Dog Training for Managers

About the Book

Dog Training for Managers is a serious work of advocacy for the good, effective, and intentional leadership of all kinds of intelligent creatures. The best leadership practices are universal in philosophy and benefit both parties in the relationship. Dog Training for Managers is particularly well suited to anyone wishing to develop training skills useful to achieve the pleasures of an outstanding companion pet; through this study, you will actually improve your ability to lead any intelligent creatures you may want to lead in a responsible way. Presented as a wryly humorous three-part textbook that can be read sequentially or by chapter, Dog Training for Managers examines the best practices of human leadership in the workplace and applies them to the presumably less daunting task of training a canine follower. Part 1 presents core foundation topics such as definitions of terms, the roles appropriate for leaders to take with their followers, motivations, communications, value systems, and the tools of reward and reprimand. The approach is to observe the practices of effective human leaders, consider them in the abstract, and apply those same techniques to dog leadership activities. Part 2 offers practical applications beginning with the introduction of seven basic commands useful to leaders of humans and trainers of dogs alike. These basic commands are then used to develop a broad repertoire of reliable commands, custom-tailored to the agenda of the trainer. With the details of command techniques complete, the section closes by suggesting ways of directing that are far more effective than are commands alone. Part 3 addresses some ubiquitous advanced leadership challenges: adapting for socially complex situations, when and how to introduce change, and how to deal with personalities. Dog Training for Managers is a fun read that offers sage insights for leaders of all kinds.

About the Author

Doug Morgan is a San Franciscan who came from Middle America in the mid-seventies to escape the perils of a life in academia. From a very young age, Doug has held a strong affection for dogs of all breeds. He was fond of training the neighborhood dogs, while his parents refused to get a family dog until his early teen years. When they finally gave in to the persistence of all six children, they got into it big time by getting a beautiful Irish wolfhound puppy for the family, with no idea how to train or care for her. She was loved, and she thrived nonetheless. Since then, Doug has owned, lived with, and interacted with a great variety of dogs, most of them very good (or at least eventually so). He believes that proper training and socialization is the solemn duty of every dog owner and that virtually every behavioral problem a dog manifests stems back to the owner’s mistakes in leadership. Doug’s formal training was in the physical sciences and abstract mathematics; his professional career includes twenty years as a senior executive in several major organizations in fields related to computer systems technology, technical staffing and project management, sales, and general business consulting. In 2001, he founded his own consulting firm, along with two associates. After launching his practice, Doug focused primarily on serving business owners and managers who were seeking help to improve their organizations. Almost always, the problems he found most in need of correction were the results of ill-advised leadership actions. Upon recognizing that this was just like dog problems he had often encountered; given his penchant for drawing lessons from abstractions and his love of dogs, people, and good leadership, Dog Training for Managers was spawned and has now come to life.