Astounding Dog Psychology Snippets
Dogs and are smart, faithful and loving creatures but don’t be duped. Under the hood your loyal pal is really a wolf in dog’s clothing.
Accepting this idea is at the core of understanding how your dog thinks, and why he behaves in the ways that he does.
A Dog’s View of the World
A dog’s thinking is based on drives and instincts. Their basic needs are food, a place to sleep, and a strong pack for protection. This means they need a strong leader – one they are prepared to follow without hesitation. This is the role you need to fill in your dog’s life.
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. Now you are probably thinking about how your dog sits, when you give the command “sit”, or looks up when you call his name. But this is word association rather than understanding.
The truth is, that dogs have no capacity for understanding words, they mainly interpret 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.
How to 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. If you always return home at a certain time your dog will anticipate and expect your arrival at that time. If you are caught up in traffic or otherwise delayed the dog may become anxious.
This is because the dog forms expectations based on past actions, and learns to expect a particular outcome. If that outcome is not carried through it creates anxiety.
How to Show Leadership
In the wild, the Alpha Wolf controls all the activities of the pack – when they eat, when they move, who receives affection. These are the same things you control in your dog’s life. By controlling when he receives food, walks, and attention you reduce frustration and anxiety.
Now leadership is one thing, but what about showing affection to your dog? Good question. Giving affection makes you a strong leader if it is given in the right way and at the right time. Given any other way, it marks you out as a pushover. Your dog will sense that and exploit it.
Affection should always be a reward. Give affection when your dog does something good and he’ll repeat that behavior over and over again.
Discover more about dog training, dog care, dogs 101 and other helpful dog info at dogsanddogtraining.com
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