Be Pack leader and still learn from your dogs

You can get a lot of help from your dogs.  Your dogs will instinctively protect their pack from instability.  They will also instinctively protect their calm-assertive pack leader from this negative energy.  Most stable dogs know that stability of the pack is essential for their survival.  Dogs can not be constantly fighting for dominance or breaking from the pack routine.  For thousands of years dogs have used their innate ability to live within a stable pack as an advantage over less successful species.  This should make it clear that dogs understand the importance of being in a pack and the importance of keeping the pack healthy.  They also understand the importance of the pack leader and will go to great lengths to keep the pack leader safe and free to lead.

It was such a long day following the Pack Leader

You can see behavior like this often at the dog park or in your home when bringing an unstable dog into the mix.  The other dogs will rally around the pack leader and warn the unstable dog.  Often it is just do that is unfamiliar with the pack rules and how to approach and interact with the pack.  Certain dogs, especially younger ones, tend to be unschooled in back etiquette but tend to learn quickly if the other dogs are persistent.

The biggest obstacle I have seen lately when taking I try to be pack leader for my dogs and the dog park is the dogs staring each other down through the fence.  For some dogs it seems to be a territorial thing and for others more fun or play when they race up and down the on each side of fence.  It is a challenge to get certain dogs to pay attention to the pack leader when when there are dogs to run with on the other side of the fence. 


I also have noticed that a recent addition to my pack tends to become more playful and a bit more aggressive at the dog park.  He is young and loves to play but has yet to take his well adjusted in home pack behavior to the park.  I am working on keeping him a bit more calm and more focused on me rather than all of the smells, sounds and other dogs.  It is taking a while but I am seeing progress daily and soon expect him to be fully adjusted and enjoying calm yet fun trips to the dog park. 

Do your dogs fight over food?

I have heard many people talk about their dogs as such beautiful, loving and loyal dogs until they get to the subject of feeding.  Often the look of terror comes in to their as as they think about dinner time for their puppies.  For some reason this is a common problem in households with more than one dog.  The strange thing is that it happens even when the dogs have been raised by one family and have always had ample food to eat. 
It is easy to understand how aggression can be an outcome if dogs are deprived of food or have had to fight to get enough food.  But for some reason even well fed and well nurtured dogs become food aggressive to the point of fighting with their pack members.  Some food aggressive dogs may even nip at their owner.  Of course this is not a good sign if your dog is threatening you, the pack leader, with exposed teeth and growls no matter what they are protecting. 

This is behavior that need to be addressed as soon as possible regardless of the dog may be protecting their food.  It can lead to dangerous situations down the road if anyone tried to come between the dog and food.

One way to address the issue is to place multiple bowls of food out.  You don't want to put more food out but just divide it up into several bowls if you have 2 or more dogs.  This will often relieve some of the tension from the dogs knowing that their are more places to eat.  This is the best way to start because it is a very simple solution.  If this doesn't work then we go on to plan B but I think this will solve the problem most of the time.

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Your Dogs know

A perfect dog pack

Your dogs will let you know if one of your pack members are unstable.  You can tell just by their actions because dogs want to be calm and get along in harmony regardless of the breed.  You should always be aware of your pet being a dog first, then the breed second.  There is a lot of unhealthy information that has permeated the psyche of our culture that creates tremendous fear toward certain dog breeds.

The most well know example is the Pit Bull.  It is quite common for people to become frightened just by the mention of the breed and if they happen to see one or be near one many people will automatically walk away.  The funny thing is that statistics show that Labradors bite more people than any other breed.  It may be just because they are the most popular breed but I think there is more to it than something that simple.

For example consider that it is not legal to even own a Pit Bull in the city of Denver, Colorado.  I found this out recently and was shocked on one had but not surprised on the other hand.  It is a shame that such a loyal breed has gotten such a horrible reputation over the years.

Doesn't she look comfortable?

As I was saying before your pack will let you know if one your dogs is unstable.  I brought a new dog into my pack and he is full of energy, still somewhat of a puppy, and my other dogs have taken after him when he starts getting too hyper.  They do not bite him or attack him but they use their herding skills to roll him over a few times with a well timed nose to the hand quarters. 

Watch your dogs closely and you will get many free lessons in pack behavior and on how to deal with instability in your dogs.