How To Be a Good Leader For Your Dog

Before working with any animal, it is important to understand the species as every species has its own operating system. Horses are prey animals, meaning they are potential dinner for other animals. They are also social animals, which means that they prefer to live in a herd of other horses. Why? What purpose does this serve? If you are one of many you are less likely to be singled out for dinner. There is safety in numbers! Domestic dogs are classified as foragers. But their ancestors, the grey wolf, is classified as a predator. Domestic dogs do not hunt for food anymore, but they carry over many of the behavioral traits of their ancestors. Wolves and dogs are also social animals and prefer to live in packs or groups of other wolves and dogs. Why? A pack is a co-operative group that works together to single out and kill prey. Without that group effort, a wolf alone would be hard pressed to take down and kill an elk. There is strength in numbers, and this carries over to dogs. Within a pack or herd, there is always a hierarchy. If you are a horse, you want a good leader to tell you when to run for your life or to lead you to safety and good grazing. If you are a wolf, you want a strong, confident leader to make choices for the pack that will aid in the pack's survival and pass along strong DNA to offspring. Animals choose their leaders by instinct. It is not necessarily determined by a fight or dominance behavior. We intuit strength and confidence in others and so do dogs. That leader is sometimes referred to as the "alpha." Your dog's home group is now its social group. You can call it a pack if you want. I see it as a social group made up of several species and every social group has a hierarchy. If you have a household of three dogs, a cat and you, who is at the top of the hierarchy? The cat of course! Kidding aside, it is you that should be at the top of the hierarchy. You need to be the alpha. You want your dogs to look to you for direction. Rank hierarchy in animals is fluid. It can change and it is always being tested. Our dogs can test us, but being the alpha has nothing to do with dominance and has everything to do with setting boundaries and rule structure and holding your dogs to those things. "Sit," now you can go out the door. "Wait," now you can have your dinner. You must be willing to dig in when you need to. If you have to wait 10 minutes to get that "sit" at the door, then do it! The next time you say "sit," the dog will sit — no nastiness required. Dogs understand this. They prefer this relationship because they know what is expected of them and how to be successful. Is your dog pushing you around, jumping on you, taking your space, blocking you, guarding you, guarding food or locations or demanding attention by barking or whining? If the answer is "yes" then your dog is taking that leadership role. One of the scariest moments I have ever had with a dog was when a new client came into my training building with her American Staffordshire mix. She was a big, powerful female. As we began our meeting, the dog proceeded to walk over to my chair, put her two front feet up on my lap, get down, swing her rear around, rubbing it against my legs with an anal swipe and then sat on my shoe. By transferring her scent to me she is clearly telling me that she "owns me!" Think about it. For a dog to do that with a human that she does not know who is sitting perfectly still in a chair, she would have to believe that she can do just about anything she wants with me and that is just fine. Who is in charge here? We always want to maintain our leadership role with our dogs, but it is a quiet, benevolent leadership. It has nothing to do with nastiness, alpha rolls, shock collars, demanding "respect," yelling or scolding. It has everything to do with holding the dog to boundaries and rule structures and teaching them how to be successful or what they should be doing instead. If we start training and socializing our puppies early, by teaching them to look to us for direction and reward, then we will have a dog who will mature into a confident adult who is very happy to follow our lead. It is a fair trade. You do this for me, and I will give you that. Dogs feel most comfortable in this relationship because things are clear. So, train your dog, supply its natural, canine needs and be a strong, benevolent leader for them. If you do, you will have a great partner for life. Noel Hoffmann / copyright 2025