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Understand Our Dog's Natural Behavior!
Dogs by nature are pack animals. They consider themselves part of a pack whether they are with us in our home or with other dogs running wild. This is a survival instinct. They need companionship. Very rarely does a dog make it on his own. The very nature of a pack implies a pack leader. If you study dogs in a the wild, you will find there is a constant battle to become that top dog. The same applies to our family dog.
A dog acts on instinct and react to events. He will explore and try anything. And, he will continue if he finds no resistance. If there is no resistance to anything he does, he will become top dog. The only way we can control that instinct is with resistance. A dog has to know that when he does something that is unacceptable to us there will be a consequence (the resistance). The consequence has to be consistent and has to be administered by every member of the family (the pack) the same way to avoid confusion. Dogs will find out who in the family they can get away with what with. They will look to a softer touch for sympathy. It's important that every member of the family treat the same situation the same way.
The key to interacting with our dog is effective communication. We can't sit down with them and explain to them why we don't wont them to do some of the things they do. They don't understand what we're trying to saying, pure and simple. They respond to our reaction. If a dog becomes assertive and we either don't offer any resistance or back off, he'll continue to be assertive. If he becomes assertive and we offer resistance, he will be reluctant to do it again. It's that simple.
One of the challenges we as trainers face is convincing clients not to be overly protective of their dogs. It's hard especially if they get the dog as a puppy. He's coming into a new environment and he is uncertain of his new surroundings. He cries and our immediate reaction is to pick him up and cuddle him. Cuddling in and of itself is not a bad thing, but we have a tendency to over do it because we don't want to see him upset. We need to ignore some of his actions and let him adjust to his new surroundings by himself. He needs to find out for himself that nothing in his new environment is going to harm him.
Dogs thrive on attention and affection. The more they get, the more they want. Too much can cause a dog to become insecure. A good indication of this is a dog that is constantly under foot. A dog must be allowed to stand on his own, and at same the time, get the attention and affection he needs. We need to determine how much attention and affection he can take before he becomes dependant. The behavior of a insecure dog will be unpredictable, especially when he encounters an unfamiliar situation.
A dog that is isolated to either a house or a yard will present an unfortunate set of problems. The house or yard will become his domain and, in some cases, he will protect the area at what ever cost. He will consider everything in his domain his, and he will have a hard time tolerating what he considers intruders. He will consider himself top dog and challenge any intruder. This is how some of these horror stories you here about come about, especially with breeds where protection is instinctive.
In summery, we need to make a commitment when it comes to owning a dog. We need to understand the attributes of the breed we choose, and we need to devote the time necessary to learn to communicate and teach our dog acceptable behavior. And, we must expect results, not make excuses for his behavior.
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