If you ever want to have a peaceful and happy relationship with your dog, you need to learn how to become top dog.

It's not just a silly phrase. Dogs have a heirarchial ranking system. In simple reality, only two ranks you need to know of are top dog , and not top dog.... The Ruler, and Rule Follower. Naturally you don't want to be caught in trap of being subject to your dog.

You want your dog to respect you and obey you. Don't confuse two. A dog may obey you out of fear, but not respect you. That is a dangerous situation to be in. Have you ever seen movie Iron Will? If not, watch it. It gives some great insight.

There's a dog sled driver who beats his dogs into submission and treats them terribly. They respond to his beatings and he has a winning team, but at first sign of weakness, they turn on him and... well it wasn't pretty.

Of course that's a dramatization and worse case scenario. Frankly, I think anyone who beats dogs has it coming. It's just not necessary to rule with an iron fist.

Most dogs are receptive to attitudes that are as basic and primal as fighting, but are much less violent.

For example, simply giving commands and being consistent goes a long way. If your dog is always made aware of what is and what is not acceptable, you will have a greater chance of success.

How often do you call your dog? Who will hear your dog's name? Will you be writing to anyone about this dog?

Now that you think about times you'll use name, maybe you should put some thought into what that dog name is.

I mean, if you have a Great Dane who weighs 120 lbs, you might not want to call him something like Baby or Tiny. Or you might... it's a personal thing. Personally, Tiny would be hilarious to me.

I can just imagine calling, "Tiny, come here boy!" While a neighbor is watching and for first time sees this "Tiny." Now that could be an interesting look to receive!

Maybe you have a dog that has a bit of a fiesty side nd you think it's a good idea to call him "Killer." Maybe you weren't thinking about little old lady that lives by herself next door... waiting for "Killer" to go home so she can get to grocery store.

Are these extremes? Of course! But, haven't you heard some dog names that just didn't seem... right?

My dogs have some sort of silly names. Actually, my Black Lab, Sadie, had a carefully chosen name. I was pregnant with my first child when we got Sadie. She was six weeks old and clever as they come.

Sadie was very majestic in all her movements and attitudes. So, we decided to look at our baby name book and see what we could come up with to suit her.

Sadie is actually a pet form of Sarah, which means "lady" or "princess" in Hebrew.