It’s A Dog’s Life—

Learn About Dogs

 By Mary Jane Anderson

From observation of dogs, we learn that the leader of the pack intuitively guides and cares for the needs of the pack for survival. The first leader for a puppy is his mother who begins his introduction into the world of dogs and people. However, at six, seven or eight weeks old, the environment changes for the puppy. The puppy, as an animal, has been secure knowing its position in life. Now the environment shifts to a home with humans. The social structure changes for the puppy, but even though his mother is not with him, he looks for a leader to show him directions.

In his new home, the puppy quickly adapts, learning he is free to do as he pleases. He is small, cute, and lovable so he is pampered; he is picked up and loved, he sits on his owner’s lap, sleeps on the sofa, or in bed with the owner at night. The puppy plays with the children, and the family assumes that they should “train” him to be a watch dog. So they have a lot of “tug-of-war” games with the family’s possessions and the children even growl at the dog to get a response. They wrestle with the dog and use fast movements with their hands around the dog’s mouth and face.

As the puppy grows, their “games” become more intense with the pup growing larger, and wilder. Now, the “games” were no longer fun. The puppy regularly snapped, nipped, and tore the children’s clothing as well as breaking the skin.

By six months to a year, a small, cute lovable puppy has grown up and is completely out of control. The family is concerned, even feeling intimidated by the dog. The puppy has assumed the position of “Alpha Dog” in the house. What has happened is a tragic situation in many homes today. These innate characteristics surfacing in our dogs lets us know that our dog is an animal.

When the small puppy played with the children, the puppy played as he played with the other puppies in the litter. The puppies in the litter play with their teeth and body. They growled at each other to establish dominance or submission in the litter, the same as their ancestors. Humans, however, are playing with the puppy on human grounds, but the puppy does not understand.

A puppy must be taught acceptable behavior at an early age when he lives with humans. Playtime is not using their teeth as they did with their litter mates. Tug-of-war games are taboo, otherwise, you challenge your dog to compete with you for leadership — the alpha dog position.

Fast movements and running of children bring out the innate qualities to “chase the prey.” This is one of the reasons children are usually the victim of a dog bite.

Man developed dogs to be his helper as herding, guarding, or protection a long time ago. Today, most dogs are pets in the home with the family. The behavioral problems dog owners face with their dogs stem back from the original use of dogs and because of that, the dogs still have their working papers — for specific tasks such as protection, herding, and guarding.

Because of this, we must understand our dog’s innate characteristic as an animal and teach them their new position in the home. They should encourage acceptable qualities and downplay unacceptable qualities. Only then can we return our dogs to our “human hearths” as happy companions.