Over the years I have learned that dogs are social beings who like to communicate with another one. They communicate with their eyes, ears, tails, and lips. The meanings we interpret from their body language are just as important as the words we speak.
When looking at our dogs, we literally “list” what they are “saying” to us. They are saying things like, “Are you lonely”, “Do you think I might do with you sometime”, “Are you hungry and needs some grub”? They are also making noises, some of which are quite deafening. They might be telling us “Look mom, I need a little more attention”! If we really pay attention, we will notice all these subtle interactions and of course, our dogs will too. They truly “know” what is going on with us.
Most of us pet owners are probably pet lovers and in particular dog lovers. We tend to anthropomorphize our pets and consider them as members of our family. This is reinforced by our tendency to make decreased statements about our pets’ behaviors. For instance: “My dog knows he’s a dog, so he bites whenever he feels jealous!” or “My dog whines all the time when I’m in bed!” Notice how 115 degrees feels to you? My dog may be a needy pooch, depending on her breed and social skills, that is. Or she may beESRapunzel who knows she is in fashion & wants to burn that desirable fur off. Hopefully, my daughter will let that puppy know that she is isogenic by running up to her and giving her the stinky eye! My point here is that we need to understand our dogs and our needs. We tend to priorities our relationships more than our dogs’ relationships. This is the number one cause of separation anxiety in dogs. And guess what, that’s why hundreds of thousands of dogs are being abandoned and destroyed each & every day. The easiest way to avoid separation anxiety in dogs is to understand your dog and why he does what he does. It may become your second nature, but you still need to interact with him and play with him.
There are things you can do to establish and maintain your leadership role with your dog. Here are a few suggestions:
When feeding your dog, make him a lifelong part of your dinner. If you eat by yourself, your dog sees himself as the BOSS of your establishes. He can eat anytime, but if you choose a time or a place for eating that is different from his normal feeding time, he has to wait or he will be excluded from the meal.
My dogs’ Vet includes drugs in their food to sedate pets born with necks collapsed or tails. This is to reduce the risk of them absorbing any unwanted toxins. Humans take vitamins and supplements to get rid of toxins. Dogs’ don’t!
Do you take vitamins or supplements? Most people do. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that it’s good for you, it’s bad for you. My point is you have to establish vitamins or supplements as a part of your dog’s routine. If you give your dog a supplement, let him eat a certain amount of food that includes that supplement in his diet to avoid an overdose. If you give him a regular tablet without any study, you better monitor the number of chewable he consumes every day because this may lead to poor ingestion habits that may lead to poor dentition. Okay, enough of that, let’s get to the point. Learn the needs of your dog and how to meet those needs.
In our houses, we have mice, bugs, hamsters, birds, and other critters. All living in the same household. As the saying goes: “You are what you eat.” Take care of them, pat their heads, be affectionate, but make sure they are getting the proper diet. You are what you eat, and if you don’t eat properly, you will not live the full life you deserve.
This one is so hard to hear. Your dog may not want to eat, may have physical problems that are making him not want to eat, or the vet may say your dog is too fat and it’s going to kill him. This is too hard to hear.