Nothing in life is free

This training is actually more a behavioral philosophy. Now, this philosophy I have actually used and it works well. To start all your dog needs to know is sit.

Anything the dog wants - food, a game - all must be paid for. For example, before the dog is allowed to go outside it must sit and wait patiently for a leash to be attached. Our dog sits for everything, she has even created a few more complicated commands all by herself to get better treats. The dog learns that to get dinner she must sit and wait patiently until you as pack leader allow the dog to eat, normally with a command like "okay".

This philosophy works well in that it reaffirms the pack leaders status. Humans need to be the Alpha in a dogs world. Dogs are rarely happy taking over the Alpha spot, but will if they do not see anyone doing it.

Links on this philosophy --

• http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm -- Page on several behavioral problems in dogs.
• http://www.mspca.org/springfield/index_leadrules.htm -- MSPCA leadership rules.
• http://www.nevadahumanesociety.org/nilif.htm -- Nevada Humane Society summary.

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