Article One
Introduction
This is a new regular column
which will deal with a wide variety of dog related
themes. It is my intention to pass on some of the
"Tips of the Trade" I have learnt over the
years as a professional Dog Trainer as well as cover
topical subjects regarding ownership and the dog world
in general. I very much hope to receive some feed
back and questions from the dog owning readers out
there.
If you do have a particular
problem wether it is training, behavior or just a
general question drop me a line, if I cannot answer
the question I know a man that can.
First then I wish to briefly
point out how dogs fit into our lives, although this
seems a bit obvious it does reflect in the way we
should interact with the dog to produce a happy family
member rather than a out of control delinquent. A
dog is a domesticated carnivorous mammal (Canis familiaris)
related to the foxes and wolves and raised in a wide
variety of breeds. All dogs are still wild animals
at heart and unless conditioned into a human environment
will revert to some of the wild ancestor behavior,
this can be anything from protecting its food to challenging
human authority, I know that there are some dogs out
there that have regressive behavior problems of one
sort or another.
As pack animals the dog
must fit into a hierarchy, preferably the pet dog
should be at the bottom of the family pack. Alpha
Leader is the pack head this is usually the male adult
of the family, but before I get letters of complaint,
is not always so. Next will be the other adult member
then the children following down the hierarchy tree
and the dogs at the bottom. Problems occur when the
dog considers its self higher in the hierarchy tree
than a human member, this can be simple disobedience
to dangerous aggressive behavior.
In next weeks column I
shall point out the type of actions that can lead
a dog to believe it has a higher place in the family
and some of the common problems this leads to.
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This article
was written by Paul C Bunker, a professional dog trainer.
You can visit his website at www.Southwestk9services.com for more articles and
dog training resources. You may freely distribute
this article or save to any electronic media as long
as it is left intact, including this copyright box.
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