This kinda reminds me of someone saying my dog never listens to me. Then you hear them call the dog a million times in a minute.

Well, I agree with all of you. Especially that leadership is a personality thing, and it is difficult if not impossible to actually teach people to behave this way (consistently) when it goes against their personality. Dogs are amazingly adaptable creatures proven time and again over the years. I find myself reminding people that dogs haven't changed that much over the years, yes temperaments may have softenend somewhat but our approach to them has become almost as child psychologists which is not what they need or want from us as leaders & owners etc. I hear people make comments to me that I'm mean of tough because the rules in my world never change. Someone just this week, after seeing me work my malinois puppy briefly said "that's why I like terriers because they always challenge me" She only saw that the dog respects me and that didn't appeal to her. She doesn't see us interact every day. It's partially an ego thing (I think) that some people want the dog jumping on them and overly excited when they're around. But, then also want a switch to turn it off. No wonder dogs are confused.
~Angela

Amber,

That was a very interesting excerpt from your grandfather's journals, thank you for sharing with us a piece of literature with such sentimental value to you. That piece of writing is, I think, why we are all 'here' in the first place; to learn from the insight and experience of other trainers, owners, handlers, etc. I would love to read more...

 Quote: patricia powers

i will just say this: "while you are busy evaluating the character and temperament of your dog, you can be sure that he is also doing the same to you."

You are absolutely right!

 Quote: Bradley T. Martin

Amber,

That was a very interesting excerpt from your grandfather's journals, thank you for sharing with us a piece of literature with such sentimental value to you. That piece of writing is, I think, why we are all 'here' in the first place; to learn from the insight and experience of other trainers, owners, handlers, etc. I would love to read more...

Thanks Bradley. Those journals are really fascinating. I think I must have gotten not only my love for dogs from him, but also my love of writing! Wish I could have known him in person.

This is intensely interesting to think about.

I'm VERY new to Ed's teachings and to this board -- the idea of being a pack leader and everything never even crossed my mind until I suddenly inherited 3 additional dogs (turning the total into 4), complete with fights.

What you wrote here made my eyes pop. I guess what I'm saying is that I underestimated the POWER of attitude. Thanks for showing me, at least, just how much it can do.

Netanya

I think your grandfather was probably a "natural". Dogs just seem to drawn to certain people, and others they barely tolerate. The rest of the folks, I think it depends on their actions and body language. I've raised my dog since she was 8 wk's old, and I've spent alot of time with her everyday. I feed her, take care of her,and play with her.She's sleeps at the foot of the bed, and as far as she's concerned, I'm the man. Everything comes from me ,food play, and security.I love my dog and my little girl.They know that, and we are a family. Just the three of us, so the dog get's alot of attention, and therefore behaves well.I joined this forum to learn more about dog training,so the three of us can do more things together. The better behaved Haley is the more she can be included in our activities. The dog wants to please, it's just a matter of learning how to communicate my expectations to her. For that I thank Ed and others who share their experince on this board. I do believe some are just gifted when it comes training dogs.

I believe that you are right when you say some are gifted, but I am not so sure that the word gifted is the right word. Some people just exude a confident personna. It's called leadership.

You're confident and dogs see this. They (dogs) know a leader from a mile away. People can achieve this with their pets but some people can achieve it with any dog they come into contact with and some people never will achieve it. It may be a gift or it may be a personal trait. If everyone in the world were leaders then I think humanity would have failed a few thousand years ago.

I say first hand when I attended the Triple Crown school that not all people can become dog trainers. Becoming a dog trainer is easy for some and very, very difficult for others. Our class was 26-28 people starting out, only half that amount graduated the course. We saw it all, from the lazy to the abusive. I was very surprised at the difficulty that some people had even getting a dog to sit, let alone come back to them under distraction.

I also think your grandfather was a very smart and unique man. I would love to read those journals, you are a lucky person to get to know you grandfather through them. You are getting a double bonus, getting to know your grandfather and learning about dogs. What more could a person ask for?

Thanks Chris, I also think I'm pretty lucky to get ahold of these journals. It's weird because my father knows I've been training dogs for a decade and he never thought to mention these journals until recently!

But then again, the interest in dogs must have skipped a generation (my dad really doesn't care about dogs one way or another...he's a cat person) so he didn't really think the journals were all that interesting. "They're only about dogs," he said. My father, Captain Obvious!

A... "cat person".. what's that?!?