About Dogs

Introduction

Dogs exist in a variety of shapes and sizes and many dog breeds have been developed as dogs have been selectively bred over the years to suit different purposes. However, essentially the dog is a hunting animal with strong predatory instincts.

Drawings and paintings throughout the years show men hunting with dogs and dogs are still used today for hunting. Dogs are highly intelligent animals, capable of learning, and this characteristic has enabled them to become a valuable part of the community acting as hearing dogs for the deaf, guide dogs for the blind, herding dogs, etc. The dogs' highly developed sense of smell, whilst useful for hunting, has also been utilised by police forces and rescue organisations who use dogs to sniff out drugs and explosives, and to locate lost or injured people.

However, although dogs have many "uses" their most common place in the human community is as a companion animal. Intelligent, eager to please, loyal, friendly, protective, playful and a need to belong to a "pack" means that the dog is a family member in many households today.



Dog Behaviour

The dog is a pack animal and is therefore sociable and enjoying company. In the wild dogs follow a complex hierarchy within the pack with a pack leader who is a strong and assertive leader. In the absence of a pack the dog views the family with which it lives as its "pack" and it is important that a family member is established as the pack leader during training and that the dog understands that it is ranked lowest within the pack in order to avoid behavioural problems.

Dogs communicate using sound and body language and listed below are the basic ways in which dogs use body language to display their mood:

1. Happy and Excited - A happy dog has its ears perked forward, a relaxed mouth and wagging tail. If excited the dog may also jump up, circle or run around. This can be accompanied by barking or mock growling.

2. Aggressive - An aggressive dog lays its ears back close to its head and narrows its eyes giving a challenging stare. The mouth may be open or drawn back exposing its teeth and the dog may snap its jaws. This is often accompanied with snarling, growling or loud barking. The body is tense and the tail held straight out from the body and the head lowered.

3. Invitation to play - When the dog bows down with their front lowered and their rear in the air with tail wagging they are inviting play.

4. Dominant - A dominant dog holds its ears upwards or forwards and stares with eyes wide open. The body is carried tall, possibly with hackles raised. The tail is held straight up or out from the body and the dog may growl or grunt from a closed mouth.

5. Submissive - A submissive dog will roll over onto its back and display its stomach. A contented dog will also display its stomach in this way when it is happy and wants its stomach rubbed.

6. Fearful or Apprehensive - A dog that is fearful or apprehensive lays its ears close to its head with narrowing eyes. The body is held low and the tail tucked between its back legs. The dog may tremble, yelp, growl or whine.