Did you know that there is a very basic secret about your dog and its behavior that, once you discover what it is and put it into practice, makes training your dog incredibly easy and stress-free?
It’s true.
But before I share with you the number one secret to training dogs, I’d like to share a surprising fact about dogs that you may not know.
Dogs are born into a litter that immediately establishes pack rank and behaviors. Yes, immediately.
Puppies learn from the moment they are born that there is a natural order to follow. So from the moment they are born, they learn the rules for survival and leadership.
It is this social hierarchy that creates the fuel that drives the number one secret to successful dog training, which is that to solve dog problems, to live with a happy, obedient dog that does what you want the first time and each time, you need to unleash your natural “powers of attraction” and become the leader your dog wants to follow.
Why is leadership so important when training your dog?
You see, it’s your ability to tap into this preset internal code of canine behavior — the same code your dog learned from his littermates and his mother — that makes all the difference in the way your dog acts and gives him what he wants. .
Dog training becomes easy when you understand the bonding process that motivates your dog to listen to you and try, try, try. You can’t buy that kind of relationship for any amount of money, but you can earn it.
This is the basic secret to becoming your dog’s best friend AND to achieving success and true happiness in personal dog training.
The important thing is to know that leadership is an attitude that is best described by the words “Follow me!” So what’s your attitude? Are you a leader? Or a follower?
Have you avoided problems or challenges with your dog because you just don’t know what to do? This does not happen when you are acting in the leadership role with your dog.
You see, a leader can take a stand without turning it into a confrontation, whether it’s about who leads who on walks, who controls the food, or who controls what’s acceptable to chew.
A leader wins without a fight because when he understands the dynamics of pack behavior, he knows what to do almost instinctively.
But the problem is that a dog can’t treat you like a leader if you don’t act like one. You need to stand out from the rest. And how you do that is go back to the two simple words that I talked about earlier: “Follow me!”
Each dog follows the pack leader. As a leader, your dog pays attention to you. Your dog is looking for fun, help, guidance, security and information.
Before your dog runs out the door, he looks at you to see if he has your permission.
If your dog barks, when you say hush, the dog stops barking.
And it doesn’t matter if you have one dog or six dogs, a four-month-old puppy or a four-year-old dog, leadership is that simple.
Why a lead approach is the fastest and easiest way to train your dog
Finding time to train your dog becomes more difficult every day. But the beauty of the “follow me” approach to leadership is that you don’t have to add more “stuff” to your life. You just change the way you do something.
For example, always go through the door first in front of your dog. Don’t walk around your dog lying down in the hallway, instead move the dog out of your way. There are other simple techniques you can use, but those two can help you get started right now, today!
When you put the ideas into practice, you will see direct results in your daily dealings with your dog. In fact, the approach is so simple that you can learn it and forget it, and yet it will become part of what you do naturally and effortlessly, because there are only a few steps to the whole system!
So let’s talk about what those steps are right now…
