Houston Dog Trainer Uses The Pack Training Approach

A Language Your Dog Already Understands

Houston Dog trainer, Martin Bell understands that the canine world is surprisingly simple, perhaps so much so that it can be difficult to apply the concept of pack mentality to your relationship with your dog. Unlike dogs, people have a more complex hierarchy that fits the higher-order needs beyond the more basic:  survival and reproduction. Houston Dog Trainer, Martin Bell understands that Dogs don’t have ulterior motives, they don’t exact revenge and they don’t worry about tomorrow. The foundation of the pack mentality that has been embedded in our dogs comes from that of their wolf ancestors. Although dogs are certainly a more diverse species than wolves, with more breed-specific instincts like herding, the pack mentality remains unchanged. It’s all they understand and if you speak that very basic language, you already have the upper hand in terms of pack leadership.  Contact a Houston dog trainer today.

Martin Bell the Houston Dog Trainer on why Pack Training Makes Sense

Much like wolves, dogs instinctively work as a pack with other dogs, as well as with their owners, other people, and other animals. Pack mentality has but two roles in a hierarchy: leader and follower. A dog is one or the other and nothing else exists or matters. Every action and reaction a dog exhibits is a result of pure instinct based on pack mentality in relation to the pack leader. When a dog is newly introduced into an established pack of dogs, other animals, and people, it learns which member is the leader by watching the behavior of other members. Social structure in dog packs, in this respect, is similar to that of humans and it’s easy to identify who in a group is a natural leader.

Houston Dog Trainer Experts Understands That Challenging behaviors happen for a reason

Dogs who are unbalanced will generally become reactive to an environment that is, in their instinctual terms, unpredictable. Imagine your environment has become completely unpredictable because those you trust suddenly start speaking a foreign language. Any person, or dog, in such a situation would understandably become wrought with fear and may even lash out in fear. They might also become more isolated, since nothing makes sense and their world is no longer “safe.” This is typically the mindset of the aggressive, fearful dog who exhibits challenging behaviors. Dog don’t have words to express their fears, they react, with the only body language they understand: cowering, submissive urination, destructive behaviors and aggression. When a dog has reached this point of imbalance, training them individually to restore the balance is more conducive than trying to force them into a pack.

Dogs with challenging behaviors benefit from one-on-one pack leadership training with a Houston Dog Trainer

Dogs who don’t have structure, predictability and especially, don’t have pack leadership are generally not initially conducive to an immersion into a pack environment, regardless of its’ inherent stability. These dogs derive the most benefit from one-on-one intensive training as an individual to restore their balance to a stable pack mentality. Working one-on-one with dogs that have challenging behaviors also provides the trainer with the ability for immediate correction and redirection of the dog’s mentality to one of pack member. The trainer becomes, through working closely with your dog, the pack leader and instinctively, your dog then follow their lead. Over time, this relationship can be incorporated into socializing with people, other animals and other dogs. When the dog has an established pack leader, their expectations for behavior in and outside of the pack, are understood. The quality of their behavior, in turn, is a reflection of the quality of the leadership they have.

Pack leadership training is effective for several reasons

Martin Bell, a Houston Dog Trainer knows that Dogs respond positively to pack leadership training primarily because it involves speaking a language they understand. This removes the inherent fears associated with an unpredictable environment that can involve punishment or misinterpreted signals. Dogs who defer to a calm, assertive pack leader, Houston Dog Trainer Martin Bell,  no longer have to be reactive and can instead fit themselves into a comfortable role within their pack and within their environment. Firm correction is far more effective in changing a dog’s challenging behaviors than punishment, which often causes more challenging reactive behaviors. In the wild, adult wolves and particularly the alpha male and female of a pack, will apply correction for unwanted behavior of other members. This however, does not imply punishment, as wolves seldom if ever actually cause injury when correcting a pack member. Additionally, the leadership role serves as a contextual environment for the other pack members and provides positive reinforcement through protection, providing food and predictability. This is the primary way all wolves, and dogs, learn and it is the psychology behind the proper correction of unwanted behavior.  Houston Dog Trainer, Martin Bell has trained thousands of dogs with all kinds of problems from anti social nervous behavior to aggression problems.  Rescue dogs in need of balance or simply the family pet can benefit from Houston Dog Trainer Pack Training approach.

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