The Language of Dogs

To understand why your dog behaves in particular ways, you need a basic understanding of the nature of dogs and their needs.

Through selective breeding, we have been able to breed dogs to specialise in roles such as herding, guarding, retrieving etc. Over many thousands of years, these roles have become instinctive to each breed. If you've ever seen a non-working border collie in the presence of a group of dogs or other animals, it will likely try to herd the other dogs or group of animals because its instincts are directing it.

Left to their own devices, wild dogs' instincts dictate a family system of life. A male and female will produce a litter of puppies and nurture and protect them. As the pups grow, they learn how to behave by playing with their siblings and by the guidance of their parents. The parents dominate and dictate everything the pack does and they maintain their status in the pack by consistent displays of calm authoruty. The pups follow the rules and boundaries shown to them because they know their survival depends on it, and as they grow older are content to know their place and function within the family hierachy. Each member of the pack lives happily, knowing it has a vital role to play in the overall wellbeing of the pack.

Your dog was born with these same instincts. It beleives it is a member of a pack that operates according to the rules of a wild dog or wolf pack. So it wants to know who the leaders are and where its place in the hierachy is. And this is where things can come unstuck. Many people unknowingly give the dog the wrong message (because we're communicating in a human way) which leaves the dog no choice but to assume it must be the leader. This job is almost impossible for the dog to do in a human world and leads to stress which shows itself to us as behavioural problems. Problems such as pulling on the lead, aggression, barking and so on are easy to understand and resolve when you can see them from the dogs perspective.

By mimicking the rituals of the canine leaders on a regular day to day basis, you can convince your dog to elect you as its leader and relieve it of the stress of leadership. Your dog will choose to co-operate rather than disobey. Its only job will be to alert you to any perceived danger, so you can make the decision of what to do.

'Dog Training by Effective Communication'