A Rewarding Experience

Yesterday I had one of the most rewarding experiences I've had since I started volunteering at the Brown County Humane Society. I was walking Boomer with a choke chain like I usually do. I was keeping his leash real short to prevent him from being able to assert control over me. I don't want to give him the slightest clue that he is the one who needs to be in charge and not me.
For the first half of the walk he struggled against me. I exhibited the behaviors that I have come to expect from him, lunging after cars and animals, and struggling to take charge and lead. As usual I gave him corrections whenever he behaved in an unwanted manner. Finally at about the halfway point in the walk he settled down for about two minutes and I wanted to reward him for it to reinforce his good behavior. I didn't have any treats left because I had used them all up in the first half of the walk as I tried to reinforce the sit command so instead of giving him food I gave him the rest of the leash. What happened next was amazing.
Boomer took the freedom of the longer leash and reinforced the fact that I was his leader. He didn't take the opportunity to walk in front of me and sniff around but he went directly behind me. This was the first time that I knew Boomer was putting me in the position of his leader and he wanted me to be in that position.
I am not always the best at recognizing my own attitude, or energy as Cesar Millan would say. Sometimes I am very good at ignoring the dog but I think most of the time I focus on the dog. I like to see what the dog is doing so that I can correct bad behavior immediately before it gets out of control. These are the times I have the most problems with the dogs. When I focus on the dog I tend to worry about what the dog will do, but if I focus on the goal I am more calm and assertive. When I focus on the goal I know that I will accomplish it on my terms which gives me more confidence in my abilities.
Looking back at yesterday's walk with Boomer I can pinpoint the transition between Boomer pulling and following to the moment when I decided in my head that I was working toward the goal of a completed, well mannered walk. At this point I started not to worry about what Boomer was doing and I led with confidence rather than with worry.