Old Trainer: The trick to pack leadership is no secret

DEAR OLD TRAINER: I saw a program you put on in Santa Fe and was amazed that you never raised your voice and just moved your hands slightly and yet your dogs obey instantly. I hope my boxer puppy, Champ, will behave like that. Is there a secret trick I can use on Champ?

A: There’s a trick, but it’s no secret. My dogs react the way they do because I base my training on the most important tenet of canine psychology – the leader gives the orders, the pack obeys.

That principle is the canine version of Ernest Hemingway’s “iceberg theory” of writing. Hemingway said, “If a writer knows enough about his subject, he may omit details – the submerged part of the iceberg – and yet the reader feels them as strongly as if the writer had stated them.”

All dogs obey orders if they respect the leader, and that factor is the hidden part of the iceberg. All I do is behave like a leader – a dog’s idea of a leader – and the iceberg does the rest.

The hard part is convincing your dog that you are a leader.

People who struggle training a dog think, “Well, of course he will obey my commands because I am a human and he is a mere dog.” Dogs have a good laugh when they hear that one.

They don’t see themselves as inferior to humans. Why should they? They have better hearing, their sense of smell is 5,000 times better, and their wolf ancestors resided at the top of the food chain for thousands of years.

They love humans, but leadership – in their minds – has nothing to do with love. If you are a leader, they are happy because all dogs crave order in the pack. If they see a vacuum of leadership they are still happy because they take over as leader and run the pack the way they want.

Even in families where dogs have accepted a human as leader, it is common for them to take orders from that person but ignore orders from the rest of the family.

Shakespeare might have been describing dog training with this dialogue in “Henry IV:”

Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.

Hotspur: Why, so can I, so can any man; but will they come when you do call for them?

Anyone can give a dog an order, but will it listen when you do? Dog parks are full of people screaming at their dogs while the dogs ignore them and run around having a good time.

So the first step is to convince your dog you are the leader. Don’t bother trying to bluff. If you don’t have confidence, a dog will know it with a glance.

If your dog accepts you as leader, the hard part is done, but, like a great musician, a dog needs to work on his skills every day.

I make it a game and make it fun, but I work training in as a part of every activity I do with my pack. It may be only a total of five minutes a day, but we work every day. If you want Champ to respond like my dogs do, then you have to work like we do.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Old Trainer: The trick to pack leadership is no secret."