Our Philosophy
The Power of Positive Leadership
Dog whispering, as we practice it, is about communicating with dogs in a way that they understand, using energy, body language, and touch. It’s about teaching dogs to have trust and respect for the “leaders,” the humans in their families. Dogs have come a long way from their wolf ancestors, but they still resonate with the “leader-follower” relationship, and are generally much happier to be the followers and let someone else have the responsibility of being in charge.
Leadership, in our practice, is not about “dominance” in the way that most people think of it…as in, you have to DOMINATE your dog…be the “ALPHA DOG.” To many, that implies the use of force or intimidation. We see leadership as an inner posture of calm authority. It’s about seeing ourselves as strong and capable of protecting and providing for our dogs. It’s a calm and positive energy that tells our dogs that they don’t have to be in charge, because we’ve got it covered.
Our job, as leaders, is to PROTECT and PROVIDE. Dogs are pack animals and in their psyche, you are either a leader or a follower. They look to us to provide direction. If we fail at that job, our dogs—most of them reluctantly—will step into that void and take charge. This is basically where the wheels fall off the cart behavior-wise, and we start to see issues like aggression, fearfulness, separation anxiety, relentless barking and many others.
Positive leadership is the foundation of good dog behavior and a good human-dog relationship. Good leadership produces stable well-behaved dogs. Isn’t this what we really want?