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Companions
Follow the Leader: Practicing Benevolent Leadership	Wendy Anastasiou
Your dog is a pack animal, and it is your responsibility to be a good leader for your pack. A good leader provides for the safety and continued survival of the pack. The primary way to show leadership, and gain respect is to control resources. A good leader does NOT bully, abuse, deprive, or be unfair to their pack; and because you want to be a good leader, neither should you. A good leader provides and distributes resources in such a way that is fair, and meets the needs and desires of the pack. An effective leader does not roll, hit, harass, or yell. An effective leader is patient, clear, and considerate. When you provide your dog with the things he wants, you are providing resources. Whether the resource is food, or just the ability to go outside and eliminate, doesnít matter; both are resources essential to survival and so therefore providing both are examples of good leadership. The first principle to creating a well behaved, respectful dog is to fairly distribute the resources. The best way to ensure your dog understands that this is what you are doing, is to ask him to say please for all the resources he desires. A dog says please by performing a behavior you desire. This behavior can be a command the dog has executed, or a good behavior they offer on their own. If your dog knows a command, like sit, you can ask him to perform it. When he does, you can provide him with the resource he is hoping for. If your dog doesnít know any commands, and/or you are hoping to teach him something new, you can wait until he offers the behavior on his own. Most dogs will try offering new behaviors to attain resources. All you have to do is sit and wait for the behavior you want the dog to learn to show up, then reward it. Examples of resources are: food, treats, petting, affection, going outside, coming inside, going for a ride, going on a walk, playing, toys, being allowed on furniture, and greeting strangers. Examples of good behaviors or commands that can be used for saying please are: sit, down, wait, stay, leave it, shake, high five, roll over, and just being calm for those hyper active dogs :). Putting the two together, Example 1: If your dog wants to go outside (resource), ask her to sit (saying please), when she does, say "good dog" (appreciative leader), and let her outside (providing the resource). Dog learns sitting leads to "good things" being given by the leader; because you control the "good thing", you are by default the leader. Putting the two together, Example 2: Your dog wants to greet someone at the door (resource), you wait calmly by the door until the dog is done barking (quiet being the new behavior offered), then you say "good dog", and open the door so he can greet (providing the resource). The dog learns that being quiet results in the leader allowing him to greet people. If you are not a good leader and you tease, lie, or withhold resources, your dog will stop listening to you and he will look for a new leader. If there is not a good leader around, your dog will have no choice but to take the position. This can feel like a constant battle to get the dog to behave properly. This is not the act of a dominant dog, or an "alpha" dog, this is the act of a dog desperately seeking a healthy leadership that is not being provided. If you are a benevolent leader in your distribution of resources, your dog will come to respect you and he will want to listen to your requests. Your dog will begin to offer the good behaviors you like quicker and more often because he can trust that you will provide the "good things" fairly and consistently. Good Luck and Good Leadership! Wendy Anastasiou owns Life with Fido, Canine Behavior Modification Counseling and Training, which specializes in creating happy, well-adjusted canines, one paw at a time. Call 937-470-7684, or visit lifewithfido.com for information on in-home consults and private classes, in-hospital consults, and group classes at Hartwood Animal Hospital, hartwoodanimalhospital.com
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