Are you allowing rude, pushy, jumpy, whiny, reactive behavior, or are you enforcing calm, polite, and respectful behavior?
Are you maintaining a stable emotional state of mind in your dog, or are you feeding their wild, chaotic, thoughtless, reactive mind?
Are you leading your dog to be at ease in stressful situations, or are you leaning on your dog to keep YOUR emotions at ease?
Does your dog see you as a needy emotional annoyance or as an influential, balanced leader?
Our dogs serve us well. Taking the proper steps to maintain their mental stability is one of the best ways to give back. Our dogs look to us for guidance and leadership. Dogs can't verbally ask for help the way we humans do. If you listen, their behaviors will often scream, "I need help." Barking, Whining, Stressful panting, hypersalivation, and excessive pacing are a few signs that your dog is crying out for your help. How you respond to those signs will dictate how your dog sees you. Being a balanced leader for our dogs is a daily choice. It's often harder to stand up and lead our dogs out of their chaotic sides. The easier path is to watch, do nothing, and throw out stories (excuses) of how the dog was abused or mistreated as a puppy, so that's why they behave that way. Dogs behave in the manner that they are allowed to and what works for them. Behaviors are built on a belief system that acting that way gets what they want. Dogs behave how they are allowed to behave. Change their beliefs, punish the behaviors you don't like, guide them, reinforce the behaviors you do like, and watch the magic happen.