Hierarchy 101

Dogs view their world in hierarchies all the time.

They are constantly looking at their world questioning where they are at that moment of time. They do this with their humans, other dogs in the house even cats. What is important to remember is the humans have to be the leader 100% of the time. It is all part of the canine makeup.

In the wild the leaders leave the cave to go hunting and the subordinates stay. In our world it is the human that leaves the house and the dog always stay. We give them rules such as when to eat, when to go to the bathroom, not to bite the mailman, don’t eat the couch, etc. So when we give them mixed signals such as allow the dogs to push us aside while they go outside, demand attention by barking, pawing, jumping, etc.… confusion sets in. And for some dogs that inconsistencies can lead to undesirable behaviors.

We have to remind our dogs that we at the top of the hierarchy in the household. We can do this with some simple exercises:

• Earn their affection: must sit and focus on us before you get a pet
• Earn their food: must sit and focus on us before we put the bowl down
• Earn the privilege to go outside: “BACK” command
• Earn the privilege to come up on the couch: Must focus on you before they jump on the couch. Give the command of “UP”. And get off the couch with a simple “off command”. If jump on couch without permission. Just gently pull down and do the technique.