The term disciple came to the English language by way of the Latin disciplulus meaning “a learner”. A disciple is one who learns from a teacher; a student. (Wikipedia)
We need to start thinking of our relationships with dogs similiar to how we view our relationship between parents and children. Dominance and submission have a negative connotation in our society but really at the heart of that relationship is one who makes the rules and one who follows the rules; boss, employee; teacher, student; mom, child. When we say we are our dogs parent; we really are, and we need to start acting like that by providing discipline. We need to teach the rules of the world we live in to our dogs. Often we think of discipline as punishment but thats not what it is… our dogs are our students and we have become the teacher.
Whenever I go into a home and notice they have human children as well as four leggers, (dogs) I ask them if the children get away with the same stuff. I’m not referring to the same actions such as pooping on the floor or biting people or even pulling on the leash, even though there are jokes they should put their children on a leash; I’m referring to the core of the relationship… Do they get away with not listening? “Absolutely Not” is usually the answer with a chuckle every now and again. They start to get it. We say our dogs are our children but really we treat them like spoiled prince’s and princesses. We wouldn’t allow our human children to get away with half the stuff our dogs get away with.
We need to start treating our human children and dogs the same; we just need to communicate with them in a different manner. With our human children we can talk to them because they are human, and with our dogs we need to communicate the way they communicate with each other; through physical and psychological pressure. Touching them is not the way to correct a dog. It is only used to get their attention; once you have their attention, the correction begins. What usually goes on is that we are distracting our dogs, not teaching them the lesson that what they just did was inappropriate. What most need to learn is how to correct correctly.
Blair Diamond Primal Needs Behavioral Solutions and Dog Training Sacramento Dog Psychology
