Dog Psychology – Does Rex Sleeps by Touching His Back to You?

Yes! He does!  Here’s why… 

Rex tend to sleep touching your back with his back because he trusts you.

That’s an indication that your dog has complete faith and trust on you.  As commonly found with most dogs, the way they sleep is by lying sideways with their legs stretched out. This indicates that the dog is relaxed and out of stress. Along with this, if he keep his back in touch with you, then it indicates that the dog is not only relaxed and comfortable but telling you how deeply he trusts you. This happens when you have already built a strong bond with you dog. If you have not seen this behavior in your dog, it means you have not been able to build up and foster a strong bond with him to the desirable extent.

For a dog parent, it is really satisfying when their dogs show trust on them and they can trust their dogs. It is really crucial that there should be a mutual trust the dog and his owner to maintain a healthy environment while sharing life with dog(s).

There are a few sure shot ways to get trust of your dogs. Here’s how…

Don’t lose your cool when Rex shows excitement

Rex should naturally have a tendency to greet your with loads of excitement while you are back after the long day. He will jump, whine and even bark and show undesirably excited behavior. Most people show back excitement. That’s not suggested. Showing back excitement will make them more excited and eventually you may lose your cool. Don’t lose cool. Losing your cool and/or yelling at them will break his trust on your, instead of strengthening it. Staying calm will make him calm down too, and there won’t be any reason for you to get angry on him by any chance.

Speak Soft; Touch Soft

Practice “Soft Touch” and “Soft Talk”. Don’t make strong eye contact. Let him be comfortable and relaxed. Let him build up his confidence on you. Confidence will eventually bring trust.

Sit Down at His Level

When you speak with them or interact with them anyway, bring yourself down at his level; sit in front or beside him with calm behavior. Remember that you have got into Rex’s very personal space. Hence, it is important to make him feel confident. An eye-contact and hard touch may kill his confidence and chances are there that he will start losing trust on you.

Be Approachable

If Rex is seeing you for the first time or after a very long time, let him approach you first. Do not approach him until he has already built his complete trust on you. Let him get into your personal perimeter and sniff you. Stay calm and stable, and let him know that you are a doggie friend! If you are not familiar to him, avoid touching him from the above. If he shakes himself out while touching, stay calm, composite and do not react. Behave as if you haven’t paid any attention to his action.

Go for a walk and play fetch

Winning your dog’s trust becomes easy if you give him some happy and content time. Go for a walk and play fetch. Some mental exercises may be suggested – especially if he is a working breed. Hiding his favorite toy and letting him find it and bring it back to you is a very effective mental exercise. Be a leader of the pack. Make him feel that his life with you is a pack happiness. And you will automatically get his trust.

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Why Dog Bites Happen?

Understanding Dog Bites - Most Common Triggers That Lead To Dog Bites

According to reports during 1980s and 1990s the fatalities caused by dog bites had been reckoned to be around 17 per year, while in the 2000s the number rose to 26 yearly. Records have shown that over 70% of dog bite incidences occur from the pets – either within the family or friends' pets. Kids have always been the major victims of dog bites and the most common reasons behind it is lack of awareness about why dogs bite. Here are a few most important reasons of dog bites:

Territoriality and Possessiveness: Territoriality and possessiveness are most undesirable behavior in dogs and owners need to check before such behaviors turn out to be an irreparable problem. Dogs are naturally territorial and possessive about their pack (the family they live with). Territoriality turns out to be a real challenge for a owner if the dog selects a specific corner of the house he/she live.
Possessive, on the other hand, can be a nightmare if the dog is not trained to release objects. Dogs that are raised separately from the family are more prone to develop such behaviors. It is important to effectively obedience train a dog from the very early age, and such behaviors should be discouraged from the beginning. Make the dog feel that there’s no personal corner in the house for him. While offering food teach him to stay cool when someone touches his bowl.

Fear of Dogs (Cynophobia): Fear of dogs makes people behave irrationally when they come across a dog – especially the stray or unleashed dogs. The strange behavior that most cynophobic persons exhibit and their screams due to the aversion to the animals often makes even the most cool dogs irritated, which then launch an unexpected attack.

Related Reads - Dog  Showing Aggressive  Behavior 

 

My Dog Shows Hyper Aggression Towards Other Animals - What Might Be The Reason?

 

Why Dogs Become Aggressive?

 

 Dog’s fear towards human: Fear directed towards strangers and even some known persons at times like vets or gardeners often generates aggression (fear based aggression) in a dog. Even the friendliest dog may attack unexpectedly due to fear towards certain people or type of people. Proper socialization is of utmost importance to prevent a dog from developing such tendencies. Fear bites are often developed by dogs that exhibits avoidance behavior to certain people, type of people or any people under specific situation(s) at an early age. Once you notice such behavior in your puppy, it is mandatory to address the problem immediately and go in for proper socialization session.

Physical Irritation: Physical irritation such as pain or illness can cause dog bites. Pain and uneasiness can cause even the most docile dog to bite unexpectedly. If you notice a sudden drop of activeness with noticeable impudence in behavior in your dog for no apparent reason it is advisable to immediately give a call to your vet, considering that your dog is in pain or health issues.

Maternal instincts: Even the most obedient and well trained dog can bite when she has pups. All dogs are naturally protective, but the Protective Instinct, especially in a female dog gets magnified several times when she has puppies. There’s no way you can help it except teaching your kids not to handle puppies and the mother unsupervised.

Redirected Aggression Bites: Bites due to redirected aggression at times becomes highly unpredictable, yet quite common. Redirected aggression are aggression in which the effects are being discharged on you although aggression was actually on something else. This means, the dog’s aggression is redirected from the triggering source to the one who disturbs him or comes in between. The incidence of bites from redirected aggression commonly occurs when you pushes or try to set apart the fighting dogs. Another situation when a dog bites another dog in the same pack due to redirected aggression is when both the dogs are turning aggressive over something else but fails to attack it.

Bite Caused by Dominance Aggression: Dominance is a major problem. It is important to set correct set of rules and boundaries for your dog and strike a proper balance between love and limitations. Any kind of dominating behavior should be discouraged from the very beginning. Establishing and retaining the your Alpha membership in the pack is of utmost importance in order to prevent dominance aggression.

Related Reads - Understanding Your Mistakes in Dog Bite Incidences

Most dog bite problems can be resolved by the way of responsible ownership .

 

Nature's Rule for Pack Hierarchy and My BIG Mistake

An awareness about the most common triggers causing dog bites will help you avoid such situations. In most cases dog bites are followed by behavioral signs that should be understood. The most effective of all techniques for preventing dog bites is proper training and correct socialization at the early stage. Training and socialization are actually ongoing processes and should be continued throughout your dog’s life. All you need is to be a keen observer and should be able to understand your dog’s every behavior and distinguish goods from undesirable ones.

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Head Pressing in Your Dog Can Indicate Potentially Dangerous Medical Condition

I am pretty much sure that most dog owners who are reading this post are not aware that a slight change in their dog’s behavior for no noticeable cause may give an indication of a serious health condition. This chapter may turn out to be really helpful for many dog owners like you. My friend Roby called me up this weekend and informed me of his dog – Jed’s weird behavior, which he started noticing since the previous evening. Jed suddenly started to press his head against the wall and cupboards. I suggested him to rush to the vet without delay! I could well assume what had happened.

 

"Head Pressing" is an unusual behavior in dogs characterized by compulsive tendency of pressing its head against a hard surface for an extended time span.

In common medical term this problem is usually called “Head Pressing”, which indicates a serious impending danger, as this disorder is usually characterized by malfunctioning of the nervous system that attracts immediate medical attention. However there may be more causes associated with head pressing in dogs; One of the commonly known causes is Hepatic encephalopathy (also called Portosystemic Encephalopathy), which is brought on by conditions affecting the dog’s liver. Researchers have been studying the main cause of head pressing in dogs, and concluded that malfunctioning of liver often encourages toxins and ammonia to accumulate, thereby triggering the neurologic syndrome – Head Pressing.

Although not too usual, but puppies with congenital portosystemic shunt (Acquired Portosystemic Shunt), which is a birth defect, may also be predisposed to head pressing. With Acquired Portosystemic Shunt the blood vessel(s) carries blood around the liver, instead of carrying blood through the liver. The liver’s purpose is to keep the blood purified by removing the toxins. When the blood isn’t carried through the liver, it starts mal-functioning. As it stops functioning properly, it allows the blood toxins to build up, which generates serious neurologic syndrome – Head Pressing.


However, this is not the only reason of Head Pressing in dogs. There are other reasons that cause Head Pressing in dogs.

Hydrocephalus - Accumulation of fluid in the brain

Brain Tumors - This typically happens for unknown reasons, but specialists assume that genetics and environment have a role. Slow growing brain tumors encroach into the normal space of the brain, and as it grows bigger it results in changes within the brain which cause neurological symptoms. Head pressing is one of them.

Cerebrovascular Accident - Brain stroke due to lack of oxygen supply into the brain because of the impaired blood flow to the brain due to blockage or rupture of an artery to the brain.

Taumatic Brain Injury (TBI) - Injuries occuring to the brain and neural or brain tissue and blood vessels in the head.

Meningitis, Encephalitis, and Meningoencephalitis - Meningitis, encephalitis, and meningoencephalitis caused by infection by bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, rickettsia, or parasites can result to neurologic problems such as head pressing, walking in circle, disorientation in locomotion, frequent stumbling and false stepping and other behavioral changes.

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How to Intensify the Bond Between You and Your Dog/Puppy

Pranab Deb and German Shepherd Simba, Police Constable, CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) are stationed at Indian Oil Corporation’s site in Haldia, West Bengal.

Human- Dog Relationship

The first day when you bring that bundle of joy home, you are considered to be his only parent. Whether he grows up to a desirable dog or an unruly canine, you are responsible for its upbringing and character development. However, in the quest of training our dog, following several rules, techniques and instructions, we often forget the more important aspect, and that is to build a strong bond between us and our dogs. In almost every cases, a strong bond between you and the dog mitigates a lot of obstacles and blocks during the process of dog training, as it naturally motivates the dog to look up at you for instructions and commands.

The best time to establish a bond between you and your canine companion is when he's still a puppy, as that is the age when he's most responsive, flexible and the tendency to bond with his master or owner is at its peak. Apart from this, the tender age of puppy-hood is the time when he learns most of the tricks and retain those for a longer time. Another very important factor to keep in mind is to choose a breed which would suit your lifestyle and attitude and would be able to cope with the same with his own behavior.

It is not advisable to go by the puppy's look or size, rather it is important that you choose one with whom it would be easier to co-exist and connect for a long term. In certain cases, one can even go and consult a vet before choosing the apt breed that would be compatible with the owner's lifestyle. For a owner, it is advised to retrospect that a little puppy is like a little child, whose life in this age has to be filled with all the positive attributes, in a balanced manner to make him grow up into a healthy, happy, energetic and compassionate companion for a lifetime, and this responsibility of bringing up your puppy into a desirable dog depends upon how strong is your bond with your dog. Let's see what all we can do to fulfill the purpose.

The ideal age in which a puppy should be brought home is when he's 7 weeks old and this will allow you to have a natural bonding with your puppy, as he will connect with you through his senses like smell, taste and voice. Try to spend the maximum time with your puppy, teach him to move, walk and play with you.

Watch it grow and explore life with his natural enthusiasm and curiosity, besides teaching him the various ways of life and correct social disposition. The more time you would spend with your new puppy watching his every moves, acts and deeds, the more he will look up at you for guidance, protection and instructions, and there lies the foundation of obedience and dependence.

Take measures to socialize your puppy from the very beginning by introducing him to the children and other family members, smaller pets (if any), friends, relatives, the neighbors etc. It is important for the puppy to get acquainted with more and more human faces and their sounds, smell, touch, gestures, expressions and activities. This will not only socialize the puppy but will also make him compare your presence and touch with the others and see him coming back to you for comfort and security.

The cutest sight for any puppy-owner is to find his puppy sweetly following him wherever he goes, it's fine, as a puppy feels like a small child who when left alone, fears being abandoned. However, you can do an activity of leaving him for few minutes and coming back to him after that with a treat. Doing this on a regular basis (leaving your puppy for some time and coming back to him with a treat) would grow a feeling and confidence in your puppy, that you would not be away for a long time, and this certainly shall strengthen the bond of trust between you two.

A very important feeling that an owner must inculcate in his puppy to enhance the bond of love and belonging is to make the puppy feel like an integral part in his owner's life and this can be done by making your puppy a part of your daily activities like visiting nearby market to pick household stuffs, carrying him to the school to pick your children up, taking him for a morning or evening walk, teaching him few tricks like fetching things for you and helping you to pick up stuffs during cleaning up the rooms etc. another very important way to make your dog look up at you for comfort and help is when you potty-train him properly.

To build proper potty habits in your growing puppy it is important to be with him at almost all the time when he wakes up in the early mornings or in the mid of the night. Look for indications and signs and observe his body language when he needs to do his business and take him out after every meal (which should preferably be 4/5 times, depending upon his age and breed). It is also advised to take him out at other times as well, if need arises.

Obedience training your puppy about some activities like sitting, lying, fetching things, coming to you on calling his name and teaching him few tricks and playful activities etc is a great way to make your dog's life full of enthusiasm, as he will take you as the most exciting part of his life. Always find a particular amount of time to spend solely with your dog/puppy and make the best of this time by playing various games with him like Frisbee, go-fetch, taking him out for a fun-walk, taking him for a swim and so on.

Grooming your growing puppy like brushing his fur/coat with dog-brush, clipping his nail, bathing him and drying him afterward is a wonderful way to connect with with dog with a special bond. It may happen sometimes, that your puppy may miss to pick up some lessons and tricks on time, ending up doing some mistakes and undesirable stuffs inside the house; be patient and tolerant towards your puppy and never hit him as this will not only confuse him but will also break his trust on you. Clean up the house as soon as possible and pay extra attention so that he never get to repeat it again.

Remember to apply positive reinforce techniques rather than punishing him, as this will motivate your puppy to do the right thing and will also make him look up at you for appreciation and acknowledgment, strengthening your bond with him. Not all reward based training techniques can positively reinforce the desirable habits. Using strategic motivational factors  in the dog training technique works better.

It is important for an owner to establish himself as a consistent source of excitement, care, nurture, protection, affection, guidance and discipline to his puppy/dog.

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Behavioral Change & Canine Health Concern

Any change in the behaviors of your dogs give an indication of change in his mental state, which can be the cause of deterioration in his internal health condition that may not be noticed apparently always. For example if Reva doesn’t exhibit enthusiasm while meeting, she might have digestive issues for some reason. Underlying factors such as pain, anemia, gastrointestinal problems, etc. that are not apparent may drop your dog’s energy level. Any subtle changes in your dog’s behavior should be addressed seriously. In case you notice any subtle changes in the behavior, it is probably the time call your vet or proper medical diagnosis. It is, however, highly advised to treat a condition than to wait for it to become a big health concern.

Here are certain behavior factors that should be worth noticing and spared thought over:

1. Reva – who has been a great foodie, suddenly starts refusing food: Consult a vet immediately. She might have digestive or gastrointestinal problems which need to be address without delay. Heavy infestation of internal parasite may discourage you dog to eat. Fever, pain, or any other health issues can also be the causes for your dog to refuse his most favorite food.

2. If your dog was accident free indoor, and now have started having accidents even though there haven’t been any change in the lifestyle and households and the dog had free access to the potty zone, gives an indication that he/she is having internal health problem. Immediately see a vet.

3. A play-friendly dog suddenly refusing to go out for a play or a walk is an indication of health issues. It is probably the time to call a vet.

4. A properly socialized dog that has been very friendly to people suddenly starts avoiding people and hiding away, gives an indication of sickness.

5. A friendly and cool dog who starts exhibiting aggression towards his/her pack members – family gives an indication of sickness

6. A friendly and socialized dog suddenly starts staying clear of own one's touches indicates illness, even though he/she is not showing aggression.

 

Related Read on sudden behavioral change in your dog: Head Pressing

"Head Pressing" is an unusual behavior in dogs characterized by compulsive tendency of pressing its head against a hard surface for an extended time span.

7. Not drinking water as he/she used to drink or over drinking are both indications of serious illness. Adult or aged females showing too much thirst and tends to drink heavily indicate serious health issues like pyometra.

8. Have your dog suddenly started showing tendencies of licking walls and floors? See a vet

9. Do you notice any difference in his or her tail wagging movement? Even though he is still as happy as he used to be a difference in the movement of tail indicates underlying health issues.

10. Have you start noticing your dog staying aloof most often in a day? See a vet as soon as possible.

11. If a dog who used to enjoy going up and down the stairs several times in a day suddenly starts refusing it should be bought to the vet’s immediate notice, even though he/she is not having problem in normal walking activities.

12. Is chewing toys the favorite pastime for Rex. If he is loath to do that suddenly today, keep an eye on him for a day or two. If he still showing no interest in his chewing toys, it is probably the time to see your vet.

Any change in behavior in your dog – however small or minor it is, gives an indication of internal health problem, which should be addressed without delay. Behavioral changes in your dog are considered as the most important information that your vet will be seeking for. Correctly explaining your dog’s behavioral changes (minor and/or major) to the vet will help him diagnose the health issues correctly.

Keeping an eye on your dog’s behavior is what is expected from a responsible owner. It is important NOT to overlook any changes – even the most minor ones until it breaks your nerves.

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Your Mistakes in Dog Bite Incidences

Dogs have always been the most precious friends of humans. A study has shown that world’s top 10 countries having most pet dog population is cumulatively over 172509000 dogs. At the same time another study on dog bite carried out by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown that around 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year, followed by an incredible volume of 800,000 injuries that demand serious medical attention. Another stat offered by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.), shows that dog bite claims that cost the insurance industry during 2005 was $317 million, while this number has risen to $365.2 million during 2007, which is one of the most important data that proves that dog bite cases are on a rapid rise. Many insurers have increased the premium values and in some cases they have even excluded few canine breeds like Rottweilers, German Shepherds and Pit Bull Terriers from insurance coverage.

Before you blame specific dog breeds, it is important to understand that owners are actually liable for their dogs’ unnatural behavior. It is important to understand the owners’ mistakes related to the dog bite incidences. Evaluation is very important. Most dog bite problems can be resolved by the way of responsible ownership and carrying out safe behavior with dogs.

1st Mistake – Not Determining a Dog’s Propensity: This is a big mistake that most owners and handlers commit. It is important to determine the dog’s behavioral pattern and the owner can be the best person to do this. It is important to evaluate whether a dog is vicious by nature and if he is, then it is important to evaluate the reasons behind his aggressive behavior. Problems should be resolved at the root.

2nd Mistake – Not Socializing a Dog: Dog is a social animal. He should carry himself in a friendly way until he is being threatened. It is important to socialize a dog to different situations, sounds and humans. Lack of socialization can be a reason of your dog becoming fearful, which consequently leads to developing biting tendencies.

3rd Mistake – Differentiation: Remember any breed – Chihuahua to Irish Wolf Hound any dog can bite. documentation about this was found in county and city bite statistics as and national research studies. It is unwise to make a list of breeds that bites. As soon as you develop a develop a mindset against a specific breed, often times you develop phobia in the particular breed(s), and you start behaving weird when you are around those breed of dogs. This can enhance the chance of you being bitten. It is hence suggested to behave normally around the dogs (irrespective of breed).

4th Mistake – Breed Specific Law: The Dangerous Dog Act - 1991 and Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) in certain places in the UK and the US, have been enforced keeping in mind the specific breed and their character traits. Rather it should have been developed based on the owners’ and handlers’ treatment with the dog. BSL should directly target people who deliberately want to make their dogs aggressive and develop biting tendencies through unethical training. BSL somehow is helping develop a fear in people’s mind towards certain breed. This fear makes them behave abnormally and the 3rd Mistake repeats its cycle.

A bit more about these legal acts: 

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is an Act of the Parliament of the UK that has been there there for around 3 decades, and has been aimed at prohibiting certain canine breeds that have been presumed as dangerously vicious. 

Similar law... Breed-specific Legislation (BSL) or Breed-discriminatory Legislation (BDL) was enacted by the US govt. And is aimed at banning some specific breeds of dogs from possession/adoption. 

Such laws have been framed to save the society from dog attacks. These laws are completely based on the presumption that particular dog breeds are dangerous or such legal framework have been supported by data related to dog attacks vs types of breeds involved or accused. 

Such legal set up needs to be  withdrawn and made ineffective because these laws do not seem to be addressing the actually problem. The governments of both countries should keep an eye on the way the breeders are deploying their  unscientific, selective breeding programs to genetically infuse aggression in certain dogs. Many people are proud of owning these breeds just because of their aggressive nature; not because they love canines. We consider such breeding as irresponsible and unscientific breeding, because such breeding programs are creating psychologically unstable specimens. That's not the breed's fault. That's the breeders' fault altogether! Hence, BSL/BDL and Dangerous Dog Act is a baseless legal setup that is giving a breed a bad name for no fault of the breed.

5th Mistake – Unethical Breeding: Wrong breeding tactics is the reason for developing biting tendencies in dogs. Unscientific breeding (outcrossing, line breeding and in-breeding) often times delivers shy progenitors. Backyard breeding should be banned. Act of breeding animals should be carried keeping the Science of Breeding in mind. Genes has got its role to play. Here's the Role of Gene in The Dog's Character.

6th Mistake – Not Understanding a Breed: It is important to understand the specific traits of the breed you are planning to own. Owners should understand whether a breed is for him/her. Not all breeds are or all. If you are an apartment dweller, a GSD or a Dane may not be the right choice for you. Limited movement and exercise can make make certain breed – German Shepherd dog frustrated and eventually develops aggressiveness.

Over all these... Do not commit the same mistakes as I did.

Do not keep your dog confined. Exercise is of utmost importance. Understanding your dog is a science and art both and the significance of it cannot be denied. At the same time it is important to understand the power of a large breed like Great Dane, Cane Corso, Bordeux, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Pitt Bull, Mastiffs etc. These dogs are highly powerful and psychological imbalance can be jeopardize both you and your dogs. Undesirable behaviors are programmed in a breed, if not bred improperly. Rather bad behaviors like over aggression, shyness and biting tendencies are exposed when people who love the breed do not understand the breed properly. This is the biggest mistake that most dog lovers commit.

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Allelomimetic Behavior in Dogs

Allelomimetic behavior in dogs is the imitative behavior found in them and reflects their intelligence. Dogs can exhibit this behavior at any point of time in their life. However, as per the “Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog”, a puppy can first exhibit this behavior at around the age of 5 weeks.

More than one adult dogs that stay together – eat, play, sleep together are more prone to exhibit Allelomimetic behavior – one copying the dominating member of the pack. This is a common behavior in dogs is often noticed when a dog joins in barking or howling when his/her partner dog(s) will bark or howl. The other dog who is joining his pack members in barking will just imitate his members without even knowing the reason of barking.

The ability of dogs to induce themselves to act like the other members “in an adaptive manner” in a non-competitive situation brings in the sense of unity in them. Allelomimetic behavior is a type of natural social behavior found in the social animals – most prominent in canines – to imitate or mimic the activities of his/her pack members. This natural behavior is genetically hardwired in puppies – irrespective of breed and is one of the most significant factors and natural process of learning –can also be called “social learning”.

Allelomimetic behavior vs. Social facilitation

Closely resembling, the concept of “social facilitation” and “Allelomimetic behavior” are obviously related, but have subtle differences.

Allelomimetic behavior is a type of natural pack-coordinated behavior based on the natural inclination of any social animal to follow the other members of the pack. Social facilitation, on the other hand, refers to the behavior exhibited in the groups where the presence of a dog results in strengthening a specific behavior. For instance, two dogs staying together may bark more than when they were separate.

Takeaway:

If you have a dog with behavioral problem(s), it is suggested not adopting another dog to be kept together. The presence of the problem dog will environmentally influence the new member to develop the problem behavior. Even if you are adopting a dog from the best bloodline (without aggression problem), your new member is likely to develop aggressive behavior if your existing dog has aggression problem.

If you already have a problem dog, and still planning to get a new one, then you must make an arrangement to keep them separate. There is a pretty good chance that the magnitude of the problem behavior will be developed in your new puppy and will be eventually amplified, stimulated by the presence of a dog with behavioral issues.

Canines are doubtlessly an intelligent species, whether a pedigreed dog or a mongrel and irrespective of breed. Allelomimetic behavior is a reflection of its superb intelligence level. Due to its comparatively higher level of intelligence than many other species dogs can even perceive time. Here is how dogs can perceive time, a post that your will surely be interested to read out.

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Humans to Respond to the Howls of Their Pet Dogs

Am I crazy to say this???

Yes... Humans should respond to the howls of their dogs. And when I say this, most people think that I say this out of my eccentricity. However, fortunately a few are still there who have understood the simple logic that supports this seemingly insanely crazy idea of responding to the pet dog’s howls.

For last few weeks now I have been going through some priceless documents of canine behavioral researchers. The major section of the documents was about canine vocal sounds – Howls, Growls, Barks, Whines, Squeaks, Baying, Whimpers and so on… An understanding of canine Howls has been presented in this post, followed by some kind of logic supporting this eccentric idea – “Humans to respond to the howls of their dogs”.

Canine Instinct & Purpose of Howl
   
Although the purpose of this post is not to explain "why do dogs howl". But it is important to understand the purpose of dog howls before proceeding further.

Behavioral researchers have delineated a set of purposes of howls of dogs/wolves in the nature. As a matter of fact, you will not hear a dog howling too frequently; it is quite infrequent… though not rare.  Dogs, as for wolves, instinctively deliver howls under several situations:

1. When they feel the need to gather the pack at a point
2. When they need to reinforce the identity of a pack

 In both the situations the pack members, on hearing the first dog’s howl, get together and join him/her with group howling. But the dogs staying in the house with humans usually get their food ready; therefore the need for howls for hunting for food is almost zero. But howls are still delivered by them as an attempt to gather their pack members (humans and other dogs in the house) for several reasons other than hunting. As an example situation, when a dog senses the presence of trespassers/ strangers within his/her territory, then he/she may want to gather the pack members (humans and other dogs in the house) to join him for prevent the pack from probable impending danger. Here the dog’s “pack instinct” comes to play its role along with “territorial instinct” and “guard instinct”.

In the wild the other dogs (by the dint of their natural instinct) positively respond to the howl of the fist dog and get assembled to reinforce their “pack instinct” and “territorial instinct”.

For a dog that lives with humans, his pack is composed of himself and his human members. Each deliver of howl, according to the nature of purposes, therefore needs to be responded through two distinctive actions:

1. Making yourself available with your dog - By gathering there with your dog serves his first purpose and stimulates his confidence that reinforces his “pack instinct” and “territorial instinct”
2. Vocalized response – By joining him with vocal responses (NOT against the howl, but for supporting his action - howl) you will stimulate his “guard instinct”.

To conclude, dog owners who do not bother to respond to their dogs’ howling or who fails to effectively do that are actually spoiling their dog’s very significant instincts. They are not doing their duties as a pack members. Responsible dog ownership doesn't end with providing your dog with good food, fresh water, providing proper training, and meeting all vet bills. At the first place, it includes understanding dog's behaviors that are genetically ingrained.

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Fights in Pack - Dominance vs Submissive Gesture and My Big Mistake

Nature's Rule for Pack Hierarchy and My BIG Mistake

Do not make the same mistake as I did by getting into their fights to stop the war. To many dog lovers across the globe this post may sound a bit too off-beat as I have always spoken against cruelty to animals and saving lives...

Well, this post is published followed by a few months of critically studying behavioral components, dominance signals in dogs that live in pack - in houses or in the wild. I have also consulted documents of several canine psychologists and behaviorists, including Nick White and the genius Professor Stanley Coren and several others before coming up with this post.

I suggest dog owners - especially those who have more than one dog - not to tread into the conflicts between dogs. The situation may worsen up, not just because you may be hurt badly, but  because by interfering you will actually prevent them from framing a natural hierarchical structure. People who share lives with dogs should know that there are "set of natural rules" that act as determinants of "dominance", "ownership" and "territoriality".

Conflicts between two dogs in a pack usually starts, progresses and ends based on these natural rules. And there are very rare instances of big blood shed. Often times there's nothing more than small wounds, punctures and cuts, which are not usually fatal. These are situations when dogs should be better left alone to fight and things will be sorted out naturally, with one of them exhibiting submissive gestures. The moment one shows submission and backs off, the other dog usually stops his attacks. This submission of one dog automatically places the other dog higher in the natural pack hierarchy, which he was fighting for - the "Dominance" in this case.

What mistake I did?

Some of my readers may have this question now... what was my mistake with Reva and Rechie. The situation was little different. It wasn't a fight for position, but for ownership.

Mistake 1: I pushed them into competitive play (fetching a single ball and there were two dogs), which generated a fight for ownership of the property (ball).

Mistake 2: I got into their conflict to stop them and ended up with some minor wounds that required stitches.


However, in continuation with my Mistake 2, the wounds on my palm, hands and face, and some cuts in their bodies here and there were not the points of concern. By interfering I could set them apart, locked them in separation for a couple of hours, but they could not determine who among them were dominant. The fight did not end naturally with one being submissive. Which means they could not instinctually use the "natural rules" for determining the dominant member of the pack. Therefore, there was always high chance for re-occurrence of similar fights again in their life time.

Here a better understanding of Why Clashes Occur in a Pack could be found.


Dominance vs Submission - Does that work for all dogs?

As long as the dogs are properly bred by educated and sensible breeder things should work fine. Incorrectly bred specimens will fail to understand their limit and will not be submissive. This indicates a tendency to disregard the signals to stop and natural rules. Correctly combined genes should strike a proper behavioral balance. Aggression and Submission are two most significant component of temperament that are governed by genes. Hyper-submissive nature and hyper-aggressiveness are as undesirable as hypo-submissive nature and hypo-aggressiveness. Conflicts among dogs with imbalanced behavioral configuration can be fatally dangerous without human intervention. Dog breeding is an art and a science both... rather a "scientific art" or an "artistic science". Science of Dog Breeding needs to be considered seriously. It is not everybody's cup of tea. Dog breeding for making money has always ended up with wrong types of progenitors, with major and suppressed or visible problems either related to physical or physiological or psychological. A related study on Role of Gene in The Character of a Dog.

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Why does a clash occur in a Pack?

 6 small mistakes can make mess in the pack

A proper rank hierarchy in a pack is essentially necessary. Most clashes and conflicts occur when two or more members in a pack are not clear about their ranking. It is natural in dogs to be able to choose their alfa member the pack leader, and is not wise for you to select a dog to play the dominant role in the pack. Conflicts occur when confusion arises about their position. The owner is the best person who can prevent fights within a pack. There can be a number of faults of an owner that can encourage his dogs to get in a fight, for instance:


Mistake 1 - Treating all dogs equally: We do not suggest bringing in distinction in terms of love and care. All dogs of a pack should equally cared for. We suggest NOT treating them equally means supporting the dominating member in his or her dominance, unless he/she is breaking the pack rule. Supporting his dominion is rather important and should be restricted to certain preferences such as, getting food before the other pack members (however, all dogs should get their required share of food), getting pat before the beta members, allowed to get out to play before others, and so on

Mistake 2 - Trying to Choose your dominating member: This is the worst kind of mistake a dog owner can ever make. Dogs in a pack are instinctively able enough to choose their pack leader. Dominance is established through interaction between themselves and through body languages. Any kind of interference in this will definitely lead to conflicts which may take a severe shape. Trying to get taller over the other members, delivering voluminous bark, territoriality etc. are the signs of establishing leadership. However, over aggression is a serious fault.

Mistake 3 - Confusion Dominating or Alfa member vs Pack Leader: Dominating or alfa member doesn't mean that he is the leader of the pack, although these have very close resemblance. Alfa member of the pack is the dog that has efficiently established the dominance, but leader of the pack is YOU. Even the most dominating male of the pack should act according to YOUR command and should act withing the chalked out boundaries/ limitations set by YOU. Once you loose the pack leadership position the likelihood of clashes with a pack will certainly increase.

However, in relation to this point  - "Mistake 3 Confusion Dominating or Alfa member vs Pack Leader", there comes a whole lot of confusion as to how can you set yourself as a leader of the pack. Remembering the German dog trainer Colonel Konrad Most, "in the absence of compulsion neither human education nor canine training is feasible. Even the most soft-hearted dog-owner cannot get on terms with his idolized favorite without some form of compulsion." This means, some sort of force/compulsion is needed in order to establish a dominance or leadership in the pack. 

Chances are there that the colonel had studied the natural methods of "alfa membership establishment in wild wolves", where the king wolf establishes the leadership in their natural hierarchical frame only through winning physical fights or may be influenced by the . Modern researcher like Professor Stanley Coren have a different view altogether. 

"The idea of the alpha only seems to be valid in artificial packs", thinks sir Coren.


Mistake 4 - Not setting up a rule set for pack: It is important that you set rules (limitations and boundaries) for your pack in order to maintain discipline and prevent bad pack behaviors. Not been able to set rules for your pack proves that you are a bad pack leaders and chances are there that your pack members may be confused about the dos and don'ts and may get involved in clashes or conflicts.

Mistake 5 - New member introduced in the pack and left unsupervised: It is both a duty and a challenge to introduce a new dog into the pack. The challenge lies in efficiently socializing the new members to the existing ones in the pack, failing which may breed confusion and conflicts. If you find the new member is dominating by nature, it is wise to keep him or her kenneled separately. Remember, no two dominating members should be give a pack to rule. Such mistakes usually end up with an irreversible loss.

Mistake 6 - Not treating properly the old dog that used to dominate: When a dominant gets older he/she fails to retain his or her position. The leadership position is being taken over by another dominant member of the pack which breeds confusion and increases the chance of conflicts within the pack. It is important to help the old dog retain his or her position. For a dog that has become older with fragile health condition it is important to support his dominion as long as it doesn't break your pack rule.


Canine dominance instincts

Every single problem related to dog behavior and obedience are not related to dominance.

Understanding the canine behavior related to dominance is important. Dogs in the wild and in a pack form their own social structure that should not be disturbed. Through their interaction with each other they tend to choose the leader of the pack and each of them places themselves in distinctive ranks that is deserved by particular member, which form a unique dominance hierarchy. Dominating characteristics is the unique feature present in a particular dog and established by him or her in his or her own ways.

Conflicts and clashes are the outcome of serious disagreement between the members of a pack. This disagreement may be related to hierarchy or territoriality or ownership. Better the dominance hierarchy is maintained, smoother will be your dogs life in the pack. Here's yet another explanatory chapter on clash - Fights in Pack - Dominance vs Submissive Gesture and My Big Mistake

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My Dog Shows Hyper Aggression Towards Other Animals - What Might Be The Reason?

Most common complain by dog owners about their dogs is over aggression. Although I have already talked a bulk about dog aggression in this blog viz... Why Dogs Become Aggressive, Understanding Dog Attacks and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Dogs, yet here's another post on similar topic - "Dog Aggression" - a little different though - "Is Your Dog Showing Aggression Towards Animals?".

Dogs within a pack or external to a specific pack may show a wide range of behavior when they come across other dogs. A very recent study on dogs' aggression towards other dogs shows that such behavior is triggered by several underlying  stimulants, including the following:

• Territoriality
• Competition for ranking
• Fear or traumatic experience
• Acquired behavior

Territorial Aggression in Dogs

There are many instances of dogs showing aggression towards other animals that treads into their territory. Apart of pedigreed dogs, mongrels in the wild exhibits territoriality.  Territorial or Possessive  aggression in dogs is normal and commonly seen in moderate to little above moderate degree in breeds like German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, Bull Mastiff, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Giant Schnauzer and Weimaraners. Overtly territorial dogs can be potentially dangerous.  Over territoriality is, however, a type of behavioral problem. Territorial aggression may root from sexual maturation, especially in males and lack of early socialization or conditioning to situations and presence of other animals.


Establishing Hierarchy


Dogs showing aggression towards other dogs in the same house may be an indication of hierarchy problem. Canine dominance instinct demands them naturally forming a social hierarchical structure within their pack, with the most dominant specimen as the alpha canine member of the pack. The presence of two or more dominant dogs can lead to a fight for ranking.

Note: In the context of ranking it is strongly suggested not breaking the dominance hierarchy when there is a pack of more than one dog. The correct way is to reinforce the dominance instinct of the more dominant dog. The best way to reinforce the dominance instinct of a actual dominant dog  involves a series of systematic exercises, without breaking the natural hierarchical format. Once that is done correctly all members in the pack will understand the hierarchy and identify the most dominant dog as the actual alpha member. This will help to maintain pack peace.

  A related read in this context: Why does a clash occur in a pack 


Traumatic Experience in The Past

Past traumatic experience due to attack(s) by other dogs or cats is another very common reason for many dogs turning aggressive towards other animals. Such aggression begins with fear, and eventually turn out to be potentially dangerous aggressive behavior towards the specific species, making it difficult for the dog to live together in a pack or to go out to meet other animals. Such social aggression are, at times, difficult to be corrected, because such behavior persists even after the handlers strategic intervention. Such aggression may be exhibited towards a specific species - the species with which the particular dog had a traumatic encounter in the past.


Acquired behavior: Commonly found in dogs living in a pack. If the alpha member of the pack shows any habitual behavior (desirable or undesirable), the puppies or other omega specimens living together with the dog adopts the behavior. An incorrectly socialized alpha dog can have an innate ability to influence the behavioral change in his or her pack members. Hence, it is important that you, as the dog owner need to positively control the environment for the entire pack in which you want the omega dogs or a puppy to be in.  In case your alpha dog's bad behaviors are influencing the habit of your puppy or omega dog then it is important to keep the dog with undesirable behavior separate from the rest of the pack members.

  Good read on socialization: Checklist For Socializing Your Puppy


Suggestions 

• Positively reinforcing the dominance instinct of the most dominant dog does not mean ignoring or neglecting the omega member. Do not give the omega less than alpha, just last.
• Never Reward or stimulate aggressive behavior in your dog
• Best way is to resist this behavior immediately after your dog shows aggression  with a "sharp No" and "firm Jerk"
• Next time it is best to ignore such an undesirable behavior
• Hold the leash short and firmly when passing by other dogs, keeping calm and ignoring with no prior command with an intention to check such situations beforehand
• Regular contact with other animals will help the dog to strengthen social confidence

Special Tips: Inadvertent Reinforcement includes rewarding the dog for stopping a behavior (i.e. Barking at a other dogs in the park) that is not desirable by his human pack mates. In this process the dog learns to use that particular behavior (Barking) to get the reward; not at the other dogs. This way the trainer can inadvertently reward the undesirable behavior to redirect the behavior towards a different thing from the thing that is not wanted.

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Dog Behavior Problem - Over-Excitement

Over-excitement is a big problem - one of the major behavioral issues in dogs. Over-excitement can be exhibited not only by the domesticated dogs but also by the dogs in the wild. Dogs are social animals and they have emotions that that they try express in their own unique ways that varies from dog to dog and from situation to situation. While some dog shows over-excitement during feeding time, others exhibit this undesirable behavior during the play or when they meet their loved ones or even during the periods or stress and anxiety.

Dealing with the hyper excitement in dogs is tough and a may be a very tricky proposition - especially because the root cause varies according to the situation. Playtime hyper excitement and feeding time hyper excitement should be handled differently. However, hyper excitement is a wrong behavior indeed, but its quite common and not any disorder.

The best way to deal with hyper excitement is to discourage the behavior by not nurturing it with treats or praises. However, at the same time it is important to make sure that your interaction with your dog and your behavior towards him/her should be calm so as to help your him/her cool down.
Here, we will discuss the hyper excitement in two different situations - during feeding and during play time.

Play Time Over-excitement
 
Often times the play time hyper excitement is confused with aggression. Remember aggressive behavior is way different from hyper excitement, although in novice eyes both behaviors may look very similar. Lack of outdoor socialization and inadequate behavioral training are the root causes of over-excitement during the playtime. Some breeds - especially the working dogs that are expected to have naturally higher energy level like German shepherds, Airedale Terrier, English Springer Spaniel, Pointer, Vizsla, Jack Russell Terrier, Collies, Beagle, Dobermann Pinscher naturally show overly excited behavior during the play or walk time.
Boundaries (limitations) in the play is necessary; more important is balancing the playtime. It is most important to identify the factors that stimulate the dog to become hyper active. Once those factors are identified effectively, you can control hyper activity by addressing those factors. Giving the dog sufficient exercise - both physical and mental stimulation are of utmost importance. Most common factor that stimulate dogs to become overly excited is the owner's excitement. If you speak to him in an excited tone or exhibited excitement through your body language you will stimulate your dog to behave more excitedly if he/she is already having over-excitement problem.

Setting boundaries (limitations) include setting up of certain consistent rules for your dog and train him/ her to obey those. Make sure your dog in a calm (yet alert) state before you throw the ball. If he has a tendency to grab it directly from your hand before you throw it, it is immediately necessary to suppress this tendency through properly socializing him/her to the situations. Train him/ her to stay cool until you throw the ball.

Related Read: Aringsburg GSD Blog talks in depth about play time over-excitement

 
Feeding Time Hyper Excitement
 
Feeding time over excitement is not as common as the play time hyper excitement. The most common factors that stimulates the feeding time over excitement is the type of treat/ food he/ she gets, the time when he gets the food, and the treatment he gets even after showing over excitement. If your dog always gets exactly what he always expects, then he may exhibit over excitement to express his/ her emotion. If he gets exactly at the time when he expects, it may stimulate him/her to become over excited.

And finally if he gets his highly expected food, during exactly when he expects it even after showing too much excitement (which is not desirable) that you are naturally nurturing this behavior. Best way out is to keep changing his food (always keeping in mind the goodness of ingredients) frequently and alongside set different times for food, without making much delay. By doing these you can help him keep away from anticipating the food type and time.

Obviously putting him to a good exercise session (play and/or walk) at least two hours before the his feeding time is a wise plan.

Other Reasons For Hyper Excitement
 
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD): Although quite rare but but Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity may be another reason behind your dog's over excitement.

Highly Reactive Dogs: Certain breeds are more reactive than others; while certain dogs in a same breed tend to be heavily reactive. Reactive dogs, as opposed to hyperactive dogs, tend to react to any situations - be it small or big. Hyper-reactivity may be another reason for your dog to show over excitement (often leading to barks, followed by aggression at times).

Is Your Dog Obsessed About a Particular Thing? If so, then showing hyper excitement over things that your dog is obsessed about is quite normal. Try to desensitize your dog, which is a long term process and action involves almost all approaches that you would do to socialize him or her to keep his/her emotion under control. Obsessive compulsive disorders in dogs can be treated by systematic desensitization - a technique that involves gradually exposing the dog to an ever-increasing excitement-provoking stimuli. It is recommended not increase the intensity of the stimuli/ situation until the dog fully learns to stay relaxed under the given situation.

However, nothing can resolve these behavioral problems overnight. It is a long-term process and you need to keep cool and be patience. Throughout this process it is important to the owner to keep away from showing over excitement for any reason.

Staying consistent, systematic and focused are the most important qualities for a good pack leader.

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Do Dogs Get Jealous: Jealousy in Dogs is Supported By Scientific Proof

 Dog Jealousy - Dog Jealous of New Dog and other dog and Dog Jealous of Baby
Often times people ask me "do dogs get jealous" and at time they even complain that about dog jealous of baby or dog jealous of other dog and so on...

Is your dog jealous of baby or a new dog or does he exhibit jealousy when you pay your lavish attention to pets? If so, then it's quite natural - jealousy in dogs is deeply hardwired in their psychology. Anyone who is an owner of several dogs knows that dogs get jealous at certain things and in certain situations, and is an obvious part of their emotions. Even Charles Dawin (English naturalist, geologist and contributor to evolutionary theory) observed that dogs really exhibit jealousy.

However, dog jealousy has now been proven through a study on canine behavior. The experiment on 36 dogs was carried out by scientists at the University of California, led by psychology professor Christine Harris - the first scientific confirmation of dog jealousy. 36 dogs had been put into an experimentation to monitor their reactions when they were ignored by their owners.Professor Harris and the team gave the dog owners three distinctive activities: Either reading book aloud OR paying lavish attention to an unknown object (a Halloween bucket) OR petting and talking to a toy dog that could electronically moved and barked. Lead professor and psychologist Christine Harris observed that the dogs did not exhibit much responsiveness to their owners act of reading books aloud, while showed irritation to their owners on loving the toy dogs. According to Harris even 40% of the dogs that were put into experimentation even showed jealous behavior, finding their owners talking to the plastic Halloween pumpkin. The finding related to jealousy in dogs suggested that dog jealousy is one of the basic instincts in them to respond irritatingly on the feeling of a rival being paid more attention. Harris opined that this is something that might help psychologists understand human jealousy more efficiently. Harris told the Washington Post: “It suggests to me that some of our ideas about the nature of jealousy, like that it requires complex cognition, are incorrect”. However, other scientists have stated that the dogs in the study might not been jealous, but they were probably showing natural responsiveness when their owners handled a creature much like them.

However, studying jealousy in dogs is a very new domain in the field of dog behavior science and needs to ascertain the probable reasons of a dog jealous of new dog, a dog jealous of other dog or any other pet in the society and a dog jealous of baby. Lead professor Harris said that the findings of their studies challenge the ideas that "jealousy is a social construction of human beings", and showed that animals, besides human beings exhibit strong distress on something as a seeming rival gets more attention of their loved ones. The dogs, as a distress-elicited behavior, exhibits reaction and tend to break up the connection between their loved ones (owners or other human pack members) and a seeming rival. In the study almost one/third of the dogs tested

Just under a third of the dogs attempted to get between their owner and the toy dogs showing all-out effort to win back the attention of their beloved masters. Around a quarter quarter of them who were tested tried to snap at the other dog - toy that could artificially move and bark, and finally one of the dogs showed similar behavior when their owners paid attention on the bucket and book.
This study published in the journal Plos One, and it suggest that dogs really do get jealous. However, this isn't something that dog lovers do not know, but something that had no scientific proof as a support - probably the first scientific confirmation of the behaviour - jealousy in dogs.

However, according to canine behaviorist Ceasar Milan "dogs are not jealous". While addressing dog jealousy within a pack he said that dogs are not jealous.

My personal view: I think dogs have an innate tendency to claim his/ her own things, of which his owner's attention is one worth mentioning. Among the other things that a dog claims are territory, toy, and position in the pack, and while claiming but not winning a clash occurs, which is viewed by us as a result of jealousy and we call the subject a "Jealous dog". A dog jealous of baby or a new dog is result of claiming the position by a dog that used to get full attention and importance, but is devoid of those things now.

Hope you will find this this video interesting 

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Why Does Your Dog Jump on Certain Situations?

Have you ever wondered why your dog jumps at certain things? Many canine behaviorists have different notions about why dogs do certain things that they do. Jumping is on of those undesirable behaviors that need to be addressed with firm hands. It is better to prevent developing such behaviors rather than correcting it once developed. The answer to ‘Why does your dog jump at certain situations?’ may be best understood by analyzing “when (at what situations) does your dog jump”. Ever spared thoughts on that?

It has been noticed that dog jumps at certain things and on certain occasions, for instance: when they find a lizard on your wall or when they come across someone they love or at certain peak moments, like when you enter his room with his food bowl or when his handler pick up the leash. After analyzing all these situations it is clear that dog jumps:

1) When they are inquisitive about something (seeing a lizard)
2) When they are excited and happy about something (seeing someone he loves or seeing you picking up his leash)

When they are inquisitive about something, some dogs get stimulated as the thing incites him. When he finds a butterfly flying around or a lizard he is stimulated to go near them, which makes him jump.

Peak moments like when you pick up his walking leash or the ball stimulates him thinking that its time for him to go play and his bouncing begins.

Corrective, reward based training is essential as an effective jumping mishap solution. Even after you have perfectly spotted out the when(s) and why(s) behind your dog’s jumping tendencies, you should not expect to get rid of the problem within days. The first step is to establishing yourself as the leader of the pack. Are you the pack leader yet? Some really big mistakes that I had made while establishing pack leadership. I am sure this post will help you follow the right path.  

Corrective measures, including setting up a set of strict rules for your dog and consistently maintaining the rules throughout his life is a must to control the jumping mishaps.

Understanding why your dog sometimes does certain things is of prime importance when it comes to setting up the rules. At the outset keep off your attention from him and turn back when he starts jumping.

Giving him attention and not resisting him in his mistakes are almost equivalent to rewarding him for what he’s doing. A simple trick to correct this is… as soon as he starts jumping, seeing you coming with his leash, say ‘NO’ strictly, firmly and sharply. Turn back and go away without putting his collar. Repeating this consistently every time he commits the same mistake will help him understand that he’s not going to be rewarded (taken out to walk) if he does what he does. Real reward, like lavish praises and letting him go play, should certainly be connected to desirable behavior (staying calm even when he sees you picking the leash). Being consistent with this rule will let him understand the link between his behavior and your corresponding action. Help your dog to help you stop the jumping behavior.

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Pack Management Mistakes That Most Dog Owners Make

Pack management begins with critically observing and understanding each dog in a pack. The biggest mistake that most dog owners make is considering all dogs in a pack as same.Dogs are social animals with unique behavior and ingrained pack instincts, and maintain a balanced dominance hierarchy within a particular pack. However, conflicts occur between dogs within a pack when any one or more dogs in the pack behave beyond the pack's naturally set rule. Same things happen within a pack of several domesticated dogs, irrespective of breeds, size and group. Understanding and managing complex social behaviors of your dogs housed together is essentially necessary to maintain a pack smoothly. However, another big mistake that most dog owners make is housing several dogs together without indulging themselves in learing behaviors of each dog. It is at this point that a professional canine behaviorist's role comes to play. If you are a new owner or do not have much experience in keeping more than one dogs at a time together you should, at the very outset, learn from the mistakes that I had made in my early days, and then eventually I realized that pack management is both an art and science, and immensely important skill that any dog owner should posses to be a successful pack leader.

Here are a few very big mistakes that I had made...

Failing to analyze each dog's behavior: Analyzing each dog and his or her behavior is more than important, failing which may generate potential problem within your pack! Consider observing each dog separately. Powerful observation can only help you to analyze behaviors and characteristics of each dog in a pack. There is not single, suite-to-all strategy to manage a pack. It depends hugely on the breeds you deal with. Characteristics, behaviors and temperament vary from breed to breed. Even within a single breed, two dogs may exhibit distinctive behavior. It is only after a careful observation that you can analyze each dog. Use your judgement and be intuitive about formulating a custom strategy to manage your pack. I would suggest you to get in touch with a professionally skilled behaviorist before you should rely on your own judgement.

Failing to set rules for your pack: This can end up with disciplinary issues and conflicts within the pack. It is important for you to know clearly what you DON'T want in the pack. Sticking to the rules strictly is even more important and a challenge as well. However, it is highly recommended to set rule for your pack keeping humane treatment in mind. Any deviation from the pack rules indicates your inefficiency of behind a pack leader.

Failing to maintain the hierarchical structure: This will certainly lead to clashes and conflicts between members of a pack. Identify the alfa member of the pack and it is important to support him/ her as long as the pack rules are not broken. Establishing hierarchy is highly significant. In a pack of several dogs there must be an alfa member that dominates. Clashes will occur as soon as another dog tries to take over the alfa position. Being a pack leader you need to maintain the pecking order - the dominance hierarchy that your dogs establish for themselves in a natural way. It would be unwise trying to break their natural hierarchy by considering all of them as equal.

Failing to establishing pack leadership: Despite the presence of an alfa dog in your pack it is important that each dog should know that you are the leader of the pack. you need to be both benevolent and tough at the same time. Be a model of a well behaved alfa to your pack. Failing to establish pack leadership will encourage your dogs in the pack to exhibit inconsistent behavior that may disturb the pecking order - dominance hierarchy. The aim should be to reduce all possibilities of socialization mistakes.  

Leading your dogs with doubts and confusion in mind: This will expose you to the risk of being an utter failure! Remember that your dogs can read your mind quite efficiently. It is important to be steady and keep your mind doubtless while teaching your dogs the pack rules. Make the dog obey on the first command. Repetition in command means your dog has still confusion in accepting you as a leader, which in turn means you are not yet perfectly capable of controlling a pack.

Introducing new member all on a sudden: Dogs are naturally very territorial with inherent instinct to protect his pack. There is no point in experimenting with a new dog being introduced in a pack; he/she will certainly fail. Keep the new dog separated for the first few days - socialization phase by building a wicket gate. The socialization phase is crucial and demands extra endeavor and time to help the new dog mingle with the existing members and get used to with the pack rules. This is typically a training phase and requires a professional's intervention.

Keeping all dogs in a single room: The worst kind of a mistake that you can make is by keeping a new dog in the same room with the existing ones. The first few hours or even the first couple of days may be smooth, but that doesn't give enough indication about a smoother future. Keep all dogs kenneled separately is an wise idea to prevent conflicts. Proper socialization of the new dog(s) is, however, too significant.

Putting the whole pack in a competitive play: This is another big mistake usually made by dog owners. Especially if your dogs are not highly obedience trained, and if you have not been able to effectively established pack leadership, then putting your dogs in competitive play can be utterly dangerous.

Expecting too much from your dog: Remember you are dealing with a pack of dogs; not a team of scientists. It would be a fool's errand on your part if you start expecting too much from your pack and each member of it. Be reasonable and practical. We are comfortable with chasing and achieving high targets in our lives, but dogs are entirely different from us humans. More over one breed from the other personality wise, characteristically and genetically. It is hence important to study your breed and more specifically your dog and you will know how much to expect from your dog(s).

I know some of you already have committed some of these mistakes; but no point repent over what you have already done. Life sails on... some dog breeds are intelligent enough to learn things even when they are old.

A Related Read: How to Establish Your Alpha Position in a Pack

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Does your Female Dog Cock Her Leg?

Wondering why your female dog is cocking (lifting) her legs?

Well, it is not quite common to find females cocking (lifting) their legs while urinating, yet sometimes female dogs are are marked for their their leg cocking behavior.

There are many school of thoughts to explain as to why some females cock their legs during urination and the most common explanations have been discussed here...

Natural instincts are deeply ingrained in animals. Dogs usually lift their leg while urinating, while females don't. This is natures law! Female dogs, by nature, assumes the natural positioning while urinating, however in certain cases some females are noticed to cock their legs much like males, while some others exhibit half sit and half cocking position during urination. According to canine behaviorists one of the probable reasons could be due to the fact that such a female dog is slightly masculinised by over secretion of testosteron while in the uterus. Testosteron is a steroid hormone that falls under the androgen group and is found in almost all mammals. Although it is the principal male sex hormone that is secreted in the testicles of the male dogs, it is also secreted in the ovaries of the female dogs in limited quantity. However, this could happen probably because of the blood flow in the uterus - from the back - cervix towards the front - ovaries and the position of the puppy. This probably allows the male puppies near the region of cervix to influence the female puppies that are in front of them.  

Other canine experts explain a different reason for this behavior in female dogs. Some female lift their leg during urination because their position when they were in uterus. Probably the female puppy was positioned in between the two males in the uterus. In such case, chances are there that the particular female sometimes gets masculinised by androgenic effects. The male sex hormones - androgen gets diffused through the membranes that divide one puppy from the next in the uterus.

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Does Your Dog Eat Grass? My Reva Does!

Hey, but Rex is certainly not a goat or a mule! So why should he eat grass then? Is he hungry? Any health disorder? I am sure that you have already addressed this to your vet. First off, let me tell you that you are not the only one on this planet to find his dogs eating grass. Believe me, two of my three beautiful German Shepherds eat grass.

As a matter of fact dogs eating grass is very common behavior, although not desirable. Dogs in the wild have also been noticed eating grass and then sometimes vomiting, which leads many of us to conclude that this is a natural behavior in the canine world. The behavior that is characterized by consciously consuming certain things by a species that are not the food for that particular species is called “Pica”. So a dog’s behavior of eating grass is a type of Pica that doesn’t do any fatal harm but there is always a chance of getting poisoned if the dog accidentally ingests any poisonous leaves or insects along with the grass. Researches have been carried out on the dogs to evaluate the number of the dogs eating grass. A number of 49 dogs were released to grassland where there were other weeds too. It was found that around 39 out of 49 dogs had consumed plants at some time, and more interestingly it was found that the grass was the most preferred plant.

So what might be the probable reason for your dogs eating grass? Well veterinary researchers have thousands of theoretical explanations in this regard, but as a matter of fact no one has yet come up with any confirmed conclusion as to why a dog eats grass. This type of Pica in dogs has made many dog owners frown on. Most vets and experienced owners have a common explanation and it is dogs eat grass when they feel irritation or pain inside their stomach and they eat grass because they need to vomit. This is not true, because most of the times my dogs eat grass and do not vomit. Secondly, dogs have their natural ability to vomit whenever they want; they do not need to eat grass to vomit.

Another school of thoughts… dogs have an instinctual craving for the roughage or minerals or fiber present in the vegetation. This is probably true and sounds to have some logic in the explanation, but what about my third dog that have never eaten grass? All my GSDs are on same quality and quantity of food. All of them have same kind and volume of exercise. All of them have same life style and kennel environment. The food ingredients are also same for each of my dogs. Considering all these again leads to the conclusion that this explanation about dogs eating grass for mineral or roughage is not a proven fact.

Well, until the time we get a consistent and proven reason as to why dogs eat grass, we can conclude that they eat grass because they like to eat grass. Grass contains a vegetable sap that is a bit sweeter in taste. Probably they like it because of that! This is much like dogs love to eat chocolates, but chocolates can never be a recommended food for them. They do not know what should they eat and why shouldn’t they eat certain things. Yet they eat certain things that shouldn’t be eaten, but they eat them because they like their taste and flavor. May be certain dogs like to eat grass, while others do not -- much like us humans; You probably love to eat burgers, but I don‘t.

So nothing to worry about as long as your grass is not recently treated with  fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or any other chemicals.

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What a Dog Teaches You

I am really honored that there are thousands of people out there who are dropping by this blog - "Welcome Dog Lovers" each day looking for information about dogs. I think the specialty of this dog blog is that it doesn't talk about a specific breed; rather dog as a whole. And this is, I believe the key to the success story of this dog information blog.

We keep dogs, because we love them! Have you ever spare a thought on what your dog teaches you? They teach us life's most precious, invaluable lessons.I am sure now you are going to think about it.

Living in the moment: I hardly waste time thinking about the future and regretting on my past failures. Like my dogs I try to live in my present tense, doing things that gives me the pleasure of being on this planet at this very moment. I have some very important work pending, but I write this post now because I want to write this now.

Trust your instincts: I have learned not to believe in sweet words, but to trust my own instincts, whenever I come across a stranger - especially the ones who seems to be very friendly. Dogs hardly care about what you say; rather they are driven by their own instincts. Dogs can understand what's there in your mind by the way of analyzing closely the different factors like body language, eye contact, etc.

Unity and Pack Instinct: I have always kept more than one dogs, and have noticed that clashes between them in the pack hardly occur. Contrary to the human community, dogs better understand that "Unity is strength." Holding onto negative feelings about your friends and kins begets bitterness in relationship, and finally you are going to get just nothing!

They will say a lot of things: Just give a damn to what they say. If you are doing nothing wrong, you do not have to care in what the world says and how it thinks. When I take my shepherds out for the walk, they usually do not appear to  have a care in the how the world looks at him.


Everyday is a Christmas: I try to start off my days like my dogs. for them each single day is a Christmas. They seem to be living a better life then the best ways they probably had spent sometimes in the past.

And finally...

Sharing Things: We are loosing our humanity too fast. We have forgotten to share our things - especially  the things that have been gifted to us by the Lord. Sharing and caring give a lots of satisfaction...

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Can Dogs Perceive Time? - Part 1

Researcher William Roberts argued back with an explanation about an animal's way of thinking of memories. According to Roberts animals do think of memories at least in the way human does. Roberts explained that "animals might be trained to do things in the same way young children are trained to do things." Just as 4-month kids learn crawling, but without the mental ability to remember where or how they learned how to crawl, animals in the same way do not have the ability of episodic memory, or the ability to remember particular events in the past. Roberts says, "a dog can know how to respond to the command "sit" without having a memory of the specific event in which it learned that command."

But if this be the case actually, then how can your dog predict your arrival time? How can your dog predict that a day is a Sunday, and your are going to take him for a drive? Researcher William Roberts has answers to questions like theses as well! According to his study on how animals perceive time, internal biological rhythms also play immensely important part. Experiments on pigeons have helped researchers conclude that an "internal clock" allows them to get a clue about when and where food would be available for them. In the same way Circadian Oscillators - daily fluctuations of hormones, body temperature and neural activities in dogs help them understand when its the time to get out in the lawn for when their owners will give them their dinner. Dogs cannot understand how much time have passed away after the last feed; they cannot understand that they are going to get the next food at 8 pm. Instead they react to a biological state that they come across at a specific time, which is determined by human through the sophisticated gadgets called clocks and watches. If your dog asks for food in the same way & at the same time each day, you should understand that he or she is reacting to a particular stimulus that is triggered by the biological state, which come across each day at the same time.

So if your dog cannot understand or perceive time, can they comprehend things or event that they might come across in the future? We will talk about this shortly. Meanwhile check out more about how dogs perceive time.

Check out... can animals comprehend and plan for the future?

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