Dog Psychology
Did you know.....
Smart as a Toddler
Everyone knows a dog that seems to be smarter than the human he lives with... They may not be solving complex math equations, but they’re usually not easily fooled, and they learn very quickly. Dogs are excellent problem solvers and can be manipulative and sneaky as well - just like a toddler. Research indicates that many dogs have intelligence and understanding on par with a human toddler of about two-six years old. They have the capacity to learn how to count, understand around 150 words and they can solve problems as well as devise tricks to play on people and other animals. Dogs even have a sense of humor!
Vocal Tones vs. vocabulary
While their vocabulary may never reach the complexity of even a young child, our understanding of dog psychology indicates that they can easily understand a wide range of vocal tones and in some cases actual words. Happy tones make a dog excited and playful while angry tones make dogs feel sad or frightened. Research shows there is much activity in the brain of a dog comparable to that of people who love each other, when the dog is near you. If there is fear in your voice, the dog may believe that you’re being threatened and rush to protect you. Sharp tones of pain, or tears of sadness may prompt comforting behavior from the dog. This is because we are truly connected to our furry friends.
Tail wagging is communication and more.
One of the most basic and accepted pieces of dog psychology is introduced through the tail wag. It’s widely accepted by nearly everyone from people who have never owned dogs to authorities in dog psychology that a wagging tail means that a dog is happy, but it’s a more complicated matter than you may think. I'll give you an example...a dog with aggression problems may wag then bite. It is true that when a dog is happy, they wag their tail. However, this is only true when the tail is being wagged to the right. If it’s wagging to the left, it’s indicative of fear. Low tail wags mean nervousness, and rapid tail wags mixed with tense muscles can be a sign of aggression. And then we have ear movements, eye movements and body movements that complicate communication even more.
Telepathic Communication
Call it what you will, but dogs communicate with each other in ways we have still not studied scientifically. An example is Mocha and Superman, here. They will sit outside for long periods, facing each other, not making a sound. I contend they are having a long telepathic conversation. This goes beyond sniffing each other, or body language (nodody is moving), or sound. They are master communicators, having mastered voice, body language, and apparently telepathic communication. I've had dogs come up to me and look me in the eye, and suddenly I know what they want without any other verbal or physical ques. This is something that has not been studied well, but any devoted pet owner can tell you - it happens.
Dogs Experience Jealousy and other negative emotions
This one is a no-brainer to anyone that's had more than one dog. Dogs have emotions just as people do. They obviously experience basic emotions like happiness, fear and sadness, but what about more complicated feelings such as jealousy? Studies show that dogs do show signs of experiencing jealously. Not in the exact same way as humans experience it, but they still show signs of dealing with jelousy, greed (hoarding toys), anger (usually toward other dogs) and pretty much every other emotion we experience.
Researchers put dogs side by side and gave them commands. Both dogs would perform the same given command and only one would get a treat. The one who was not given a treat showed signs of agitation, avoided contact with the rewarded dog and scratched more often. This was further attributed to jealously as these signs of agitation appeared more frequently in the experiment with pairs of dogs than in times when a dog was alone and was refused a reward.
However, what they are being rewarded with is apparently immaterial. They only care that they get rewarded, not what the reward is. What this basically means is, that you can give your fat dog a tiny treat to keep him on his diet and he won't be mad at you!
No Guilt in a Dog’s Eyes
Everyone thinks they see guilt in the dog's eyes when they do wrong, but that is not always the case. It’s easy to believe that this is the dog expressing remorse for their actions, but that’s not technically true. When a dog sees the look of disapproval on their owner’s face or hears anger and disappointment in their voice, they react negatively with expressions of sadness. It’s also possible that they realize there will be negative consequences for their actions and become sad because of it. It’s more of a situation in regretting getting caught and not that they feel guilty for doing the bad act.
Interestingly, dogs react the same way no matter if they performed the act or not. While it’s unlikely that one dog could actively frame another dog for a misdeed, there are the circumstances of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Merely seeing or hearing the negativity from their owners or anticipating punishment is enough to bring on that sad puppy dog face - even if they didn't do the deed.
Dogs Learn from Canine Mentors
This is very true. Being a dog breeder I've seen generations of dogs do the same things. I've also seen behaviors that die out after a couple of generations. An example is our dog Penny was attacked at a young age by a black rottie. For years afterward, her children and grandchildren harbored an unexplainable (if you didn't know the reason) hatred for black dogs. Personally, I think she told them the story! Many people turn to dog psychology books and guides to help them in training their dogs. However, the presence of a trained older dog may be the easiest way to teach them how to behave and react to commands. Puppies commonly model their behavior from older dogs in their household. If the older dog is trained well and behaves, the puppy can adopt the behavior of the dog quite quickly. Whereas, people that get siblings from the same litter are often in for a rough road. They will learn from each other and tune out the human - getting into much more trouble than they would have.
No Need for Revenge
There are several times in a dog owner’s life where they could swear that their dogs are behaving badly as a way to get revenge for something. But I don't think it's revenge, but resentment, anger or jelousy. For example, a dog making a mess on the carpet while its owners are gone or chewing up a pillow because its owners didn’t want to play outside could easily be viewed as vengeful acts. However, these behaviors can easily be explained through other more likely reasons.
For example, the first dog could have gone to the bathroom on the carpet because it was stressed out from being home alone all day or having a drastic change in routine. The second dog could have been frustrated due to pent up energy from not being played with and released the energy through tearing something up.
Dogs are capable of premeditation, but their underlying personality does not accept revenge...it's more like they are teaching YOU a lesson and want your attention to the problem. Dogs may act in retaliation when they’re attacked, but they just do not plan out and perform acts of vengeance for vengeance's sake. It' more because they are upset with the lack of attention, or want you to notice they are upset. The bad acts should be addressed with stress management and extra play time, not punishment.
Love and Discipline
You may love your dog to pieces, and give him all the affection he can handle. However, studies in dog psychology state that this alone is not good enough to raise an emotionally and mentally healthy dog. Dogs need a healthy balance of affection, attention and discipline in order to feel secure, safe, happy and like a true part of the family. Some dogs even need a job (working breeds). Working breeds have been bred to be useful - so they are not truly happy until they have something to look forward to every day preforming what they deem a useful service. They need to be needed. Like a child, they need guidance and structure to their lives.
Dogs Can Dream
Of course dogs dream, you've probably seen your dog twitching, moving their paws, gently barking or crying and huffing in their sleep. I know when mine do because they "run" so hard, it's put gouges in the walls from their nails! Several studies in dog psychology now say with certainty that our canine friends do actually experience dreams. Dogs share similar sleep patterns as humans, and their brain activity while sleeping also resembles that of a human brain when asleep. Due to such similarities, it’s strongly believed that dogs actually dream in the same way we do. Researchers also believe that the most common dreams are happy and involve activities such as playing, chasing an animal or simply running around. Studies also show that smaller breeds tend to dream more frequently than bigger breeds, and that recent events such as playing, seeing an old friend or going someplace new can prompt dreams when the dog goes to sleep.
They Understand the Power of Barking (and other vocalizations)
In much the same wat a baby understands that a cry draws the attention from its parents, a dog also understands that a bark elicits a reaction from its owners. In addition, like an older child who gets rewarded after tantrums to get them to stop making noise, dogs also tend to become stuck in their ways and behaviors if this is consistently reinforced. Owners who tend to give into their dog’s barking, such as in instances where an owner will take a dog barking outside thinking they need to potty, commonly experience difficulty in controlling their dog’s barking.
Some breeds do more vocalizations than just barking. They howl, they whine, they whimper, they growl, they even talk (or at least think they are). Every one of these noises is expected to elicit a response from you, and usually does.
