You must have a yard for your dog. Absolutely not true! Dogs
are pack animals, so they ultimately will want to be with you.
Ninety-nine percent of the time that a dog’s in the yard,
he’s hanging out at the back door waiting to come back
inside with you. And you’ll notice that even inside a
ten thousand square foot house, the dog will tend to be right
by your feet.
He’s simply not going to exercise himself alone in the
yard as if he’s at the gym or on a treadmill. You need
to exercise him — on walks, on hikes, at the beach or
at the dog park. And doing so will only help to make your dog
(and you!) healthier and make your relationship better — with
or without a yard.
Tug-of-war is a game to be avoided. The biggest misconception
people have about playing games with their dog is that tug-of-war
will make their dog aggressive. On the contrary, playing tug-of-war,
as long as you have rules and boundaries, gives the wolf side
of your dog a proper outlet. Think about it — football
without rules would just be mean and nasty!
This game represents the final stage of the hunt. Once wolves
in nature catch their prey, the member of the pack who ends
up with the prized food is then established as the leader.
Playing tug-of-war with your dog (with rules and boundaries)
is — as long as you end up with the toy — a really
fun way to establish yourself as the leader in the family.
Never disturb a dog when he’s eating. One of the highest
incidence rates of dog bites is when a dog’s food is
disturbed. So it sounds like it makes sense to not disturb
your dog when he’s eating. But what it actually means
is that you haven’t done your work because your dog sees
you and/or your kids as a threat rather than the best thing
that’s ever happened to him.
Every dog should learn not to simply tolerate being disturbed
when eating, but to look forward to it because he’s going
to get a surprise yummy treat. To do this, each time you feed
your dog, disturb his bowl or food in some way — starting
from above and working your way down to actually sticking your
hand in his bowl. That way, when someone inadvertently knocks
his bowl over or a child reaches for his food, he won’t
respond as though his meal is being threatened.
A wagging tail means a dog is friendly. Wrong! Not all tail
wagging is a friendly wag. There are three heights for a tail
wag: in between the leg (low), in the middle and very high
on top. Generally speaking, if the tail is about 90 degrees
high, with small wags — avoid the dog, as this is a dominant,
threatening position. And if the tail is very low between the
legs, this is a fearful, defensive position and the dog should
be avoided. If the dog’s tail is in the middle wagging
very loosely, with a “smile” on his face, that’s
an inviting dog.
Dogs communicate with each other through complex body language.
A tail wag is only one of the signs to look for when meeting
a dog. There is also ear position, hackles, head position,
eyes, expression, etc. Since it’s not always easy to
tell, be sure to ask the owner if their dog is friendly before
approaching any dog!
Labradors are the best breed for kids and German Shepherds,
Dobermans and Rottweilers are the worst. I believe that making
generalized, blanket, breed-specific statements about any dog
can be dangerous and also promotes stereotypes. Just as with
people, there are good and bad dogs of every breed. There are
wonderful Shepherds, Dobermans and Rottweilers that are great
with kids, just as there are Labradors that are not. And when
it comes to Labs, one thing that people don’t think about
is the fact that their tail can be eye level with their kids — so
a happy dog results in an unhappy child because he’s
being smacked in the face with a wagging tail!
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