Knowledge is Power
By Franco Abbate
Understanding some facts about dogs can help you build a better relationship with them.
- If you are a dog lover, it doesn’t mean you control instincts. Knowledge helps you to control the body & mind of a dog.
- Human Senses Order: Eyes, Ears, Nose, Taste, Touch
- Dog Senses Order: Nose, Eyes, Ears, Taste, Touch
- To a dog, Consistency is a sign of Leadership.
- Aggression is NOT the problem, it is the Symptom, Result, or the Outcome of a problem!
- Dog on Dog aggression mostly stems from lack of leadership.
- Being a good leader means controlling behavior by limiting the things they want.
- In a greeting between dogs, the one who gives the rear first is surrendering.
- A walk with your dog(s) should be a time for detoxing your day, not adding to the stress!
- Love & Affection only nurtures the state of mind they are currently in.
- If you learn to honor what a dog needs, you create balance.
- A dogs ultimate goal is to find balance, its our goal to help them achieve it!
- An expression of sound from a dog has significance, but you have to understand what they are saying. They can communicate Fear, Anxiety, Aggression & Dominance, we just have to learn to recognize it!
- Wobbler Syndrome is a condition that is a deterioration of the vertebrae in the neck, which results in dogs walking & sitting funny.
- Awareness to processing to reflecting and then to transforming behavior is the same for dogs and humans, but dogs can do it faster!
- Discipline should come from a positive energy, not a negative one, which can lead to punishment or even abuse.
- Separation Anxiety may develop when there is a change in the owners routine.
- Behavior Modification is a simple concept, but not easily executed because it is a state of mind!
- For both Humans and Dogs it takes a great amount of of focused energy to be calm.
- There are 4 reactions to a dogs brain:
- Fight
- Flight
- Avoid
- Submit
- Dogs feel Kinetic Energy (Motion) and can tell what emotional state you are in just by your Body Language.
- A feral dog is a dog that is untamed or wild and doesn’t trust anything, pure survivor mode.
- Be more aware of an instinctual way of communicating to your dog, not an intellectual one!
- Altitude is Attitude, especially for insecure dogs, so be aware of positioning on couch & bed, and even in your arms!
- Dogs will yawn, shake, stretch, scratch and even lick their lips when stressed.
- One of the leading contributors to unwanted behavior, particularly aggression, is excessive or ill-timed affection!
- If you change the way you interact with your dog, your dogs behavior will change!
- Giving affection to a dog when calm & relaxed, reinforces calm & relaxed behavior.
- 90% of Aggression is Fear-Based!
- Because dogs don’t rationalize, we have to be more consistent with the message.