The Pack
Requirements of a Healthy Pack (Family) Environment
A Human Aquires and Maintains the Role of "Pack Leader."
Consistent Demonstration of Leadership.
Leadership is Achieved Through Establishing Boundaries and a Healthy Routine.
Adequate Exercise, Nutrition, Love and Play.
Canines can live harmoniously with humans as long as their roles are well defined within the pack. This requires that one or preferably all humans are established as "Alpha's." (Pack leaders.)
You see, Fido is much happier as a non-decision making family member. (They're not much help balancing the family budget either.)
Achieving dominance is not enough. Canines look to a leader that possesses the attributes of Alpha. Some of these are:
Decisive
Fair
Confident
Calm
Assertive
A pack leader immediately lets the pack members know what to do at that precise moment. They are decisive. A pack leader doesn't question their instincts nor do they insecurely weigh their options. A pack leader is also fair, confident, (tail and head held high) and calm, yet assertive.
In the canine world there are no unstable leaders. In the animal
kingdom, humans are the only species that retain, respect and amazingly, will follow unstable leaders.
The pack dynamic is not unlike that of the nuclear family, where the parents, i.e. mom and dad, take pack leader roles; Establishing dinner schedules and the rules and consequences of certain behaviors within the family unit. (With canines consequences need to be in the moment. Dogs don't hold grudges.)
As a Pack Leader, you must supply the exercise, through walks and play-time. You supply the food /sustenance and you also supply the affection. Affection is best when given to an animal that is either in the proper state of mind or displaying a behavior that you would like to see repeated. (Relaxed, quiet and behaving as you desire.)
The human Alpha must always display a calm, assertive demeanor. Without these attributes, the animal perceives you as weak and not trustworthy and this puts Fido in awkward predicament; A member of an unbalanced pack that does not have a leader. Fido then does his/her best to step up and fill that role, but then becomes burdened with the responsibility of being dominant in a human world. This role is an unfair, unrealistic expectation of our canine companions.
A canine forced into this role often turns into a dangerous dog. This can also lead to other unwanted behaviors including; Anxiety, aggression and various obsessive/compulsive disorders.