Dog Behavior

Behavior of dogs is a result of various factors like natural instincts, hereditary, past experiences, basic senses and basic drives. These factors are also responsible for training a dog successfully. The behavior demonstrated by dogs can be understood well when discussed in reference to human behavior. Always remember that dogs are very different from human beings.

This is also an important training aspect because a method successful for one dog may not be for another. Consideration and close analysis of dog behavior should be done in a proper manner so that the dog becomes a perfect canine companion at work or at home. When a dog gets trained, it helps to study the mind function and behavioral pattern of the animal.

This is one important aspect that many trainers fail to realize and due to this the dog gets confused and the trainer gets frustrated. Complete understanding and knowledge of a dog’s behavior will result in a better trained canine and will also enhance the progression process through the avoidance of training errors that are encountered commonly.

Behavior is neither completely acquired nor inherited. It is developed under the combined influences of environment and heredity. The main objective behind socializing a dog is to produce a well adjusted and well balanced animal. There are many people who feel that dogs do not think; they just behave.

This is a completely erroneous notion. Thinking is all about “forming or having in mind” and according to this definition, a dog would seem to have thinking ability, may not be as elaborate as humans. It has been stated that almost 80% of the time a dog’s mind functions by instinct and 20% time by knowledge that he acquires. After the first 21 days of life, a dog starts developing mentally.

During the first 21 days a puppy has zero mental capacity. It just reacts towards food, sleep, warmth and his mother. After 12 weeks the human can take place of his mother and a bond can be established. The future prospects of a dog will depend a lot on the human contact he comes through in this period.

The dog behavior as an urban pet gets stifled by unearned daily feeding from the owner and his defensive mechanism against any outsider gets down to discriminative limits due to the artificial standards. When there is a contrast in the social relationships and stable activities that can be found in wild dog packs, a lot of conflict can be found in the domestic environment and naturally simple social behavior tendencies of the dog.

Similar to human beings, dogs are on the top of the evolutionary scale but they do require care and training so that they can be good canine companions.