The issue of Leadership in Dog Training

For those who promote learning based ideology the issue of leadership is set apart from any connection to physical force or dominance.   It is a warm and fuzzy image of the dog and owner holding hands, or paw and hand, together as they walk in a green field sharing some dog treats.  Leadership represents the owner walking one step ahead encouraging the dog to keep pace.  While this image sounds ridiculous it represents how the leadership is presented by this group of ideologues.   The issue of dominance, physical force and leadership is a convoluted mess because of the ideology being promoted.  Those who promote the anti-dominance agenda attempt to use learning theory as a foundational pillar to get out from underneath this issue.  This is where the real problem begins for those who are sold out to this belief system.  In my book, Mind and Body Kinetics, I explain the issue related to what I define as the physical response and relational disconnect.  This is where appearances can be very deceiving for those who are giving learning a unconditional green light.  What I show is that physical response is not always representative of relational change.  Just because a dog is going through the motions of the sit, down, come and stay does not always mean that real change is taking hold.  The ability to discern whether physical response is aligned properly comes through insight into how these relational dots connect.  The relational model I present not only offers hope for all dogs and owners but brings clarity to the leadership issue.  The sliding scale of success for any given learning based model is directly linked with how it meets a dogs individual relational needs.  If you are interested in understanding the relational issue I would encourage you to check out my site at http://www.k9pack.com.