Understanding the canine
All domesticated dogs have originated from a common canine ancestor.
To understand the domestic dog we should
first study the behaviour of their ancestors. This will enable us to distinguish between
innate and learned behaviours.
What is behaviour? Three different things
predetermine behaviour.
1) GENETICS: The pre-programmed material,
which the dog has inherited from its parents. Instinctive behaviour cannot be eliminated but can be modified to a certain degree
- LEARNING: The non-stop process,
which begins as soon as the pup is born. This factor can definitely be used by the owner/breeder to develop and improve a dogs social
skills and its ability
to react favourably when placed in stressful situations.
- CURRENT
ENVIRONMENT: The present environment, which influences the dog's behaviour. I.E. Being provided with occupational therapy could reduce or even
entirely eliminate destructive behaviours... Being provided regular
food and water may reduce the
dogs
desire to hunt.
Taking all of these factors into consideration we can then utilize them when choosing
and dealing with our
own dogs or working with other people’s dogs.
COMMUNICATION
How do dogs communicate? Dogs are pack animals and as such
they are very social, the more social an animal the more .complex the communication skills needed to maintain
harmonious relationships within the pack.
They
use body language and various signals for conflict solving.
They also communicate using scent
and sound (although
sound is the least used form of communication in dogs).
Signals: There are almost 30 recognized 'Calming
signals’.... Licking lips, yawning, champing (noisy
chewing motion),
averting eyes, turning their face away, slow blinking, reverting
to slow motion,
sniffing the ground, turning the body to the side or to the back, freezing, stretching the front lags out, lying down, play bow...etc.
Humans often cause problems in the human/dog relationship due to misunderstandings and even misinterpretations of canine language
in the dog's innate ability to signal may easily be lost or reinforced with life's experiences (but this language can be re-learnt). Learning to recognize
and use canine body language/signals will strengthen the human/dog bond and will enable
us to avoid creating problem behaviors or even developing phobias i.e. if a dog feels nervous or threatened you can reassure
and even re-train the dog by the effective
use of calming signals like yawning,
etc. rather than patting the dog which
would actually reinforce the fear.
BREED SPECIFIC BEHAVIOUR
Knowing that behavior
is highly influenced by genetics we should also study the original
functions of developed breeds. This will help us to choose a breed more suited to the needs of our environment.
ALL DOGS CAN BE TRAINED. TRAINABILITY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH INTELLIGENCE. The ability
to adopt a repertoire of behaviors, which enables them to survive, makes dogs highly trainable. The level of motivation needed to encourage specific behavioral development (i.e., teaching tricks) varies with each individual.
Taking all of these factors into consideration we can then utilize them when choosing and dealing with our own dogs or working with other people’s dogs.
COMMUNICATION
How do dogs communicate? Dogs are pack animals and as such they are very social, the more social an animal the more .complex the communication skills needed to maintain harmonious relationships within the pack. They use body language and various signals for conflict solving. They also communicate using scent and sound (although sound is the least used form of communication in dogs).
Signals: There are almost 30 recognized 'Calming signals’.... Licking lips, yawning, champing (noisy chewing motion), averting eyes, turning their face away, slow blinking, reverting to slow motion, sniffing the ground, turning the body to the side or to the back, freezing, stretching the front lags out, lying down, play bow...etc.
Humans often cause problems in the human/dog relationship due to misunderstandings and even misinterpretations of canine language in the dog's innate ability to signal may easily be lost or reinforced with life's experiences (but this language can be re-learnt). Learning to recognize and use canine body language/signals will strengthen the human/dog bond and will enable us to avoid creating problem behaviors or even developing phobias i.e. if a dog feels nervous or threatened you can reassure and even re-train the dog by the effective use of calming signals like yawning, etc. rather than patting the dog which would actually reinforce the fear.
BREED SPECIFIC BEHAVIOUR
Knowing that behavior is highly influenced by genetics we should also study the original functions of developed breeds. This will help us to choose a breed more suited to the needs of our environment.
ALL DOGS CAN BE TRAINED. TRAINABILITY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH INTELLIGENCE. The ability to adopt a repertoire of behaviors, which enables them to survive, makes dogs highly trainable. The level of motivation needed to encourage specific behavioral development (i.e., teaching tricks) varies with each individual.
