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Dog Psychology
To understand dog psychology, you have to consider dog history and dog ancestry. Your dog behaves and experiences his world--largely because of the dogs (and wolves) that came before him. Dogs are creatures of instinct! In addition, dog personalities vary considerably from dog to dog and are key to much of their dog body language and behavior.
Even though your French Bulldog or Yorkshire Terrier doesn't look anything like a wolf, most dogs are believed to be descendants of wolves. They continue to have many of the characteristics of their ancestors—like pack mentality, rituals like growling and showing teeth, hunting (everything from insects to small animals) and marking one's territory. If you take time to understand life from your dog's perspective, you will be much more successful at training and living with your pet.
Dog Psychology
and Communication with your Pet
Dog communication occurs in a number of ways. Body language is an important way for dogs to communicate. Dogs also “speak”. Sometimes this is done by barking. At other times, and with some dogs, speaking resembles human talking. A dog may vocalize and almost talk to you. A dog who really wants something can become quite persuasive! Behavior is yet another way that your dog may communicate. If she needs to go out to pee, she may go to sit next to the door. Did you know that you can even teach your dog to ring a bell when she needs to go out? It's all a matter of training! But the method of communication is behavior!
Dog Psychology and Personality Types
Dogs have personalities—just like people! Well, not exactly like people. But, my point is that, like people, dogs are very different from each other. And you can actually tell this when they are just little puppies. If you observe a group of puppies together, you will be able to pick out the dominant and the submissive puppies. If you watch them even longer, you will see which ones are easy going and which ones are more aggressive. Depending on the litter, you may even be able to tell if there is a puppy that will eventually have mental health problems! Here are some of the types that you may observe: - Alpha dog
- Submissive dog
- Aggressive dogs
- A future family watch-dog
- Playful dogs
Behavioral Problems
and Dog Psychology
The very best way to avoid behavioral problems is to train your puppy early and to do it correctly. That, of course, is in a perfect world! Most of us end up with a few behaviors in our puppies that we need to correct at some point. To do this, we need to get into our dog's head and find out how dogs think! Some articles that you might find interesting are:
Canine Psychology
Characteristics of Dogs
All the dog psychology in the world won't change some things. Dogs are born with certain genetic characteristics. They are not human, and so in order to understand our dogs, we must understand what they perceive in their world. Do you know what your dog senses tell your dog? Does he hear and
see the same things
that you do? What about your dog's memory? Does he remember details like you do? Does he know who chewed Dad's good shoe? Or is his memory different from yours? How can you use this information when you are training him? What do dog games mean? How can you tell when dog play is actually dog fighting?
Dog Psychology and Dog Mental Health
Here's where it really starts to become fun for me! I am a retired occupational therapist and had quite a bit of experience in the mental health area. This is familiar and very interesting to me because I always enjoyed the mental health challenges in my professional life.Fortunately much of what we know about mental health for people can be applied in some way to our dogs. And that information is readily available to us. Most of the time our dogs are healthy and happy. And they do not suffer from mental health problems. Once in awhile, though, you will find that your dog has a problem that needs to be addressed—for your mental health and his. This kind of issue can take a number of forms: - Fear in dogs – excessive
- Lonely dogs
- Separation anxiety
- Canine depression
- Dog anxiety
In many cases, simple steps can be taken to help your pet adjust and become happier. In others, you may need to seek professional help. The best indicator is the extent of the problem. You will have to make that call. For more information on training and homemade dog treat recipes for puppies, go to
Puppy Care.
If you are concerned about dog psychology issues, the best place to start is a discussion with your veterinarian.
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