The next part of the training program I will be discussing is one of the most important aspects of information you and your family will need to learn, which is Pack Order. Your dog needs to understand your position in your home as it relates to pecking order or positioning to respond positively to any type of dog training.
Example: If your dog thinks he/she is in control of their environment and positions themselves to control or manipulate you or your family members, then it will be very difficult to train your dog effectively. You must learn how to take back control of your dog’s daily activities and behaviors in order to develop a healthy relationship. In fact, all dogs feel secure when they know who the leaders are in the dog pack. For example, the parent dogs and elders in the group will lead, correct, feed, play and interact in such a way the puppies will learn their place in the pecking order. However, the puppies must also learn their positioning among themselves with their own siblings through instinctual play fighting and interactive discovery. This teaches everyone to know their place as they grow and mature in the group. Any puppy that wants a higher position of control must challenge the other puppies or dogs in the group. If you or I play the role of an equal or submissive member of the group, your dog will not be able to respect you and follow training signals successfully which, in turn, will not allow them to discern right and wrong behavior. You must learn how to use highly effective communication skills that will mimic the same behavior to gain back the control needed for successful dog training.
A well behaved dog is more important than a dog that might respond to a command every once in a while. Dogs can’t talk like you and I do. They ‘talk’ by using sound, body language, and the physical contact. All of these three actions are very important core behavior language that we will use in this dog training program. I refer to them as SMT (sound, motion, touch).