How To Understand Your Dog's Language

© by Jennifer McLeod writing as jenjen0703, all rights reserved.

Getting to know your canine is a critical factor in the relationship you share with your dog. I firmly believe that if you want ultimate success in dog ownership, then you need to start from scratch with a brand new puppy. The reason this fact brings success is because your puppy will never have a chance to adjust to any other family except yours. I have been housing rescue dogs and strays most of my life, and as cute and adorable as some of these canines are, sometimes their previous living environments and training (or lack of) can bring bad habits that cannot be broke not matter how hard you try.

Another factor to consider is the financial aspect of owning a dog. Dogs need regular veterinary care, immunizations, physicals, heartworm checks, and flea treatments. If your dog was hit by a car, do you have enough money set aside to afford surgical and veterinary costs for him? If you cannot provide a dog with this type of care, you have no business owning one. I do believe that society does not have bad dogs, but bad owners instead.

The breed of dog you have can influence a dog's behavior. For example, St. Bernard's are excellent herding dogs and can be easily trained to stay within a certain parameter, whereas German Shepherds make better guard dogs and are more prone to bark at strangers. Understanding your dog's breed can help you understand certain characteristics of their behavior. Once you understand this information, communicating with your dog will be an easier task. Learn your dog's language and understand calming signals.

1) Touch your puppy frequently! Learn how to groom him, trim his nails, and bathe him. Take him for short, frequent walks on his leash. The sooner you adjust your puppy to certain behaviors, the easier it is to complete these tasks when he grows larger and becomes stronger. For example, I always touched my dogs' paws and massaged the inside of the paw pads gently with my finger. Because of this, they do not resist me when I trim their nails, which I do every week.

2) Owning dogs are like owning children! Dogs require time, attention, and money to take care of them. In puppy-friendly homes, dogs adopt themselves right into the family. Despite the amount of work and time needed to raise a pet, doing so is rewarding. I cannot go anywhere, except work, without my dogs. They do not know it is time for me to leave when I grab my car keys and head to the door, instead, it is an hour prior to leaving that they figure it out. Come on guys, really? I have to get ready to leave. Go lay down!

3) Obedience training is a must! You want your dog to behave and follow basic commands such as "Come" or "Sit" or "Shake." Not all people aspire to be dog people. Dogs speak a language all their own, and just as you have to learn Spanish to communicate in Mexico, you also need to learn the language of a dog. Not all aspects about dogs are the same. You are never going to get the perfect dog that learned every trick in the book in two seconds. But, you will have a dog who loves you unconditionally and will stay by your side. Obedience training will determine whether your dog can stay with you off a leash while out for a walk or if you will have to chase him in your car until he finally wears himself out! I have a dog who is 6 years old, and I have had him since he was 6 weeks old. I have never been able to train him to speak. He only barks when someone knocks on the door or I tell him we are going for a ride. He never learned to go to the door when he has to go outside. Instead, he sits right in front of me and stares me down until I figure out what he wants. I have, however, taught him to shake, beg, lay down, roll over, and he also knows the word "out."

4) Puppies need to chew! Puppies are no different than human babies, they teethe and have their baby teethe fall out. Dogs need their own toys to play with and chew on. This is handy when you catch your dog chewing on your favorite shoe because you can tell your puppy "no" and distract him with his own toys, which he already knows he can chew on. My dog chewed everything up, so he had to be crate trained. He did not finally stop chewing things until he was 2 1/2 years old.

5) My dog is doing what? I know this tip is a little bit off the hook, but dogs hump. Dogs do not decipher the difference between girl and boy. When a dog attaches himself to another dog, he loves that other dog. And if you learn more about dogs, you will find out that dogs do many other things to each other like keep each others' ears and faces clean. And dogs like to hump. Especially males dogs! If they are not fixed, it is worse. As Bob Barker said, "Get your pet spade or neutered..."