A dog that defends his territory or home is not uncommon for any dog. This is a behavior inherited from the wolf that defends his territory from another pack. It is intended to secure hunting grounds, food and survival of the pack. Territorial behavior is not acceptable in dogs that are now domesticated and expected to live peacefully in our human society.
Many people confuse submissive behavior and fearful behavior. While fearful behavior can present itself as submissive behavior, submissive behavior does not have to mean a dog is fearful. Submissive behavior is actually a very healthy and proper dog behavior intended for dogs to communicate to higher ranking dogs that they honor and respect the higher ranking dog and pose no threat.
Right now, the internet is full of “science based,” “stress free,” “force free,” and “purely positive” training programs and ideas. Dog training is not a science as much as it is an art, and a skill that is honed by experiences with hundreds or thousands of dogs and knowledge that is acquired through sharing skills with other professionals.
One of the most difficult but important commands to teach any dog is the self control of “stay”. Most people seem to try to teach it the same way and have unreliable results. A few of the problems I see happen include:
What does one have to do with the other? Right now, we are all excited about the longer days and warmer nights. For us, that means more time to spend with our dogs getting closer to the magnificent area we live in. Not a moment goes by for the dog lovers of the Wood River Valley, that we are not thinking about long hikes and getting back to nature, especially now after an incredibly hard winter.
In a nutshell, when we spoil our dogs, we set them up for all sorts of behavior problems and emotional discord. The biggest one is separation anxiety. But, there are other very unfavorable behaviors such as possession aggression and even dominance aggression. All become very difficult to reverse once the dog begins this slippery slope.
When we think of socializing our puppy or new adult dog, we think of letting them have free time, playing, chasing and being with other dogs so our puppy or dog grows up to like other dogs. “Socialization” is MUCH more than that! Socialization means experiencing ALL things in life! It also sets the stage for teaching your new dog or puppy to TRUST you.
Years ago, most people never bothered with socializing their dogs. As a kid, we never did and yet our family dog was friendly with people and never ran off to play with other dogs. In fact, we were the only people on our block that had a dog! Now, dog owners have clearly gotten the message that socialization is extremely important to the development of their puppies.
Ah.. how warm and soohtng it is to have your best furry friend sleeping beside you at night in bed! The comfort our dog can give us is incomparable. While it is so comforting for us, we should think about whether it is comforting for your dog. At first sight, it might seem so, but afte
It’s funny to watch dogs play and make new friends. They speak with their bodies to each other which is so fascinating. One of the most common behaviors is that one dog will stick their rear end in the face of another dog. This behavior can have many meanings in the dog world, like almost any behavior. We humans like to compartmentalize behaviors – one meaning to each behavior. It seems to make the dog world easier for us to understand. But, that simply is not true. Just like our human language, one word can have many meanings, like the word, “run”. Merriam-Webster lists EIGHT different meanings of the word, “run”! Incredible!
AFTER AN EXTENDED MEDICAL LEAVE, I WILL BE RETURNING TO WORK MARCH 1st!
