Information About Dogs - Information on Dogs also Puppy Information » Dog Psychology

Sending Your Dog Mixed Messages

Dennis — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:29:36 +0000

Dog behavior problems are frequently the result of unclear communication. The owner may not even be aware that the messages he is sending to the dog are confusing. The owner of a well-trained Standard Poodle was unaware of her confusing messages during an epic long session of grooming. The Poodle tired and attempted to sit. The owner, wanting the dog to remain standing, yelled “Don’t sit.” The dog stood for a few seconds in a crouched position, and, confused about what the word “don’t” meant, tried to sit again. Totally perplexed, he was trying very hard to comply with what he thought was his owner’s request.

Good communication with your dog is comprised of clear, consistent, distinct messages. A dog cannot possibly respond correctly if the vocabulary or the rules change at whim from day to day. Another example of inconsistent, mixed messages is demonstrated by the owner who allows a…

Why Dogs Cock Their Heads To The Side

Dennis — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:09:46 +0000

It wasn’t by accident that advertising for the company “RCA” once featured a dog cocking his head in front of a speaker horn. There’s something about this position that most people find utterly adorable. Dogs know it, too, which is why they do it, even when they aren’t trying to hear anything in particular. We give them a positive response, and they remember that. Also, dogs tilt their heads for very practical reasons as well. Tilting the head to the side puts one of the ears up and forward. By turning an ear in the direction of fuzzy or inaudible sounds, dogs are able to hear a little more clearly.

We often forget how confusing human speech is for dogs. Even though dogs understand some of what we’re saying, most of our conversation is just a blur of sound to them. Usually, they just ignore it. They can tell from our…

Why Do Dogs Bury Their Food?

Dennis — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:47:47 +0000

Ancient dogs survived on whatever they could find or catch. If they managed to get more than they could eat in a sitting, they had to make sure it would be there when they came back to it later. “They stored spare food by burying it,” says Benjamin Hart, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor of physiology and behavior at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine at Davis. “It was a pretty resourceful way of keeping leftovers.” Dirt may be gritty and hard on the teeth, but it is also protective.

The temperature in the ground is cooler than it is in the air, so burying food helped it stay fresh longer. Buried food did not roast in the sun. It did not immediately get covered with flies and insect. All in all, burying food and juicy bones was a very good solution.

Dogs do not need to bury their food…

Why Dogs Jump Up And Lick People’s Faces

Dennis — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:28:31 +0000

Part of the canine greeting is to sniff and lick faces. Because people are so much bigger than they are, dogs try to bridge the gap by jumping up.

Some people really dislike it when dogs, they own or someone else’s, jump on them. But dogs, on the other hand, do it all the time because they think they are being polite.

The next time you take your dog to the park, watch how he greets and is greeted by other dogs. They start by sniffing each other’s mouths, then move around to sniff the back ends. All of this is considered proper and polite behavior among dogs, and they assume it is the way they should greet people.

Dogs do not have any trouble sniffing our bottoms, they will do it all the time if given a chance. But the first part of the greeting, the mouth sniff, is not possible because we…

Understanding Your Dog’s Hearing

Dennis — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:22:26 +0000

Dogs hear a lot better than people do, partly because their ears are incredibly mobile. They have 15 different muscles that can move the ears in all directions. This helps them detect and understand sounds no matter where they’re coming from. Head cocking is a tool they use to hear clearly. Dogs shouldn’t be doing it all the time, however. When they are, they may need some extra help to hear. Speak in a higher voice.

One way dogs decide what’s worth listening to and what isn’t call for help is by the sound frequency. High-pitched sounds get their attention, probably because they resemble the sounds made by traditional prey such as rabbits and chipmunks. Pitching your voice upward will get your dog’s attention and let him know that he needs to listen carefully to what you’re about to say. Stand where he can see you. Even though a substantial…

Understanding Why Dogs Roll Around In The Dirtiest Of Things

Dennis — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:42:28 +0000

No one really knows for sure why dogs love to roll in stinky things, but people who study animal behavior have some pretty good idea. Some experts believe that dogs like to mark themselves with their territory. A dog wearing a bit of woodchuck carcass or horse poop on his neck and shoulders is a lot like a man wearing a big gold chain around his neck. It says something about him and where he lives, something like, ‘I am a dog of means; I own the territory with all this nice stuff.”

It is hard for people to understand how anyone, even a dog, could rate the value of his territory according to its riches of cow pies. This is one of those situations that illustrates how
completely different dogs and people are. People appreciate things that are clean and fresh, while dogs like things that are old and smelly.

There…

Understanding A Dog’s Pack Behavior: Look To The Wolf

Dennis — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:39:31 +0000

Many of the things dogs carry over from wolf society are useful to their new role; many are not. The most clearly useful, though only up to a point, is the wolf’s innate sense of social
rank, and the system of communication that supports this rank structure. Social rank is a consequence of adaptations that many group-dwelling animals have made to the inherent
contradictions of living in a group. Being part of a group gives an individual advantages and access to resources he could never commandeer on his own. It also puts him in immediate and constant conflict with members of his own species for those limited resources.

Competition with one’s fellows for limited resources is a nearly universal fact of nature. In species in which individuals can forage and defend themselves successfully as loners, it is generally the case that individuals seek to maximize their distance from one another. Males, or females,…

The World According To Your Dog’s Eyes

Dennis — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:53:03 +0000

Like tourists who assume everyone speaks English, or should, it is second nature to us to think that the world looks pretty much the same to all creatures, great and small, including our dogs. For example, we rarely give much thought to the optical processes that turn light into vision; we assume that our visual version of reality is reality.

Even those of us who wear glasses fall into this way of thinking. Glasses bring things back into focus so they once again look like they are. If those people who run around staging role-playing seminars on multiculturalism for business executives were to do the same for multi-species, I would suggest as the first group exercise they get everyone down on the floor with their eyeballs about six inches off the ground. Simply by virtue of visual perspective, the world looks very different to a Chihuahua.

Dogs also differ from humans in…

The Submissive Dog

Dennis — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:26:49 +0000

The submissive dog, like the fearful dog, will try to appear smaller, but will rarely raise his hackles. The submissive dog will either scoot along the ground in a sit position to get closer to the dominant entity or roll over on the ground to expose his belly and genitals, displaying vulnerability to the aggressor. The dog may even urinate during this display. The head of a submissive dog is held in a tipped position and his tongue will dart in and out as he tries very hard to get close to lick the dominant entity’s mouth and face area for appeasement. The same licking gesture is observed when a pup approaches his dam. A submissive dog will also lean on the dominant creature, probably as a defense from attack. If the submissive animal leans on the dominant animal, the aggressor has difficulty reaching crucial body parts during an attack.…

The Importance Of Understanding Dog Behavior

Dennis — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:28:46 +0000

In order to understand dog behavior, you must first consider the effects of the human contact that occurs from the day the domestic puppy is born until the end of his life. These interactions are strong catalysts that add to the inherent differences between the wolf and dog. Whereas the dog easily weaves into the family and social structure of humans, the wolf has failed to do so.

The integration of the dog into the human environment is so comfortable and complete that many people even refer to their dogs as their children. The analogy comes to mind for many people because the canine is often adopted as a family member and fits the child’s role easily and naturally. To create the most rewarding human-canine relationship, the unique qualities of the domestic dog must be considered by themselves rather than from the standpoint of the wolf.

Similar to the human child,…