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Dog Psychology Basics
by
Gary Walker
Dogs and are smart, aware, affectionate creatures but don’t be fooled. Underneath that lovable, tail-wagging, face-licking exterior lurks a wolf.
We may have domesticated the dog, but at heart he retains his animal instincts. We need to accept this, and adjust the way we interact with our dogs.
A Dog’s View of the World
Dogs interact with the world at the level of instinct. Their basic needs are food, a place to sleep, and a strong pack for protection. This means by extension a strong pack leader, one they are prepared to follow without hesitation. This is where you come in.
The most important job of any dog owner is to provide pack leadership. Do this and he will obey your every command. Fail and you have a problem dog on your hands.
As you consider this you should think about how you communicate with your dog, because one of the keys to understanding dog communication is that they do not think in words.This concept confuses many people because their dogs appear to understand every word the say. What you are seeing is merely word-association.
Dogs are incapable of understanding words, what they mainly understand is body language. They learn to associate actions with actions, so if you praise your dog when he obeys a command, he understands that when he obeys, you react by being pleased with him.
As part of this chain of action and reaction, most dogs learn to react to single words, so he may for example learn to associate the word “walk” with going out, but most likely it is the “pre-walk rituals” – putting on his lead, for example – that he recognizes.
Think Like A Dog
If you want to learn how to think like a dog, first understand that tone of voice and body language trump voice cues every time. Realise that your dog thinks in pictures and responds to actions and you’ll have a far better chance of understanding him.
Dogs pay a lot of attention to regular routines. For example, your dog will quickly learn that you come home at a certain time and will look forward to your arrival. If you are caught up in traffic or otherwise delayed the dog may become anxious. The reason is that he has built up an expectation based on his experience of your comings and goings. Based on that he expects a particular result. If that result is not forthcoming he becomes anxious.
How to Be the Alpha Dog
In the wild, the Alpha Wolf is in control of all activities in the pack – when they eat, when they move, who receives affection. When you think about it, these are the exact same things you control in your “pack”. By taking control of all these aspects you are actually managing your dog’s anxiety.
Now leadership is one thing, but what about showing affection to your dog? Good question. A strong pack leader knows when and how to reward a pack member with affection. Given any other way, it marks you out as a pushover. Your dog will sense that and exploit it.
The right time to give affection is when your dog is calm and well behaved, so that you re-enforce that behavior.
Be loving but firm, consistent and fair and your dog will follow your every command.
There’s lots more about dogs and
some great tips on dog training
at our site:
dogsanddogtraining.com
Article Source:
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