Dog behavior and body language: A constant study

I am constantly trying to broaden my understanding of dogs. Understanding a dog's behavior and how they communicate, I believe, is the key to training, and building a relationship with them.  Often times dog's turn into unruley, uncontrolable dog's when their owner has tried to train them, but has little understanding of how a dog communicates. There are so many different scenarios I can think of and different outcomes caused by this simple problem. One, a dog that jumps all over people, and has a hard time walking on a leash. They're common problems, and have simple solutions, but people still have a hard time training dog's not to do them.

Then I always seem to run into people with the "vicious" dog. It's interesting to run into people with dogs that will growl, lunge, or even bite people and other dogs. Of course most people would think the dog has been mistreated and is acting out of what they've learned, but that's not always the case. I am going to make the argument here that many dogs act "viciously" on many occasions because they are afraid. There are many reasons why they may be afraid, and this is really where I'm really going to make an argument. I'm going to say the majority of dogs that I have seen that have bad behaviors like this have owners that don't understand dogs. A person who is niave about dogs generally doesn't understand that dogs do naturally have a heiarchy within their families. You are part of their pack, and there needs to be and alpha in the relationship. Honestly the owner of the dog needs to be the alpha member. I'm not saying a person needs to excersize authority over their dog. A dog will usually willingly let you have this position if you gain their trust and show that you are going to protect them. That's what an alpha dog would do, and so should a person who owns a dog. This idea is a little difficult to explain, and I'm sure I will come back to it often to explain more.  My main point for the day however is owning a dog means understanding and learning dog language.

Learning about my own dog has been challenging. He has many fears, and helping him gain more confidence and teaching him that life isn't all that bad has been a learning experience. He really does communicate very well when he is afraid and learning what he is trying to tell me has been huge! Also, I have gained his trust in most situations, and I am his protector, because of this I am able to teach him, because he is willing to listen to me and to learn.

Goals, Plans, and Moving

What are my goals for Dog?

1. To show less fear around people in general.

2. To understand how to react to a wobbely, loud, rambunctious toddler.

How is he acting around people and my toddler now?

Dog on most occassions backs away from strangers who come to close. He shows many signs of being afraid. For example licking his lips, tail underneath him, seeing the whites of his eyes.

He, so far, has made great strides with my toddler. At first Dog didn't know what to think of my new little baby. He would sniff her lay down by her occassionally, but as she started crawling he became afraid of her. My little girl follows him around, wants to snuggle in close to him, sometimes will pull his fur, and squeals in delight as she walks up to him. Dog has never seen this behavior from anyone before, so naturally he has no idea how to react. I'm sure he feels very threatened by all of the behaviors he's been put through with my little girl. His reactions so far have not been good, but have improved. He at first would growl, and then would show his teeth. However, I never let the two out of my sight and have told Dog no! and removed him from the situation as soon as anything has happened. Dog is very motivated by wanting to get everything right. I have noticed that saying a firm No! usually does the trick, and then putting him somewhere by himself for a few minutes works well.  He is now letting my little girl pet him, and he walks up to her willingly. These are huge strides for him. Especially when he walks up to her on his own and touches her with his nose. In my opinion it's a great sign that he beginning to accept her.

My plan so far has been to desensitize him, and build his confidence. With strangers, at this point I allow people to walk up to him, but not pet him unless he walks up to them. With my toddler, there are many different things I am trying. I give him treats and lots of attention whenever my toddler pets him and plays with him. My toddler is learning not to give him hugs, scream while walking up to him and not to pull his fur. Whenever dog responds to my toddler in a good way he is praised. A good response would be to see signs of being relxed, and walking up to her himself. I am also taking the two for walks together, and am involving my toddler in training sessions with Dog. My toddler can give Dog hand signals for sit and  shake.  She also can give him a treat when he does what she asks. After walks she also gives him treats.

Last and not least we have recently moved, and all is going well. Dog is transitioning from an apartment with a yard to an apartment without a yard well. I think he's liking exploring new places instead of going out into a yard to go to the bathroom.  Plus meeting other dogs in the complex has been fun.

Inrtoducing, Dog! Yes, my dogs name is Dog. Not becuase I don't care about him or anything like that. I named him Dog because he reminded me of a dog from a John Wayne movie I love called "Big Jake". The dog named Dog in "Big Jake" looks similar to Dog, and is extremely loyal and faithful. Much like my little buddy.

I have had dog since I was a sophmore in high school. That was about 7 years ago or so now. It's been a long time and our relationship has grown and grown during that time. I think it's important to tell how I came to have Dog. A friend of mine mentioned in class that someone had dropped off a blue dog at her house, and asked if I wanted it. I was very curious...A blue dog I said? It's really blue? I had no idea what a blue merle colored dog was and pictured a dog that looked as blue as the sky. Seeing him for the first time after a school day I realized he was not sky blue, and was a mix of black, grey, white, and tan. I did think he was beautiful, and I still do. However, Dog would not let anyone near him. Local animal control personel had tried to capture him multiple times, but he evaded them easily. I couldn't coerce him up to me either. A little while after that day my friend approached me again asking if I still wanted him. I said yes, and she explained to me that her mother was able to approach him and had put him in a kennel. I picked him up  a few days later with the help of my older brother. It was heartbreaking picking him up and putting him in my brother's truck. He was terrified, shaking, and making himself as small as possible. At that point I didn't know if I could help him, and was a little bit scared myself . Years later, he has come along way, and is the most faithful friend I could ever ask for.

I have had Dog for years at this point and our lives have changed dramatically. Moving here and there, getting married, and the biggest change....having a baby girl. I don't think Dog understands what my little girl is. He is afraid of her. What should he do when she comes laughing and screaming up to him? He doesn't quite know, and trying to teach him what to do is mainly what this blog will be about. That and other adventures we'll go through along the way.