Loving Your Pet The Ultimate Guide for Your Dog's Health, Food, Medical Care, Training, and Tricks

By Brian Gibson

We all want to be safe and nourished, have safe drinking water, wonderful company, and a comfortable place to rest. This is true for humans, dogs, and every living creature on this planet. Dogs have grown reliant on you as a result of domestication.

What, therefore, must you attend to?

Provide leadership, enjoyable and healthful exercise (training and play), wholesome dog food, medical care as needed, and lots of love and attention.

This book will explain all of this to you, and your dog will love you for it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: vincenzo nappi
• Release date: Dec 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215872666

Book preview

Chapter One

Introduction

WHAT IS A DOG ANYWAY? Is it a domesticated wolf? A four-pawed friend of the house? When your understanding of dog biology grows, it becomes easier to coach and train your furry friend. You'll also respect some of your canine's odd behaviors as you learn the origin of these.

And as you can see in the picture above, some dogs are also very interested in their roots. As your understanding grows, the bond between you and your pup will also grow, and training will get easier and easier. So prepare yourself for some valuable theoretical background information. Your sense of smell is a big difference between you and your canine companion. As you probably focus more on sight and what you hear, your furry friend relies more on what he smells. Dogs can tell a lot from a certain smell. To them, it's like reading the local newspaper: who has been here, when, how long, what's he like, etc. As you would like to read the newspaper, so does your dog! Of course, you are in charge... but give him a break occasionally. It won't hurt either of you.

Your domesticated animal is closer to being wild than you think! Yes, some very curious, strange, or downright disgusting wild dog behaviors are frequently displayed by our domestic dogs but are misunderstood by people. How can we eliminate unwanted dog behaviors if we are unfamiliar with their origins in the wild, their true meanings, and their purposes? Let's expose a few. After your puppy does his elimination job outside, he kicks his feet and covers his mess with dirt and leaves. That is purely dogged instinctive behavior. He is applying a very intelligent and critical skill for survival in the wild. He is covering and removing his scent, which otherwise might cause him to be found by predators. Mother wolves eat the young pups' feces until they are old enough to run with the pack. As awful as this sounds, if the mother failed to do so, the very young pups would lie or sit in their own mess or that of a litter mate. Then they would be easily located by predators. Until the pups can walk away from their feces, they must be licked by the mother and stimulated to go to the bathroom under her supervision. Another annoyance to people, most dogs will scratch the ground before lying down at night to sleep.

Contrary to popular opinion, your dog's scratching the carpet or ground at most times is not a nesting instinct but a signal that he is in his assigned place and content. Then he will turn to the left, right, and left one more time and lie down. Each pack member sleeps in the same spot every night, and your domestic dog still has this instinctive animal behavior firmly ingrained.

Several people have told me their dog wants attention when he shows his belly to them. This is partially true because many dogs do it so sweetly that no one can resist them, and they know it! You need to understand, though, that it is another instinctive behavior for dogs in the presence of their leader – It is a sign of submission and respect but not of fear. Higher-ranking wolves posture over lower-ranked wolves, especially the younger ones, to show displeasure or to put them in their place. The lower-ranked animal then often shows his belly, or as the author of the popular children's book series, Julie of the Wolves, put it: flashes the white flag of surrender. Another annoyance and possible tripping risk is that overly enthusiastic greeting you get from your favorite pup. Wolf pups jump eagerly and lick the mouths and faces of the adults when they get back from hunting. The jumping is a welcome and a joyful greeting that comes naturally to them. After all, they cannot reach the faces of adults without jumping. Our puppies also seek to lick our faces, smelling the food we recently ate – because the adult wolves regurgitate for them. I go a long way for my dogs, but not that far! Another licking?

Chin licking is an animal instinctive behavior that is a great show of respect, so it is intended as an honor when your puppy wants to kiss yours. He recognizes you as his superior and wants to curry favor. Be encouraged if you still have serious issues (e.g., humping). The chin-licking signifies that your dog is seriously seeking you as a leader. Be one! Wolves and dogs also clean one another's eyes, ears, and genital areas to groom and clean each other and to keep the pack healthy. That is not fresh. You may also have noticed wolves or dogs mouthing each other all over. This is actually a massage they do to build muscle. Another unwanted but common dog instinct is stealing food from people and other animals. This one can get serious, for food is one of the power struggles among dogs. My Labrador Retriever puppy lost that power struggle after ONE time – when she dared to swipe a bite of my cheese eggs, which I took back! Remember, for any of you who have pets who display these instinctive dog behaviors and do not like them, there are ways to stop any and all of them. Dogs instinctively submit to their pack leader and will stop a behavior when they know it is not wanted by you. You do not have to live with disgusting or annoying wild dog behavior! Just ask an expert for help.

We continue our exploration of wild wolf society and its implications for the behavior of your domestic dog, considering how wild wolf pups achieve certain wolf pack ranks and how a pup develops into a new alpha leader of the pack. We have seen that wolf pups quickly learn and apply predatory skills of hunting and ripping open the carcass of the kill. They strengthen their necks by tossing around caribou hide, practice evasive maneuvers and stealth in their play, and experience harsh lessons in the critical role of obedience for their very survival. They learn and practice the discipline, cooperation, and respect for wolf pack rank that pervade wild wolf society. But who among them will be the next alpha leader of this wild wolf pack? When the pups of a wolf pack are about three months old, their need to run with a pack begins to show. The pups start forming a line and practicing running with each other while avoiding collision with one another. At this time, their individual personalities become increasingly evident, although it is not until the end of the first year that they start striving for a position in the pack. (It is generally around the second year that most have enough experience to gain a pack position.)

Some bigger pups show aggression toward the smaller ones for accidental collisions with them during the puppy pack practice runs. These short-tempered ones are not going to be good wolf-pack leaders. They are viewed as unstable, while the stability of the calmer pups leads to more self-control, pack control, and influence. It is the calmest and most alert pup that ends up leading the puppy pack. The size and strength of the pup do not determine his leadership. Frequently, the alpha pup in a wild wolf pack stands out, and his position is guaranteed from early on. The alpha pup will be followed by all the others, whom he directs with glances. Eye contact and subtle eye signals are vital communication modes in a wild wolf pack, especially for the hunt, and equally important among domestic dogs. As the alpha pup grows, he will take some private outings with the male alpha leader of the pack. During these outings, he will be taught the deepest secrets of leading a wolf pack. No other wolf pack member will disturb the alpha leader and alpha pup. With a glare and forward ears, the alpha leader will have commanded them to stay. Nor will the wolf pack panic at this 'departure' of its alpha leader, for they know what their alpha is doing and where he is. The alpha pup begins to follow the pack's leader everywhere and copy his behavior. If the alpha leader snarls and growls when eating, so does the pup. If the alpha leader looks at something, so does he. The alert pup does not miss a thing. During this time, the other pups are growing into their roles, too, in this wolf pack society. For example, the alone pup who keeps