Dog Behavior Dogs Are Like Children, They Need Leadership & Guidance

Dog Behavior – Dogs Are Like Children, They Need Leadership & Guidance

Dogs having a natural instinct towards being "pack" animals. Just like their ancestors in which they came from, the wolf, dogs think in terms of partnerships and teamwork when it comes to certain activities. Similar to the way a sports team will work together in order to accomplish the combined goal of winning, your dog looks towards you and the rest of the family as his "team" and counts on you all to help him survive, learn the rules of the house, and condition his behavior.

And like a winning team, there are certain characteristics that must be adhered to and provided by all members of the family, including your dog. Such examples of winning characteristics are disciplined structure, operation among everyone in your dog, and most important, respect between your dog's "pack". Without these items, there would be chaos and very little way in which your dog can recognize who is in charge and leading his team.

Dogs and puppies need this understanding of leadership and who is to play that role in order to be happy and feel a sense of belonging. Regardless of who is considered the leader in your family, it doesn't matter to your dog, so long as there is one then your pet will be happy and feel a sense of security.

For those family households that have more than one member living inside the home, your dog will recognize a specific hierarchy that develops in time. For example, in my home I have my wife and my daughter that all coexist with the family pet. My dog recognizes his role as the bottom of the leadership chain, and he is quite happy with that. He understands that all of us play a more dominant role in the "pack" than he does. Because there is structure and he is trained to know who is in charge, even though there are multiple members of the family, his sense of security and well-being is guaranteed.

Most dog behavior problems stem from lack of rules and discipline in the house

At this point you have learned that all dogs need to have rules and boundaries firmly set in the household in order for them to be happy. It is the same way with children. Without mommy or daddy to set the rules and enforce those rules, kids typically end up with with an enormous amount of personal behavior problems.

If your dog does not recognize the family as a team and has no sense of who is in charge, his behavior problems can be a nightmare. It is your job to start creating a social order in your house immediately. You must learn to communicate with your dog by reading his body language and picking up on his sense of who's in charge.

And the job will be a lot easier if you can get all members of your family on the same playing field. They must all agree with how your dog should be treated. This will help tremendously so that your time is not wasted as you work hard to create a pack within the family, which will help your dog become a happy, well-trained family pet.

BONUS : Dog Behavior – Why You Should Never Let Your Dog Beg For Food & Attention

Unless they are trained not to do so, most dogs will form the natural habit of begging for both attention and food. Some dog owners except this behavior and think it's cute, but most people get annoyed very quickly when their dog starts to beg every time he wants love, attention, and especially when he smells something tasty cooking in the house.

What is wrong with begging you might ask?

For starters, begging is another form of demanding and it gives your dog an aspect of control within the family "pack". I describe your family as a pack because that is exactly how your dog sees it. Anyways, while it seems adorable when Sparky rolls over on his back expecting a belly rub every time you enter the room, or just sits all teary-eyed staring straight at your plate of food when you're eating dinner, this behavior has the possibility to gain momentum and become aggressive.

Just how aggressive can a dog possibly become?

If you do not think that your dog could ever possibly bite your hand because he expects you to give him food every time he begs, think again. For years a friend of mine would hand feed his puppy pieces of food at any time of the day he was eating. If it were breakfast, his dog would get a two pieces of bacon. At lunch time my friend would hand feed his dog a few bites of his sandwich. The same went for dinner.

After some time, his dog matured and grew bigger, and my friend did not realize that he was reinforcing a dominant leadership role into his dog every time he gave in to begging. Once he decided to change this behavior with his dog, he learned quickly just how dangerous the situation was. At one of his meals, my friend absolutely refused to feed his dog anything and the begging and crying turned into aggression and barking. Then without notice, his dog leaped up onto his plate and snapped at the food, taking a little bit of my friends flesh with it.

Begging can be eliminated with proper training

The above example may seem a bit extreme and you still probably could never imagine you're adorable dog biting you in the attempt to get food that he was expecting. However, the problem is real and you must start early in your puppy's life with instilling the rules when it comes to begging.

During your meals, you need to train your dog to sit and stay in a specific area when the family is eating. This may take some time but eventually he will remain in a sit position until after your dinner is over and then of course you should praise his actions by offering him up a nice hot meal that he can eat in his own food bowl, and only after everybody else is finished eating.