Being a pet parent calls for you to know everything there’s to know about your furry baby. With dogs, it’s all about training them on the importance of structure and discipline. These are two attributes that they’d ordinarily get from their pack leader.
Structure, for example, teaches them to learn the importance of boundaries and limitations. Through it, they get to develop a strong bond with you, your family, and others who interact with them on an ongoing basis.
At The Wags Club, we strongly believe in the need to train your pets to follow and obey your commands. It’s a technique that involves showing them that you’re the pack leader and should thus be obeyed.
To help with this, we’ve designed our hotel structure and free dog daycare service around their psychology and need for a leader.
What Does Being a Pack Leader Entail?
The journey to understanding what or who a pack leader is calls for us to investigate what renowned dog whisperers have to say. A good example of one is Cesar Millan, who has often spoken on the need to be a pack leader.
Cesar notes that dogs are instinctively pack animals. Everything they do revolves around having a leader to offer them care and guidance as they develop. Therefore, the only way to understand them is to develop a healthy bond with them.
As a pack leader, it’s your job to teach your furry pet the difference between right and wrong. Your teachings will include looking out for their overall well-being and administering discipline when needed. For this to work, you must start by gaining their trust and respect.
How Can I Show My Furry Friend That I Am the Leader?
Gaining insight into how to become a pack leader is an essential component of owning a dog. The only way to develop a healthy bond between you two is to ensure your interactions are filled with love and trust. Whenever needed, you can include discipline.
To begin positioning yourself as the pack leader, follow these pointers:
1. Exercise Calm and Assertiveness
Just because you’ve to discipline your dog doesn’t mean you need to become upset or frustrated with her. The key to becoming a good pack leader is to learn how to do this without conveying any nervous energy.
You can learn how to do this by looking at how a mother raises her puppies. If she feels they’re being mischievous, all she has to do is grab the scruff of their neck. The puppies automatically fall in line after this. As a leader, this is the type of energy you need to exert!
2. Boundaries, Boundaries, Boundaries
Enforcing boundaries is all about letting your pet know you mean business. They need to understand that you own the space around them. There’re two ways to do this: making eye contact and using your body language.
Failing to enforce boundaries will lead to misbehavior, as the dog will claim the available space and attempt to make it their own. Essentially, they’ll be trying to take over the leadership role, leaving you to follow.
3. Learn the Importance of Waiting
The role of a pack leader is to provide for those under your care. With dogs, this means giving them food and offering guidance whenever a situation calls for it. For this to work in your favor, you must learn to leverage the power of waiting.
Look at it this way: In the wilderness, a puppy waits for its turn to eat. On the same breadth, an adult dog cannot begin moving before the pack leader has given the signal. This makes waiting a powerful tool that you can use with your dog to prevent them from being impatient.
4. Offer Leadership and Ensure You’re Consistent
An ideal pack leader should train their underlings on what to expect. To assist with this, you can establish customs such as taking short walks before feeding time. Another example that works is withholding your affection until the dog has calmed down.
Customs have two effects – you get to set expectations and, at the same time, cement your position as a pack leader. Consistently applying these customs will teach your furry friend that they must meet certain expectations before you can reward them.
5. Understand Your Furry Friend
The best pack leaders understand their underlings. You can’t expect to become a good leader if you aren’t present or aware of their needs. For example, being present means knowing when they’re hungry, thirsty, uneasy, or in need of a walk. Your dog needs to know that you care and that you’ll provide for their needs.
The five steps outlined above will enable you to be a strong and competent pack leader. They’ll help you train your dog to respect you, your space, and your boundaries. With time, they’ll lead to the development of a healthy relationship that will amplify with training.
The Wags Club – Professional Dog Daycare in LA
The Wags is an exclusive pet hotel and boarding resort located in Los Angeles. We provide a cage-free facility (indoor/outdoor) that serves as a one-stop shop for all your dog’s needs. Our facility provides everything from dog grooming to training and boarding.
We have spent years learning the importance of being a pack leader, including what it takes to become one. Given that we are a cage-free facility, we understand what your dog truly needs to function as a pack animal. You can trust that we will provide them with everything they need to play and socialize in an environment structured to their well-being.
Our dog boarding personnel have undergone extensive training on how to connect with dogs. Their training also covers how to go about managing the needs of different breeds and how to implement the strategies of an efficient pack leader.
To learn more about our offerings, contact The Wags Club customer support team to schedule a consultation. Remember, we are the premier dog boarding hotel and resort in Los Angeles. We look forward to working with you and your dog.