Dogs can learn up to about 50 words of any language and in fact they can respond very well to them.

Dog puppies go through a fear stage from 8 to 10 weeks. Avoid your dog coming in contact with any traumatic events, as they may make the dog permanently fearful. A sudden jolt, noise or the sound of cracker may make your puppy terrified for the rest of his life.

The last chewing stage in any dog lasts up to 16 months. When you start socialization process early in the life of your puppy, you are making him very strong and courageous for the rest of his life.

Dogs have been wearing collars for over 3000 years since Egyptians. There are many depictions of dogs with collars in art that dates back to 3000 BC. Dogs were first domesticated about 12,000 years ago.

Survivors of the Titanic included two dogs: a Pekingese belonging to Henry Sleeper Harper and a Pomeranian belonging to Miss Margaret Hays.

If you have a puppy that is extra demanding and is always decided to have his way all the time, pay him back in the same way! Never allow him to be your boss. When you are the real boss your pup will start respecting you as his real master.

Dogs have a number of really strange habits. One is the habit to lick their private parts. Even though this looks strange, it does serve an important purpose. The dog’s genitourinary tract may not function normally without the stimulation that arises out of frequent licking.

Dogs that are left isolated for long periods of time howl because they feel lonely. The main purpose of the howling in the wild is to call other dogs and gather the pack to face all potentially dangerous situations.

Dogs may never step out in case there is a rain. It’s not because they’re scared of getting drenched, but because the raindrops may amplify the sound and hurts their sensitive and keen ears.

A dog’s intense nose works 1 million times more productively than the human nose. Some dogs are endowed with better noses, while others have the capacity to sniff out drugs and bombs.

Evidences suggest that an affectionately handled dog is healthy and sound. A frequently petted and groomed puppy is not only healthy, but also well behaved. Barking dogs indicates that they are in alarm. Its purpose is to let you as well as other dogs know that something or someone is trying to invade their privacy and security.

Dogs can effectively read your mind and perceive what you’re about to do! This wonderful intuition is a gift to mankind as we can use this ability in several ways.

The relationship between man and his dog is an endearing one. Qualified health specialists recommend their patients that they should adopt a pet dog to help them tide over the tumulus period of illness. Dogs may make a wonderful companion to elderly patients and younger kids. They also help you to learn so many things that are related to animal behavior and characters.

Topics: Dog Training Tips | Give Your Two Cents »

Over excitability is the term used to describe most of the problem dogs we see, especially when they are stressed by new surroundings, strangers, other dogs, social isolation, physical restraint, stimulation, and sudden loud noises. At the other end of the spectrum of behavioral reactivity, we see highly inhibited animals that react to stress by total inaction or slow, stiff movements, and apparent depression, seeming to lose contact with environmental stimuli.

The problem usually occurs while the owners sleep at night, or when the dogs are left alone, especially for a long period of time. The stress of being ignored, even if the owners are there, stimulates the mother to introverted behavior (self-mutilation) and stimulates the extremely excitable son toward extroverted over-activity.

Both excitability and inhibition can be heightened by many herbs and synthetic drugs, as well as those extracted from living tissues. The fact that such drugs do not affect all individuals (dogs or people) in the same way supports the belief that the balance among internal neurochemicals may be the primary factor influencing the behavioral expression of excitability or inhibition.

The individual body chemistry of animals develops and fluctuates throughout life. Hormonal imbalances produce not only structural and physiologic, but behavioral changes as well. Among the body’s hormone-producing glands and controlling organs, the emotional centers of the brain’s limbic system appear to exert considerable influence.

Certain drugs not only influence the balance among these factors, but mild or extreme psychological stress can produce subtle and gross neurochemical imbalances.

The fact that seemingly mildly stressful experiences induce these reactions may help explain a good deal of what is generally described as “spontaneous aggression” or the popularly labeled “Springer rage syndrome”. In this case, the nervous processes responsible for defensive behavior, such as a dog’s biting, can be sensitized but not fully activated by mildly threatening stimuli.

However, depending on the particular dog’s nervous system makeup, repeated stimulation can push the dog over the brink and into a full-blown “rage avalanche,” where up to several minutes of furious behavior are necessary to exhaust the imbalance and restore equilibrium. The dog then often resumes its usual gregarious personality or appear contrite, confused.

Most dogs that are highly excitable usually exhibit a behavior problem for which the owners have applied various degrees and types of punishment. These included scolding (a stimulus that can facilitate a snapping response), muzzle-clamping with the hands, shaking by the scruff or jowls, physical take-downs, and mild to severe hitting with the hands or objects such as rolled up newspapers.

Topics: Basic Obedience Commands | Give Your Two Cents »

In dogs, you can see many types of aggression and most of these traits are distributed evenly by the nature. Here are some of the most common types of dog aggression:

· Defensive aggression that is induced by a fear factor,
· Dominant aggression,
· Possessive Aggression,
· Territorial aggression that arises out of fierce loyalty for its living space,
· Intra sexual aggression,
· Predatory aggression that is induced by hunting and protection tendencies,
· Parental aggression that is displayed when a mother is nursing her puppies.

Dominantly-aggressive puppies are labeled as very confident and muscular. When they are fully grown, they have the habit of showing their full gait by standing up on their hind legs and kneel on a table or a settee.

They show their projected and upright ears as a mark of their growing presence. Their tails are set very high, while their tail wagging is leisurely with a hint of arrogance. Their eyes are sharp, while their stares look very pointed and straight.

These dogs are very demanding in their nature and they are always on the move, even at the cost of your children; just watch your dog pushing your small kids while crossing the door. They love outdoors and when they are on leash, may even try to outsmart you! These dogs are possessive of their sleeping quarters and feeding bowls.

It is often a big headache to control these dogs. On the other hand, defensively aggressive dogs are very fickle minded in their behavior. By nature, these dogs are very submissive and their overall behavior testifies to this undeniable fact.

They have a set of ears that set flat over the head, while the eye contact is not direct, and they look away when you look at their eyes. These dogs tuck their tails in between their legs and show a habit of submissive urination whenever someone tries to go near them. These dogs will also throw a lot of tantrums by rolling over their belly and by licking your hands.

These weak dogs neither like you to touch their bodies nor love grooming sessions. They have a tendency of attacking people from behind their back; most of the time, they look very defensive in stature, but in reality very coward in attitude.

Possessive aggression is more common in dogs that are trying to guard their belongings like bowls and bed. All most all dogs tend to own this aggressive behavior and there is not even a single identifiable character that will help you to label the dogs as possessively aggressive.

Topics: Puppy Training Tips | Give Your Two Cents »