Category : Pack Leader

Achieving a Higher Level of Reliable Obedience

If you have ever taken an obedience class with your dog, and actually done your homework, you will remember and notice that for that period of time (usually 6 to 8 weeks) your dog begins to listen to you faster and his obedience improved.  But weeks after the class is over, his skills begin to wan and the dynamics of life before class take over and it seems as if he never completed an obedience class.

WHY?

It’s simple if you think about it; if you practice something together you are better at it, the more practice and time you devote to something the better you get at it.  However, once you stop practicing and working on something, often, the more things go back to the way things were and you forget what you had once learned.

Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?

Most of us have either watched this show on TV or at least know the concept; adults (sometimes even doctors, lawyers and Yale graduates) are asked simple questions along the lines of the curriculum that we learned in and up to the 5^th grade.  Most of us learned these things a number of years ago, but how much do we truly remember?  To have a child in school and needing help with homework is sometimes humbling!

Without practice or applying our knowledge, we often forget what we have learned.  The same is true of your dog!  If you don’t make obedience and training a part of your daily lives together, you and your dog will slip back into the same patterns of life that lead you to frustration and into obedience class.

But, often instead of understanding that dogs, too, forget and slip back into previous habits, we often blame them, think they didn’t learn or that they are being obstinate and refusing to comply, when really they are probably reverting back to what they knew and know best which is the dynamics of your household “before” obedience class.

What to Do?

Set a goal

• Sit down as a family and come up with a plan.  What is going wrong in your current relationship with your dog?  Come up with a plan to address your issues and stick with it!  Consistency is the key to good dog obedience so everyone must be on board.

Take a Class

• You may need to take a class or re-take a basic class if things have deteriorated severely.  A class leads to accountability and homework.  A class often coerces people to make time to work with their dogs.
• I have been training dog professionally for almost 17 years and I still take obedience classes (I just don’t admit I am a trainer).

Compete

• I HATE competition!  I hated competition as a child and I continue to hate it to this day.  I also hate getting up in front of people.  Ironically, I can lecture to a convention center full of people about dog obedience and behavior, but I hate that competitive feeling and being put on display.  However, I often make myself face my fears and compete anyway.
• Competition takes a high level of practice and work, and the more time I spend with my dog the more he learns to listen to me in all facets of life.   Although I hate the feeling of the final competition (I am getting better ha ha) I LOVE the time we spend together preparing for our moment, and I also love our numerous blue ribbons!

Find a hobby you can both enjoy

• You can take classes for advanced obedience, tracking (nose work), clicker training, games, agility, or weight puling, sledding and skijoring.
• You can even play control games together.
• Invite your friends and family to get together and play doggie games and have your own competition.   You can also find dog board games online like Funagle and Do You Mind by Darfinc©.
• Buy a book and teach your dog as many tricks and commands as you can then have a party to show off your new skills!

To my clients I am known as the “fun” trainer.  I have been training dogs for almost 17 years and have seen all kinds of methods and I have taken my years of experience and knowledge and I have sculpted them into a program where I focus on games and fun ways to achieve my obedience goals.  I do this so that my dog enjoys his training but most of all I do it so that “I” enjoy training and working with my dog.  Fun does not mean there is a lack of skill or that my dogs are sloppy, it just means that my goal is to have a high level of performance and we both enjoy ourselves. The more things I can teach my dog, the happier we both are!  Even if I am just teaching him tricks, he is listening and learning and enjoying himself, and I am ending up with another skill to show off to my friends.

I try and make a point to spend time with my dog and invite him to join me as often as possible.  If I go hiking, biking or to the beach, I want to include him in my plans.  I enjoy teaching him new things and watching him enjoy life and excel at obedience.  It is a joy to have a well trained companion.

Every time you work with your dog in a fun and positive manner and you work together towards a common goal, you are solidifying your place in your furry pack and your dog is learning to have fun listening to you.  The more fun you have together, the more time you will find to spend together and you build a bond of respect that will last a lifetime.  So get out there and spend some fun time together as you reestablish your bond and your dog learns to listen to your every command!

The Debate! Confrontational Dog Training Methods

There is so much confusing and contradictory information out there these days on training animals.  Some well known dog trainers would have you believe that you need to dominate a dog to get any lasting results.  They suggest you really need to understand your dogs need for you to be a pack leader and the alpha.  While I believe there are certain truths to that some take it to far.  You can see my complete thoughts on that here in a webinar I did entitled Alpha Myths Revealed.

Then you have others who suggest that you use dog friendly training methods.  These utilize positive reinforcement and do not stress dominating your dog.  The belief is that those techniques may work short term but the results will not be lasting.  With so much confusion information out there Eric Goebelbecker decided to write a blog post on the subject. It’s worth the read and you should check it out!

Read the rest of this entry »

Become A Pack Leader: The "No FREE Lunch" Principle

Have you ever wished you had more control of your dog?

Do you wish he didn’t get overly excited for visitors, constantly barking when they come to the door, or jumping on them when they come inside your home?

Do you wish he would always listen to you… even when he’s heavily distracted or excited?

What if I told you if you changed just one thing in your dog’s life, you’d have a more manageable dog who behaves himself ALL the time.

Would you want to know what to change?

Let me explain…

You see, every animal in this world comes from a long genetic background that heavily influences how the animal thinks.  Some animals have evolved to be self sufficient and can survive on their own; where an animal like a dog isn’t genetically coded to do well on it’s own.

Dog’s live in packs.

And centuries of breeding and evolving have given dogs the tools they need to stay alive in a pack situation.  They’ve learned skills like:

How to tell what dog in the pack calls the shots

Who’s going to lead the hunting party for food tonight

Social skills at reading their pack members moods

When to leave certain dogs alone.

So thousands of years of breeding has taught your dog a thing or two about the best ways to stay alive in this world and maintain order in a pack situation.  In a VERY real sense this skill set is a “Pack Language” and…

… all dog’s know THIS “Pack Language”

And one of the most IMPORTANT principals of the “Pack Language” that your dog is genetically programmed to follow, is the concept of following, obeying & respecting the leader of the pack.

So here’s the deal… all dogs get confused when their humans, (YOU) don’t ALSO know and understand at least a little bit of this Pack language.

And if you don’t make an attempt to learn a few words and concepts of this “Pack Language” you’re probably going to run into some problems controlling your dog.

Because you’ll be sending him mixed signals!

You’ll try to use HUMAN words to get him to do things, instead of using “Pack Language” words, behaviors and mannerisms to get obedience.

Here’s a few examples of what I mean…

Example #1) The leaders of a dog pack all sleep together, while the puppies and other dog’s do NOT.  So just the act of letting your dog crawl in bed with you every night to you means that you’re being nice to your dog…

… but in “Pack Language” it means he’s a pack leader too

Example #2) In the wild, a hunting party of Wolves (where all dog’s originally came from) will let the leader of the pack lead the hunting party.

He runs at the front of the pack.

So if you’re letting your dog walk through a door, or always pull on the leash, in “Pack Language” you’re sending a VERY clear message to your dog that he’s the one running the show… NOT you.

Example #3) One of the roles of a leader of the pack is to protect the pack from danger.  He protects the packs territory, and scares off or attacks intruders.

So when your dog is barking, snarling, or growling at intruders, in Pack language you’re letting him take on the role of the leader of the pack by LETTING him PROTECT your home.

And the REAL problem is…

That by letting your dog be the LEADER of your home, he automatically behaves more defiantly.  Leaders lead, they don’t follow orders from others.

So what can you do with your dog to start regaining the leadership role in your home, get your dog to let go of his leadership roles and finally let you take the reigns?

What I recommend to most of my clients, and the strategy that seems to help transfer leadership of your home BACK to you and away from your dog is teaching your dog “there is no such thing as a free lunch”.

And I call this the “No Free Lunch Plan”

What is a No Free Lunch Plan?

It means that VERY literally, for your dog to get ANYTHING it wants it has to earn it.

If it wants to go outside it has to learn that it CAN go play outside, and even get extra rewards and play time outside… but only if he waits at the door UNTIL you give him permission to go outside.

It means that in order to go to the bathroom he has to ask you if he can go outside by rining a bell.

If he wants to be pet, he has to sit or lay down first.

It means that you shouldn’t let your dog have access to a full food bowl all day long… instead he should have feeding times, and he should have to sit, or hold a stay or perform some other type of behavior to earn the right to eat.

I realize this may sound a bit more disciplinarian that you might like, or be comfortable with.

You might not want your dog to be handled this way.

You may like being able to greet an excited dog by giving him a hug, or kissing his face or wrestling with him.  You may think it’s mean to leave him hungry and not have food all day.

But you NEED to remember that your dog does NOT speak ENGLISH as a 2nd language.  He speaks “Pack Language”… and he’s not really good at learning new languages, especially ours.

So we need to get better at learning their languages.

We need to start realizing that dogs will either treat you as a pack leader or they’ll BECOME the pack leader.  And you can either leave this to chance, or you can take active steps to determine which kind of dog yours will be.

You’ll find that some dogs will let you take charge easily, while others will be more defiant.

But just be observant.

Watch for your dog taking the leadership role.

And do your BEST to learn how to stop these behaviors before they start. And of course, you could start learning how to do this in my Hands Off Dog Training Program:

Hands Off Dog Training Program

Hope You Found This Helpful!

Happy Training,

Chet Womach