I think there are certain things you NEED to train your dog to do for safety reasons, like not running out the door. Lexi is not perfect by any means, but when I say "sit", she sits, when I say "stay" she stays. I do make her sit and wait before going out the door until I give her permission, but she goes out in front of me. But when walking she always walks ahead of me, mainly my fault for not trainer her, but my point is I don't think just because she walks ahead of me, she thinks she is "in charge". She knows I'm in charge and when it counts, she will do what I say. She is also still young (8 months) so we are still working on some behaviors like getting over excited when the neighbor comes over to play with my son outside. He likes Lexi to chase him around which is fine for a few minutes, but Lexi has a hard time stopping and coming to me when I call her because she is having too much fun playing.
I think it's up to the owner on how much training they want to do with their dog. Some things should be done for safety reasons (your dog and others), but some things are optional. If you don't care that your dog walks out ahead of you, then so be it! |