Leaders and Leads

The title sounds like one of they shonky team building seminar titles.

By leader I refer to pack leader. By lead I refer to the leather thing that attaches to the dogs collar.

Leader : My definition of a leader is a person who rules, guides or inspires others. In the context of pack leader I would make the following statement “Pack leaders lead - pack members follow. Pack members take notice of the pack leader because they respect him NOT because they fear him”

So in the context of dog walkers, how many dog walkers “lead” their dog down the street or around the park? An honest answer is not very many. Most dogs are permitted to haul their owners through doorways and along the street taking little heed of any commands issued to them.

In the wild the lead wolf always takes the initiative. The lead wolf puts himself in a position where he can make an educated decision in the best interest of the pack. The best position to do this is normally at the front of the pack where he can assess the situation.

In our world, allowing your dog to walk in front promotes him up the rankings. This normally leads to confusion and canine equality. I would urge owners to maintain their rank as pack leader and insist that the dog walks beside or behind them.

Personally I like my dogs to walk with their back legs at my heel. This allows me to see them out the corner of my eye while walking. I would stress that my dogs are very perceptive of my movements and can sense a change in pace without loosing position or being corrected. This is practiced every day as part of my daily training routine by asking them to stay in at heel on the way to and from the exercise area. I also have a “change side” command that gets exercised most days. The “change side” command allows me to control where each dog is and is great when I want both dogs to walk on the same side or move one dog to the opposite foot. (e.g. I request each dog to walk on the left when I see a person with a young child or pram approaching. This goes a long way to instilling confidence, especially with the press that rotties have, and is normally appreciated by the passing party). I see this as part of being a responsible dog owner.

Leads : I view a lead as a device to stop the dog doing something silly. I train heelwork on a long line by encouraging the dog to follow me. I set the dog up for success and reward desirable behaviour. As the dog advances through the exercises I shorten the lead and increase my standards. I carry a variety of leads with me. I have double clip leads for use on haltis and gentle leaders. I have a general purpose 6 foot lead and several training lines of different lengths and materials. I believe in encouraging positive behaviour not punishing or correcting undesirable behaviour.

I see so many dogs that have been permitted to develop a resistance to tight leads. One of my clients told me a trainer had advised that he shortened the lead to gain more control. On the face of it this sounds OK but really it just taught the dog how to pull even harder and resulted in a stressed out dog and an exhausted handler. Even after I got the dog to walk at heel the owner was inclined to tighten his grip on the lead. He eventually came around when I walked up the street with the lead hanging on the end on my little finger.

Tight leads encourage dogs to pull. The traditional way of stopping dogs pulling is to inflict punishment or pain by hauling on a choke chain or pinch collar when the dog pulls.

Mmmm!!! So we educate him by punishing him each time he pulls? – He’s never been introduced to the behaviour we would prefer but we’ll punish him when he performs a behaviour we don’t like? Would you teach our kids in this fashion? I don’t and never will.

Here’s my advice. Don’t give a dog the chance to pull in the first place. Stop a dog pulling by encouraging him to follow you. Be unpredictable in your movements but reward him consistently. This will encourage the dog to pay attention to you. From there you can sneak in stays, leave it and focus commands. I normally achieve this with 20 minutes in my first session.

Don’t believe me? - Test me or simply ask any of my clients.

Here's a pic of my son Louis performing some heelwork with Lulu.