Everything comes back to these four words: “Be the Pack Leader.” A great majority of the issues I see people having with their dogs stem from a lack of strong pack leadership from the humans involved. As we have learned, dogs are social pack animals with a leader and followers. In the wild, most dogs are followers, but if they don’t have a leader to follow, then a dog will attempt to take control of the situation. In a human household, this can cause the dog to show all kinds of unwanted behaviors, including anxiety, destructiveness, excessive barking, and aggression. Not having a strong leader leaves a dog in an unbalanced mental state, and she will then do what she thinks she has to in order to fulfill her needs.
For comparison, imagine this scenario: You are abruptly taken from your home and brought to the Oval Office. A Secret Service agent tells you, “You’re the President now. Good luck,” and then leaves, offering no further instructions. Only a rare person wouldn’t make terrible mistakes in a day or two. A dog without strong leadership is stuck in the same situation.
That strong leadership is often not there because people, especially in the United States, have a tendency to love and pamper their dogs, and they think of any kind of discipline or correction as being “mean.” Instead of providing direction and protection, which is the Pack Leader’s job, many people try to reason with their dogs, like they would with a five-year-old child.
The only problem is that you cannot explain things to a dog in intellectual terms because dogs are instinctual beings. Your dog will just meet you with a puzzled look when you say, “Bella, it makes Mommy really upset when you chew on her nice things, so please don’t do it anymore.” The dog has no idea what Mommy is talking about. A canine mother would be silent and direct, using her energy, eye contact, and touch to get the message—“Stop”—across to her errant puppy.
The Pack Leader also doesn’t communicate with emotional or nervous energy, but is always calm and assertive, using that energy to influence the behavior of the pack. Now, you may be wondering exactly how you project calm and assertive energy. One thing I frequently tell people is to imagine someone they look up to—a favorite teacher, a historical figure, a fictional hero—and then to carry themselves as if they are that person. This mental image will influence your body language, and project that calm, assertive energy. It’s hard to slouch when you’re imagining yourself as Cleopatra or King Arthur. If you think this idea sounds silly, look at a calm, confident dog sometime, and notice how he moves—proudly, with head and ears up, and always with intention.
It is also very important as the Pack Leader that you claim ownership of your territory, which you can do by asserting yourself in a calm, confident way. This makes it clear to your dog that you own the space in which she lives, and will help her to respect your authority. Along with claiming ownership, you must teach your dog to work for food and affection by taking her for a walk before you feed her. In addition to making your dog work physically, you should also make her work psychologically by having her wait until she is in a calm, submissive state before providing food or affection.
Most important, as a leader, you must know your pack and what their needs are, then help fulfill those needs by creating a structured, consistent environment with Rules, Boundaries, and Limitations. Dominance is not a dirty word. In fact, because most dogs do not want to be leaders, your dog will appreciate you all the more for taking control.
The Core Principles in this chapter cover a lot of different areas. There are principles that center squarely on your state of mind, your energy, and your intention. Others rely upon your recognition of intrinsic truths about your dog and how he experiences the world. Putting these ideas together lays a powerful foundation upon which we can build a framework for our dogs and our lives together. The next chapter takes us through practical, simple, and powerful techniques that, again, I rely upon to create balance and happiness in my dogs.
