Originally Posted by
Tyke
Thanks for bringing us all back down to Earth. I read this section often but rarely get involved because working with dogs is my profession, but this thread is making my head hurt.
I am not going to come on here and say this or that works, because every dog is different with its own personality and needs. In my job I have to very quickly gain a dogs trust and respect, and it is not easy to do. The dogs that have been socialised correctly as young ones are more trusting and the ones that are living in rural area where they do not see other dogs or humans are far more difficult and sometimes it is impossible to gain the trust of these animals.
IMO respect comes first. If you do not assert yourself as pack leader how can you expect a dog to respect you? If it doesn't respect you then why should it trust you? Respect has to come first then trust (IMO)
I think one of the problems today is that we conveniantly forget just how closely linked our cute little pooch is to wolves. As I said before 97% of all Dogs DNA is wolf and all the instincts that come with it, the power of the pack being one of the strongest.
Dog training classes are fantastic, here a dog learns how to behave around other dogs and humans. I take my dogs to ring craft classes when I can, not so they can learn to walk round a show ring, but to socialise them.
Completely agree that these classes are one of the best ways to socialise a dog but they're good for us also as it gives us a chance to learn how to socialise with our dogs around other dogs and people and also gives us the chance to watch and learn from how dogs interact with each other. It's quite fascinating really!
By the way dogs that go ape around a hoover are doing it because of the noise and the fact that they think the owner is being threatend. He is trying to protect you. Common sense tells you when hoovering make sure the dog is out of the way. End of problem, life is too short.
While I don't necessarily disagree with you on that one, I don't necessarily agree either.
I certainly don't believe that 100% of the time a dog reacts that way to a hoover because it feels the need to protect. There are many times when it's purely a fixation due to lack of stimulation - common sense says that it has to come out in some way if a dog isn't adequately stimulated. They just are not mentally conditioned to live in the four walls of a house with the odd walk thrown in.
To make sure the dog is out the way when you're hoovering is not just inconvenient but is addressing the symptom only. It's not the end of the problem and IMO life is too short to not try to do something about it.
Surely when we buy / rescue dogs and intend to bring them into our homes as part of the family, we at least owe ourselves and them the time and effort it takes to ensure that we're all calm and healthy minded? Shoving the barking, neurotic hoover hating dog into another room simply isn't the correct answer for me, not when there are better options available.
I don't need to pay somebody £50 to be told that the reason why my dog is the way he is, is because he doesn't like what I feed him. I can see he is not eating.
I agree that maybe some dogs have a dislike for some foods but that is not the only reason a dog may not be eating. What about health issues? Also when our dogs stop eating for whatever reason we tend to panic. I've done it myself, fed my dog everything from chicken, beef, expensive dog food to cheap dog food. In actual fact when I forced myself to stop panicking about it the dog started happily eating again. It was me causing anxiety around his food that was sustaining the problem.
Dogs dig holes because they like to nest especially the bitches when in season. My westie bitch thinks her toys are her pups and when in season she digs a hole and takes her toys into the hole (nest).
Um, obviously males don't usually have that same inclination!
Sure, it's obvious a bitch could get all nesty before, during or after a season, especially if they end up with the dreaded phantom pregnancy but let's look back to natural instinct. Dogs dig holes as burrows - to live in as well as to whelp in, they also dig to bury food so that it's safe for later, at which time they'll go back and either eat it or move it.
It's not quite so black and white.
I have done dog training and pysco courses and folks it is mostly common sense. Please if you have watched the doggy dominatrix on channel four, to me she talks a lot of sense. Sorry I can't remember her name but she does it for me.
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