The "Fading Puppy" Syndrome

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The "Fading Puppy" Syndrome

One of the most common causes of newborn puppy deaths is what has been named as the "fading puppy syndrome." Many of the unexplained puppy deaths that fall into this category would undoubtedly go elsewhere if only an accurate diagnosis could be made. Unfortunately, many of these poor little pets die so rapidly that no diagnosis can be made.

The fact is that whether or not the fading puppy syndrome is actually a distinct disease is still questionable. Many believe that it is what happens to any puppy that is unprepared, for whatever the reason, to face the stress of living in the world outside of his mother's womb. Whether or not the failure in preparation occurs before or after the pup is born depends on the reason for the puppy's fading,

Successfully saving the fading puppy that can be saved depends on recognizing the condition early enough and implementing proper remedial action. As a dog owner, you have to be very perceptive in order to recognize early enough the signs of a potential syndrome puppy. Below are some of the things to look out for:

1. An absence of the flight reaction: When normal puppies are taken from their mother and released, they will usually make every effort to scurry back to her. On the other hand, the syndrome puppy will not attempt to go anywhere.

2. Abandonment by the mother: A healthy, normal puppy is licked and protected by his mother. The syndrome puppy is left out of the litter and left in the corner to die.

3. "Slow-motion" activity: A healthy, normal pup is always busy and does not move slowly to do anything while a fading puppy makes slow, deliberate movements, almost like in a slow-motion picture.

4. Hypothermia: Most puppies can survive considerable hypothermia, and normal puppies in a litter usually feel warm and have ample supply of energy to keep their bodies from getting cold. The syndrome puppy does not like to eat and feels cold to the touch.

When you have recognized a puppy that is in the early stages of the fading puppy syndrome, you need to take him away from his mother and littermates and handle him just as if he were an orphan. In order for him to survive, you will have to raise him and feed him yourself by means of either bottle or stomach tube.

The Weaning Procedure

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The Weaning Procedure

Most dog owners allow their pups to eat directly from the mother's bowl as soon as they are able to do so. This enables them to learn, by observation, how to eat. However, continuing this practice for more than a few days after the puppies begin to eat has several objectionable features. First, the mother usually is not eating the same diet that her puppies should be eating. Second, the mother often resents her puppies eating from her bowl and will snarl and snap at them when they start to investigate or experiment with her food. Such behavior is hardly conducive to an atmosphere for teaching little puppies that the food pan is one of the best places to know. Finally, feeding containers for mothers are seldom fitting for tiny pups, and vice versa.

If the suckling puppy's diet has contained some solid food beginning three to four weeks after he was whelped, he will be weaned by six to seven weeks of age. If the pup has been orphaned and hand-fed, he will have to be trained by hand to eat solid foods. Similarly, if the pup is abruptly snatched from his mother at six or seven weeks of age and has had little or no solid food beforehand, he too will need to be taught to eat solid foods.

Teaching the young puppy to eat can be a very funny experience. To some dog owners, it may also seem like a time-wasting step in raising a dog. By individually hand-training each pup, however, you can ensure that no pup will fall behind nutritionally simply because he does not know how to eat food from a pan.

Infant puppies should get their first lesson in eating from a pan on an individual basis and without the distraction from littermates. Place the pup up to the pan of food and stick his muzzle in. Try not to get his nose in, if that's possible. Some puppies tend to splatter and fuss when milk hits them in the face for the first time! Repeat the dunking several times. Once the puppy gets the idea, let him have his own way to explore and experiment with the pan full of food. Some puppies get the hang of pan-feeding almost instantly. One lick of their tongues and they are after the milk mixture as if it was their first meal in a week. Other pups may appear to miss the idea entirely, and would rather bathe in the pan than drink from it.

After a few minutes, or before your patience runs out, pick the puppy up and wipe off the excess milk with a damp cloth. Dry the dampened hair and put the pup back with his litter mates. Then try another, until every pup in the litter has had a turn. Once you have succeeded in training one or two pups to become proficient eaters, it may help to put a slow learned pup up to the bowl with one of the good eaters. Puppies learn by example, and since an empty stomach is one of the greatest motivating forces known to them, the "see and do" method often does the job.

The Proper Feeding Procedure For your Puppy

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The Proper Feeding Procedure For your Puppy

The growing puppy should be weighed once a week for the first six months of his life. The weekly growth rate, which starts from weaning to six months, should be very constant that it forms a straight line when plotted on a graph. The amount of food consumed by a fast growing puppy should be increased at almost the same rate as the puppy's growth. The only way to make sure this increase in food consumption happens at the proper rate is to feed a puppy from a self-feeder. Whenever a puppy eats everything he is fed, add a little more, so that you are always offering the puppy just a little more than he will eat.

Puppies obtained after weaning should already have an established feeding program from the previous owner. You should make every effort to find out everything you can about the type of feeding program from the old owner. The old owner should provide you with information that includes the type of food that the puppy is currently eating as well as the feeding times. In addition, the previous owner should tell you the amount of food given, so that you can duplicate them for at least a few days until the puppy has become used to his new surroundings.

Do not be afraid to change the old routine, however. Such a change is one of those that are considered acceptable when it comes to dog feeding. Do not be misled into feeding your new puppy exactly the same way his previous owner was feeding him, just because you feel that the breeder is an experienced dog feeder. Just because that person is a breeder does not necessary make him/her an expert in dog feeding. In many cases, most breeders, in their innocent ignorance, felt they were doing one of their puppies and his new owner a favor by passing their misinformation along. If you feel that there is a need to change your new puppy's diet or feeding method, feel free to do so. Once the puppy is familiar to his new home and the people that go with it, you can begin introducing him to a new feeding habit. Just remember to do it slowly, one step at a time.

Feeding Your Puppy

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Feeding Your Puppy

A puppy always tells his dog owner whether he is getting too much or too little food in several ways. Crying is one of the most often recognized, but least likely to be always accurate. Although hungry puppies do cry, so do cold puppies, hot puppies, puppies that were disturbed from a nap, lost puppies, sad puppies, etc. Crying is simply nature's way of giving a puppy a means of telling everybody that he is unhappy. Anything that makes a puppy unhappy will probably also make him cry, even having his tummy too full. Therefore, to say that a puppy is crying because he is hungry requires a judgment on the owner’s part. And since we do not think like a puppy, we have to use the reactions of the puppy's system to determine whether or not he is getting enough to eat.

Every time you feed a puppy, two things should happen. First, he should have a bowel movement and second, he should urinate. Sometimes a puppy may need a little encouragement by rubbing his anal area, but he should always perform both acts if everything is going right. The makeup and amount of his feces and urine are important clues that tell you how well you are doing when it comes to properly feeding your pet. For one thing, the puppy's stool should be formed as it is expelled, but its consistency should be soft and pasty. The color will depend to some extent on what you are feeding him. But in every case, it should not vary from a pale tan to a mahogany brown. The inside of the stool may be yellow-brown in many cases. Stools that are green, bluish-white or clear signal trouble. Even tan or brownish stools that are watery, lumpy, hard or curdled may indicate something is not right. Whenever either off-color or off-form stools occur, stop feeding immediately and skip the next feeding entirely.

Begin the following feeding with a formula that has been diluted one-half with boiled water. Continue to feed the same quantity as you did the undiluted food. If this fails to produce an improvement in the stool, reduce the quantity you are feeding by 25 % at each feeding. If stools continue to be off-color or off-form, consult your vet.

A puppy's urination is an indicator of his water balance. The quantity should be about the same each time the puppy urinates. It might be pale yellow to almost clear, but should never be deep yellow or orange. Also, it should always be like water and never like syrup and should smell like urine. Urine that is scanty, dark in color, or syrupy, indicates that the pup is not getting enough water. More water should be supplied, either added to the formula or fed separately. If the urine seems excessive in amount, unduly clear, or thin, the water concentration of the formula should be re-checked to make sure that he is not getting too much water. If urine production stops altogether for longer than four feedings, take the puppy to a vet as soon as possible.

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Three Steps To Determine How Much Food To Give Your Puppy

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Three Steps To Determine How Much Food To Give Your Puppy
To determine the amount of food to begin with when you start feeding a growing puppy, apply the following steps:

Step 1: Find a puppy feeding chart and determine the number of calories per pound of body weight your puppy should have for his age. For example, a 7-week-old pup weighing five pounds needs 400 calories every day.

Step 2: Divide the number of calories contained in a pound of the food you are feeding into the number of calories your puppy needs every day to find out how much food you should offer to begin with. For instance, if the 7-week-old pup is being fed a food containing 600 calories per pound, he needs about 400/600 cal per Ib. or.66 pounds of food each day.

Step 3: Divide the amount of food needed each day into the appropriate number of daily feedings, according to the following rule: If the puppy is from six weeks to four months of age, feed him four times per day. If the pup is from four months to 12 months, feed it three times daily. When the pup is over 12 months, feed him twice daily for the rest of his life, 1/3 in the morning and 2/3 in the evening.

Puppies do not need to be fed six to eight times daily. Although such frequent feedings may improve slightly the efficiency with which the puppy uses the food, it is to such a small degree that the extra time spent in preparing and feeding so many meals is not worth the effort. Puppies have been raised successfully with only two or three daily feedings immediately from weaning, but four seems to be the number that provides the best growth for the least effort by the dog owner. If a puppy cleans up every bit of food offered for three days in a row, add five% more food to the daily feeding. If he continues to eat everything he is offered for three more days, add five% more food.

Continue to add food at this rate until the puppy leaves a tiny bit at each meal. It is entirely possible in a growing puppy, that you may never reach a point at which he will leave any food, until he is almost grown. There is no need to worry as long as the puppy gains about the same amount of weight each week as he did the week before. Between 10 and 12 months of age, the rate at which a puppy grows starts to slow down. At the same time the dog's food consumption also begins to drop. This is a normal occurrence, brought about by the reduction in the dog's need for extra nutrients and energy required for growth. The reduction is simply an indication that the puppy is reaching maturity.

Some dog owners may mistake this reduction in food consumption as an indication of illness. This fear becomes even more pronounced when the maturing process makes the dog less active, as well. Novice dog owners usually forget that human adolescents go through the same steps on their way to becoming adults. Other dog owners may forget the fact that the maturing process in the dog requires only about 12 months to complete, while in humans it usually takes 20 years!

Puppy Feeding Program

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Puppy Feeding Program

The best time to determine the proper feeding programs for your pet is during puppy hood. Meanwhile, the average time for the dog owner to assume the responsibility of feeding a dog is at weaning. Sometimes, this task begins at birth or shortly right after. In some unfortunate circumstances where a puppy is orphaned, or in situations where the mother whelps so many puppies that she cannot feed them all, the dog owner may have to begin his feeding chores while the puppy is still only hours old.

Bur whether the puppy is five hours, five weeks or five months old, there are three basic feeding steps that are essential in any puppy feeding program. The first step is to weigh each puppy. A record of his weight and the date it was taken should be kept on a separate record for each one. The second step is to determine the type of diet to give to the puppy. This will depend on the stage of growth the puppy has attained. The third and final step in puppy feeding is to determine the quantity of food needed to start the program. This will depend on the age of the puppy, his weigh, and the caloric density of the food.

Setting Good Eating Habits

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Setting Good Eating Habits

A dog's eating habits are controlled by three things: its brain, its experiences, and its environment. The very first experiment in behavioral psychology was done by a scientist named Pavlov who taught dogs to get ready to eat when they heard a certain sound. Since that initial experiment, scientists have observed over and over how important the things happening around, and to, a dog are when it comes to affecting the dog's eating habits.

Once, when dogs were wild, most of their daily activity was devoted to obtaining a meal. While the need for this activity has practically disappeared, mealtime still constitutes one of the most important events in a dog's life. And, many of a dog's behavioral responses are still linked to its eating routine.

Today's dogs have become creatures of habit. They thrive on monotony and are most comfortable when things remain the same. Few dogs appreciate a sudden change in their sleeping quarters or the surprise of a new food in their bowl. The more that can be done to prevent change in a dog's feeding program, the better it will be for both the dog and its owner. Regularity in feeding promotes good appetite, good digestion and regular eliminations. Therefore, the first general consideration to be made when feeding any dog should be the establishment of a regular feeding schedule and should stay that way without being altered.

Puppies have conventionally been fed small portions of their daily diet at frequent intervals during the day. The rationalization behind this is sound, but the frequency of feedings often is too high. Even newborn puppies do quite well when fed only four times daily. Some breeders even reduce this to three times daily, but unless your schedule absolutely prohibits it, a minimum of four feedings should be the limit. The feedings need not be separated exactly six hours apart, but it is desirable to space the feedings as evenly as possible throughout the 24-hour time period. For example, my own schedule usually works out best when I feed around 7:00 A.M., 12:00 Noon, 6:00 P.M., and 1:00 P.M. Yours may be different.

The frequency of feedings should not be reduced to three a day until the puppies are weaned. Whether you are feeding newborn puppies four times daily, or older puppies three times, once the pattern of feedings has been set, it should not be changed, but should occur at the same time every day.

4 Important Tips When Feeding Your Dog

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4 Important Tips When Feeding Your Dog

Rule 1: A dog should be fed by the same person at every feeding. This rule is not nearly as important where a couple of house pets are being fed by several members of the same family, as it is where large numbers of dogs are being fed by numerous different kennel personnel. It is particularly applicable where dogs are in strange environments such as boarding kennels, veterinary hospitals, or show arenas. Dogs that have become accustomed to one feeder may exhibit all sorts of erratic eating behavior if that person is changed.

Rule 2: Every dog should have its own food and water container. This precaution is not only sound behavioral psychology, it also is just plain good hygiene. It is especially wise to assign food bowls on an individual basis when your feeding containers are noticeably different from one another. Besides improved feeding technique, certain practical benefits are to be gained from following this rule. In racing stables, for example, where maintenance of body weight is so important, feeding instructions can be written on the bottom or the side of each dog's feeding container, right next to its name or number.


Rule 3: A dog should be fed in the same place every time it is fed. Whether it be the corner of the kitchen, beside the back-door steps, at the rear of a kennel run, or along the left-side wall of a cage, the site where the food container is placed should remain the same every day. In fact, everything that's done with the food container should be identical at each feeding. lf you use a push cart or wagon to carry the tub of food to the dogs, always use the same cart and tub. lf you pre-fill food bowls in the diet kitchen and carry them on the cart, don't decide one day to carry the tub of food on the cart and fill each bowl as you reach the dog. It may have become boring to you, but to your dog it has become the way of life. A change only serves to disrupt his way of life and to create cause for insecurity.

Rule 4: No dog should ever have its food changed without a good reason. Contrary to popular opinion, dogs do not need a change in food from time to time to keep them from growing tired of the same food all the time. Many dogs have lived normal, healthy lives by eating the same food throughout their entire lifetimes. In many instances where a dog owner thinks a dog has gotten sick and tired of a food, the dog has just gotten sick from the food. Not so sick, perhaps, that it really showed, but sick enough to stop eating. When a dog food is deficient, it is not uncommon for a dog eating that food to lose its appetite. Of course, nutritional deficiencies are not the only thing that will cause a dog to lose its appetite.

Using Caution When Dealing With Fighting Problems

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Using Caution When Dealing With Fighting Problems

What is in the dog's mind when it attacks every dog it meets or just has one enemy around the corner? Most of it is show of strength, very often a cowardly show of strength aimed at other people's toy dogs who can't answer a bully back. Face that same bully with a big dog likely to answer back and it will disappear into the distance, for the dog knows who will be boss even in its own race, and if it senses superiority of physique or brain, it will automatically be subservient.

That is why young dogs lie on their backs, all four feet in the air, when they meet an older or stronger dog; they know who is boss and are showing the other dog so by exposing the tummy to an enemy. That is why dog owners should know that this trick is not a nice one really and should be checked at an early age, for it is purely one of a weak animal giving in to one stronger in mind and usually an enemy at that.

Few owners would like to think their dogs look upon them as enemies, but that is the case. When a dog no longer looks upon you as a potential enemy it stops this lying on its back as protection, although many dogs in later life do it because their owners have scratched their chests, which they like, and they hope for it again. But primarily it belongs to the defense mechanism of the dog tribe. The mind of a dog that fights always has at the back of it the wish to be the boss of the tribe, and he fights other male dogs who are sexually mature to make sure there is no risk of his being questioned as "lord of all he surveys." Muzzle that dog and let him loose with the dog he has previously fought and nine times out of ten he will realize he is at a disadvantage and show no signs of aggression.

That is why dogs with fighting problems should be muzzled and then freed with trained dogs or non-fighters. They then learn to enjoy themselves in a community and the wish to fight goes away. Often, having muzzled, introduced and trained them for a short time together, formerly bad fighters are lying side by side without muzzles after a few minutes.

Your own personality needs to be strong to deal with fighters, because fighters are usually adult dogs. Few puppies fight, few females fight; therefore your mind must be stronger than that of the potential fighter so that you are the boss, not either of the dogs. If the dog is sex-mad you can do nothing but neuter it. Muzzling is only a stopgap, not a cure. Owners who won't have their fighting dogs neutered should always have them muzzled in public places.

Canine Intelligence

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Canine Intelligence

There are many theories about the intelligence of the dog. The majority of dog owners know that their dogs are very bright: these owners can tell any number of stories that demonstrate the animal's high intelligence. In addition to the clever ways in which dogs outwit their owners, canine intelligence shines when dogs are asked to perform the tasks for which they were bred. For instance, the Border Collie is exceptionally quick to learn how to herd a flock of sheep, and only risk appearing stupid when you ask him to scent out a bird. The bird dog
who finds the bird naturally, without training, is labeled extremely intelligent. Yet this same genius will look dumb, and probably get trampled, if allowed to mingle with a flock of sheep.

Motivation is a big part of intelligence. One dog owner scheduled an appointment to have her dog evaluated after a discussion with her friend. The dog owner and her friend were convinced that the dog had a learning disability because the friend's Labrador Retriever could open doors with his nose and paw, whereas the other dog would just sit in front of the door and wait for someone to open it. The idea never occurred to this person that the dog didn't want to go through the door all that badly or that he was smart enough to wait for her to open it instead of expending energy.

Another client who owned and trained Border Collies labeled one of her dogs retarded because the dog did not appear to grasp the concept of retrieving as quickly as her other Border Collies. Once the training method was adapted for the dog's particular temperament, which was different from that of the typical Border Collie, she learned and enjoyed retrieving. This same dog would display aggression toward other dogs by growling and curling her lips to show her teeth. The trainers thought the owner was quite effective and consistent in correcting the lip curl until one of the trainers observed that when this "retarded" dog approached another canine, she quietly curled only one side of her mouth, the side the owner could not see.

Frequently, people believe that females are smarter than males. However, there is no evidence to date to support the theory of a significant difference in intelligence between the sexes. Those who claim there is a difference may be tainted by their prejudice toward or preference for one sex or the other. Intelligence is more apt to vary individually rather than by the sex of the animal.

Body Language: Your Dog's Movements & What They Mean

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Body Language: Your Dog's Movements & What They Mean

Dogs use their bodies and paws to express a variety of different things. Below are some examples and what they mean.

Dog crouches with front legs extended, rear up, and head near the ground: This is the classic play-bow and means simply "I want to play!"

Stiff-legged, upright posture or slow, stiff-legged movement forward: "I am in charge around here!" and "I challenge you." A dominant dog will use this posture to indicate assertion of authority and a willingness to fight for it.

Body slightly sloped forward, feet braced: "I accept your challenge and am ready to fight!"

Dog rolls on side or exposes underside: "Let us not argue" or "I am not a threat to you" or "I accept that you are in charge here." This is a submissive response to avert conflict. Many dogs adopt this posture in a fairly relaxed and contented manner when they are around their pack leader. When your dog rolls on his back for a belly rub, he is actually accepting you as leader of the pack.

Dog places head on another dog's shoulder or places paw on the back of another dog: "I want you to know who is the boss around here." These gestures are commonly used by dominant dogs, pack leaders, and dogs that have aspirations of becoming a pack leader.

Mouthing: This shows up in dog-human interactions as the dog taking the handler's hand in his mouth or, while walking, taking the lead in the mouth. Mouthing can be a serious sign of dominance challenging and shows that the dog does not accept the human as pack leader.

Dog places paw on master's knee: "Look, I am here" or "Pay attention to me." This attention-seeking signal has many variations. They include pawing the air in front of their master or sliding the head under the master's hand.

Hair bristles on back and shoulders: This is a sign of anticipated aggression. A ridge of hair bristling down the back is a sign that says "Do not push me, I am angry!" When the bristling extends to the shoulders it means "I have had it with you" and is a sign of an imminent attack.

Dog sits with one front paw slightly raised: This is another sign of stress but is combined with insecurity. It means "I am anxious, uneasy and concerned."

Dog rolls on his back and rubs it on the ground: This is sometimes preceded by nose rubbing where the dog pushes his face, and possibly his chest against the ground in a rubbing motion or rubs the face with a forepaw, from eyes to nose. They often follow feeding or occur as the dog's owner begins to prepare food. However they also can occur following or in anticipation of other pleasant activities.

Scraping the ground and ripping the turf with the paws: This is usually after the dog has defecated but may occur at other times. Dogs have glands on the bottom of their feet that provide each with a unique scent. What a dog is saying here is " I was here and I am leaving my calling card!"

Dogs & Myopia (nearsightedness)

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Dogs & Myopia (nearsightedness)

Optical measurements of dogs' eyes have found a surprising incidence of myopia in some breeds. A study of about two hundred dogs by a veterinarian named Christopher J. Murphy and his colleagues found the average canine refractive error to be pretty close to normal (within a quarter of a diopter of perfect, an amount that would not provoke any person to get glasses). Several breeds of sporting dogs, such as Chesapeake Bay retrievers, golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, cocker spaniels, and springer spaniels, were on average a bit farsighted. But two-thirds of Rottweiler and half of German shepherds and miniature schnauzers in this study were significantly myopic, by more than 1.5 diopters. The myopic Rottweilers were close to 3 diopters nearsighted on average. Generally, people who have more than about 0.75 diopters of nearsightedness will complain of noticeable impairment and find they need to wear glasses or contact lenses to function in everyday life.

The animals in this study population were all pets. Interestingly, when Murphy and his coworkers looked at a second population of German shepherds - animals kenneled at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California - they found that the guide dogs had average normal vision, with fewer than a third showing even as much as 0.5 diopters of nearsightedness. The guide dog program did not specifically test dogs' vision in selecting animals, but they did flunk out any dogs that failed to perform well in training, which suggests that myopia results in a real impairment in getting the job done. The average farsightedness of sporting dog breeds suggests that there has likewise been selection at work in these breeds - that good distance vision has a demonstrable effect on making a good working dog.
The researchers noted a tendency for severe nearsightedness to run in families, which suggests a strongly inherited component. In breeds that are not expected to perform anything more demanding than lying on the carpet, walking on a leash, and finding their supper bowl, there has no doubt been little selection for good vision, which has allowed myopia to sneak into the gene pool.

There are distinct breed differences in peripheral vision and overall field of view as well. Human eyes look straight ahead, giving us just about a 180-degree field of view, but with a lot of overlap between left and right eyes. Animals can see in true 3-D vision only when they use both eyes together, and the overlap in the human visual field thus maximizes the region in which we can perceive depth by using this binocular vision. The eyes of dogs are turned a bit to the side, which allows them to see a bit to the rear, with a wider overall field of vision.

How To End Your Dog's Food Begging

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How To End Your Dog's Food Begging

Begging usually becomes a habit if you feed the dog from the table when he begs. He won't leave the table if he's reinforced for staying with tidbits. Command the dog to "settle" at the table and enforce it. He'll tire of staring up and will soon fall asleep if you don't reward him for begging. If you give the dog a scrap from the table, give it only when he's in a settle position.

Some dogs are just born optimistic, and even though they have never received food from the table, they plant themselves at the table, hoping something will fall their way. Dropped food is a good beggar reinforcement, especially if you have a child who likes to make a game of dropping food on purpose. You may choose to train the dog to settle or down-stay in another room or at a distance from the table.

The dog must never bite the hand that feeds. To make sure that he doesn't, teach him the command "easy." Offer him a treat by holding the treat in your thumb and index finger keeping your palm toward your body and your knuckles facing the dog. If the dog grabs for the treat, give him a very loud and firm command by saying "Easy". After a few rounds of this practice, he will generally take the food from your hand gently.

Dogs & Open Car Windows

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Dogs & Open Car Windows

Experts estimate that dogs can catch a whiff of something that's one million times less concentrated than what humans can detect. With so much sniff power, it's hardly surprising that they stick their heads out car windows. They could care less about the scenery. What they're after are smells. If you're driving through town at 30 miles an hour and your dog has his nose out the window, he knows where the bakery is, where the butcher shop is, which street leads to the local McDonald's, and maybe even what the mayor had for breakfast.

Dogs assume a characteristic expression when they put their faces into the wind: Their upper
lips curl, their noses wrinkle, their eyes partly close, and their ears fold back. It looks as though they're experiencing a moment of ecstasy (which they probably are) but mainly they're concentrating. It's as though they're closing down all the rest of their senses to focus on this one.

There's a world of fascinating scents outside the car. This dog loves to hang her head out the window and sample every one of them. All dogs, from huge Great Danes to tiny terriers, have extraordinarily acute senses of smell. Their scenting ability is enhanced when they are moving quickly, which is one reason that they take advantage of open car windows.

Smells are so important to dogs that they have two separate systems for detecting them. One is the nose system. It consists of a huge amount of tissue called olfactory epithelium, which is loaded with scent receptors. This area takes up about 1/2 square inch in humans, but up to 20 square inches in some dog breeds. As air moves over the tissue, odor molecules settle in millions of scent receptors. The more air flow there is, the more scents dogs detect. A Dog's sense of smell is enhanced when they're moving quickly. In the evolutionary scheme of things, this probably made them better hunters because they could load up on scents while chasing prey.

Dogs have a second smelling system that's headquartered in their mouths. Near the upper
incisors is a tiny duct that leads to a specialized gland called Jacobson's organ. It's designed to capture and interpret the most primitive types of smells. Dogs depend on it to identify other
dogs, choose a mate, and smell prey. When dogs scrunch up their faces in the wind, it looks like they're catching flies, but what they're really doing is catching scents.

How Dogs Use Their Tails As Signals & Gestures: Part 1

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How Dogs Use Their Tails As Signals & Gestures: Part 1

In addition to barking, dogs also use their bodies to communicate about social and emotional matters. A dog's tail, eyes, ears, and mouth all speak to us, and whole body postures add further information, serving to modify the message given.

Tail wagging can come about simply as a sign of excitement, the degree of which is indicated by the vigor or speed of the wag. In judging excitement, you should attend to the speed of wagging independent of the size of the actual movement. A sporting dog with a full,
flowing tail might seem to move it much more than a terrier moves its carrot-shaped tail (where a furious wag may seem like nothing more than a tremor). Yet in both cases, high-speed movements simply mean "I'm excited." The relative size of any single dog's tail wag does convey other information, however.

Tail wagging is a completely social gesture. In some ways, it serves the same functions as a human smile. Humans seem to reserve most of their smiles for when somebody is around to see them or when they are thinking about somebody or something special. For dogs, the tail wag seems to have the same properties. A dog will wag its tail for a person or another dog. It may wag its tail for a cat, a horse, or a mouse. But when a dog is by itself, it will not wag its tail to anything it perceives as lifeless.

A dog will wag its tail to express its gratitude to you as you put its food bowl down, but should the dog walk into the room and find the bowl full, it will approach and eat the food just as happily, but with no tail wagging other than, perhaps, a slight excitement tremor. This is one indication that tail wagging is meant as communication or language. In the same way we don't talk to walls, dogs do not wag their tails to things that are not apparently alive and socially responsive.

For most breeds of dog, the tail will tend to lighten toward the tip, and on many breeds there is a characteristic white tip to the tail. It is also quite visible in jackals, foxes, wild dogs, and dingoes. Some evolutionary biologists have suggested that the purpose of this light area is to make tail signals more visible. For some wolves, the tail is marked with a dark tip, which, of course, can serve much the same function of making it easier to see the tail position and motion.

Measuring Your Dog's Intelligence

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Measuring Your Dog's Intelligence

Some dog owners and dog trainers expect their dog's level of thinking and smartness to be the same of humans, when being trained. This mistaken assumption about dog psychology can be devastating to the expectations of both the dog owner and the dog itself.

Trainers shouldn't assess canine intelligence against human standards. Each individual canine may possess his own unique talent. If the occasion does not arise for the animal to display this talent, it doesn't mean he's dumb. For centuries, behavior experts have been trying to devise a test that measures all aspects of human intelligence and have failed miserably. With this success rate in mind, how can canine experts profess to measure the dog's intelligence when we do not even speak the same language?

Labeling a dog dumb can be as unproductive and damaging as labeling humans. If an animal is labeled dumb, the owner usually gives up trying to teach the dog. The label then becomes self-fulfilling because if his owner won't train him, the dog really won't know anything.

On the other hand, labeling a dog smart may create unrealistic expectations and disappointment if he doesn't respond as expected. Perhaps all these "dumb" dogs are just clever enough to make their owners think they are dumb to avoid the effort of obeying! A very frustrated Basset Hound owner complained to his instructor that he had spent a month trying to teach his dog to sit on command and the dog just didn't get it. As the owner was explaining his dilemma, the instructor was mindlessly playing with a piece of liver that she had not put away after working with another dog. The Basset noticed the liver and began nudging the instructor. From pure habit, she told the dog to sit. The Basset plopped his rear end down as fast as Bassets do. This is a good demonstration of learning theory proven long ago that a lack of response does not mean that learning is not occurring. This dog was learning, the owner just hadn't found the right motivator to get him to respond.

Perhaps canine intelligence is not measurable, particularly when the criteria for intelligence are measured on another species' yardstick. Fortunately, regardless of breed, the great majority of dogs are intelligent enough to grasp basic obedience commands when training is intelligently presented. A trainer armed with motivating training methods and a good understanding of the principles behind canine learning can shape a dog's behavior into desirable conduct.

Sending Your Dog Mixed Messages

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Sending Your Dog Mixed Messages

Dog behavior problems are frequently the result of unclear communication. The owner may not even be aware that the messages he is sending to the dog are confusing. The owner of a well-trained Standard Poodle was unaware of her confusing messages during an epic long session of grooming. The Poodle tired and attempted to sit. The owner, wanting the dog to remain standing, yelled "Don't sit." The dog stood for a few seconds in a crouched position, and, confused about what the word "don't" meant, tried to sit again. Totally perplexed, he was trying very hard to comply with what he thought was his owner's request.

Good communication with your dog is comprised of clear, consistent, distinct messages. A dog cannot possibly respond correctly if the vocabulary or the rules change at whim from day to day. Another example of inconsistent, mixed messages is demonstrated by the owner who allows a behavior occasionally, punishes the dog for it at other times, and does not use distinct cues to inform the dog when the conduct is not acceptable.

A dog who is petted for jumping up when the owner arrives home from softball practice is going to be encouraged, to the owner's dismay and anger, to jump up when the owner comes home from a party all dressed up. Unfortunately, few dogs are able to distinguish between the owner's softball jump up clothes and the owner's party stay off clothes. Consequently, without any distinct warning, the dog may receive a swat for jumping up on the wrong clothes. The dog learns that jumping up will sometimes be rewarded by petting and other times, for no apparent reason, will elicit a smack.

The only lesson a dog may learn from inconsistent messages is that the rules are unstable. Clear and consistent communication requires that an owner teach a command for each desired and undesired behavior to inform the dog about acceptable behavior. For example, you can teach a jump up command that tells/the dog jumping up is acceptable, and another command such as, "off” that instructs him not to jump up. When messages are confusing, the dog can neither establish a pattern to earn the owner's approval, nor predict the owner's reactions. The dog who cannot establish a way to earn his owner's approval gives up trying to please. The dog who does not know how to predict his owner's reactions becomes fearful, mistrusting, and avoidant.

Social Rankings Of The Wolf Pack: Further Understanding Of Our Dog's Ancestors

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Social Rankings Of The Wolf Pack: Further Understanding Of Our Dog's Ancestors

It is often suggested that members of the pack selflessly subordinate their own interests to the greater interests of the group, but this is really not an honest description of the evolutionary forces or motives at work. In wolf packs the males and females of the group each establish their own social rankings. The top male and top female furiously disrupt any attempts by their inferiors to breed. These rankings are often stable for long periods, and when this is the case the lower-ranking animals readily give way to their superiors without a fight. The alpha male is greeted with fawning, even puppy-like, submissive gestures of face licking; if an inferior ranking male is challenged by the alpha, he will roll over on his belly and submit. All members of the group, male and female, participate in the care and rearing of the young, regurgitating food for the puppies and being generally solicitous of them.

Why do the inferiors put up with this role? The honest answer is really that it is just an expedient. The group would erupt in constant aggression, and quickly disintegrate, if the pack did not acquiesce to the demands of the most assertive members among them. Yet if all that inferior wolves got in the bargain was room and board and the chance to play nanny for
someone else's children, evolutionary logic would bridle at the arrangement. All wolves are offspring of alpha wolves. The instinct for submission must serve some purpose that helps a wolf not only eat but also reproduce - at least eventually. For how else would the instinct for submission ever be passed on to the next generation? The evolutionary calculus, then, is not that subordinate wolves are naturally peaceful, selfless caregivers; they are rather just biding their time. Subordination is a way to avoid getting killed or driven off by a larger or stronger or older and more experienced member of the group while awaiting one's turn to challenge him.

It is a very good strategy to play the fawning courtier until one is strong enough to depose the king. It is a very bad strategy to be obnoxious or hostile to the king before the moment to strike has come. The acceptance of social rank is thus a way to avoid constant fighting, and it is something built into every wolf, and dog. Wolves understand social rank, and accept it, and it is the source of long periods of stability in wolf society. Dominant and subordinate wolves go for months enjoying friendly relations, with no overt righting, and indeed few overt signs of hostility. Subordinate animals have an endless capacity to deflect incipient aggression by their superiors by submitting to their will and temporarily repressing their own self-interested drives. It is no coincidence that wolves became house pets but raccoons did not.

The Energetic Dog

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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

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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.