Who's in the lead?

The biggest mistake many people make in their relationship with their dog is that they don't "take the lead". Dog's in general are GREAT followers. Most don't want to be in charge, they just want to get through the day with minimum conflict and maintain their personal safety...just like most people. They are happy to be led as long as they trust the person making the decisions. The problem is lots of people are not clear about making decisions and thus their "leading" leads to much confusion for the dog. People generally are not clear about showing their dog what the expectations are. Often people don't follow through. They simply don't bother to say what they mean and then mean what they say.

For example, you ask your dog to sit and the dog does not comply. What you do next will determine your leadership skills. Do you keep repeating the command while the dog continues to ignore it? Or do you insist the dog follow through?  If you keep repeating yourself over and over the consequence is that the dog learns to tune you out while doing whatever he so desires. A leader would take the time to insist the dog follow through. This may mean taking a hold of the dog’s collar or leash and simply holding it steady UNTIL the dog puts his butt to the ground. It might mean lightly touching his rear end and exerting slight pressure until he sits...but for certain a good leader would not have ignored the dog’s non-response to a known behavior. Nor would a good leader yell or lose his/her temper. That does not help to create a strong, respectful relationship with the dog. Anger has no place in training; instilling fear is not leadership. 

Implicit in leadership is a congruency between words and action. I often speculate about a nervous or shy dog's thought process when the human on the end of the leash says, "let's go" but is obviously apprehensive and uncertain about how to get the dog to follow. I think the dog must look up and think, "if you don't know where we're going, there's no way I'm following you!" To face forward, look straight ahead and just walk is a far more confident action. There is truth to the old saying, "fake it, till you make it". At least 'act' like you believe your dog will follow you! Calm and assertive guidance is the essence of leadership. No one wants to follow a wimp or a bully. Keep that in mind as you interact with your dog.