Perfect your leadership role with your dog - with the 4 hats!
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Published 2023-03-02
Therefore, we need to adapt our ideas and training philosophy to each dog. If you have an anxious dog, you will treat it differently to an aggressive dog. If you have a bold confident dog that wants to take you on you will treat it differently to a shy dog. If you have a dog with separation anxiety, you will treat it differently to one who wants to be left alone. Yet dog training ideas puts us all into camps that polarises our thinking. For example, purely positive reinforcement training vs pack theory. Positive punishment vs negative punishment. As well as multiple other approaches that end up in the mix such as E-collar training, games to play with your dog, obedience training and much much more. Once one loosely identifies with an approach they debate their ideas over the internet to whom is correct. The truth being there are many ways.
"The 4 Leadership Hats of Dog Training" by Nigel Reed, also known as "The Dog Guardian," are as follows:
The Nurturer Hat: This hat represents providing care, support, and affection to your dog. It involves nurturing their emotional well-being, building trust, and creating a safe and loving environment.
The Coach Hat: This hat emphasises the role of guiding and teaching your dog. It involves setting clear boundaries, establishing rules, and using positive reinforcement techniques to encourage desired behaviours and discourage unwanted ones.
The Authority Hat: This hat represents being a calm and assertive leader for your dog. It involves establishing yourself as the authority figure in your dog's life and providing consistent guidance and structure. This hat focuses on promoting respect and obedience.
The Bodyguard Hat: This hat highlights the importance of ensuring your dog's safety and protecting them from potential dangers. It involves being vigilant and aware of your surroundings, identifying potential threats, and taking necessary measures to keep your dog secure.
By incorporating these four leadership hats into your approach to dog training, you can establish a balanced and respectful relationship with your dog, promote their well-being, and foster a positive training experience.
The 4 leadership hats of dog training gives you the mental flexibility to adapt your approach to each dog. You can wear one hat at a time up to all 4 hats or any mixture, depending on the situation. The 4 hats of dog training is about the energy you bring to your leadership position which conveys a powerful message of your intentions.
Watch the video to find out more and be sure to like, comment and share to spread the word.
** THANK YOU **
For more information on dog's behaviour and behavioural issues, have a look at the following links: My website: www.thedogguardian.com/
My book: 'The Dog Guardian, Your Guide to a Happy, Well-Behaved Dog': Amazon Universal Link: geni.us/nigel-reed Canine behaviour courses: ·
Online Courses: www.thedogguardian.com/online-dog-training-courses ·
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** PS: I NEED YOUR HELP **
My goal is to better the lives of #onemilliondogs in my lifetime. It is clearly impossible for me to do this on a one to one basis. I have seen that with around every thousand views on my videos, I get a comment or email thanking me and letting me know the video has helped. So working on that basis, I have to make videos on how to address every problem behaviour and accumulate ONE billion views in order to help 1,000,000 dogs. You can help me reach #onemilliondogs by (1) subscribing to my channel and (2) give this video a thumbs up - so YouTube suggests this video to more dog owners and we can help 1,000,000 dogs all over the world. Thank you so much! --------------#understandingdogtraining #the4leadershiphatsofdogtraining
All Comments (21)
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Hello Nigel. I find your videos really honest and inspiring.
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Thanks for that video.I have a GSD, she has a beautiful nature, but when the postman comes she goes crazy. Putting her in another room doesn't stop her barking like mad.
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A lot to take Nigel, but you do know how to get the message across 👏🏼
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Thanks Nigel for this really interesting video. My dog' mother was a stray dog who died when the pups were about 8 weeks old (this is a guess). The 3 pups were found at 2 weeks interval after her death. The pup I got was found 6 weeks after the death of her mother, and having had to survive on her own and make fundamental decisions she still retains a basic stubborness that is at times difficult to deal with. It often ends up in a kind of "clash" between her will and mine. She is now 8.5 years old. But i am consistent when I ask her to do something and don't back up. I never shout at her.
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Vlad lives in our house. I'm trying to become the bodyguard, but he still think he needs to be mine! Great video @Nigel😊
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Thank you!
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Thanks
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This is so helpful! It’s often confusing when I learn about leadership. It’s typically encouraged through authority. But if I’m trying to practice leash training the suggestion is coaching or making it fun somehow. Being out on a walk brings up so many combinations of needs that I never know what to stick with. This makes so much sense that it’s not one way. Thanks! Right now I’m trying to get my two dogs to walk well together. But they are all over the place.
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Well done, Nigel. I am wearing all these hats since we met last Friday. Nellie is progressing quite nicely. Slow and sure wins the race.
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Love this one! I have an 8 yr old that seems to be changing from confident to something else. More aggressive towards other dogs unless in the dog park. Re reading your book to get better at figuring out what he needs from me.
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Thanks Nigel, I have a working cocker(but a pet) who will be 2 in June. He is a happy chappy loves other dogs loves to play, loves to swim, but where he is challenging he is a thief of food and will surf the kitchen work tops on his tippy toes with that long tongue out. He definitely is better but this is his and my challenge.
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My girl loves to be in control, she is 2. When in the house she is mostly calm easy going, but in the garden or on walks she is reactive towards other dogs. It's something I've been working on with her for over a year now but I feel like my bodyguard hat struggles to get put on as I can get quite anxious, especially with off lead dogs. I know it doesn't help her when we're out but it's something I'm finding incredibly difficult to control. She has come a long way in the past year. She can remain calm around dog from a decent distance now and it not be a problem, but if that dog across the road is an issue and she definitely needs more space. We're both working on it slowly, but I know I need to try and control my anxiety to show her that i'll protect her!
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Great video have 2 rottweilers younger 1 is reactive randomly goes through phase of being totally unreactive then some low level pulling towards dogs I've been using methods from your book which definitely help. Like the hat idea helps me understand I need to wear a different hat in various situations thanks 👍👍👍👍👍
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I do like to wear a selection of hats 🤠
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Im always happy when theres an opportunity to protect my dog bc that builds up her trust in me. no idea if I do it right, but I try to for example chase away a dog that approaches her too fast. Cant take her up. I wish I could, that was awsome. mine is a GWP who was abandoned probably, very good girl, only separation problems and a strong hunting instinct but we get better, its month four for us together. I ordered your book, we will study it
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We have two rescued Romanian dogs, one is an 11 year old street dog. We've had her just over a year, at home she's loving and cuddly. She's a small dog and when she's out walking, she can be (not always) very reactive. Problem we are having is, she seems to have so many triggers, we never known when she will try to bite someone or other dogs and people. Or she might be friendly and playful. Our other dog is 7 and we've had him since he was 16 weeks, he's very chilled and overly friendly
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I feel like I can't hear this message about hats too many times!
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I think my dog thinks we are pretty even. If i think hes hurt i would run over to him to check him out but when ive been ill he runs over to me and gives me support so hes kind of mirrored me. When we get outside though he forgets I'm there. Hes either excited or anxious. He wants to take charge but im not sure he's as confident as he acts. Hes very driven by the smells too as he's still intact. We cross the road to pass dogs and he does good at this now but he still stares sometimes. We met the dog that kicked off his reactivity a week ago by chance and since then hes gone from being much calmer to a bit of a pest so i think this might have worried him. Im also having problems when i go out with my friends dog. He wont come right back to me because the other dog is a bit food reactive so he keeps his distance as the other dog always comes no matter who im calling. I was helping teach my friends dog recall and hes very keen to recall for treats but its ruining my recall. I was very happy to have a dog to socialise my dog with at first but im finding in the beginning it was teaching my dog that dogs are ok but now they are teaching each other some bad habits 🤦🏻♀️. My friend isnt as interested in dog training as me.
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Nigel I have 2 dogs. One who will listen to me no matter what. The other who is 2 years old wants to do all things his way. All toys are his. He wants to walk ahead of me all the time. Wants to lunge at people and dogs to say hello to all of them. Loves to jump on people to get hugs and kisses. I think I should have named him no clover cause that’s what I say all day every day. And yes they r both shelter dogs. But so very different in personalities. Love both of them to bits
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Great explanation Nigel! My spitz dog Caesar has a mix of many issues! He puts boundaries to everyone and guards certain things and places. He is reactive to children and vehicles on walks. He likes to take control and acts confident, but we can clearly sense that he's fearful behind all the show! Nowadays he barks at vehicles and looks at me like - "Mom, Are you proud of me? I just chased that bike away" while I would be saying "no" all the time. I think I need to work on the bodyguard hat during walks to assure him. Any advice would be appreciated!
