LEADER OF THE PACK

I often get asked a lot of questions about dogs since more than half my life I have worked with them, owned them, and care for them. So I guess in some ways I am an authority on the subject of dogs in general. My whole fascination with dogs started for me when I was very young, I loved them and if I could have had a million of them I would have. I drove my mom nuts bringing home every stray I came across but more than my love for dogs I wanted to know what made them tick. So my quest for knowledge on dogs began at a very young age and I have the scars to prove it.

Dogs are pack animals and anybody who knows and loves dogs like I do knows this. Just watch the Dog Whisperer and Caesar Millan will tell you this on every episode and his approach to working with dogs has always been my approach. For instance, I owned a pit bull named Brewster, I got him when I worked for an animal hospital, someone had dumped him there, as a puppy and I just couldn’t resist him. Now I owned Brewster during the craze when everyone thought pit bulls should be exterminated as a breed all together, so owning him was no easy task due to public opinion of the breed. I knew right from the git go I had to be his pack leader and set the rules for him, so instead of me trying to get him to understand my language, I trained him based off of how a pack leader would train him. Brewster understood that I owned him and not the other way around. I always showed him dominance and when he would try to assert dominance over me, I jump right back at him like a king in fear of losing his throne. He knew and understood what I wanted from him and never once did he act like a mad raging pit bull you hear about in the news.

Life with a dog is great, a challenge but great; they love you no matter what. When I am asked how to train a dog, I always tell the person they have to think like a dog first. Dogs are already trained; it’s the owner that has to be trained. Dogs are really simple animals, all they want is to know where they fit into your pack. You lead them they will follow, you let them lead and you will have problems. Baz, my lab/rottie mix who is now eight months old, is at the age where he is trying to test me on where he stands in our family pack. Everyday he will try to show me that, “hey look I can be dominant too”, and everyday I show him that is not going to fly with me. He is learning and he knows who the boss is. Yes, it is very important to teach your dog basic commands but the first thing you have to teach your dog is that you are the leader, then teaching them the basics becomes easier. So if you are pulling your hair out because your dog won’t listen to you, ask yourself first if your dog looks at you as a leader of his pack?