Tips On Being Pack Leader

Most dog training books and manuals emphasise dominance when training your dog. They explain that in order to train your dog, you the owner must become the dog's pack leader, or 'Alpha Male' . What many misunderstand, is the role of the dog pack leader. Here are some tips to make your dog respect your leadership.

1) Aggression: The pack leader has risen above aggression. He is certain of his place, and that place is accepted by the other members of the pack. Aggression amongst dogs, then, is reserved for the middle tier of the pack who may one day become Alpha and wish to keep their rivals under control. This is significant in two ways. 1) If you are aggressive towards your dog, you are telling him that you are uncertain of your position within the pack structure, and 2) if your dog is aggressive towards you or your family, he is unsure of your position, and is trying to raise himself above you.

2) Resources: The Alpha male controls the resources of the pack. He eats first, and can potentially control the food of the other pack members. It is important then that you control your dog's feeding, for instance by dictating when and where he eats. I always ensure that my dogs have their food after the family's evening meal, and never leave a bowl of un-finished food down. Note that water should never be controlled or rationed in a any way!

3) Leading from the front: The Alpha dog leads the pack in the hunt. Many dog trainers insist that the owner goes through doors, gates etc first to emphasise their dominance. I tend to think that this is over-kill, but may be useful in emphasising your dominance over a strong dog. I usually insist that my dogs sit and allow me to pass first when leaving a safe area, for instance when going out of my front gate into the road.

4) The upper Hand: Generally in sleep / rest situations, the alpha male will take the uppermost position. This is not always true, as the confident alpha may not need to stamp his authority in this way. However, a dog who insists on sleeping on his owner is staking his claim to dominance. If you enjoy having your dog on your lap, make sure that he doesn't mind your arm, your hand, something, resting on him. If he objects, he considers himself dominant – watch out!.

5) Children: Too often, there are reports of babies and children being mauled and sometimes killed by dogs who have never seemed particularly aggressive before. In a wolf pack, only the alpha dogs breed. If you are the alpha couple, the dog will protect your offspring, sometimes with his life. However if the dog doesn't believe that you are the alpha couple, then he may be more unsure of the position of children, and especially babies, leading to attacks and tragedies. Important note: However certain you are that your dog knows his position, you should never leave young children on their own with him.

The Alpha dog model does not cover all aspects of dog behaviour, partly because dogs are kept in un-natural conditions in modern society. Remember too that the Alpha male has to be strict in difficult conditions, but that in times of plenty, he will relax his iron rule. Thus, your dog will not get mixed messages if he occasionally gets his meals before the family eat, or sometimes is allowed to climb onto your lap to sleep. The trick is to make him understand that he can only break the rules when you allow him to!

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