Acting like a Dog

There may come a point in our life when we begin to attribute human characteristics to our beloved pet dogs. This is natural; who is to say that dogs cannot acquire human traits from association? My pet grew up to be a very loud dog from a very silent pup. Now, whom do you think did he get it from?

My point is, dogs are smart. They are smart enough to learn by associating with their masters and constant companions. Some say their dogs are geniuses. Do we believe these claims? I donít know. Thereís one thing I sure do know and thatís the fact that dogs are still dogs and whatever you do and however smart you think they are, they're not going to stop acting like dogs. Here are a couple of tidbits about dog behavior. May you learn from them.

There's a dog pecking order.

When I walk my dog and we meet other dogs, my dog usually just flips over with his paws waving up the air, trying to make himself as small as possible. It's obvious that my dog is afraid of the other dogs! (Now don't go asking where he got that from; he certainly did not get that from me!)

Fact is, there is a dog pecking order. Some dogs want to lord it over other dogs and some dogs willingly submit to othersí superiority. To assert its dominance, the dog with the superiority complex will stand as tall and straight as possible. He will even extend his ears and tail as high as possible to lend to his height so he can tower over other dogs. The dog with the inferiority complex will crouch down as low as possible, occupy as little space as possible, will avert his eyes and flatten his ears. Now if two superior dog beings meet, they will circle each other; stare at each other, stand up as tall as possible, until one submits.

As sinister as the establishing-dominance routine seems, do not be overly worried when it happens to your dog. After one dog yields, the two of them are probably going to end up being the best dog rascal buddies.
There may come a point in our life when we begin to attribute human characteristics to our beloved pet dogs. This is natural; who is to say that dogs cannot acquire human traits from association? My pet grew up to be a very loud dog from a very silent pup. Now, whom do you think did he get it from?

My point is, dogs are smart. They are smart enough to learn by associating with their masters and constant companions. Some say their dogs are geniuses. Do we believe these claims? I don’t know. There’s one thing I sure do know and that’s the fact that dogs are still dogs and whatever you do and however smart you think they are, they’re not going to stop acting like dogs. Here are a couple of tidbits about dog behavior. May you learn from them.

There’s a dog pecking order.

When I walk my dog and we meet other dogs, my dog usually just flips over with his paws waving up the air, trying to make himself as small as possible. It’s obvious that my dog is afraid of the other dogs! (Now don’t go asking where he got that from; he certainly did not get that from me!)

Fact is, there is a dog pecking order. Some dogs want to lord it over other dogs and some dogs willingly submit to others superiority. To assert its dominance, the dog with the superiority complex will stand as tall and straight as possible. He will even extend his ears and tail as high as possible to lend to his height so he can tower over other dogs. The dog with the inferiority complex will crouch down as low as possible, occupy as little space as possible, will avert his eyes and flatten his ears. Now if two superior dog beings meet, they will circle each other; stare at each other, stand up as tall as possible, until one submits.

As sinister as the establishing-dominance routine seems, do not be overly worried when it happens to your dog. After one dog yields, the two of them are probably going to end up being the best dog rascal buddies.

Dogs don’t talk human.

I know what you’re thinking; that this is pretty obvious and unworthy even of being said. Believe me, I thought that, too, until I heard some people claiming that their dogs talk to them! Right, maybe they are trying to talk to you, but please! They still do so through barking.

That being said, dogs express their feelings through their body language (doggie non verbal communication) and their vocal chords. An example of canine non-verbal communication is found above.

If you have been observing your dogs when they bark, you will notice that the pitch, the pace and the volume of their barking vary according to what they want to express. There’s a standard Doggie wants to play bark as there is Doggie is hungry bark. Still, there’s a There’s someone at the door! and a Doggie is afraid, Mommy. Try to observe your dogs more if you haven’t noticed such variations in his barking. You’ll definitely be surprised.

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