How well can you Read your Dog?
We never get tired of talking ‘dog body language,’ with our customers as well as our colleagues. There is nothing we love more than exploring the canine world and to help others deepen their knowledge about dogs. There is always more to know. Through discussion, education and sharing knowledge everyone can benefit.
With study, we can not only be better dog owners but true companions for our dogs just as they are for us. Everyone can learn to speak ‘canine as a second language’. Never before has there been more information at our disposal. Books, videos and trainers can be found at the click of a mouse.
Unwanted behaviours are such a common reason dogs are surrendered to shelters. But understanding good behaviours and being able to get them again and again means there is less room for undesirable behaviors. And even if you have a well-behaved dog you can still benefit so much from understanding them better. One thing we do like to remind folks is that dogs can relate to instructions of ‘Do’ a lot better than instructions of ‘Don’t’. By educating ourselves we can not only give our dogs a better life, but we can help set our entire family up to get more enjoyment with, and from our dogs.
There are a number of books we like to recommend and though we won’t name them all here, feel free to contact us and ask. We might cover some of them in future blogs. One of our recommended reads is ‘Decoding your Dog’ from the ‘American College of Veterinary Behaviourists’. The science is described in layman’s terms and you’ll find a wealth of knowledge in this book, step by step guides about behavior as well as some myth-busting.
For an introduction to Barbara Sherman defining a few subtleties and describing how to begin recognizing ‘what your dog is trying to tell you’, find her presenting a TEDx talk on the link below…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDDZ17DImoo
Leah & Angela OMeara
Hound Dog Day Care (Specialists in Dog Minding & Dog Boarding, Pet Sitting Brisbane & Doggy Day Care Brisbane