Author: Daniel Varena
Dogs are surprisingly complex creatures.
In the USA and Europe alone there is an estimated amount of eight
hundred breeds. It's true that sometimes it is difficult to see the
difference between similar breeds, but this variety is still surprising
when compared to humans. We humans can be divided may be in about 12
different 'breeds'.
The predecessor of the domestic dog is the wolf. Dogs began their
domestication some 10,000 years ago. From an evolutionary point of view
that is a short time frame and so it is not surprising that between
breeds, some behaviors are very similar. Next I go in to 2 of those
traits.
A Dog is a predator:
Of course this doesn't mean that your dog will hunt down every animal
that passes by, but it is very much part of their instinct. They have
very well developed ears and they can hear much better than humans.
They are very good at distinguishing a wide array of sounds and can
locate it very accurately.
A dog can see much better than a human. They have a much wider field of
vision which is estimated to be at 270 degrees. Humans have a maximum
angle of only 150 degrees. So dogs are much better at instantly
scanning terrain.
And, of course, they're famous for their sense of smell. They have 25
times more scent-receptor cells and they are able to perceive scents a
100 million times smaller than humans.
For instance, Golden Retrievers are able to smell a gopher in the
winter through a yard thick layer of snow and earth. Once picked up the
smell of the gopher they'll try to dig a hole in order to capture the
animal. That's typical behavior of a predator.
Another thing they have in common is that they are social animals.
Dogs need to be around other dogs and humans. That is the reason we
like them so much in the first place. However still many owners think
that dogs can be on their own for longer periods of time. Many a dog is
on it his own for the whole day when everybody is out working. These
long periods of social isolation can lead to alterations in his
behavior, like aggression and anxiety. If you can't be with your dog,
think about how he can stay in contact with others, like hiring a dog
walker for example.
Isolating a dog for brief periods can be a useful training technique.
Expulsion from the pack is an effective way of letting the dog know
when he was behaving improperly. He should never be expelled for more
than 5 minutes.
Excessive time extent of social interaction with another dog, human, or
even a friendly cat harms the dog's psychology and leads to unwanted
behavior. Even guard dogs should be able to distinguish between
external 'threats' and members of their own 'pack'.
About the Author:
Author Daniel Varena helps people to train their dog and on his website i- perros.com you can read a lot more articles. You can also get lots of accessories to make training your dog easy in his shop tienda mascotas
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