I have been reading so much about dogs lately and it is really interesting to me! I have to first say I credit most of my knowledge to the dog whisperer, Cesar Millan. He is freaking awesome. Anyways, today's blog post is going to focus on facts that will help you with your dog(s), things you should think about when it comes to caring for your dog(s), etc. Basically things I had no clue about that have been so helpful for me in understanding these animals. I have had a new dog for 1 week now and I know I will go through so much more as time passes - so prob. more blog posts coming.
OK my first thing I have learned and Cesar goes on and on about this one. As humans, one of the biggest mistakes we make with our dogs.... we try to humanize them! THIS IS SO TRUE!!!!!!! I am guilty of it and have to remind myself daily, Maverick (my new dog) is a dog, not a human. They think differently than me - plain and simple. This isn't true in all cases, but most often it is. So, you may be confused??? Here are some examples:
- The other day I came home and Mav had an accident in his crate. She was laying right next to her poop. I was devastated. I thought, OMG - this poor puppy, I am terrible, how long has she been laying there and on and on. Then Keeton reminded me, she is a dog! OBVIOUSLY, she doesn't care too much. Now, I am not saying let poop stack up everywhere and they don't care - come on people - use your common sense. But it didn't kill her, like it did me!
- We are crate training Mav. She is already beginning to go in it on her own. Would we as humans ever want to live in a crate? Uh... no.... that would be jail to us, I guess! You don't want to use their crate as punishment, you want them to like it and feel like it is their safe haven. For humans, this would never work.
The first sense a dog will use is their smell, again very different from humans. They smell everything! Other dog's butts, your crotch, everything! This is how they learn their surroundings. This is normal, let them do it!
Dogs do not learn to NOT (yes, I know - double negative) pee or poop in the house by you rubbing their nose in it or spanking them. They learn by you praising them when they do it in the right place. For Mav - outside. If you catch them doing their business inside, remove them immediately and let them finish outside and still praise them. Praise for us, includes a treat.
You should never scream and yell at your dog - this shows "their pack leader" is unstable and they will not listen. If anything, they get scared and shut down and you think they are listening. In turn, they are not learning anything. This is the same for parenting in my opinion (and no, I'm not a parent and am not saying I will never yell at my kids, I am sure I will from time to time) - but it can reflect you are unstable and if anything just scares them, in turn not really teaching a lesson. I can promise you I will think about this when I do become a parent and work real hard at it. Cesar says the pack leader should be calm and assertive - the perfect mix. You also have to make sure your dog is calm and submissive when you are trying to teach them something, that way you know they are taking it in and learning from it. Again, same with kids in my opinion. I don't know how many times I see parents yelling and screaming at their kids and/or dog(s) and the kids and/or dogs are so upset or totally tuned out - really, you think that works??? NO! In this case, I guess dogs are like humans.
How you react, directly affects how your dog is going to react. This relates to young children too. Perfect example - the 1st full day I had Mav, I took her to the vet for a puppy wellness exam. I was worried inside that something would be wrong - just paranoid. Even though I tried not to show it, I know she could sense it. She was terrified the whole time at the vet and for no reason other than the energy I was putting off. Keeton took her back a couple days later and he said she was fine, why? B/c Keeton wasn't worried about anything, like me! An example Cesar gave was - if something painful happens to your dog (they fall, slam into something, etc.) - do not freak out, this could really scare your dog and you could have trouble with these situations in the future. Mav was scared of the vacuum cleaner the other day, so you know what I did? Held her while I vacuumed and then left it in the middle of the living room turned off, so she would get used to it. The water is going to be the same battle with us. Our dog will like the water, eventually!!!!
So how do dogs communicate? Obviously, they can't speak! BY ENERGY! Something else really cool I have learned about. The energy you portray is going to directly communicate things to your dog. Happy energy, sad energy, proud energy, upset energy, angry energy and on and on. Dogs that are trained to fight are obviously very mad and upset - think about their owners - same thing! That is why these dogs can be changed with diff. environments and owners.
Socialize your dog - well if you want them to be social. This is something very important to us b/c we are social butterflies! We take our dog with us everywhere we can and when people are over we want Mav to be right in the middle of us interacting with our company. That way she learns its ok to be around people and to be sweet, kind and gentle to them as well. And how to act in general around people.
Be consistent! OMG! I COULD GO ON AND ON AND ON AND ON ABOUT THIS ONE! Yesterday, I told Keeton I bet Mav thinks her name is "down." We prob. told her "down" 300 times. She is learning it, but I think her attention span is so short right now it takes time and time again to go over with her. This is something that relates to humans as well. Your child, your dog(s) or my dog will never learn if you are not consistent with their lives. You are their "pack leader" and they depend on you for that. Everything from punishment, to when and where they pee and poop needs to be consistent. It has been 1 week and we have our 11 week old puppy on a schedule, OUR schedule. She eats at the same time, she poops about the same time, and eventually we will have potty trained completly b/c I have yet to tie down her "pee times" - it's like every hour right now. I am proud of that and it makes it WAY easier for us too!
OK....well I guess that is enough about dogs! I really have taken owning a dog very serious and I wish that everyone that owned a dog did the same. We love our little Maverick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great website to check out -
http://www.cesarsway.com/
