Thursday, January 18, 2007

Your Dog's Psychology

Article Title: Your Dog's Psychology
Author: Dan Stevens

Dear Daniel Stevens:

Please tell me I'm not going crazy. One of my co-workers was
telling me that if I want to train my dog that I need to
understand his mind. Is that possible - I mean I know my dog is
smart and inquisitive but if I want him to behave better, come
when I call, and start listening so do I need to understand to
explore the psychological depths of his mind?

I really love my dog. He's my buddy, a medium-size dog I
obtained from the local shelter. He's great but sometimes I
wonder if we're on the same page. He will come sometimes and
he does mind most of the time but I want to trust him to behave
appropriately all the time. It's not that he's a bad dog, just
not a well-trained one. Can you provide me with any information
dog psychology to making training more effective?

A loving dog owner
- Jonathan R


Dear Jonathan:

Well, your co-worker was actually right. For training dogs, one
of the key elements to being successful is to learn about dog
psychology. You already know that dogs have very interesting
minds, which change depending on age. Behaviors of dogs will
vary dramatically as well from one breed to another. By
understanding your dog, you will be able to build a trusting
bond, which leads to better training.

Okay, look at a two-year-old child. He or she is inquisitive
and just starting to learn about exploration and independence.
The same is true for a puppy or dog. At certain ages,
psychological aspects change, at which each stage, your dog
will learn new things. Typically, working with a young dog
offers a little bit of an advantage in the training department
but an older dog taught with patience can also be effectively
trained.

Consider a mother dog with puppies. At first, all the puppies
do is sleep, eat, and poop. In fact, puppies up to around two
to three weeks of age will spend about 35 percent of the life
doing nothing but nursing, which is then followed up with a lot
of sleep. At this stage of life, the puppy is in survival mode
while the body develops. The puppies are taking in things
around them such as people handling and noise but their make
focus remains on mom and her milk.

Now, once the puppies reach the three-week mark, they'll begin
to show much more interest in their surroundings. Although the
puppies are still using smell and feel more than sight, they
start to move about while interacting with each other.
Typically, puppies at this age have a real interest in
independence, as long as they do not venture too far away from
mom and food. While little puppies are adorable, their
psychology develops noticeably between four and ten weeks of
age.

It is especially important at this phase of life for the
puppies to be socialized with humans and preferably other dogs
and/or household pets. The type and amount of socialization
provided to the puppy will have a direct and dramatic impact on
how well he trains when a little older. The goal here is to make
the puppies feel secure, comfortable, and loved. The result will
be a strong trust with the master, making training fun and
successful.

You then see another psychological change once the puppies
reach the ten-week mark. With bright eyes, sharp hearing,
teeth, and powerful motor skills, their interest and ability to
explore has multiplied. During this time, you can begin to work
with the puppy on learning the ranking of master, potty
training, and even basic commands such as "sit," "lie down,"
and "stay." Although the puppy may not grasp onto everything
immediately, be consistent. Spend time with him in training
every day and you will soon notice he responding favorably
inside and outside the home.


About The Author: Daniel Stevens is the renowned dog trainer
and author of SitStayFetch: Dog Training To Stop Your Dog's
Behavior Problems
(http://www.kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/), one of
the leading dog training guides on the market today selling
over 21,