Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Pet

with Ed Frawley

72 Videos

4 hours, 29 minutes

This course is for dogs 10 months or older. For dogs younger than 10 months, we recommend you use our puppy pack structure plan instead: Living with Your Puppy: Establishing Pack Structure

The goal of this course is a calm, submissive dog. Our pack structure training program aims to produce a dog that is calm and submissive and a dog that follows the rules of the pack leader. This course teaches people how to become a pack leader that their dog respects and loves.

Most people are not born pack leaders. In fact far from it. The majority of dog owners (many who have owned dogs their entire lives) simply don’t know anything about the instincts that control our dogs or how strong these instincts are in the domestic dog. Oh, people may have heard that they need to be a "pack leader" or they may have heard they need to be an "ALPHA" with their dog but they don’t understand what this really means or how to accomplish it.

Current shows on TV about dog training lead people to think they can deal with behavioral problems but the fact is these shows are often misleading. In many cases, these TV shows offer limited to dangerous advice that only a professional dog trainer with years of experience should attempt. While these shows are interesting to watch, because the dog owners are so inept, they don’t offer a program that pet owners can follow.

Many men think being a pack leader simply means they have to dominate and control their dog, even if they have to put a choke collar on the dog and show him the “WHAT IF” when the dog doesn’t mind.

Many women think none of this really matters so they ignore it – because they love their little dog like one of their children.

Our DVD outlines a program that I have developed over the past 45 years of owning, breeding, and training German Shepherds. This program works on every breed of dog and dogs of all ages. This program is the foundation for solving almost all behavioral problems, especially those related to aggression.

New pet owners are often told the road to a calm, submissive dog is to attend obedience classes and socialize with their dog. In our opinion, this is not correct. The road to a calm dog is to first establish pack structure and leadership. When that's done you can obedience train your dog.

Dogs are pack animals. Every breed of dog is hard-wired with genetic pack instincts. From the smallest Chihuahua to the largest Great Dane, dogs want to live in a family pack. Once they find their pack they genetically need to determine their rank within that pack.

Dogs need a pack structure before obedience training. The vast majority of dogs do not want to be pack leaders. They are much more comfortable when someone else becomes a pack leader and they are happiest when this job is taken by their owner.

Once a dog accepts a pack leader, that dog becomes calm and submissive. The dog knows his new pack leader will take care of all of life's needs. He understands his leader feeds him, waters him, exercises him, and protects him from stray dogs and bad people. The dog learns that guests to the home are the pack leader's guests and not intruders or people for the dog to either play with or become aggressive towards.

With this said the road to a calm, submissive dog is to first establish leadership. This DVD explains the foundation on how to get your dog ready for obedience training. Once that's done, the pack leader can introduce his rules and begin to obedience train his or her dog.

My groundwork program teaches a dog that your family is now his family pack and that you are the pack leader. The road to leadership teaches the dog that "YOU HAVE RULES" that you expect him to live by. It's through the application and enforcement of these rules that the dog learns that you are a consistent fair leader.

The goal of this program is to not only establish leadership but to allow the dog to maintain his dignity. When I introduce my rules, I do so in ways that create a clear level of communication and respect.

I like to remind people that hundreds of thousands of dogs with behavioral problems go through obedience classes every year. The vast majority of these dogs come out of class with exactly the same problem they had when they started training. That's because most obedience classes teach exercises (i.e. come, sit, stay, and down) and ignore pack structure training.

The reason we have so many dog rescues that are full of dogs; so many dog bites; so many behavioral problems; and so many dog fights is because owners don't establish pack structure and leadership.

When you establish leadership and a meaningful bond with your dog you will both wake up every day wanting to spend time together. Don't ever underestimate the happiness this kind of relationship can bring to your life.