Posture
The first quality of a leader is their body posture.Dogs are very aware of human body language and they respond to this quite differently depending on how you’re acting. A tall posture commands more attention from a dog than a slouching posture and standing up is more commanding than sitting down. Now we don’t mean stomping your feet and walking around in an angry or demonstrative way, we are simply talking about the things your mom always used to tell you, “stand up tall, and straight and don’t slouch.
Attitude
The second attribute of a good leader is a calm attitude. Think about the kind of boss who commands respect. It’s not one who yells and demands attention. It’s one who just quietly supports you and is clear about what you need to be doing. We like to think of benevolent leaders when we are explaining how to be a good dog leader.
Consistency
The third aspect of good leadership is being consistent. Dogs take their cues from us. If you let them pull you down the hall every third time you walk them, they’re going to attempt to pull you every time. If you’re consistent in enforcing nice walking when you walk the dog down the hall, then they’ll learn that they don’t get away with pulling on the leash and they have to walk nice with you.
Proactive
The last quality of leadership that we’re focusing on is being proactive which this course is all about. Being able to read and understand dog body language is the most important tool you have in being proactive to intervene with our dogs. You will want to make sure you are reading the dogs body language and adjust or use calming signals to make the dog more comfortable.