They are territorial creatures, and in the wild they would be checking the perimeter of their territory to see if strange predators are coming in. They’re very concerned with who is coming and going, because that effects their food supply and their ability to live. If a bunch of predators push in, then there’s pressure for resources. So dogs care about space on the larger scale.

But they also care about space on a smaller scale.  If I’m laying in the best spot and you come up and want that spot, do I have to move for you? Or do you move for me? Things like that matter to dogs.

If I jump on you and you move backwards and give me space, that’s a whole different message than if I jump on you and you move forward and take space from me. If you’re not manipulating space or having insight about space as you’re working with your dog, there are going to be lots of decisions that — to the dog’s mind — need to be made, and you’re not making them.

The dog will make those for you. The dog thinks, “They don’t really care. Or they’re oblivious. So I’ll make the decisions about space or activities.”

3. Dogs care about resources

This could be food, a toy or affection. Just like anybody else with a resource, the scarcer the resource is, the more it’s worth. So if you’re trying to give me a liver snap and I’m laying in a pile of liver snaps, it doesn’t really matter much. We want to control resources.

People kind of get that. They say, “If you’ll sit, I’ll give you a treat. If you are good I’ll pet you.” But control over resources is really important to the dog, and if we don’t control them when the dog thinks they need to be controlled, then we cede that control to the dog.

What I see a lot is that people have a romanticized ideal in their head: “I’m going to bring this dog into my home and we’re going to co-exist — you’re going to hang around and I’m going to hang around, and every once in a while something’s going to become important to me, and I’m going to have to tell you do something, but since I’m fair about not asking you to do many things, you’ll abide by wishes.”

But what the dog sees is: “There are important decisions that need to be made all day around here, and you don’t want to make any of them. I fact, you abdicate and make ME made them. And that can me feel aggressive or fearful or overwhelmed. And so if you make me those decisions all day, then when something important comes up, well guess what. I’m still going to make those decisions, human, because you don’t have any practice. You’re not qualified for the job.”

So what we need to do is live with our dogs in such a way that proves we know what’s important to them, that we have an opinion, we’d like to give input. Then when important things come up, the dog will look to you to ask, “Is this okay? Can I go there? Is it alright if I have this?” We want that kind of relationship.

Watch videos on Tod’s YouTube channel for some terrific examples of how he teaches this.

We’ve got to have engagement. That means you’re interested in what I have to say. Or you believe I have a controlling interest in space or resources. I don’t want to lord over my dog. You won’t see me doing Alpha roles.

— I’m not trying to dominate the dog. I want to be a partner with the dog, but I want to be senior partner. —

I want to make sure the dog gets that full respect. When a dog does something I like, I say “thank you”. You can be a leader without being a jerk. You can be a nice leader.

Is there one specific thing that’s the most difficult for dogs to learn?

Behavior is a habit, a repetition, so once a groove gets cut with repetition over the years, that can be a hard habit to reroute. It’s like a big river that runs through a valley. The longer that river has run, the deeper that gully is, the harder it is to move the river.

Probably the hardest thing for people to learn about d