Dogs are born team players. You can call this pack instinct, but I find it more helpful to think of dogs and their owners as a team. Any team has an objective which they work towards achieving and each member of the team has a part to play in helping their team to secure a victory. To be successful, a team has to have a strong, clearly defined structure, cooperation between all members of the team and a sense of mutual respect among the members. You could take the best players in the world; but if they don’t work together as a team, they would still lose 95 times out of 100. A team needs a clearly defined leader and every player has to understand exactly what their responsibilities are as a member of this team. If a member of the team is in need of help, they need to know that they can count on their teammates to help them out.
Dogs live their entire lives and every waking moment, by team structure. Instead of winning, however, their mantra is survival. And to personalize it one step further, you and your family are their team. For your dog to feel secure and safe, he must know who’s in charge. It’s your job to teach him what you expect from him in your home. Do you have more than one person in your household? In your dog’s world, teams are organized in a hierarchy, so you must teach your four-legged friend that two-legged dogs are the ones in charge. This will take some cooperation on everyone’s part, but it’s very do-able.
If you don’t teach your dog who the leader is, your dog will take up the job themselves. If your dog is a natural leader, this will lead to a bossy, aggressive dog. If your dog simply takes up the position of leader because no one else has, they will be confused and agitated.
So how do you organize your team and teach your dog the rules? The first step is to understand what motivates your dog’s behavior. Then you need to master his communication skills. It might sound like hard work, but it’s quite fascinating. Your dog will respond to you more willingly if you make the effort to understand and learn his language.
You’ll eventually win your dog’s cooperation, respect and their trust. You’ll also gain a team player who will always be there to help out when needed. However, it will take a little time and a little work from you to show your dog how the team is structured.
Dogs are motivated by attention. They live for it, love it, and will do anything to keep the spotlight focused on them. Does this remind you of a three year old? Well, add to this similarity the fact that they don’t care whether the attention is negative or positive.