Pack Leader - Page 3

Some of you really don't know how to communicate with dogs period.

Some of you don't understand the difference between wild and domestic.

One or two of you are completely full of shit.

And a single hard ass dog does not make a pack, doesn't use pack mentality, and will only be won with patience and some skillful handling.

These kind of so called strong dogs are a fault with me to start with.  Not what a GSD is for.

My dogs and I understand each other quite well, maybe we do have another language that some of you don't understand.

One of you particularly crack me up.

You felt the sting did you?

You can't teach understanding or wisdom, it comes from time, experience, and some don't have what it takes inside them.

You come see for your self sometime.   Bring cash, I don't do anything for free anymore.  

Sign of the times.

Hey i got say one thing here and that is,whoever growles or bark at their dogs is an idiot and a total fool.listen to two moons he is making sence with some of what he is saying.hey look you can man handle a dog as much as you want but most dogs would respond better to your mentle strength.and respect you more.just remember as the wisw man once said,dogs are the greatest manipulators so show them that you are even better manipulator.start with that and the rest will follow. have a nice one.

Steve 1

What?

When my dogs try to take on the dominant role of pack leader I drop the F bomb on them .They know who's boss when they hear that word come out of my mouth. I'm sure it's not the word  that gets their attention , it's more like in the tone of my voice when I use it  .

Wuzzup
That is excatly correct, it is the way the sound comes out It is not a normal speaking sound as if praising a dog, that is how i should have put it in an earlier post
Bancroft,
You can curse all you want that is all you are capable of doing You are inferior in every way, you have proved it in earlier posts You have never answered my questions before, so go to bed like a good boy you are out of your league with me
If you think i am full of Shit as you say
My address is on this Forum, Please come and empty me if you have a mind to
I invite you over, But for me little boys should be in bed by the time i write this, and get your Mummy to give you something for the hot air and wind you are suffering from
Steve1

http://www.geocities.com/vinnie_norberg/WorkingBond.html

The Working Bond

By K. Earnest

You can see the connection when you watch a dog team that is in tune with each other working a problem. The handler and the dog are no longer separate entities but one working as a whole - the true meaning of teamwork. They are in it for the right reasons. They are doing this to help others, but that special bond between them grows all the while. At every training, that bond grows more unshakable, at every movement, they read one another. This working bond is not formed immediately mind you. Rather, it takes time. It also takes respect and trust. In the field handler and dog are equals, working together toward a common end: the find. They work in the harshest conditions – temperature, inclement weather, and terrain extremes. They work multiple times a week. They eat together, they sleep in the same room, and they share their lives with one another. Every second of their time together just strengthens that bond, that unconditional love. The dogs teach their handlers. The handlers teach their dogs. The handler-dog team teaches others. Everyone learns and everyone wins. They inspire one another to be better; they drive one another to work harder, longer, and faster. They do these things and more despite the possibility that even though they have undergone so much training that they may never be utilized. They answer the call at any time; they are the team that gets called out. They are the team that impressed the agency, local emergency management director, and the law enforcement officers. They are impressive because they work so well together. If they never get the call, they are content with that bond they share, they keep training, keep working on that bond and they grow past it. This handler and dog had difficulties, just like all other handlers and dogs do. They overcame it using their tenacity and respect for one another. They are the ones that you would want looking for your lost relative or friend. They do not play the political games, they do not speak badly of other search and rescue professionals, and they just do what they have trained to do all this time: find the lost subject.

LOL about those who think growling at your own dog as a mild correction is useless. Don't knock it till you've tried it. It works. That's what I care about - what works.  Spitting food out to your dog to get his eyes on your face sounds and looks silly too. But it works. I don't give a rat's rear what anyone thinks, as long as the method works. And by the way, would I be recommending the Monks or Strickland as reading material if I didn't deal with the total dog? If you don't know what they say, then back off.

Dogs are pack animals.  That's the simple fact of it.  Removed from their wild ancestors by many generations of selection for specific type, yes, but still pack animal at heart.

Dogs can learn what certain words mean.  Words such as Sit, Come, Down, Kennel, Leave It, and others.  They cannot learn English like we can.  They can't speak it.  They don't understand whole sentences. 

What they do read is body language and voice tone.  Wild dogs vocalize, in addition to their other communications, and so do domestic dogs.  And dogs need leaders.  But, for that matter, so do people.  Human families have pack leaders, too.  A mom or a dad (sometimes both) who are the leaders of the home.  The problems with kids or dogs come when no one wants to lead, and the child or dog is forced to step into that role, trying to subjugate everyone else to his rule.  Dogs acting out, children throwing chronic screaming temper tantrums because they haven't got someone jumping as fast as they'd like.

Dogs need pack leaders.  Someone who they trust, respect, and obey.  If growling isn't your thing, then fine.  Don't growl.  But regardless of what method of training you use, it all amounts to the same thing.  Establishing yourself as pack leader.  If the end result is the dog doing what you ask of him, without you having to bribe him, every time, then you have become his pack leader.  If your dog ignores you, tramples you, and is generally a nightmare to live with, then you are not his pack leader, and no amount of talking will change that.  Children just turn us off when we talk too much; dogs don't understand and so don't pay attentions to us.

My personal favorite method of relating to dogs in general is Cesar Millan's method.  I've studied everything from Barbara Woodhouse's books and the "It's Me or The Dog", to William Koehler's method of dog training, and many in between, and Cesar's is the only method that makes sense when dealing with dogs.  He doesn't advocate beating a dog, but he doesn't  much use food to train a dog not to do something, or to do something he wants it to do.  He teaches people how to relate to their dogs with the proper energy, so that the dog is not on edge all the time. 

Of course, Cesar doesn't obedience train dogs, like so many.  He focuses on the basic relationship between the owner and the dog, establishing, as he puts it, "Rules, Boundaries, and Limitations."  The basic things needed to have a balanced, happy dog are "Exercise, Discipline, and Affection" in that order. 

Crys