Which of These 3 Leadership Mistakes are You Making with Your Pit Bull
Dogs need rules.
They thrive on consistent routines.
Dogs are at their best when they have a consistent routine they can rely on day in and day out.
The following mistakes are the most common I encounter when teaching new owners about giving their Pit Bull(s) rules and being a leader.
Leadership Mistake #1: Being a leader does not mean you should be harsh, physical or dominant.
Dominance is misunderstood by people.
Dominance does not mean aggressive, angry, harsh, or "hard.
" Being a leader requires soft, fair, consistent routine management and enforcement of the rules.
Not heavy handed aggressive dominating techniques.
If you find yourself yelling at your dog, you are not being a leader.
If you find yourself physically pushing your dog around, you are not being a leader.
Dogs see this type of behavior as unstable.
Dogs do not follow unstable leaders.
Leadership Mistake #2: Thinking rules are temporary.
I'm often asked, "When can I stop enforcing the rules?" Or "how long before I can stop doing these exercises?" My answer to both is, never.
Rules and leadership do not stop because you feel like your dog has improved.
You continue until the dog has passed on.
Leadership is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
No excuses or exceptions.
Leadership should be built into your daily routine with your dogs.
The exercises are not hard and the do not take hours of your time.
Each exercise is designed to fit into your daily routine so you can establish leadership but still live your life and enjoy your dog.
Leadership Mistake #3: Not following through on all the exercises.
For example, if you let your dog on the couch and then enforce the rules for 10 days and then break down and let your dog back on the couch but enforce your other rules, you have just taught your dog you will give in.
They will start to test you on everything else from that moment on.
You have to give the same answer to your dog until your dog stops asking the same question in order for the techniques to be effective.
The only way your dog will learn to respect you is if you win all the time and you are consistent in your enforcement of the rules.
Here's a rule of thumb I follow.
Breath, focus, detach, and then enforce the rules.
Do not take it personally when your dog misbehaves.
Simply correct the behavior and go on about your day.
They thrive on consistent routines.
Dogs are at their best when they have a consistent routine they can rely on day in and day out.
The following mistakes are the most common I encounter when teaching new owners about giving their Pit Bull(s) rules and being a leader.
Leadership Mistake #1: Being a leader does not mean you should be harsh, physical or dominant.
Dominance is misunderstood by people.
Dominance does not mean aggressive, angry, harsh, or "hard.
" Being a leader requires soft, fair, consistent routine management and enforcement of the rules.
Not heavy handed aggressive dominating techniques.
If you find yourself yelling at your dog, you are not being a leader.
If you find yourself physically pushing your dog around, you are not being a leader.
Dogs see this type of behavior as unstable.
Dogs do not follow unstable leaders.
Leadership Mistake #2: Thinking rules are temporary.
I'm often asked, "When can I stop enforcing the rules?" Or "how long before I can stop doing these exercises?" My answer to both is, never.
Rules and leadership do not stop because you feel like your dog has improved.
You continue until the dog has passed on.
Leadership is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
No excuses or exceptions.
Leadership should be built into your daily routine with your dogs.
The exercises are not hard and the do not take hours of your time.
Each exercise is designed to fit into your daily routine so you can establish leadership but still live your life and enjoy your dog.
Leadership Mistake #3: Not following through on all the exercises.
For example, if you let your dog on the couch and then enforce the rules for 10 days and then break down and let your dog back on the couch but enforce your other rules, you have just taught your dog you will give in.
They will start to test you on everything else from that moment on.
You have to give the same answer to your dog until your dog stops asking the same question in order for the techniques to be effective.
The only way your dog will learn to respect you is if you win all the time and you are consistent in your enforcement of the rules.
Here's a rule of thumb I follow.
Breath, focus, detach, and then enforce the rules.
Do not take it personally when your dog misbehaves.
Simply correct the behavior and go on about your day.
