Dog Behaviour

There was a question asked about a dogs destructive behavior,It sounded like a pretty clear example of separation anxiety to me as well as some of the other answerers. One of the other answerers said "Your dog is mad at you and is taking revenge by being destructive" I find that absurd. revenge is a human ,not canine behavior. Though there may be times it seems our pets are acting out of vengence I believe their motivations are something entiely different. I'd like to hear your thoughts**Especially Behaviorists.I must add the asker seems to believe the 'revenge' theory.

Dogs plotting revenge? Never happens. What people mistake for "spite" or "revenge" is usually separation anxiety (as you correctly believe), and a lack of exercise and training. Dogs relieve anxiety by putting things in their mouths and chewing them - the same way children suck their thumbs and adults bite their nails, chew gum or smoke cigarettes.

A dog may look "guilty" when you come home to find the house soiled and torn up, but that isn't guilt in the human sense. It's that the dog has learned that YOU are going to be mad at him when you come home. He doesn't know what else to do while you are out, since you're not there to tell him. That's why it's so important to confine a puppy to a crate so that he can't learn bad behaviors!

A well trained dog knows the rules and knows what to expect and how to please his family. He is much happier and less anxious, since he doesn't have to try to guess which behavior will get him in trouble.

These are the books that I recommend to my students; you can get them on Amazon.com
What All Good Dogs Should Know – Volhard http://www.volhard.com/
Good Owners, Great Dogs - Brian Kilcommins
Dog Tricks : Eighty-Eight Challenging Activities for Your Dog from World-Class Trainers by Haggerty and Benjamin
Don't Shoot the Dog - Pryor
Training Your Dog: The Step by Step Method - Volhard
Dog Problems - Benjamin
Cesar's Way - Cesar Millan
Also, watch the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. Cesar Millan is the best trainer I've ever seen on TV.
http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com/

We had to put our older dog down about 3 months ago. We all miss her terribly but no one more, it seemed than our 6 year old schnauzer, Sofie. It has seemed like Sofie went into a depression when Kodiak died. So yesterday we went to the Humane Society to get a new dog. Jet is a wonderful dog. He's a year old so he still has a little puppy left in him. He's very friendly and quite mellow 4 a pup. The problem is that Sofie is terrified of him. Both dogs are pretty submissve but Sofie seems to be trying to be sending a signal to the new dog that we are HER humans. Whenever Jet wants to play Sofie ignores him as much as she can, WILL NOT look and him, and when he gets to close she jumps away from him like a rabbit. Whenever he tries to sniff Sofies bottom, she sits down.

What message is Sofie trying to give Jet? Is there any way to guage how long we should give Sofie to come around before we just say that this isn't going to work out and have to take Jet back to the humane society?

As long as they aren't showing any aggression towards each other then they're fine. It could take up to a month or more for Sophie to accept the new dog. She has lost her bonded friend and now she is confused as to who this new dog is and why he is there. Just give her time to adjust and she'll learn to love the new dog eventually. When i got my new puppy my one Cavalier would run away and growl at the new puppy when ever he wanted to sniff her. I've had the puppy for almost 2 months now and they sleep together on the couch. The actually sleeps on top of her. My adult Cavalier loves to play with the new puppy. They chase each other all through the house.

Just give them time to adjust.

i want to understand my dog better

The veterinarian Merck manual for health issues

If you are wanting to understand more about how dogs think, I recommend a book called Good Owners, Great Dogs by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson. It's a good starter manual for dog behavior.

They have a web site that includes a discussion board… see the second link below. There are very helpful, knowlegable people that participate on the board.

if so which university or college did you go to and did you get the option to study a lot of canine behaviour, what about Phd research into canine behaviour are there any opportunities to do this?
My brother’s girlfriend went to uni to study Animal Behaviour though I’m not sure what course she did, I know she got 1st honours though. She studied at Myerscough College and then went on to Preston Uni.

A dog is a man’s best friend or a woman’s best friend. This has been a saying for centuries. The joy of raising a dog and growing together is a very richly rewarding experience. A child owning its first puppy and growing and learning together is a fantastic bond which teaches the child about life, sharing, caring and companionship.  We only need to think of the great film and television series Lassie and the numerous other dog and child related movies to see how this is portrayed.

So with all these positive images of dogs and canine support why is the press always reporting stories of bad dog behaviour. Can it be true; does it really exist?

Unfortunately it does and you do not have to look far to see first hand examples of this. It is common to see dogs chasing cars and bicycles, sometimes even sadly children. For a child having an unfortunate incident with a badly behaved dog can have long term lasting effects. No longer does the child see a dog as a lovable companion. From that point on any dog can be a potential threat to them and their outlook to these loveable animals is sadly ruined. We can help you to successfully teach your dog, please check out this guide.

Is bad dog behavior the fault of these animals is the dog to blame for acting out one of its basic instincts. Unfortunately this is not the case a dog can be a successful pet or it can be affected by bad dog behaviour which can affect the lives of other people that it comes into contact with in a negative way. What is the difference then between these two characteristics? I believe it is all down to the way that the dog is taught and supervised.

We all lead busy lives and the companionship that a dog offers needs to be tempered by the owners ability to properly teach and control their pet so that bad dog behaviour becomes a thing of the past. Think of it like owning your first car, you wouldn’t think of getting a car if you couldn’t drive. Owning a dog requires some background understanding and preparation to make it a successful outcome.

Is this task difficult? Is this a hard skill to achieve?

Certainly not, it requires some patience and a method. The result a dog which will be your best companion for life and a pet that you can be proud to walk down the street in the comfort of knowing that bad dog behavior is a problem that you and your pet certainly do not have.

If you would like to learn more about how to successfully teach your dog, please check out this guide.

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Dr David Sands advises viewers on how to react to a dog attack

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