Monday, July 12, 2010
He Gets It
When I had a dog, she was always vying for the alpha role and if you were not consistent, you would pay for it. I did not take her to a trainer, I did not know what the hell I was doing, all I did know was that she needed to learn to listen to me and not the other way around.
I never let her sleep on my bed. She had a blanket next to the bed as well as one in the living room. This is where she was allowed to sit or lie down. Never on the bed or the couch; she was always lower than me.
I never let her walk out the door first. I led the way, not her. I never let her back in first, again I led the way, not her.
When we approached a crosswalk, she would sit and wait and would not move until I stamped the heel of my shoe on the pavement to let her know it was ok to move. (The only time she moved was when a dumb bitch came up behind her but I’ve already told that story here before and she was right to do the moving.)
And when it came to feeding, that dog was not allowed to dance around, act like a fool, jump on me or rush me. She was to sit and she was to wait. I would refill her water dish and set it down. I would pick up her food dish, put more food in it and set it down. Still she was not allowed to move. I would stand there while she sat and waited. Her eyes were glued to me. Her entire attention and focus was on me. That is exactly what you want your dog to do. In the beginning, I made her wait longer until she got it in her head that I ruled, not her. As she got better at it, her wait time went down. I would also test her. Her key word was, “Ok”. Anything else, that was not the signal to move and start eating.
You know what? It didn’t take long to train her. I was consistent, I never let her get away with anything, she knew I was the alpha and would remain the alpha and if she wanted her food or to run around outside, I was the one who would allow it and decide when it would happen. And she got it right fast. Even when I tested her at the food dish with other words, she never moved until she heard me say, “ok”.
Some people get all upset and think “OMG, that’s so cruel!” No, idiots, it’s not cruel. It’s how dogs act in the wild and it’s how these dogs know to act. They need a leader, they need a consistent leader.
I’m thrilled to see this video of a guy who rescues dogs and gets it. He totally gets it and proves that no dog is too old, too young, too dangerous, (breed stereotype), or too stupid to understand that he is the pack leader.
This is how you train dogs to be great pets and companions. You don’t treat them like humans, you don’t let them get away with whatever they want, you don’t spoil them like a child. They are dogs. And if more people on this earth knew a damn thing about dogs, like the guy in this video, maybe there wouldn’t be so many dogs in need of rescue.
It’s not the dog’s fault. It never is.
