Gentling is Mindful Leadership. It diminishes fear and stress - two primary causes of behavior problems.

Gentling is to be a leader who is mindful of the dog's needs.

It extinguishes fear and stress; builds confidence and teaches coping skills. Gentling is not just for puppies, but for every dog - and especially the insecure rescued dog.

Mindful Leadership forms the foundation for lifelong companionship with your dog. It is for dog lovers who want the best possible relationship with their dog.

For dog lovers who understand that dogs need rules and boundaries to feel save, but believe to teach them gently, not with force and physical control.

We decide to live with a dog, thus it is our responsibility to put her first - like we would a child, a human dependent. That includes welcoming her into our social group, instilling emotional safety, caring for her basic needs, and fulfilling her breed and individual needs.

Making decisions with the dog's best interest in mind includes when we make travel plans. Traveling with a dog can be a lot of fun, and has become much easier with more and more accommodations that are pet friendly, for example:
Pet Friendly Disney vacation homes and rentals.

Without trust there is no respect, no willingness to work and learn. Trust comes first, and a dog only trusts humans that are 100% non-threatening and non-punitive.

Once the dog trusts, she is eager to be near us, is attentive and voluntarily heeding our cues and, as a result, is well-behaved.

Read how, through gentling, our dogs are reliably well-behaved.

Mindful Leadership and gentle teaching methods does not mean to be permissive or touchy/feely. There is a difference between building a trusting, close-bonded relationship, and catering to or indulging in your dog. The former leads to voluntary compliance and a well-behaved canine partner; the latter to an entitled, and possibly aggressive, brat.

Mindful Leadership achieves superiority through:

Resource control - providing opportunities for the dog to get what he wants while making access dependent on behavior.

Protection - understanding and respecting the dog’s limitations and making decisions that are in the dog’s interest.

The beauty of it is that you don’t have to be physically stronger and more aggressive than your dog. Size doesn’t matter when you control your dog’s mind instead of his body.


Mindful Leadership takes the blame away from the dog and puts the responsibility for a harmonious, successful relationship squarely on the owner’s shoulders– and that is where it belongs.

To establish a leadership relationship can take some time, especially if the dog’s trust has been broken in the past, which is the case with most abandoned and rescued dogs. These dogs have to be guided gently and patiently into emotional safety by their owners.

Mindful leadership teaches insecure and reactive dogs to deal with fears and frustrations gently and patiently. Practiced self-control exercises, for example a down-stay or default eye contact, are tools that help dogs to cope. Humans have to practice self-control in panicky circumstances – and so do dogs. With the reactive one, reliable self-control and obedience only works after a certain amount of trust, emotional safety and social connection has been established. Without trust, the dog resists to be led and has to be controlled and forced.

Read more about the philosophical differences between Mindful Leadership and alpha-ism


Mindful Leadership is a lifestyle choice, not a training method. It forms the foundation for a rewarding human/dog relationship on which all technical training is built on.

Mindful Leadership is simple, but not easy. The results aren’t achieved quickly, but are permanent.

Once accomplished, anything is possible: dog sports, tracking, obedience, off-leash hikes and parks. You can take your dog with you anywhere dogs are allowed to be.

Once established, you don’t run into problems when your dog’s environment changes, for example a move, or baby on the way. Even when in conflict, she will trust you and take her cues from you, because you proved in the past that you are able to make consistently decisions that provide what she wants and needs, and keeps her safe. You proved that when she makes a mistake, you redirect gently.

If you don’t have Mindful Leadership, your mechanical, technical training efforts only lead to limited success, regardless which method you choose.

Read what steps it takes to become a Mindful Leader