When bringing your new dog home, the first thing you must do when you reach your home is take the dog for a long, long walk. Be sure you are walking your dog in the proper, "pack leader" position.

Walk at least one hour. This will give the dog a sense of his new neighborhood/surroundings. It also starts building the bond of trust, and establishes you as the pack leader.

You will also be draining the dog's energy. This will make the dog less likely to be anxious or nervous about the new home.

When returning home from your one hour walk, it is important that you enter your home properly. That means you enter the home first. Literally. You walk through the door first. Then the dog comes in. This is establishing the heirarchy of your home. You are the pack leader. You enter first. The dog is the pack follower. The dog enters after the pack leader.

If this is when the other members of the household are meeting the dog for the first time, they must meet the dog properly. That means they must stand calmly and quietly while the dog approaches them to smell them and learn their scent. That is the proper way to meet a dog. Anything else is rude in dog language.

The next step is to introduce the dog to the rest of the new home. Don't just let the dog wander throughout the house. That allows the dog to claim the entire house as it's own. Then it is no longer your home that you are sharing with your new dog. It is now the dog's home that it is sharing with you.

In order to keep the role as pack leader, and the dog as pack follower, you must give the dog permission to do everything. That means you enter every room you are going to allow the dog into first. Then invite the dog in. You enter first, then invite the dog in. Pack leader. Pack follower. If there are rooms that the dog will not be allowed into, don't allow the dog to enter. You are establishing the rules of your household. It's your house. You are the pack leader.

It is important that the next day start what will become your dog's regular schedule. First thing is to go for a long walk, with your dog in the proper pack follower position. Feed your dog when you return home. Don't make a big deal out of feeding time. We don't want a dog to get excited, and jump about just because we are giving it food. We want a calm dog that will wait until you give it permission to eat. Like a good pack leader would do. After its meal, when the dog is nicely calm, you can give it affection. Physical affection. Verbal affection. Then the dog should rest while you get ready for your day.

When leaving your home, don't make a big deal of it. If you have to leave your dog at home all day, practice going out and coming into the house many times before you actually leave the dog alone. Make sure the dog is calm and relaxed before you leave or enter the home. This is where the good long walk helps your dog remain calm and relaxed because its energy has been drained. Although this process may take some time, you must remain calm and relaxed until you get the behavior you want from your dog. Then you can leave or enter the home. The hardest thing about achieving good dog behavior is the patience factor of the human dealing with the dog. You will get the behavior you want, but are you patient enough to wait it out until you do get that behavior?

As simple as these things sound, they establish the relationship you are going to have with your dog from day one. Do you want your dog to recognize you as his confident pack leader, or do you want the dog to run the house?

What most people don't realize is that dogs WANT a confident pack leader. Dogs NEED a confident pack leader. If you do not provide that for them, they feel compelled to fill that role. That is when problems start. The dog charges the fence or front door, because it is the pack leader and someone has invaded its territory. The dog becomes possesive of its food or toys, because it is the pack leader and doesn't have to share with subordinate pack followers,(you and your family).

The sooner you give your dog the opportunity to see you and all other family members are the confident pack leader, the sooner the dog will relax and be a calm new member of your household/pack.

Isn't that what we all want from our dog?

To learn more about being a confident pack leader for your dog, you can get Cesar Millan's books, "Cesar's Way", and "Be the Pack Leader". They cover more thoroughly how to properly interact with your dog.

You can also schedule a behavior/pack leadership session with local behaviorist Leah Bauer at 540-0006.

What better life can we provide for our dogs than one that is fullfilling to the dog, and provides what the dog TRULY needs.