The dog is man's best friend, but Is man the dog's best friend? This animal has been the companion of our race, the Homo sapiens, long before we started building houses and apartment blocks, when we were still living in harmony with nature, ten thousand years ago.
They helped us hunt, protected us from potential enemies, and kept us company. What have we done? In the last decades we have abused, mutilated, abandoned, treated as if it were something without feelings. Although the situation is changing, many questions may still arise about how to treat a dog. If that is your case, I invite you to continue reading this article so that your friendship with your furry friend becomes a pure and true relationship.
Before we start, I want you to know something: I am not an ethologist or a trainer. I have no training whatsoever in those fields, except for what I have read in many books on dogs and what I have learned from trainers working using positive training. This means that all the advice I'm going to give you, everything I'm going to tell you, is based on my own experiences.
That said, let's start.
What needs does your dog have?
No, I don't mean race, not even species (Canis lupus familiaris) but to YOUR dog: that furry one you gave a name to and who lives with you. We all more or less know what dogs do: they play, walk, sleep, eat. But each individual is unique and unrepeatable. Each dog has its own tastes and its own ways of living and having fun.
There are some who really like to sleep, and not because they are bored, but because they really like to take a long nap after taking a walk; others, on the other hand, would spend all day running after their favorite ball. Why am I asking you this? Because only then can you understand your friend.
To answer you have to observe it, every day, and treat it. How? This answer is easy: treat him how you would like them to treat you. With patience, respecting his personal space, listening to him (it is true, he does not speak, but he emits sounds such as whimpering, bark or the growl that say a lot about her mood), and showing her that you're at least trying to understand her body language using your own body signs and postures.
Yes, I am going to advise you to "become a dog" to gain the trust of your dog, especially if he has been abused or has been living on the streets. It is the most effective way for the animal to feel safe. For this you just have to do the following:
- Every time you go towards it, make a more or less wide curve.
- Do not look him directly in the eye as he would feel very nervous.
- Don't make sudden movements or loud noises.
- If he is seen with great fear, that is, if his head is lowered, his tail is between his legs and he is shaking, approach him with your back to him. Then, sit near him and, without looking at him, offer him a treat. You may not feel like it very much at first, but after a while you won't be able to resist anymore.
- If he is very happy to see you and jumps, turn your back on him until he calms down.
- Let him eat and drink with ease. Don't bother him when he's sleeping either (although he might like to be petted 🙂).
- Take him out for a walk from two months of age every day. He needs to go outside to meet other dogs, cats, people, smells… It is very good for him.
- Do not use potentially harmful methods for him, never, not when you want to train him or when he does something wrong. The punishment collars, the "touches" with the foot or the hand as if they were bites, the strangulation harnesses, rubbing his nose with his urine so that he "learns" not to relieve himself on the floor, ... all these methods do not they serve for nothing more than one thing: to make the dog afraid. A dog in fear does not learn, but obeys to avoid the consequences.
How to treat a dog?
The dog is a furry that lives in family groups. Some still insist that he lives in packs, where there is an alpha dog leading the submissives. Those who believe this theory are going to tell you that you have to show your dog that you are the leader, that you are the boss of your pack. Personally, the only thing I think you have to prove is that you are the perfect human for him, and that does not happen by forcing him to do what you want or when you want.
Just as our parents are the guides of the family, who taught us to behave correctly and to live in society, you have to do the same with your dog. You don't have to be the boss, but rather that, a guide. Someone in whom he can take refuge every time he feels bad or afraid, someone with whom he can enjoy the games to the fullest, someone with whom he can share his twelve, fifteen or thirty years of life.
Of course, the responsibility of educating him falls on you y train him, But besides that, you should give him a lot of love so that you really feel at home. Also, from the first moment you decide to acquire or adopt it, you have to keep in mind that from time to time you will need veterinary help. As your caregiver, you will have to make sure that he receives the necessary care to restore your health.
Only in this way can you be happy.