Courteous Canine: A Leadership Program

The Canine Coach is one of Pet Haven's partners --- they help prepare our rescued dogs and train our fosters to become better "leaders." According to Maureen Haggerty, owner of The Canine Coach, "a leader is one who controls resources. Leadership has nothing to do with bullying, force or strength."

The following are excerpts from her article, Courteous Canine: A Leadership Program:

Dogs who lack self-confidence, who are destructive, demanding, or a bit “out of control” are often dogs that need structure, benevolent discipline and leadership in their lives. Dogs need to learn good manners and the rules of the house, just like our children. Dogs need and desire the structure provided by leadership. This handout describes how you can effectively become your dog’s leader and relish in the resulting manners from your dog.

The program goes like this: You will teach your dog to wait patiently for what he wants, effectively, teaching him to ask for permission before he makes his little life decisions. Suppose your dog wants on the sofa. Block him if he just tries without permission. Ask your dog to “sit”. When he complies and relaxes, then you can allow him up, if you wish....

As your dog learns that you control all of life’s valuable resources, you'll begin to notice that he is more focused on you and that he desires to follow your instruction. He is trusting that this is the best way to get what he needs (and a better chance he will get what he wants).

Click here for the full article.

Sonoma (pictured above) is just one of many adoptable dogs available through Pet Haven. She'll be at the Twins Game today from 10:30 - 12:30. She hopes you'll stop by and say hi so she can show you what she's doing to "train" her foster on becoming a better leader. Yes, we all know, "dog obedience" is really about training the humans not the dogs!! :)