Mastering our partner is a fundamental task if we want to have a peaceful and happy coexistence. Dogs are direct descendants of the wolf, which live in packs obeying a very simple hierarchy. In all the herds there is an alpha male, who is the leader of the herd, the one who decides and commands.
What we need to do with our pet or companion, is to make him understand that we, his owner, are the alpha male and as such, he must respect us and obey them. And it is really easy to learn how to be an alpha male.
Having a dog that thinks he is the alpha male is having a potentially dangerous and unpredictable dog. It may seem unimportant to you, but in reality it is one of the most important things that we must teach our pet, if he does not understand that we are the alpha male, we will never be able to dominate him.
Once these vital points have been clarified, we will explain the steps you must follow so that you can teach your dog or puppy who is the leader of the pack. Remember that this is not achieved in a day, or in a week … you have to be persistent and you will see how little by little your leadership is implanted in front of yours. Go for it:
- The owner is the first to leave the house and the portal, and the first to enter the portal and home. Our dog should always go behind us or leave alone when we tell him to, we should never let him be the first to enter or leave.
- During walks we must use a short leash and never let our dog go ahead of us. That would make him think that he is the leader and it is something that we are not going to tolerate. It should go next to us or behind, never ahead. When the walk is over, it is good to let him loose for a while (in places where it is possible, field, spaces for dogs, etc …) so that he can vent, run and smell what he wants.
- Never let it climb on top of you or try to climb your front legs. We as leaders do not let them do that.
- If their mealtime coincides with ours, we eat first and when we finish, they eat. We should never let our dog eat before us if the schedules coincide, since we would make him think that they are more important than us. If the hours are different, there is no problem, they can eat before or after.
- The owner is the one who decides when to play and when not. Never let your dog decide when to play and when the game is over … it would be a mistake. That does not mean that we do not play with them, simply that if we do not feel like playing, they should not insist, we firmly say “No” and they must obey.
- Not playing fighting games, or war games, etc … the best games are to throw the ball or the disc so that they run and catch it. Then we must patiently teach them to return the ball to us to throw it back.
- Do not let them climb on the bed or sofa. You may think it is nonsense, but it is a very effective way of indicating that these spaces are ours and we send copper what spaces may or may not invade at home.
- Brush them often, even if not necessary. It is a way of teaching them that we can touch them when and where we want, without complaining.
- When you put the food on them, hold the bowl with your hand and make them sit (at the command of “sit” or “sit”). When you sit down, put the bowl on the floor at a certain distance from it, like a meter for example. And don’t let him move or head for the bowl until he looks us in the eye. When you look us in the eye, we will give you permission to start eating (at the command of “come” or “eat”).
- Do not simply pamper him, if we want to give him himself, we must make him do something first. A simple “sit down” or “lie down” is enough to give you many same, once you have obeyed.
As you can see, they are very simple and easy to implement rules. They are so easy to fulfill that it seems incredible that with these things they understand who is the leader. But the reality is that with just these little gestures, they will fully understand who is the leader of the command.
To apply it in puppies, we must know that puppies are not conscious until four or five months, and that they hardly reason until one year of age, so we must apply these guidelines but in a more gentle way. Puppies will have a harder time following the guidelines but it is completely understandable. However, we must be severe in the rule of entering and leaving, that of climbing on the bed or the sofa and that of brushing and walking.
The constant execution of these guidelines will make our dog understand that we are the alpha male and not him. You shouldn’t be punished or scolded, just follow these simple guidelines.