Know Thy Dog

Dogs are very social animals, and they flourish around a loving environment. Through the years, the breeds have been safeguarded and improved. The outcome is a breed that has established foundations brought about by years of loving human-dog relationships. Human history is filled with unique and delightful stories of humans and their pet dogs. This wonderful friendship born out of trust and respect for each other makes the relationship between the pet and pet owner so inspiring. In this relationship, the pet owner tries to understand the dog and its history. He commits to understand the canine species to guide the dog on how to build their relationship.

Inside a dog’s pack is its inner network of friends consisting of the human owner and other family members, other dogs, other pets.

The concept of dog packs came about as we try to understand our canines. Our dogs originated from the wolf, who are social pack animals. By studying and understanding their canine’s forefathers, the wolf, we can understand and apply this knowledge to our dog’s human relationship, where the canine views the humans he lives with as pack members. When we recognize and understand this simple yet vital fact, we now understand and know 95% more about our dog than the average pet owner. This knowledge will enable us to utilize the best possible training strategies for a puppy starting with the dog’s inclusion in the pack and naturally developing this hierarchical relationship with your canine. The human being the leader of the pack.

Have you heard the term the alpha dog? Is there such a thing, or is it another dog myth? Scientists that have studied the wolves proved true the existence of the alpha male. In the wolf world, all wolf packs have an alpha male that leads the pack. All the other wolves look to the alpha male dog for leadership and guidance, which creates a strong family pack relationship.

If your dog is the alpha in your household, then that needs to change by proper training. Your dog must accept and follow you as the pack leader, and he is a subordinate. He must look to you for leadership and direction.

It is best if you introduced yourself as the leader in the beginning. And a lot of this is communicated through your body language.

Eye contact is one important way to command respect. The authority in your eye contact will convey so much.

Gentle looks will show acceptance, and firm commanding expressions will demand compliance and respect. Aside from eye contact, your tone of voice, your disposition, your demeanor, your stance will also demand compliance and respect.

To help a dog start and make eye contact with his human owner, various training techniques can be utilized.

In general, the best time to start training is when they are still puppies. It is the same as the human world where the best time to train children is when they are still toddlers to preschool age.

But dog training is not just basic training with commands such as sit, stay, heel, roll. Teaching and reinforcing good behavior through rewards and breaking bad behaviors with disciplinary actions. It also involves training the dog as he grows with the skills he will need so our canines can be a good and contributing member of the pack.

When this family pack relationship is formed between the owner and his canine, a strong and unique bond is created. They have become of our family pack. This bond is hard to describe with mere words but is known and felt by many pet owners throughout our world. Only when you have a dog and have formed a bond with them can you truly understand the link we have with our paws.