness, learn from them. See how dogs respond in different situations when you understand why a dog is reacting in a way that is not acceptable your chances of correcting it have increased ten fold.

Educating yourself is the key to Training your dog.

A well-trained dog requires an owner that is observant, willing to learn, and stay the course.

Related articles

What a Dog Needs I

What a Dog Needs II

SIGNS OF STRESS IN DOGS

Five Top Ways to Reduce Holiday Stress in Your Dog

• Education is the KEY (moreaboutmydogs.com)
• This Week with Teal’c (moreaboutmydogs.com)
• The Week with Teal’c (moreaboutmydogs.com)
• Eight Tips on How to Train a Hyperactive Dog to be Calmer (wagthedoguk.com)
• fear-aggressive german shepherd (thejohnsmithblog.wordpress.com)