Hi Friends,

Here are some explanations of what we mean by the term "leadership," or "be a leader for your dogs," to fit what we trainers and behavior consultants in the Aggressive Behaviors in Dogs group highly recommend, a Non-Confrontational Leadership Program.

 First, why is this even necessary or important? The need arises because dogs are a social species of animal that lives in a hierarchical structure, the purpose of which is to prevent conflicts, not add to any such conflicts.  Confusion may arise over what factors contribute to a non-confrontational leadership program as contrasted with other kinds of leadership/dominating a dog.

Let's try to strive for some clarity about that.  We here do not support any dominance measures from humans which are intended to intimidate or to suppress their dogs' behaviors.

For background, many people may have drawn some faulty conclusions about dominance theory. That theory has not served us very well over the years as a model for how people are to proceed with owning and teaching their dogs. Therefore nowadays, dog trainers who understand the value of using positive reinforcement methods for teaching recommend an alternative approach: a non-confrontational leadership program. 

"How are such owners to do that?" 

Let's try to think about what that term may mean to us, the human part of the relationship. To me, the term non-confrontational means that I don't consider dogs to be the enemies of mankind, but rather I consider that dogs are a species that has lived alongside humans for many, many thousands of years. I don't consider that dogs are trying to take over the house, trying to 'dominate' their owners, trying to engage in conflicts with their owners. They're not trying to steal the keys to the car, either!  For the vast, vast majority of dogs selected to be family pets, that's true. Those are the dogs about which we write in this group. They're not our enemies. We don't need to be dominant, to 'master' them. Not at all. It's not a master-slave relationship, nor should it be. We hold dominion over our dogs, if you will, a  type of stewardship to meet their needs and care for them well. Then the relationship is mutually beneficial to the dogs and  to us. 

 

Some more typical questions: 

"Why, then, is any leadership needed at all? Can't dogs just live in our homes any way we choose?" 

Well, the hierarchical structure of canine society means that dogs do have some social needs. One might say they need to know their place in the family, to understand their humans' expectations for their behavior. Knowing what's expected helps them to feel secure. We don't need to dominate them, though, to achieve that outcome.

The suggestions we make in this group are to assist pet owners to develop the types of relationships with their dogs whereby all members of the family will be safe, where the dogs' needs will be met, too; where stresses will be reduced, where cooperation will be enhanced, all through our building of communication and trust and we live with them and teach them .

As a result of this understanding of our roles, and the teaching program, too, then soon the dogs will be under stimulus control. That means they will comply willingly and promptly to verbal cues and hand signals for the behaviors the owners are requesting. 

"Is this easy?" 

Yes, it usually is, but the practice requires a great deal of self-discipline. Perhaps that's one of the greatest benefits of dog training, the development of self-discipline for the humans. 

Implementation: 

One strategy used very successfully is an easy-going Work-to-Earn privileges program. Some people have referred to it as Nothing In Life Is Free (NILIF). But there's a difference. The work-to-earn privileges program is much less stringent in its requirements as well as more fun. Furthermore, it seems to make sense to the dogs. They accept it readily.  The Work-to-Earn privileges concept was coined by experienced dog-trainer/behaviorist William E. Campbell many years ago.  See his book, Behavior Problems in Dogs, third edition, published in 1999. 

"How do we go about it?"

We set up some daily routines, things we practice regularly, so that it is easy for the dogs to learn that we expect them to practice some simple house manners. No running in the halls or on the stairs; no counter-surfing allowed, keep your darned paws off the kitchen counter; back away from the open door; move when I come in the door; don't crowd people; don't jump on guests, and get off the couch. That's how we humans perceive it.  The dogs don't perceive their behaviors that way. For that reason, we need to translate those house rules into Doggy Talk that makes sense to the dogs.

To accomplish that, first we need to change our own thinking a little bit. Each time we'll need to think of a doggy behavior we may teach, a behavior that we can click/ treat reward instead of a behavior to scold. You see, instead of attempting to teach a dog a zillion things "not* to do, it's far, far easier to teach a dog what *to do* instead. 

In fact, when I make such a behavior plan, I oftentimes attempt to choose an alternate behavior which is the polar opposite of the undesired behavior. Then I click treat to reward and reinforce the dog for any attempts to offer that alternate behavior. Soon, the dog is deliberately choosing that behavior. It is replacing the undesirable one. That's a process called extinction. It takes a little while, but the progress the dogs make rapidly is truly remarkable. And I really like the way the dogs seem to comprehend what we're asking. It's as if they're saying, "Oh, I get it!"

A fascinating thing is that we are able to prevent many, many undesirable behaviors from dogs just by how we ourselves act. One illustration. When my husband and I were living in a multi-dog home we decided we could prevent possible stairway accidents by teaching our four dogs to sit-wait at the top of the stairs or to sit-wait on the landing while we descended. Then after we would reach the bottom, we'd turn around to call one dog at a time to come. The dogs learned it swiftly, and they each looked so darling waiting there, showing remarkable self-restraint. I swear the four of them were smiling. They seemed to like waiting for their individual turns. Why? Because the dogs were very heavily reinforced for offering those behaviors. Yep. We rewarded them. Even before we'd ever heard of click/treats, we rewarded them.  This is just a beginning, one example. There'll be more. 

I'd read of an important cautionary tale about woman who'd driven her dog to a shopping mall. Perhaps it was one that had a pet supply store. As she was exiting, her dog waited in the car politely. It did not scramble out of the car at all, but waited to be invited to get out of the car. When it did so, it sat beside her in heel position so that she could attach its leash. Now many of us would have been sure to attach the leash before letting the dog exit the car. But this is how the story was told. Her dog had learned some impulse control; he knew how to wait. She attached the leash. Just as she did so, she saw another dog racing through the parking lot whose owner had not taught it these simple yet essential skills. It was a very upsetting experience for that writer to see that dog racing around through the parking lot.  I read that many years ago in a letter-to-the-editor column in DOGWORLD magazine. You can see, it had a big impact on me. Ever since, I've taught my own dogs to wait politely in the car and my clients' dogs to wait politely in the car until invited to exit. This way, an owner has some modicum of control over the situation, just in case it may not be safe for the dog to exit immedicately.

I'm sure you could all give many more illustrations of the need to teach our dogs some polite behaviors.

If any of you have noticed that your dogs may not heed your instructions, or that they may not have been as cooperative with you as you would have liked, such as when you take the dogs out in public, then it would be a good idea to begin a work-to-earn privileges program at your homes.  The program lends itself so very well to the introduction of click/treat rewards for desirable behaviors that it's a very good introduction. You already know that we stress using positive reinforcement for lessons for our dogs, to build a strong reward history for the behaviors we find desirable. 

Begin to fade food treats. Add real life rewards.

Now all we need to do is being using that part to offer our dogs some real-life rewards that are very meaningful such as the dog food bowl, a favorite chew toy, access to the outdoors, a ride to Grandma's house, a trip to Macdonalds, a romp in the park. Just think of all these high-value resources for dogs that we have at our disposal. Oh my!  Why aren't we using all the good things dogs want as positive reinforcement? We can use them as real-life rewards to the dogs for their desirable behaviors. 

Work to earn 

So let's ask our dogs to work for such privileges. That part is easy. Before placing his food bowl on the floor, ask Toby to sit. The sit will be Toby's way to ask, "Please, may I?" Do the same thing before opening the door for anyone, before stepping off the porch together, before opening the car door, and again, before giving dog permission to jump out of the car, too. Each time wait for the dog to voluntarily offer the sit at heel position before you open the door to go outside with him. Make loving eye contact each time and smile warmly at dog before going  forward. 

We humans will need to be alert, to increase our awareness of such opportunities.

Personal space:  Next, we will not permit our dogs to mob us, to push themselves into our laps to get onto the couch without invitation to do so. No, because our dogs need to learn to show some social deference to their humans.  The concept of personal space is a very clear and important factor for dogs, not something foreign to their understanding. They, too, do not want intruders into their personal space, such as while they're eating or savoring a chew bone. They will definitely be able to comprehend that their humans also need some personal space into which the dogs may not intrude without invitation. 

Social greetings: The human leaders of the family pack also are the ones to make all social decisions about answering the doorbell or  knocks on the door, choosing to admit a guest to the home, and deciding when and where a dog may wander while they're walking together in the community. These are not the dogs' decisions to make.  So long as we meet our dogs very real needs first, then we have the right to request some social deference from them. We're benign leaders. But we have high expectations.

We ourselves and our children need to be patient, fair, consistent, and kind. We can do all this with clicker games for our dogs. The practice can be fun for dogs and their owners alike.  Hope this helps. 

Be patient, fair, consistent and kind.  That's my motto.

Barbara 

© 7/04/2006 Barbara D. Brill, North Chili, NY

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