Almost every dog owner has heard of them. The infamous leadership qualities that are said to enable you to steer and guide your dog like a thread and make dog training a breeze.
Leading your dog means taking responsibility for him, his development and his actions, guiding him, supporting him, and protecting him. Also, you have to let him know when he is behaving inappropriately or when he is in danger.
Certain people are simply born as “leaders”?
This may happen in individual cases, but it is more likely to be the exception than the rule. Certain personality traits may help to develop leadership qualities. But they are by no means the sole guarantee that your dog will actually be a sovereign leader. Personality traits are just one piece of the mosaic of many building blocks that can help you develop leadership qualities.
What makes a dog owner leader: The individual building blocks
Mental strength and optimism
The stronger you are mentally stable as a person, the less you feel fears, doubts or insecurities. Mental strength not only comes into play in everyday life, but especially in uncomfortable, stressful or conflict-ridden circumstances.
As a rule, they are characterized by a high degree of basic optimism and assume that they will also find appropriate solutions to their problem. For them, the glass is half full rather than half empty.
Planned and goal-oriented action
Setting firm goals and creating an actionable plan are classic leadership traits. If you don’t have a goal or a plan, you won’t approach tasks and challenges with optimism.
Of course, it is easiest in dog training if you have clearly defined future goals for you and your dog from day one and are continuously working towards them. This will prevent you from many problems. You will then automatically proceed in a more planned manner from the start. You both counteract the emergence of some difficulties and also pay more conscious attention to teaching your dog desired actions very precisely and correctly.
Willingness to make decisions
Willingness to make decisions means that you, as the leader, make the sensible and important decisions in your dog’s life.
This can be the rather trivial decision that your dog really has to stay in his basket even though the refrigerator door opens. It can also be an instruction that you find tricky in the situation.