The Energetic Dog

Image via Wikipedia

The Energetic Dog

The expected energy level of a dog breed is a very important consideration in deciding whether to live with that breed. Unfortunately, what you expect may not always be what you get. The St. Bernard that you expect to spend most of his life on the couch may have other ideas, and the exuberant Springer Spaniel that you think will bounce off the walls may find watching the paint peel off them the best way to pass time. Most of the time, however, dogs bred for activity, such as the Irish Setter or Boxer, will fulfill the owner's expectation. Although high activity or even reactivity may be a desired trait in some breeds, that activity level must be manageable for the family living with the dog.

Activity in the field may be very appropriate, whereas pacing or charging through the house at all hours of the day and night is very annoying to most owners. Your emotional state easily transfers to the dog. The excitable dog will become more reactive if you use a high-pitched, fast, excited voice and are also reactive, nervous, and excitable. You must handle the energetic or reactive dog with calm, firm, purposeful movements and speak to him in a normal, firm-toned voice.

The deliberate, calm handling will help the dog stay calm. If you battle him to attach a lead to his collar, he will fidget and jump around even more fiercely. If the dog is hyperactive, take a firm grip on his handle and command him to sit in a slow, firm voice. If he doesn't sit, firmly and slowly grip the handle and place him into a sit. Hold him in place quietly, without anger or any unnecessary hand movements, until he ceases the battle and remains in position. When he settles down, quietly, calmly, verbally praise him. Praise an excited dog only verbally, because physical contact will tend to excite him even more. Try again to attach the lead. If he goes out of control again, repeat the forced sit, and when he relaxes, praise him. Repeat the process until the dog sits quietly. Do not attempt to put a lead on an excited dog.

Obedience training, with its one-on-one interaction between you and your dog, is an effective outlet for the energetic dog. Obedience not only teaches the dog to sit quietly but also requires him to concentrate, and thus, uses up brain power and energy. Obedience training will also permit you to control his activity in the house. The "settle" command is very effective and important for controlling excitement in the house. When the dog becomes overly excited or active i the house, place him in a settle. The settle should be at least ten minutes long, and he will usually fall asleep or at least relax by that time.

When he gets up, he is usually calmer. If every time the dog gets overly excited you demand a settle of him, he will soon learn that the house is not the play yard. Unfortunately, you can't place the energetic or nervous dog in a settle for the rest of his life; therefore, he should have appropriate outlets to release energy. Be conscientious in evaluating your own dog's energy level and adjust his lifestyle and routine exercise accordingly. If he is overly energetic the first recommendation a pet owner receives is to fence in a large backyard for the dog to use in running off energy. The pet owner, who may have had other ideas for the yard than making it a huge exercise run for the dog, creates a yard for the dog, only to realize he still exhibits an annoying overabundance of energy in the house. A large yard is useless if the dog does not use the area to run around.

The Importance Of Understanding Dog Behavior

Image via Wikipedia

The Importance Of Understanding Dog Behavior

In order to understand dog behavior, you must first consider the effects of the human contact that occurs from the day the domestic puppy is born until the end of his life. These interactions are strong catalysts that add to the inherent differences between the wolf and dog. Whereas the dog easily weaves into the family and social structure of humans, the wolf has failed to do so.

The integration of the dog into the human environment is so comfortable and complete that many people even refer to their dogs as their children. The analogy comes to mind for many people because the canine is often adopted as a family member and fits the child's role easily and naturally. To create the most rewarding human-canine relationship, the unique qualities of the domestic dog must be considered by themselves rather than from the standpoint of the wolf.

Similar to the human child, the dog seeks affection and approval, and has the ability to learn. Like children, dogs are playful, affectionate, curious, adaptable, innocent, and basically happy-go-lucky creatures. Depending upon the home environment and many other factors, the dog, like the child, can be an angel or a delinquent.

Few dogs go through life without acquiring some behaviors an owner finds annoying or even intolerable. Intolerable behavior can be the result of either genetics, caused by inexperienced breeders indiscriminately breeding poor-tempered dogs, or the environment in which the dog has been raised without proper training and guidance. Just like children, if dogs are not disciplined and taught manners, they can become out of control and a problem to themselves and everyone in the community. These problem dogs all too often wind up at animal shelters waiting on death row for an unnecessary demise.

If the owner is willing to endure the undesirable behaviors, the problem dog may receive a lifetime sentence to the backyard with very little human contact. The jail sentence to the yard only exacerbates the problem behavior, and often turns the dog into an incessant barker, chewer, digger, or aggressor. Fortunately, behavior modification through obedience training is very effective in repairing problem behavior.

A comprehensive obedience and behavioral course can teach owners how to prevent and resolve behavior problems. The ideal purpose of obedience training is to channel appropriate behavior and discourage problem behavior. The majority of dogs, regardless of their age, can be rehabilitated. Problem behavior can be redirected into appropriate behavior with clear, consistent, and persistent communication from the dog owner through obedience training.

Obedience training communicates concrete rules which provide the dog with predictable outcomes via reinforcement and consequences. Obedience training with competent instruction teaches the owner the essential skills for raising a well-mannered, well-adjusted canine by using principles of consistency, persistency, and reinforcement for good and inappropriate behavior.

The Submissive Dog

Image via Wikipedia

The Submissive Dog

The submissive dog, like the fearful dog, will try to appear smaller, but will rarely raise his hackles. The submissive dog will either scoot along the ground in a sit position to get closer to the dominant entity or roll over on the ground to expose his belly and genitals, displaying vulnerability to the aggressor. The dog may even urinate during this display. The head of a submissive dog is held in a tipped position and his tongue will dart in and out as he tries very hard to get close to lick the dominant entity's mouth and face area for appeasement. The same licking gesture is observed when a pup approaches his dam. A submissive dog will also lean on the dominant creature, probably as a defense from attack. If the submissive animal leans on the dominant animal, the aggressor has difficulty reaching crucial body parts during an attack.

A good analogy to this concept may be the technique used to avoid injury when a horse kicks. The person who steps closer as the horse kicks will usually suffer less bodily damage than the person who is farther away and receives the full force of the strike. The submissive dog will not initiate eye contact and tries very hard to avoid any visual contact. He will even go so far as to turn his head to avoid meeting the eyes of an opponent. Do not mistake the head
turning as inattention to the body language of the dominant adversary, however. The submissive dog always watches body language to determine protocol in each social situation.

The submissive dog will expose his teeth in what can be mistakenly interpreted as snarling. The difference between a submissive show of teeth and an aggressive one is the position of the head and the absence of growling. The submissive dog approaches with teeth exposed and head in a lowered, tipped position. The display of teeth in the submissive dog has been termed smiling, and as a rule, the submissive dog does not growl or make any aggressive sounds when approaching.

Behaviorists speculate that the submissive animal exposes his teeth to display his strength or lack thereof. The theory suggests that an adversary gains a serious advantage in battle if the opponent reveals his defensive strength; therefore, the submissive dog is attempting to ward
off an attack by showing the perceived adversary the lack of threat by revealing the size of his teeth. In addition, the posture of his head and body, along with the showing of teeth, communicates the infantile greeting gesture. The body language of a submissive dog does not always ward off attack.

Fearful, aggressive, and submissive behaviors can sometimes be confused. The dog owner must make a distinction between these emotions to properly interact with the dog. Should you mistake submissive behavior for aggression and correct the dog, the submissive behavior
will only become more intense. Distinguishing between these behaviors may be quite difficult. Not all submissive dogs will display the entire array of classical submissive behaviors.

The World According To Your Dog's Eyes

Image via Wikipedia

The World According To Your Dog's Eyes

Like tourists who assume everyone speaks English, or should, it is second nature to us to think that the world looks pretty much the same to all creatures, great and small, including our dogs. For example, we rarely give much thought to the optical processes that turn light into vision; we assume that our visual version of reality is reality.

Even those of us who wear glasses fall into this way of thinking. Glasses bring things back into focus so they once again look like they are. If those people who run around staging role-playing seminars on multiculturalism for business executives were to do the same for multi-species, I would suggest as the first group exercise they get everyone down on the floor with their eyeballs about six inches off the ground. Simply by virtue of visual perspective, the world looks very different to a Chihuahua.

Dogs also differ from humans in their ability to focus on near objects, to perceive and distinguish detail, and to see contrasts between light and dark. Some of these differences are relatively minor, but some must result in a highly altered version of reality. The most remarkable feature of the human eye is its extraordinary power of "accommodation." The lens
in a normal eye, when relaxed, is of just the right thickness and curvature to bend incoming light rays from a far distance (equivalent to the setting of "infinity" on a camera lens) so
that they converge in sharp focus upon the retina at the back of the eye. If the lens were incapable of adjustment, the light rays from close objects would end up converging at an imaginary point well behind the retina; the result would be a grossly blurred image striking the light-sensitive cells of the retina. But by squeezing the lens with muscles that are under unconscious control, we can make the lens thicker and alter its curvature, bringing close objects into proper focus. The greater the squeeze, the closer to our face is the focus.

In young children, the eye's lens is capable of adjusting by as much as 14 diopters, an optical unit used in describing the power of lenses (and in prescribing eyeglasses). That degree of accommodation corresponds to being able to focus on everything from infinity to an object less than three inches away. By way of comparison, eyeglasses with a power of 14 diopters would look like the proverbial Coke bottle bottoms. (Most glasses for correcting nearsightedness in humans run about 1 to 5 diopters.)

Dogs have a much more limited power of accommodation, generally not more than 2 or 3 diopters, which means they can focus on close objects only if they are no nearer than a foot or two. Anything closer than that will unavoidably be a blur. That may well explain why dogs generally try to sniff or touch objects at close range: they simply cannot see them very well. If the relaxed lens normally brings a distant object's image into focus behind the retina, the result is hyperopia or farsightedness.

Understanding A Dog's Pack Behavior: Look To The Wolf

Image via Wikipedia

Understanding A Dog's Pack Behavior: Look To The Wolf

Many of the things dogs carry over from wolf society are useful to their new role; many are not. The most clearly useful, though only up to a point, is the wolf's innate sense of social
rank, and the system of communication that supports this rank structure. Social rank is a consequence of adaptations that many group-dwelling animals have made to the inherent
contradictions of living in a group. Being part of a group gives an individual advantages and access to resources he could never commandeer on his own. It also puts him in immediate and constant conflict with members of his own species for those limited resources.

Competition with one's fellows for limited resources is a nearly universal fact of nature. In species in which individuals can forage and defend themselves successfully as loners, it is generally the case that individuals seek to maximize their distance from one another. Males, or females, or mating pairs, set up and furiously defend exclusive territories and keep out all other comers. Whoever is best at seizing and holding ground - whoever manages to keep the
other, competing members of his own species the farthest away from him - is the most likely to reproduce and raise viable offspring who will in turn pass on their parents' genes.

The relentless logic of evolution admits no other outcome: every Carolina wren alive today is the descendant of a Carolina wren that succeeded in fighting off the competition. The nice guys did not merely finish last; they dropped dead, and their nice-guy genes died with them, In group-dwelling animals, undeniably self-interested forces hold the group together, but it's still every wolf for himself when it comes to the struggle to pass on one's genes to the next generation. Every wolf in the pack has an evolutionary mandate to claim a mate, produce offspring, and see that his offspring survive - and that inevitably means survive at the expense of the other guys. And in the wolf pack, the other guy is not over the next hill; he's lying a few feet away. The situation is inherently explosive. The wolf pack is a tightly packed powder keg of competing interests. Every member of the pack has an interest in being the only member to breed and produce offspring.

At the same time, wolves need the pack. Wolves that hunt very large prey such as moose may form packs with as many as twenty or thirty members, but even when the food supply
consists of smaller game, cooperative hunting by smaller packs of four to seven brings in more food than the sum of those four to seven wolves operating on their own could manage. There is also an evolutionary bootstrap process at work in favor of group formation: groups themselves become a force that favors groups, for packs can defend large territories, and only other groups then have the wherewithal to resist that otherwise superior force. When everyone else is a member of a territorial group, the lone wolf is in big trouble, for he now doesn't have a prayer of claiming and holding any substantial territory on his own.

Understanding Why Dogs Roll Around In The Dirtiest Of Things

Image by Idiolector via Flickr

Understanding Why Dogs Roll Around In The Dirtiest Of Things

No one really knows for sure why dogs love to roll in stinky things, but people who study animal behavior have some pretty good idea. Some experts believe that dogs like to mark themselves with their territory. A dog wearing a bit of woodchuck carcass or horse poop on his neck and shoulders is a lot like a man wearing a big gold chain around his neck. It says something about him and where he lives, something like, 'I am a dog of means; I own the territory with all this nice stuff.”

It is hard for people to understand how anyone, even a dog, could rate the value of his territory according to its riches of cow pies. This is one of those situations that illustrates how
completely different dogs and people are. People appreciate things that are clean and fresh, while dogs like things that are old and smelly.

There may be a good reason for their off-putting tastes. Since the beginning of their existence, dogs have spent their lives scrounging for food. It is possible that even the hint of a good meal triggers a sense of elation. Out of necessity, they may have developed a unique appreciation for anything that is remotely edible. A week-old carcass certainly qualifies. So does a fish washed up on shore. Even the presence of deer or cow dung suggests that there is a potential meal somewhere in the neighborhood.

Then again, there may be a simpler reason why dogs enjoy coating themselves with horrid
things, one that has nothing to do with survival and everything to do with taste. Other experts believe that they roll in dung, carcasses, and pond scum simply because they like the smell. Not just a little, but enough to want to carry it around with them, just as people enjoy dabbing themselves with their favorite perfume or cologne.

Smell is a primal sense and it is hard to account for who likes what. Just as some people enjoy the smell of cheese, dogs may revel in smells that most of us find objectionable. It is hard to criticize their tastes, because they have millions more scent receptors than we do. Our own senses of smell are barely functional compared to theirs. Therefore, It is possible that they detect pleasing odors of which people are completely unaware of .

Understanding Your Dog's Hearing

Image via Wikipedia

Understanding Your Dog's Hearing

Dogs hear a lot better than people do, partly because their ears are incredibly mobile. They have 15 different muscles that can move the ears in all directions. This helps them detect and understand sounds no matter where they're coming from. Head cocking is a tool they use to hear clearly. Dogs shouldn't be doing it all the time, however. When they are, they may need some extra help to hear. Speak in a higher voice.

One way dogs decide what's worth listening to and what isn't call for help is by the sound frequency. High-pitched sounds get their attention, probably because they resemble the sounds made by traditional prey such as rabbits and chipmunks. Pitching your voice upward will get your dog's attention and let him know that he needs to listen carefully to what you're about to say. Stand where he can see you. Even though a substantial portion of a dog's brain is devoted to sound, a dog always uses his other senses to augment what he's hearing. Standing in front of your dog will allow him to watch your face, eyes, posture, and body movements while you talk. Even if your dog isn't hearing clearly, he'll be able to gather a lot of information from your body language about what you're trying to tell him.

Trim the ears. Dogs with unusually hairy ears may hear a little better if you remove some of the fluff. You can use blunt-ended scissors to trim some hair from the outer part of the ear flaps, but groomers usually prefer plucking. However, dogs don't enjoy having their ears
plucked and will often put up a fight, so you may want to pay a groomer to do it for you.

Dogs may cock their heads to the sides often. Even though it's normal for dogs to cock their heads in order to hear (and see) better, they shouldn't be doing it too often. A dog whose head seems to be in perpetual tilt mode probably has an ear problem that isn't going to get better on its own. A damaged eardrum or an inner ear infection can make it hard for dogs to hear. In some cases, ear problems can throw off a dog's internal sense of balance, which will also cause him to tilt his head. Any time a dog carries his head tilted for more than a few minutes, he needs to visit his veterinarian.

Lastly, dogs with ear infections often shake their heads as well as tilt them. Use a flashlight to light the inside of your dog's ear. If you see redness or a discharge, or if you smell an unpleasant odor, he probably has an infection and is going to need antibiotics to knock it out.

Why Dogs Cock Their Heads To The Side

Image via Wikipedia

Why Dogs Cock Their Heads To The Side

It wasn't by accident that advertising for the company “RCA” once featured a dog cocking his head in front of a speaker horn. There's something about this position that most people find utterly adorable. Dogs know it, too, which is why they do it, even when they aren't trying to hear anything in particular. We give them a positive response, and they remember that. Also, dogs tilt their heads for very practical reasons as well. Tilting the head to the side puts one of the ears up and forward. By turning an ear in the direction of fuzzy or inaudible sounds, dogs are able to hear a little more clearly.

We often forget how confusing human speech is for dogs. Even though dogs understand some of what we're saying, most of our conversation is just a blur of sound to them. Usually, they just ignore it. They can tell from our body language and eye movements when we're saying things that concern them. Once something attracts their interest, they'll often perk up their ears and tilt their heads slightly in order to figure out what's going on.

Dogs rarely cock their heads when sounds are coming from the sides, since their ears are
already in prime hearing position. They mainly do it when people are in front of them, since the sound waves aren't traveling directly toward the ears. You'll see this more in puppies than older dogs. It's not that puppies have more trouble hearing. They just haven't been around us long enough to figure out what's important and what isn't. So they respond to almost any sound with a little head-cock, especially when we're looking at them at the same time. They know something interesting is happening, and they don't want to miss a thing. They often cock their heads to make sense out of the babble of noise. The movement allows them to capture every bit of sound.

The way a dog's ears are designed may play some role in how much he cocks his head.
Pricked-up ears may be slightly more efficient than other ear shapes, since sound waves are able to go right in. Floppy ears present a problem. The sound waves have to pass through a big, heavy ear flap before reaching the eardrum. This probably doesn't make a big difference, but dogs with heavy, hanging ears may have to work a little harder in order to hear what's being said. The inside of a dog's ear is shaped like a cup. This design allows the ears to scoop in sound waves - but only when the opening is unencumbered.

5 Ways In Which A Dog's Intelligence Has Shaped Their Services

Image via Wikipedia

5 Ways In Which A Dog's Intelligence Has Shaped Their Services

The uses of dogs that capitalize on aspects of their instinctive intelligence have become more varied in today's world. A quick sampling of some of these contemporary dog careers includes:

1. seeing-eye dogs, who guide their blind masters around obstacles, warn them of approaching vehicles, and allow them to navigate independently, even in the complex urban environment;

2. Hearing-ear dogs, who alert their deaf masters to sounds, such as the ringing of a doorbell or telephone or the whistle of a teakettle;

3. Search and rescue dogs, who are used to track and find individuals who are lost or buried by debris in earthquakes or under snow in avalanches;

4. Water rescue dogs, who retrieve individuals and objects from the water, swim lines out to stranded boaters, and even drag small boats to waiting rescuers;

5. Drug and explosive-finding dogs, who use their scenting abilities to find contraband materials. A variation on this are the dogs that find truffles for connoisseurs of this delicacy. They are better than the pigs that have been traditionally used for two reasons: dogs have keener scenting powers, and they don't like the taste of truffles, so there is less worry that they will eat them before the gatherers get to them.

Helping Your Dog Understand Communication

Image by tb0n3z via Flickr

Helping Your Dog Understand Communication

An open line of communication between owner and dog does not always ensure that the messages sent will be received correctly. A common instance in which unintentional messages are sent to a dog is during a fearful episode. The dog encounters a frightening object, event, or person and displays a variety of fear reactions, which may include shaking, barking, and backing away. The owner then sends out messages to comfort and assure the dog that there is no reason to be fearful.

These messages are highly potent as the owner lovingly strokes the dog and commiserates with a cross between baby talk and sincere empathy, "It's okay, no one will hurt you." The message the owner intends to send to the dog is the information that the situation is not threatening. The message the dog receives through the stroking and baby talk is that acting and being fearful is rewarding and pleasing to the owner.

Being consoled and stroked overshadows any information the dog could receive from the environment should he be allowed to remain in the situation without any intervention. Furthermore, the dog is reinforced for exhibiting fearful behavior by the pleasure of being stroked and consoled. Avoid the strong temptation to lovingly comfort the fearful dog lest he learn to act frightened for subsequent reinforcement.

A Dog's Growl & What It Means

Image via Wikipedia

A Dog's Growl & What It Means

Growls can stand alone or be used to modify barking sounds to add a degree of threat. Below are 5 different ways a dog may grow and what the dog means by that growl:

1. Soft, low-pitched growling: "Beware!" "Back off!" This is used as a threat and usually causes the listener to move away, giving the dog more space.

2. Low-pitched growl-bark: This is a clear growl that leads to a bark. It means "I'm upset and I'm ready to fight!" This is a clear warning that pressing the dog will lead to aggression.

3. Higher midrange-pitched growl-bark: "I'm worried [or frightened], but I will defend myself." This is the threat of a less-confident animal who will, however, most likely fight back if pushed.

4. Undulating growl: This is a growl that goes from low midrange to high midrange with a kind of a semi-bark often added as the pitch rises. It means "I'm terrified. If you come at me, I may fight or I may run." This is the fearful-aggressive sound of a very unsure dog.

5. Noisy growl, with teeth hidden from view: "This is a good game!" "I'm having fun!" It is usually part of the play sequence and may be tucked in between a series of stutter-barks. It usually indicates intense concentration, as in a tug-of-war or play-acting aggression.

Dog Aggression Toward Its Owners

Image via Wikipedia

Dog Aggression Toward Its Owners

A dog that growls at and/or bites its owner does so for some reason, even if the behavior appears "unreasonable" to the owner. A complete medical examination, including tests for hormonal balance, neurophysiologic function and allergies, may reveal the underlying cause.

This has been especially helpful in dogs that have swings in mood. When growling or biting has erupted as a consequence of scolding or punishment for such behavior as chewing, jumping, general unruliness, or overprotection of food, these problems must be treated at the same time the program to correct aggression is initiated.

The Owner's Actions Owners must understand that their dog growls or bites at them as a result of defensive feelings. Even the dog that growls when ordered off the couch is reacting defensively, as it feels its dominance status has been threatened. If scolding and punishment provoke aggression, the dog is reacting to a perceived threat to its physical safety. In either of these situations, the owner's threatening behavior is producing negative results.

Disciplining Your Puppy

Image via Wikipedia

Disciplining Your Puppy

Although some canine behaviors are similar to the behavior of the wolf, the domestic dog has developed many unique adaptive behaviors as a result of his cohabitation, companion relationship, and interaction with humans. Consequently, training techniques derived from wolf behavior are not necessarily effective with the domesticated dog. For instance, the female wolf is said to pick up her misbehaving pup by his scruff, shake him, drop him to the ground, and pin him there.

The wolf's behavior is interpreted as a correction to the pup that demonstrates the mother's dominance. While the wolf pup may understand such language, the domestic dog may not. There is little evidence to indicate that domestic female dogs shake their puppies by the scruff or use the alpha rollover as a correction.

This is only one factor that preclude correcting the dog in a manner designed for wolf puppies; therefore, trainers and pet owners would benefit greatly in understanding dog behavior as opposed to wolf behavior.

Dog's Mouth Gestures & What They Mean

Image via Wikipedia

Dog's Mouth Gestures & What They Mean

1. Mouth relaxed and slightly open, tongue may be slightly visible or even slightly draped over the lower teeth: This is the dog equivalent of the human smile. It means "I am happy and relaxed."

2. Yawn: While it is usually interpreted by humans as meaning fatigue or boredom, it is actually a stress-related signal, best interpreted as "I am tense or anxious."

3. Lips curled to expose some teeth, mouth still mostly closed: "You are annoying me!" This is the first sign of menace or threat.

4. Lips curled up to show major teeth, some wrinkling of the area above the nose, mouth partly open: "If you do something that I might interpret as a threat, I may bite." This is the next stage of threat but may also indicate fearfulness. Pressing a dog at this stage may lead to an aggressive attack.

5. Lips curled up to expose not only all of the teeth but also the gums above the front teeth, visible wrinkles above the nose: "Back off!" This is the full threat display that indicates a dog is ready to release a violent attack. If you are ever confronted with this display, you should not turn and run: the level of arousal is so high that your movement will probably produce a pursuit-and-attack response. Instead, cast your gaze slightly down (a slightly submissive eye position), open your mouth a bit (a bit of a counter-threat), and back off slowly.

How To Keep Dogs From Rolling Around In The Dirtiest Of Things

Image by Idiolector via Flickr

How To Keep Dogs From Rolling Around In The Dirtiest Of Things

Dogs have been rolling in dirty things for as long as they have been dogs. It is as much a part of who they are as their barks and wagging tails. They are not going to quit doing it just because people want them to. All that you can hope to achieve is keeping them away from temptation or knocking down the odor enough that they are bearable to be around.

Baths are fine for eliminating a little bit of doggy smell, but they will not do a thing for a dog who has rolled on an old catfish. If anything, washing them seems to raise the scent. A better choice may be an odor neutralizer. Available in pet supply stores and online catalogs, these contain ingredients that break down bad odors chemically.

Beat them to it. It is not a glamorous job, but some people have resigned themselves to doing a treasure hunt every few days, looking for things in the yard that their dogs are likely to be attracted to such as dead mice and rotten bird eggs.

Take some goodies with you when you are out for a walk. It is not easy to convince dogs to ignore their natural urge to roll, but food is always a reliable distraction.

Interpreting Canine Vocalization

Image by recursive_1 via Flickr

Interpreting Canine Vocalization

When scientists study dog sounds, they identify a number of different vocalizations with different nuances of meaning. There are two important factors to attend to in dog vocalizations. The first is the pitch of the sound. For barks and other sounds, low-pitched sounds usually indicate threats, anger, and the possibility of aggression, while higher-pitched sounds can mean fear or pain or, where they are less sharp, pleasure or playfulness.

The second factor in dog vocalizations is the frequency or repetition rate of the sound. Sounds that are repeated often, at a fast rate, indicate a degree of excitement and urgency. Sounds that are spaced out or not repeated usually indicate a lower level of excitement or a passing state of mind.

In addition, the duration of the sounds is also important. High-pitched sounds of short duration frequently indicate fear or pain. On the other hand, the same sounds repeated at a slower rate indicate playfulness or anticipation of pleasure. Generally speaking, more sustained sounds indicate intentionality, behavior that is about to happen, such as the low-pitched, sustained growl that precedes an attack.

Why Do Dogs Bury Their Food?

Image via Wikipedia

Why Do Dogs Bury Their Food?

Ancient dogs survived on whatever they could find or catch. If they managed to get more than they could eat in a sitting, they had to make sure it would be there when they came back to it later. "They stored spare food by burying it," says Benjamin Hart, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor of physiology and behavior at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine at Davis. "It was a pretty resourceful way of keeping leftovers." Dirt may be gritty and hard on the teeth, but it is also protective.

The temperature in the ground is cooler than it is in the air, so burying food helped it stay fresh longer. Buried food did not roast in the sun. It did not immediately get covered with flies and insect. All in all, burying food and juicy bones was a very good solution.

Dogs do not need to bury their food anymore. But when they have an excess of rations, they feel that old urge coming on. So they look for a secluded spot, dig a quick hole, and put some goodies away for a rainy day.

Why Dogs Jump Up And Lick People's Faces

Image by paul+photos=moody via Flickr

Why Dogs Jump Up And Lick People's Faces

Part of the canine greeting is to sniff and lick faces. Because people are so much bigger than they are, dogs try to bridge the gap by jumping up. Some people really dislike it when dogs, their own or someone else's, jump on them. But dogs, on the other hand, do it all the time because they think they are being polite.

The next time you take your dog to the park, watch how he greets and is greeted by other
dogs. They start by sniffing each other's mouths, then move around to sniff the back ends. All
of this is considered proper and polite behavior among dogs, and they assume it is the way they should greet people.

Dogs do not have any trouble sniffing our bottoms, they will do it all the time if given a chance. But the first part of the greeting, the mouth sniff, is not possible because we are so much taller than they are. Except for very short people with very tall dogs, the only way this is going to happen is if dogs get up on their hind legs.