During dog training, become the Alpha leader with these 5 methods | Dogs

By RegennaDeruso
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When you begin training your dog, you first need to establish that you are the leader of the pack over your dog. This will make your dog training sessions much easier and your dog will be more compliant to your commands.

You see, dogs are pack animals and live with a hierarchy set of rules where there is only one leader and the rest are followers. The leaders do whatever they want to do and they get the best of everything from toys to food. The leaders also make all the decisions and the followers only do whatever the leader will allow them to do. So, by establishing yourself as the leader, your dog will follow and obey your commands. There are 5 simple methods you can begin carrying out today to teach your dog his position in your family pack.

One of the simplest ways to get your dog to realize that you are the leader of the pack is in the way your feed your dog. Your dog's meal time is excellent training ground and will not take any longer that it usually does to feed him. The first rule is you must eat first and your dog must see you eating first. Once you are done, then you can begin to prepare your dogs food. Place his food into his bowl, swish it around with your hands to distribute your scent all over his food, make him sit, and then feed him. By doing this every time your dog eats, he will soon learn that you are the alpha of the pack because the alpha always eats first. Plus, you are further enforcing your status in the pack by placing your scent all over his food. In basic dog language you are claiming that the food is yours and that you are letting your dog eat your food.

A further technique is to completely ignore your dog when you come home. I know this one will be very hard as it was for me when training my dog. Your first instinct is to praise your dog with a lot of love immediately, but this only reinforces to your dog that he is in charge because he is setting the rules on when he gets attention and love. You see, in a dog's world, the alpha or leader always gets the attention first, so be greeting your dog first and not your family, you are telling your dog that he is the alpha and that your family is the followers. What you need to do is completely ignore your dog when you come home and greet all the other people in your house hold. Your dog will soon realize he is being ignored and will calm down and sometimes he will lay or sit down, patiently waiting for you to be ready to give him love. Once he is calm then, go ahead and shower him with a lot of love. Your dog will soon learn his place and he will patiently and calmly wait for you to greet the humans first.

Next method is for you to make all the decisions for your dog. This one, I feel, takes the most time and is the hardest for us to implement simply because we love our dogs and it is hard to deny them love and attention. You see, in a pack, the leader makes all the decisions and the rest of the pack follows the leader. So, when you dog demands it is play time or wants some love and attention, you simply ignore him. This one is much easier to read than it is to implement. You must make all the decisions for your dog. If he wants to play and brings a toy over to you, ignore him until he gives up, then grab his toy and ask him if he wants to play. You see, it on your time and not his. Pretty soon, your dog will realize that you are making all the decisions and will await your next instruction because he will see you as the leader.

Bedtime is one more method where you can show your dog that you are the leader. The alpha dog, in the pack, always gets the best of everything, including where he sleeps. When they all sleep, the alpha dog gets the highest spot over all the other dogs because they are looking out after their pack. So, when you go to bed, you need to make sure that your dog sleeps on the floor in his bed while you sleep up higher than him in your bed. You can still play with your dog while in bed or while you are watching a movie before your go to sleep, but when it is time to go to sleep, you need to make your dog go lie down in his own bed.

The last way you can assure your dog that you are the leader is through massages and grooming. What you need to do is make your dog lie down on his side and then gently brush him and rub his belly. This is also great quality time for both you and your pet. This works well because when a dog lies down on his side, he is showing total submission. An alpha dog will never assume this position with a dog who is subordinate to him. So, by making him lie on his side, you are letting him know that you are the leader and he is the follower. If you do this regularly, you dog will look forward to his grooming sessions and will have no problem submitting to you.

Once you start applying the five techniques mentioned above, you dog will start learning that his role in the pack is one of a follower and not a leader. He will also learn that you are the leader. When this happens, your training sessions will be much easier because your dog will now be programmed to listen and obey your commands.

About the Author

Start learning how to make your dog do what he is told by visiting this great dog obedience training resource which provides a complete detailed case study on some great dog teaching methods, and is packed with just about all the information you'll ever need on dog psychology, canine communication how-to's, practical advice for providing a valuable informational manual on training your dog to coping with problematic behaviors.

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