Think of animals in nature. How do animals find food and shelter? No one brings them their food. They have to go find it. Unfortunately, many misguided “trainers” deny nature and the way dogs actually do think. Dogs think like dogs because they ARE dogs. If a Maltese, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a mix breed, and five other dogs all wandered around and found each other, would they not form a group? Of course they would. They would seek each other out to survive.
So how does this relate to dogs and other animals? Dogs need to recognize that someone else is in charge. Their owner a must first create a bond of trust and respect with the dog so that the dog will see the human as their guardian who is in charge of her in every aspect of life.
A great way to establish a bond, and a way to establish who is “in charge” is to practice a technique called “Hunt, Wait, Eat”.
When we refer to the word hunt, we do not mean that you will actually be out slinging your quiver of arrows across your neighbor’s front yard with a crossbow. We also are not bringing a gun with us nor knives. We are talking about a symbolic hunt for food. After all, without humans, how would dogs acquire food?
Some dogs seem to have their nose to the ground and are always searching for food. A stray crumb, a hotdog in a toddler’s hand, or a piece of kibble far beneath a cabinet are all potential sources of food. This is primal. Dogs are hunters and will find food even if it doesn’t seem edible to a human.
When your dog is searching for food, and particularly if the leash is long enough and the collar or harness is allowing him to pull like a sled dog, your dog becomes the leader. Dogs are very physical beings. They see that they are ahead of you and thus assume that they are in charge. You are unfortunately behind them and sometimes you become the waterskier while your dog is the towboat. If you allow your dog to be out perhaps twenty feet or more on a retractable leash, your dog is further confused because now he is not only leading you but he is your scout searching out danger long before you arrive.
The “hunt walk” must be off your property with your dog beside or behind you. If your dog is a strong puller then consider the use of an anti-pull device that does not put pressure on the throat. Our strong reccomendation is for a particular type of device called the Gentle Leader(R) head collar. Make sure to fully read the instruction in setting it up and watch the enclosed DVD, but in this way, you will be able to keep your dog safely and comfortably by your side without the use of prong collars, choker chains, shock collars without damaging your dog and his trachea.
Again, in nature when a group of animals kills something or they come across a food source, who would typically eat first? Would the elderly and babies eat first like we do with humans? Well, humans would feed the babies first, then the elderly and then woman and finally men. Charles Darwin would roll over in his grave knowing some of the oddball philosophies and training techniques out there. Survival of the fittest or Natural Selection, occur in nature and are actually prevalent in humans as well. But in nature, the strongest would be eating first because it is their job to provide for their families and to protect them from harm. If we feed the babies and elderly first, and the strongest men last, the leaders will become weak and unable to protect the group. While the guardian or strongest member of the group is eating, what is the rest of the group doing? They are waiting until it is their turn to eat. How do dogs know when it is their turn? Well, that is determined in the first month or two of birth. The puppy who can place his mouth over the muzzle of every other puppy is in charge followed by the puppy who can place his mouth over the muzzle of all but one puppy. He is second in command and so on and so on.
After the “hunt” wait between 15 to 45 minutes to feed the dog. The waiting period represents the time it took for all the other members of the group to eat before your pet eats. If you wait much longer than 45 minutes, your dog may forget about the walk he was just on. This gives the dog a sense of hierarchy in a very gentle and natural way.
Also, take dry paper towels and hand one to each family member. Have each family member rub their scent on the paper with their hands as if they are drying them with a paper towel. Do not use wet ones. This will transfer the scent of whoever you were near or touched. Take the paper towels and place them in a resealable plastic bag so that all of the smells mix. Then take one paper towel out and place it in the bag of kibble. Use yet another paper towel to place scent on the dog’s bed and toys, and make sure to have everyone’s smell on each paper towel.
Once each of the family members has eaten, it is now finally time for the dog to symbolically eat. Don’t force your dog to undergo an elaborate repertoire of tricks but rather place the food down reminding the dog not yet to take it, and place the bowl on the ground or on the stand and say the words “Okay” and walk away. This will ingrain in the dog the fact that this is YOUR food and not his. All the different smells on the food will remind your dog that he is not number one but is rather low man on the totem pole.
