The Ultimate Guide to Dog Training E-Book

Teoti Anderson

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 428

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The Ultimate Guide to Dog Training is the most comprehensive single volume ever written on the subject and is the one training manual every dog owner needs in his or her home. The Ultimate Guide to Dog Training encompasses every topic from the puppy's first lessons and house training to advance training methods and retraining rescue dogs, rebellious teens, and seniors. Dog trainer and behavior expert Teoti Anderson offers straightforward advice and easy-to-follow instructions for each topic, all based on her success-oriented positive training methods. From selecting the right training equipment and avoiding common first-time owner mistakes to executing the perfect heel cue and solving complicated behavior issues, The Ultimate Guide to Dog Training will remain an indispensable guide for dog owners for years to come.

Leseprobe

The Ultimate Guide to Dog Training

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Editor: Heather Russell-Revesz

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Design: Mary Ann Kahn

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Copyright © 2014 by i-5 Publishing, LLCTM

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of i5 PressTM, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Anderson, Teoti.

The ultimate guide to dog training : puppy training to advance techniques plus 25 problem behaviors solved / by Teoti Anderson.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-62187-090-6 (alk. paper)

1. Dogs--Training. 2. Dogs--Behavior. I. Title.

SF431.A527 2014

636.7’0835--dc23

2014015365

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62187-099-9

This book has been published with the intent to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter within. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the author and publisher expressly disclaim any responsibility for any errors, omissions, or adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained herein. The techniques and suggestions are used at the reader’s discretion and are not to be considered a substitute for veterinary care. If you suspect a medical problem, consult your veterinarian.

i-5 Publishing, LLC™

3 Burroughs, Irvine, CA 92618

www.facebook.com/i5press

www.i5publishing.com

Part I: The Basics of Dog Training

Chapter 1: Why Train Your Dog?

You are awesome. Just by picking up and reading a book on training your dog, you have already proven yourself to be a responsible, caring pet parent. Congratulations! You have one lucky dog.

Dogs Bring Unconditional Love … and Responsibilities

There are responsibilities to having a dog as a family member. You need to ensure that he gets proper health care. You need to make sure that you feed him quality nutrition. You also need to help him understand how to live with humans and, specifically, how to live with your family as a good companion.

As much of an affinity as most dogs have for humans, they are not born knowing how to live with us. Dogs are a different species than humans, and they come with their own species-specific behaviors. These behaviors can often clash with our human expectations of proper behavior.

As you were growing up, you were taught life skills by adults. Some of those adults may have been better teachers than others, but you grew up learning how to behave in the home and out in public. What was acceptable in your environment may have differed slightly from what was acceptable in your neighbor’s environment, but, in general, you learned basic good-citizen skills. Now, you need to teach similar skills to your dog.

Your dog doesn’t inherently know that he’s not supposed to pee on your carpet or jump on you and knock you over. He doesn’t have a manual explaining that he can’t chew on your favorite shoes or the bed skirt. He has no clue what an “indoor voice” is. He also doesn’t realize that he can’t just run up and get in another dog’s face or dig in your neighbor’s prized rose garden. You need to teach him all of these things, and you can!

Part of being a responsible pet parent is teaching your dog good family manners, cleaning up after him when you’re out in public, and ensuring he that isn’t a public nuisance. By training your dog using reward-based, positive methods, you are fulfilling these responsibilities.

Did You Know? Training Is Mutually Beneficial

A well-trained dog is easy to live with and often welcome in other places. If you want to travel with your dog, even if it’s just to a relative’s house, he will need to have manners so he doesn’t embarrass you or cause problems. Training your dog will build your relationship as you learn to better understand each other. And the nice compliments you get on your dog’s behavior are a bonus!

Establishing Goals

There’s nothing wrong with setting goals for your dog. You may have dreams of raising an agility champion or sharing your dog with others as a therapy dog. Learn what’s required to achieve those goals and start training your dog to reach them. You will work on getting there together.

Another responsibility that you have is to accept your dog for what he is. Realize that not every dog is suited for every task. Every dog is different. He can never compare to any past dogs you’ve had, and you will never have another dog like him again.

Dogs are lifetime companions. Your dog is special in his own way, even if he never does turn out to be that agility champion or therapy dog. You may find that you need to adjust your goals as you start your training program and learn more about your dog’s strengths and challenges. While changing your expectations can be very disappointing initially, you will always have something wonderful in your favor—your dog. Your dog will love you no matter what you achieve, and that is truly something to be treasured.

You need to help your dog understand how to live with your family as a good companion.

Making Time to Train

There is no set, defined time when training is best. What works for you? What works for your dog? Are you a morning person? Then train your dog when you first get up. Are you a night owl? Then train your dog in the evenings. Your training program can be just as flexible as you need it to be. The most important thing is to just get started and then keep it up every day.

Most people are very busy. Many don’t realize how much work a dog, especially a young puppy, is to train. When you use positive methods, you don’t need a lot of time to train your dog—just fifteen minutes a day will do the trick, and not even fifteen minutes in a row. Each training session should be only a few minutes long, so it’s easy to squeeze in fifteen minutes throughout the day, especially because you can train during your everyday routine.

For example, you have to take your dog outside on leash each morning as part of your house-training program. You can train the Wait cue at the same time you do this. The Wait cue means that your dog has to wait in place until you tell him to do something else, and it’s a very handy behavior to help prevent your dog from bolting out the door. If you train Wait as you go inside and outside for all of your dog’s potty breaks, you’ll get in many repetitions, in short bursts, throughout the day. Before long, waiting at the door for you to tell him he can go through will become a habit for your dog.

Following House Rules

It’s best to determine house rules before you bring your dog home because it can be very confusing for your dog if you teach him one set of actions and then decide later that they are unacceptable. What are your house rules? Do you want your dog on the furniture? In the bedroom at night? Is it OK if he jumps on you? Is it OK if he kisses your face? Where do you want him to eliminate? If you have other dogs in your home, how do you want him to interact with them? For example, if you have a senior dog and are bringing home a puppy, what will you consider acceptable behavior with your older dog?

Set some boundaries and train your dog to follow them. Be consistent. Make sure your family or roommates are on the same page, or it will be very difficult to train your dog. He won’t understand if you don’t let him up on the bed but your roommate does when you’re out of town.

Your training program can be as flexible as you need it to be.

How Smart Is Your Dog?

Is a Border Collie smarter than an Airedale Terrier? Just how smart is your dog? There are many theories, but it’s very difficult to get a consistent measurement of canine intelligence in the scientific community. Experts can’t even decide on a consistent way to test human intelligence, and less study has been devoted to canines.

What does it take to prove intelligence, anyway? The ability to use tools? A great memory? The ability to solve problems? An IQ test? And do we bias any measurements by looking at the results through our human eyes rather than focusing on a different species?

You could argue that a Basset Hound that sits by the pantry door waiting for you to get his dinner is as smart as the Golden Retriever that figures out how to open the door himself. Maybe the Golden has more initiative, but the Basset knows that he’s going to be waited upon!

In general, dogs are fairly smart creatures. According to psychologist and canine researcher Stanley Coren, PhD, a dog’s mental abilities are equivalent to those of a two- to two-and-a-half-year-old human child. The average dog can learn approximately 165 words, including signals. Dogs can also learn how to count up to about five and understand errors in simple computations.

Just as with people, some individual dogs are going to be smarter than others. You may find that your dog has difficulty learning some behaviors, or you may find that you need to scramble to stay ahead of your dog!

Chapter 2: Understanding How Dogs Learn

Dogs are a different species than we are. Behavior that you find unacceptable in a person is often normal in canine terms. Imagine waking up one morning surrounded by people who use a language you don’t understand and who have unfamiliar customs. You can learn the new language and what this community finds acceptable and unacceptable, but someone is going to have to teach you in terms that you can understand. This is your role with your dog.

Understanding Instincts

Dogs instinctively dig and jump and chase and bark and perform other behaviors typical of their species. These are normal dog behaviors. If you are taking a lovely stroll down the block and your dog sees a squirrel, he may instinctively bolt after it. This doesn’t mean that you have to tolerate behaviors that you don’t like, but it helps to understand what behaviors are normal for dogs.

Some breeds were purposely bred to do specific things. Some dogs were fine-tuned to chase livestock, while others were developed to follow scent. These behaviors are now ingrained in those breeds, so it’s natural for them to do them. Your dog is not being stubborn or defiant if he’s just answering to his DNA.

Feelings and Emotions

Anyone who has ever loved a dog will tell you that dogs have feeling and emotions, and a recent study has shown that dog lovers have been right all along. Gregory Berns, a professor of neuroeconomics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, completed research demonstrating that dogs use the same area of the brain as humans do to feel. Berns found similarities in structure and function of a region of the brain called the caudate nucleus. In people, the caudate nucleus responds in anticipation of things that we enjoy, such as love, food, and money. In dogs, Berns’s research found that the caudate nucleus responds to hand signals indicating food and to the smells of familiar humans. Preliminary tests also showed that the caudate nucleus reacted to the return of a dog’s owner after the owner had momentarily stepped out of view.

What the study basically showed is that dogs have about the level of sentience as a human child, which is no surprise to anyone who has ever loved a dog. What else can you describe other than happiness when your dog greets you after an absence? If you’ve ever seen those heartwarming videos of servicemen and servicewomen returning from deployment to greet their ecstatic dogs, how could there be any doubt? If you’ve ever lost one dog of several, don’t the others appear to mourn?

Dogs are feeling, emotional beings, whether or not science has caught up with what we know to be true.

This is important when it comes to choosing a training program. If dogs can feel, do you want to hurt them to train them? Of course not. And you don’t have to—there are positive ways to train your dog to do what you want.

Breeds Make a Difference

Your dog’s breed or mix of breeds will have an impact on his behavior. Humans have selectively bred dogs to perform different tasks over time, eventually coming up with defined breeds. There are hundreds of breeds of dog in the world. If you have a mixed-breed dog, you may have to take a guess at who his parents are if you don’t get a chance to meet them. Sometimes, you can tell by looking at a dog, but you can also look at your dog’s behavior.

If your purebred dog exhibits breed traits that you don’t like, who can you blame? You’re the one who chose the dog. This doesn’t mean that you have to put up with excessive chasing or barking or hunting, but please don’t get angry with your dog for doing what he was bred to do.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) puts dog breeds with similar traits together into groups. Let’s take a look at some of the traits of these groups.

Pet parents know that dogs do have feelings and emotions.

Herding Breeds

Herding breeds were created to move livestock. There are some breeds that specialize in cattle, others sheep, and some multiple species. Some move livestock by barking at them, while others nip at their charges’ heels. In essence, herding breeds are really good at chasing things and rounding them up. Often, people complain that their herding dog chases their children or the family cat.

Herding breeds are usually very agile and fast, and they do really well at speed sports, such as agility. They are often energetic dogs, and they do best when you give them healthy options for channeling that energy. Breeds in this group include the Collie, Corgi, Shetland Sheepdog, Australian Cattle Dog, and Puli.

Sporting Breeds

Sporting breeds were designed to work with hunters. Some flush game, some retrieve, and some point to where the game is hiding. Some excel at working in the water, and others are best in fields. Still others perform multiple tasks.

Sporting-breed dogs usually have a lot of energy, especially as puppies and adolescents. They generally work very well with people and are popular family dogs. Breeds in this category include the Labrador Retriever, English Setter, Golden Retriever, Portuguese Water Dog, and Brittany.

Hound Breeds

Hounds were bred to hunt. Some (such as the Basset Hound) specialize in following scent, and some (such as the Whippet) hunt by sight. These breeds are persistent and have stamina. Some also bay. Breeds in this category include the Greyhound, Bloodhound, Beagle, Irish Wolfhound, and Afghan Hound.

Terrier Breeds

Terriers were bred to hunt and kill vermin. They are persistent, with lots of energy, and can be feisty. Most have wiry coats that require special grooming, called stripping, to keep up their appearance. You may notice that your terrier likes to “kill” his toys by shaking them. Breeds in this category include the West Highland White Terrier, Parson Russell Terrier, Rat Terrier, Cairn Terrier, and Bull Terrier.

Toy Breeds

These little dogs were created to be companions. As a result, they are very attached to their people and often follow them everywhere. Their small size makes them ideal for apartment living, but don’t bother telling a Toy breed dog that he is little. He won’t believe you! Breeds in this category include the Papillon, Chihuahua, Maltese, Pomeranian, and Pug.

Working

Working dogs were bred to perform jobs, such as guarding property, pulling sleds, and other duties. Because all of the jobs vary, so do the individual dogs. In general, these dogs are usually strong and committed, and some are very large. Breeds in this category include the Siberian Husky, Saint Bernard, Great Pyrenees, Samoyed, and Great Dane.

Non-Sporting

The Non-Sporting Group is kind of a catchall for a variety of breeds, so the dogs in it are all across the map in terms of size and behavior traits. For example, the Shiba Inu is a small Japanese dog bred to hunt small wild game, boar, and bear. The Chow Chow is a medium-sized Chinese dog used for hunting, protection, pulling, and herding. Other breeds in this category include the Schipperke, Bichon Frise, and Poodle.

Miscellaneous

The AKC also has a Miscellaneous Class. This group is for purebred dogs that are “on deck” for admission to the rosters in a regular group. In order to graduate to a regular class, breeds must have an active parent club and “serious and expanding breeding activity over a wide geographic area.” These breeds may already be recognized in other countries; there are many breeds active in other countries that aren’t yet AKC-registered, possibly because they are not as popular in the United States as they are in other countries.

From left to right: West Highland White Terrier (Terrier Group); Siberian Husky (Working Group); Border Collie (Herding Group); Brittany (Sporting Group), Greyhound (Hound Group-Sighthound); Basset Hound (Hound Group-Scenthound); Pug (Toy Group); Bichon Frise (Non-Sporting Group).

Understanding Puppy Development

Puppies are learning soon after birth, so it’s important to understand what goes on during those critical first weeks of life.

Puppies learn so many lessons from their mothers and siblings. Mothers have to lick puppies in order for them to urinate and defecate, and they also lick the pups clean afterward. This is how puppies learn to stay clean. If they don’t have this experience with Mom because they are removed from her too soon, they may have trouble learning house-training later; this is often a challenge with puppies bought from pet stores.

Puppies learn bite inhibition, meaning not to bite down too hard, from playing with their siblings. When puppies play, if one chomps down too hard on another, the recipient will yip or snap and stop playtime. The chomping puppy doesn’t want to stop playing, so he learns to lessen the intensity of his bite. Puppies learn bite inhibition from their mother, too, especially as she wants to start weaning them. Puppies also learn to share with their littermates. They learn about competition for resources, such as toys or their mom’s milk. These are important social lessons that are critical at this age, which is why it’s important not to take puppies away from their families too soon. Good breeders and rescue organizations will keep puppies with their families for at least eight weeks.

When a mother dog has only one puppy in the litter, called a singleton, he is at a disadvantage. He may not learn bite inhibition very well because he doesn’t have brothers or sisters to teach him when he bites too hard. This could prove to be a problem for you because the pup could be very mouthy. He also never has to share or compete for anything, so he may find it very frustrating when he suddenly doesn’t get everything he wants when he comes to your home. You will need to spend extra effort in training a singleton puppy.

Some people want to get two littermates or young puppies at the same time. This is certainly appealing, because the puppies will spend a lot of time together and be playmates, but it can cause several problems. Puppies raised together can become overly dependent on each other because they spend all of their time together, especially if they are crated together, so they never learn to be alone. Then, when one of them has to go to the veterinarian or gets to go somewhere without the other, the puppy left behind becomes traumatized. Too much dependence is not healthy.

Another challenge of raising littermates is that, because they spend so much time together, they bond more closely with each other than with you or other members of your family. Dogs bond most closely with whomever they spend the most time in positive experiences. During the critical socialization window, if a puppy spends the majority of his time with another puppy, then that’s who he’ll bond with. You’ll likely find that they don’t listen to you, especially as they mature, which will make training them a greater challenge.

Some littermates also can develop aggression toward each other as they get older. Sometimes, aggression may develop to the point where it is not healthy or safe to keep both pups together any longer, which is heartbreaking.

Raising littermates or young puppies together can be done, but it requires a lot of extra work and dedication. You will need to ensure that each puppy has his own crate and own bowl. You must separate them daily for individual bonding time with you and other members of your family. You’ll need to train them individually and take turns taking each one on trips and adventures. With all that you need to do to raise a puppy right, the extra effort may prove to be a greater challenge than you are prepared to tackle. This is why so many professional trainers do not recommend getting littermates.

A Long Way from Wolves

In the past, common theory was that dogs evolved from wolves. Modern research has shed some doubt on this. The more we learn about dogs, the more we realize that their past may not be as closely aligned with wolves as previously thought.

Whether dogs started out as wolves or not, they are now a long, long way from Canis lupus. Can you imagine a pack of Pugs taking down a caribou? Not likely. Humans have shaped dogs, for better or worse, into the domestic animal we know and love today.

Why is this important to understand? Because if you think that your dog is behaving like a wolf, and you try and respond accordingly, you will be way off base. Wolves are pack animals. A pack has a nuclear family consisting of a breeding pair and its offspring. Males take part in raising the young. There is generally a hierarchy, from an “alpha” male and female at the top to the lowest “omega.”

Experts used to think that dogs were pack animals, but as they study village dogs all over the world, they are starting to realize that this is not likely the case. Village dogs are dogs that may have once been owned by people but came to be strays, or they are descendants of previously owned dogs. They sometimes are claimed by local people who feed them on occasion, but they are not in-home pets like the dog that you’ve brought home.

Such dogs have fallen into a natural state, living near dumps and in cities where they forage for food. They don’t form packs. Instead, they form transitional acquaintances, sometimes teaming up with one or two other dogs for a brief period of time and then moving on. Males do not help in rearing pups. The village dogs do not team up to hunt together. Instead, they are mainly scavengers. It is not in the best interest of a scavenger to team up with buddies.

People who try to treat their dogs like wolves are barking up the wrong tree. For example, your dog growls at you when you reach for his collar, so you assume that he is jockeying for an alpha position. You flip him upside down in an “alpha roll” and hold him until he stops struggling. Big mistake. A dog may growl at a collar grab because the gesture has been associated as a negative experience or because he is afraid. Now that you’ve forced your dog into a frightening position and held him there, you’ve convinced him that he was right all along! Hands around his head are now really scary to him. Your dog may growl at you sooner next time. What you thought was a play for rank was really something else altogether, and now you have a worse problem on your hands.

Your dog knows that you’re not a wolf or another dog. You don’t look or smell a thing like a dog, so trying to act like one will just confuse or startle him. Your dog won’t understand any message that you’re trying to convey, and you could create some serious problems in the delivery.

Early Training and Socialization Benefits

The sooner you can start training a dog, the better. You’ll stop bad habits from developing and becoming ingrained. If you properly socialize a puppy during his critical socialization period (up until about sixteen weeks of age), you’ll help prevent serious behavior issues later.

You can start training your puppy as soon as you bring him home. This goes for adolescent and adult dogs, too. It’s never too late to start training a dog. Some people worry that their puppies are too young to start or that their adult dogs are too old. Neither is the case.

It is true that your puppy may not be able to attend a group class until all of his vaccinations are complete, depending on the class. But you don’t have to wait for a class—start training him at home. Puppies are clean slates, and they tend to learn fairly quickly. Older dogs are not too far behind, however. They may already have some habits that you want to fix, but they also have much better attention spans than easily distracted puppies. Once you teach your older dog how much fun positive training can be, he’ll become a stellar student.

Chapter 3: Communicating with Your Dog

In order to train your dog successfully, you need to communicate with him. Sounds easy, but it’s not always easy to communicate with animals that don’t think like we do.

The most common problems between dogs and humans are based on poor communication. You want Fido off the couch, but he thinks that the couch is a convenient perch for looking out the window. You want him to potty outside, but he thinks that you let him outside to chase squirrels. You expect one thing to happen, but your dog may have a completely different idea.

You may think that what you’re telling your dog is crystal clear, but it’s likely he doesn’t have a clue what you’re saying. Dogs don’t speak English. They can learn your words, but you have to teach them. You need to communicate to him in terms that he can understand. So, if you say, “Fido, Come!” and he doesn’t run to you, it’s not surprising. Repeating the cue over and over again won’t help him learn it any faster. Saying it louder or in a stern voice won’t help, either. He can hear you, but he just doesn’t understand what you’re saying. You have to train him to understand what “Fido, Come!” means. This book will help you!

You do not need to yell at your dog or use a mean tone of voice for him to perform. Who wants to have to yell at their dog all the time? It’s just not necessary, especially if you use positive methods to train. You could whisper the cues and he would respond happily.

Your dog may be able to hear you, but that doesn’t mean that he understands what you are saying.

Get the Behavior First and then Add the Cue

Since dogs don’t understand your verbal language, it’s more effective in training to get your dog to do the behavior first, before putting a verbal label on it. If you try to teach your dog a verbal cue when you are first training a behavior, it just clutters the situation and can confuse your dog. You’re going to want to talk to your dog—it’s a human thing to want to do! Just remember that your words mean very little to your dog until you teach him.

Once a behavior is reliable, then you’ll attach a cue to it. It will take many repetitions for your dog to understand that when he hears a cue, he should perform a behavior. It’s harder for dogs to learn verbal signals, so it will take him a while to connect them to the correct behaviors. This doesn’t mean that you should run boring, repetitive drills when training. Training sessions should be very short—only a few minutes at a time. You want to leave your dog wanting more, not bore him so he loses interest.

Using Effective Cues

To get the best results, here are some things to keep in mind when communicating with your dog:

•Keep cues short, and they will be easier for your dog to understand. Saying, “Come!” is more effective than saying, “Come over here!”

•Use one cue to mean one action. If you use the cue Down when you want your dog to stop jumping on you, don’t also use Down to tell him to lie down on the ground. This is too confusing for your dog. How is he supposed to know which Down you mean?

•Be consistent with your cues. If you say, “Come!” once, and then, “Come here!” another time, and later “Come on!”, you will just make it harder for your dog to learn what you want. Pick one cue for each specific action. Make sure that everyone who interacts with your dog, such as other family members, uses the same cues.

•Use a friendly voice. Some people make the mistake of delivering every cue in a stern “no-nonsense” voice, but this is not necessary and can even make it harder to train a shy or fearful dog. Dogs don’t understand your language, but they do understand your tone. If you say all of your cues in a stern voice, your dog could interpret it to mean that you are unhappy with him. Even happy, bouncy dogs don’t need you to sound like a military drill instructor. Save your stern voice for when your dog is doing something really bad … and if you train your dog, those times will be few and far between!

It’s sometimes helpful to use your dog’s name right before a cue, such as “Fido, Sit” or “Fido, Down.” It can be especially good if you have more than one dog and need to get an individual dog’s attention. Keep in mind, however, that if you don’t assign a behavior to the dog’s name, then the name itself doesn’t mean anything other than to get the dog’s attention and indicate that you are talking to him.

For example, in the pet-supply store, you see a frazzled-looking woman with a bouncy Boxer puppy lunging at the end of his leash. She yells, “Buster! Buster! Buster! BUSTER! BUSTER!!” This is just a name, not an action. What does she want the dog to do? If she hasn’t trained the dog specifically to do something at the sound of his name, then repeating it over and over again isn’t helpful or communicative.

Now, say, for example, that the owner had taught Buster that when he hears his name, he should look at her. That would be a good way to get the puppy’s attention, and saying his name would mean something to him.

When you say a cue, try to say it one time only. Repeating it won’t help your dog perform the cue any faster, and you’ll just be teaching him that you’re going to say something a dozen times before you expect him to respond. This can be a very hard habit for people to break. If you want your dog to respond the first time that you cue him to do something, you have to cue the behavior just one time.

Be consistent with your cues.

Dog vocalizations can mean different things

Whine—Whining could mean excitement, stress, or fear.

Bark—Dogs bark because they’re bored, excited, afraid, or alert to something. Dogs bark when they want something. They bark to get attention, and they bark when they want something scary to go away. Some breeds, such as the Miniature Schnauzer and Shetland Sheepdog, tend to bark more than others. Other breeds, such as the Basenji, don’t bark at all.

Growl—Dogs growl when they are playing, stressed, or angry. If your dog is playing, and he growls, it’s normally nothing to be concerned about. If your dog growls over food or toys, or at other dogs and people, it’s best to get professional help. What you don’t want to do is punish him for growling! A growl is communication—the dog is telling you something important. Punishing him for growling will just make him stop warning you—it won’t get rid of the problem. You want a dog to warn you before he feels the need to bite!

The Body Tells the Tale

If you really want to better understand what your dog is saying to you, his body language will tell you just about everything. Dogs have an intricate, expansive vocabulary of body language; it’s how they communicate best with each other. Dogs know a friendly dog by what he does, what he looks like, and how he acts. They also recognize a hostile dog in the same way. Dogs show that they are afraid by their body language. By communicating with body language, a dog can diffuse a potentially tense situation and avoid fights. By better understanding a dog’s body language, you will better understand your dog.

Ears

When a dog’s ears lay flat, it can indicate fear. Ears forward indicate interest or excitement. Note that some dogs have ears that don’t allow them to show a lot of expression. For example, Cocker Spaniels have beautiful, long ears that naturally lay flat and won’t stand erect.

Eyes

A soft, sweet expression indicates friendliness or contentment. Your dog’s eyes might even squint. If your dog looks at you with a friendly or alert expression, it’s perfectly fine. Some people worry that if a dog looks them in the eyes, it’s a challenge or the dog is trying to assert himself. Hardly! Your dog is likely just making a friendly connection or trying to read your own expression. Eye contact is a sign of confidence, which is not the same thing as defiance. This is why shy or nervous dogs will often look away from you.

A soft, sweet expression in your dog’s eyes indicates friendliness or contentment.

Mouth

Some dogs smile, and it’s exactly what you think it is—a sign of happiness. A tense, closed mouth is a sign of stress. The lips may be pulled back at the corners. Depending on the context, panting can indicate stress. A dog that has been running will pant, and it doesn’t mean that he’s upset, but a dog that’s afraid of thunderstorms will often pant as the storm begins. Dogs may pant if they are in pain. Also, if a dog is panting and closes his mouth, it can indicate increased stress. For example, if a dog is panting at the veterinarian’s office and he suddenly stops when the veterinary technician approaches with a thermometer, the dog’s stress has just increased.

When a dog is warning you or another animal to stay away, his lips may move forward over his teeth so that they look puffy. His lips can also curl up in a snarl and retract to expose his teeth; this may be accompanied by a growl. This is different from a submissive grin, which is often mistaken for a snarl. In a submissive grin, the dog’s lips pull up vertically to expose the front teeth. It’s almost always accompanied by a submissive body posture—curved body; low, wagging tail; frequent looking away; and squinty eyes.

Tail

A tail tucked under is an indication of fear. A wagging tail is often mistaken for a sign of friendliness, but this could be a serious mistake. Just because a dog is wagging his tail doesn’t mean that he is social or that he wants you to pet him. A tail that is very low and wagging rapidly can indicate stress or fear, and it can also indicate excitement. A tail that is held very high and wagging indicates high arousal. The dog could be excited to greet you, or he could be getting agitated and contemplating lunging or even biting. In general, a mid-level or low, swishy tail wag is a sign of happiness or friendliness. Some dogs get so happy and excited that their tails go around in big circles.

Overall Body Posture

A dog’s overall body posture can tell you a lot about his intentions and what he is feeling. A dog that puts most of his weight on his hindquarters is trying to increase distance between himself and something. He could be unsure or afraid. When his weight is balanced forward, he’s trying to decrease distance. He is interested or eager. For example, a puppy who is unsure of a tall man may lean backward, away from the man. When he decides that the man is OK, he will lean or move toward him. If a dog is conflicted, he’ll shift his weight back and forth. He could be afraid yet interested at the same time.

A curved body posture indicates friendliness or appeasement. Some dogs seem to wiggle and wag with their entire bodies! When a dog lifts his paw, it also indicates appeasement and could be an invitation to play. When a dog lowers his head and bends his elbows, but his rear remains up, this is called a play bow. It’s an invitation to play and a way for a dog to indicate that he is not a threat.

When a dog lowers his head, stiffens his body, and affixes a hard-staring “lock and load” expression, his intent is to threaten. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the dog will bite, but he is definitely telling you to go away. If pressed, he could escalate to a bite. You may see the fur on the back of his neck or all down his back rise up. This is called “piloerection.”

This is a play bow.

Did You Know? Curly Tails

Not every dog will display a wide range of communication with his tail. Some dogs have tightly curled tails that don’t often move out of position, no matter what they’re feeling.

Signs of Stress

Just as a dog’s body language will tell you whether he’s happy or aggressive, it will also tell you if he’s stressed or afraid. These are important signals to learn. If your dog is showing signs that he is nervous or fearful while you are training, for example, you’ll need to stop your training session and address your dog’s distress. It’s much harder for a dog to learn when he is upset. Imagine trying to learn a complicated math equation if you were afraid—it would be challenging! If you want your training sessions to be successful, learn the canine signs of stress so that you can monitor your dog’s emotional state. Stress signals are also critical to learn when you are socializing a young puppy as well as to help your dog throughout his life.

If your dog displays one or two of the following behaviors, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is stressed or fearful. Take account of his body language as a whole, and consider the context. For example, if you take your dog into a pet-supply store and he yawns a bit and licks his lips, but he is stepping brightly and pulling you to explore, he likely is excited. But if he yawns, licks his lips, tucks his tail, and cowers and presses against you, then he is stressed.

Here are signs of stress to look for:

•Licking lips

•Yawning

•Cowering

•Quivering, trembling

•Whining

•Shaking off (similar to what dogs do when they are wet, but in this case they are dry)

•Tucking tail

•Turning away, avoiding, trying to get away

•Flattening ears

•Wet pawprints (dogs sweat through their pawpads)

Yawning can be a sign of stress.

Sometimes a dog will display a behavior out of context. It’s a normal behavior, but it’s odd for the situation. This is called a “displacement signal” or “cutoff signal” and can indicate stress. For example, your friend brings her new puppy over to meet your dog. As the puppy comes into the house, your dog rushes over to greet him. The puppy suddenly starts sniffing the floor. It’s not unusual for a puppy to sniff at a floor, but it does seem an odd priority with another dog barreling into his personal space. The sniffing is a displacement signal. The puppy could be signaling to your dog that he is not a threat by avoiding direct eye contact. He could also be indicating he is stressed at your dog’s boisterous greeting.

Your Body Language

Just as your dog communicates with you using body language, your body language sends communication signals to your dog. Sometimes, you could be sending messages that you don’t really mean. For example, if you bend or loom over a dog, you could unwittingly intimidate him. Some dogs won’t mind it at all, but sensitive or fearful dogs could be frightened.

Your body language affects your training. If you bend over at the waist and call your dog to come to you, he may come but sit at a distance from you so that you are not looming over him. If you bend at the knees and crouch down to call him, he may come more enthusiastically because you have lowered your body and are less intimidating.

When you are angry or upset, your body language changes. Always be sure that you are in a good mood and full of patience when you train your dog; otherwise, he will sense when you are upset. Your body will be stiffer, your hands may clench, your jaw might tighten, your voice may sound different. You may think that you’re acting the same as you usually do, but your dog is very perceptive and will notice even the slightest change. Your dog may be less likely to respond to your cues when you are tense or upset. He may even start bouncing around and acting silly, trying to reduce the tension! This will likely just make you tenser, so it ends up being a frustrating training session.

Staring a dog in the eyes intently is very assertive, and some dogs may find it a challenge. This can be especially troublesome with children. Some children like to cradle a dog’s face, get close, and stare into in his eyes. They mean it affectionately, but do not allow this! While some dogs will tolerate this, others will not. And in this position, the dog’s proximity to a child’s face is extremely dangerous. Even if your dog doesn’t mind, children don’t often understand that what one dog likes, another dog will not. So if your child should try to get too close to a dog that is less tolerant, there could be a tragedy.

It’s easier for dogs to learn hand signals than verbal cues.

Hands Over Words

Because dogs are so in tune to body language, it is easy to teach them hand signals. It’s easier for them to learn hand signals or other physical cues than it is for them to grasp verbal cues. They can learn verbal cues, of course, but it just takes a bit longer.

It’s important to be consistent when you use hand signals or other physical cues with your dog, just as with other aspects of dog training. If you motion downward with your hand pointed when teaching your dog to Down, but then one day you keep your hand by your side, your dog may not respond. He’s not being defiant, he’s just confused. He’s learned that your hand pointing downward means you want him to lie down, and you didn’t make that motion. This doesn’t mean that you always have to make exaggerated hand signals in order for your dog to perform. You can “fade” hand signals to make them smaller, you just have to do it gradually.

A Dog’s Senses

A dog’s senses are much more acute than a human’s. That’s why your dog is so good at reading your body language. It also explains why dogs can be distracted during training, or when you take them for walks, or in new locations. They can perceive things that you can’t!

Dogs have far superior scenting ability than we do.

The All-Knowing Nose

A dog’s sense of smell is uncanny. Scientists have not been able to pinpoint exactly how powerful it is, but they estimate that it is 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than ours. Dogs have up to 300 million olfactory (scent) receptors in their noses. We have about six million. Dogs also have a significantly large part of their brains dedicated to analyzing smells—about 40 percent more than we do.

When we inhale, we smell and breathe through the same pathways in our noses. When dogs inhale, a fold of tissue within their noses separates the air into two pathways: one is for smelling, and the other is for breathing. Researchers have determined that about 12 percent of the air goes to a recessed part in the back of the dog’s nose that is dedicated to smelling. The rest goes into the lungs.

When we exhale, we send air out the way it came in—through a single pathway. When dogs exhale, the air goes through slits in the sides of their noses. When this air rushes out, it swirls new odors into the dog’s nose. It also lets a dog sniff almost continuously.

As if this wasn’t enough to make them superb smelling machines, dogs have a part of anatomy that we don’t. It’s called the Jacobson’s organ. It’s at the bottom of the dog’s nasal passage, and it senses pheromones, which are the chemicals that animals produce to attract other animals, especially their mates. The pheromone molecules that the Jacobson’s organ detects don’t mix with the other odor molecules. The Jacobson’s organ has its own nerves, which lead to the part of the brain that is dedicated to analyzing pheromones.

It’s no wonder that dogs are so distracted by smells! They’re very good at smelling because of their anatomy. Some breeds and individual dogs are better at scenting than others, but all dogs have far superior scenting ability than we do. Dogs excel at scent sports, such as tracking and K9 Nose Work®. They also serve people by working in search and rescue, cadaver detection, and more. Some have been trained to detect termites, bed bugs, and even cancer by scent.

Did You Know? There’s More to a Nose Wiggle than Meets the Eye

A cool thing that dogs can do that we can’t is wiggle their nostrils independently of each other. The aerodynamic reach of each nostril is smaller than the distance between the nostrils. What this means is that a dog can tell which nostril an odor enters, which helps him track scent.

The Eyes: Not Just Black and White

We used to think that dogs could see in only black and white, but recent research indicates otherwise. Dogs may actually have some color vision. How an eye perceives color is based on the presence of cone photoreceptors in the eye’s retina. The cone photoreceptors work in bright light. The central region of a human’s retina consists of 100 percent cone photoreceptors, while only about 20 percent of the photoreceptors in the same region in dogs are cone photoreceptors. So while we’re able to see a broad range of colors, dogs can see only a few. Researchers have conducted behavioral tests in dogs indicating that dogs can tell the difference between red and blue but have difficulty telling the difference between red and green.

Where eyes are placed on the head determines what kind of peripheral vision an animal has, as well as the size of the visual field that the two eyes can see at one time. Dogs’ eyes are on the sides of their heads, which means that they have a visual field of 240 degrees, whereas humans have a visual field of 200 degrees.

Binocular vision is used to judge distances. Dogs have about half of the binocular vision as humans do. Thus, dogs have better peripheral vision than we do, but they need to be closer to objects than we do to see them clearly.

What Can Dogs Hear?

Puppies are born deaf. Their ears don’t open until they are about two weeks old. Some dogs have floppy ears, either short or long. Some have prick ears. No matter what shape or size, there are about eighteen muscles in the ear that move it in different directions to help a dog hear sound. Dogs’ ears can move independently of each other. Dogs can hear sounds at significantly higher frequencies than we can.

A dog’s ear canal is different from a human’s. People have ear canals that are horizontal to the ear drum. In dogs, the ear canal is L-shaped. It’s vertical toward the jaw, and then it takes about a 90-degree turn horizontally near the ear drum. This shape makes the ear canal difficult to examine without special equipment. It also makes the ear a host for bacterial and yeast infections, especially in drop-eared dogs, where the ear flap covering the ear canal provides a moist environment.

Dogs can hear sounds at significantly higher frequencies than we can.

Taste and Touch

Dogs do not have as many taste buds as we do, which means that they can’t taste the range of flavors that we can. This may explain why some dogs appear to eat anything! Dogs can taste sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes, but they smell more than they taste. Their powerful sense of smell compensates a bit for their lack of taste buds.

Dogs do have a great sense of touch. Mothers immediately lick their newborns, and very young puppies huddle together for warmth. They have touch-sensitive hairs, called vibrissae, above the eyes, on the muzzle, and below the jaw. The vibrissae can detect air flow. A dog’s entire body, including his paws, has touch-sensitive nerve endings.

Just because a dog can feel touch doesn’t mean that he finds all petting pleasurable. Individual dogs can develop individual preferences. For example, one dog may love having you scratch behind his ears while another will maneuver himself so you scratch his rear. Some dogs don’t really enjoy petting at all. They may not have been conditioned to find it a positive experience as puppies, or it may just be a personal preference.

Try This! Training Independent-Minded Dogs

Dogs have different personalities, unique to themselves. Some are naturally more independent-minded than others. Some breeds were even developed to work independently from people. The Great Pyrenees, for example, is a flock-guarding dog. His job is to live with a flock of sheep night and day, protecting them from danger. He isn’t supposed to wait for a farmer to tell him what to do. A Border Collie, on the other hand, gets his directions from the shepherd to tell him which way to move the sheep. Border Collies are bred to work more closely with people than Great Pyrenees.