Dog Training - How to be a Leader with your Dog

Transcripts

Carla Nammack Wenger: My name is Carla Nammack Wenger. I here with you today to teach you some basic dog training techniques and leadership skills. One of my dogs, Bucky (ph) is here with us right now and she is an old, 14-year-old girl she is a rescue dog and she is the best. Many of my customers I find come in with problems with their dogs, often these problems came from the fact that they allow their dogs to control the household, they love their dogs dearly, they do anything for them, they baby them, they pamper them, I have got nothing against that. I love my dogs. I support them, but at the same time it is very important that you have the respect. Just like raising a child, you dont want to raise, an unruly brat who is going to pester people, you want a well mannered child, a well mannered dog that can participate in your daily activity. It makes the dog happy, it makes you happy. Some basic things that it will help you gain that leadership role with your dog. A lot of it comes from the way you carry yourself, the way the dog receives you and lot of that comes from your energy. You come across as confident, strong, in control, calm, relaxed, thats the behavior a dog respects and understands. You have to think about how a dog relates to its little mates, you watch a mother dogs reprimand her puppy, its with a quick snap, quick bite, a growl, a direct stare thats what the puppy understands and that is what a dog will understand. The dog does not understand, bad dog, go to your room, we are not going to the dog park today, thats a human behavior. We have to remember, we are dealing with a dog that they communicate like a dog. They feed off of our energy level. For example, if you are walking your dog and your dog is pulling you down the street the dog is in charge, dogs is in control, the dog is walking you, they do not respect you, they are oblivious to where you are. So is it very important that you want to be the leader and not the follower. Be calm, pull your shoulders high, dont stare at the dog the whole time, you dont want the walk to be all about the dog. You want the dog start learning to watch you and take your lead, you want to be the leader not the follower.

So those are some basic things remember, calm, relaxed, your energy level, the way you carry yourself, head up, shoulders high, walk briskly, dont slink around and be slow and clunky that is going to give the dog that much more time to get distracted and bored and it is going to find some other way to entertain himself. You want to be brisk, be quick, make the dog work, its more fun, it is more exciting for the dog do it that way and he is going to start paying attention to you as the leader. So that is some basic information that will help teach you the skill to acquire a leadership status with your dog and have him to take your lead.