Most dogs have what has been termed a team spirit, or “pack” instinct. Dogs live every waking moment of their entire lives by this structure. A dogs mantra is survival, and according to your dog you and your family are all members of his pack. In-order for your dog to feel safe, and secure, he needs to know who is in charge, and it is your job to teach him what you expect.
Dog packs are organized in a hierarchy, so you need to teach you for legged friend that you are the one that’s in charge. If there is more than one person in your household you will need the cooperation of your family members in-order to accomplish this. If you don’t step up, and establish a pack hierarchy, your dog will, and if this happens you are going to find yourself dealing with a real nightmare.
If you don’t establish yourself as the pack leader, and your dog has the personality of a leader, you will most likely find your self living in a very expensive doghouse under his rules.
Even if your dog isn’t a natural born leader, if no one steps up to claim this role, he will, and if this happens you are going to find yourself with a huge headache, because your dog is going to be very hyper and confused.
In-order to organize a hierarchy, and teach your dog the rules you will need to understand what motivates your dogs behavior, and master his communication skills. This might seem like a lot of work at first, but when you start applying this technique and view the results, you are going to see that it is actually quite fascinating. You will find that your dog will respond more willingly if you take the time to understand and learn his language. With a little time, effort, and some structure you will earn your dogs, cooperation, trust, and respect. You will have a loyal dog that will stand by your side for the rest of his life, and you can’t beat that!