Pack leadership

Question
Hello Labman,
I just want to know if a child/teenager can be a dog's pack leader, or do you have to be an adult?

Answer
Children do fine.  Dogs struggle with sorting out how the people in the pack rank.  The mother that feeds the children before eating herself and caters to the baby's every cry, confuses the dog.  Others and I frequently refer to top dog or alpha.  Really what is needed is for the primary dog trainer to out rank the dog.  I see many great examples of that at 4-H.  Wherever the child ranks in the family, clearly they dominate the dog.  Time after time, I have seen a slip of a girl barely outweighing the dog in total control.  This year it was a big Goldendoodle.  Children frequently are good choices to train the dog.  

From the material I hoard to pull out when appropriate:

With somebody the right age in the family, 4-H dog training is a great idea.
In my area, clubs form soon after the first of the year.  Even many urban
areas have 4-H.  For info look in your phone book under government listings
for extension or cooperative extension offices.  Ask specifically about a dog
or canine club.  The dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a
pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much
easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn
to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience
class.  A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/