Leadership does not mean dominance. A leader has more to do with respect than dominance. Leadership is an understanding (a communication, if you will) about who is greater in the hierarchical stricter than others in a given social group.
Being the provider of your dog’s food is the primary way to communicate with your dog that you are the leader. If your dog is dependent on you for the sustenance of life, you are by default higher on the social scale than your dog and by extrapolation worthy of his respect.
Other ways in which you can demonstrate leadership to your dog is your body language. A confident body language, calm assertive posture and voice tones are also good communication tools to demonstrate leadership to your dog.
There are other ways in which this can also be demonstrated. The classic dog trainer d (which I don’t necessarily subscribe to) is not letting your dog out the door in front of you. Another is if you need your dog to move (that he is in your path he should move instead of you walking around. (I do sometimes step over or move around my dogs, however, if I am carrying something heavy or I need a certain path, a simple “excuse me” and my dogs know they have to move. I call this benevolent leadership and it is understood in my pack). Along the same lines is being able to take anything from your dog, even his food, right from his mouth. It should be clear that you own everything and you are allowing him to have those items. This extends to his favorite corner of the couch. While is ok for your dog to be there (if you allow your dog on the couch), when you go to sit on the couch and that is your spot, it is your dog who must move, not you who finds another place to sit.
It is important to remember, that these actions should not be performed in a threatening or aggressive manner, but in a more matter of fact, “this is just how it is” fashion. This will communicate leadership instead of dominance and deepen the bond between you and your dog (which dominance fails to do).
