Behavior

Without proper education and supervision, children (and adults, too) can—in all innocence and with the best of intentions—put a dog in a position where the dog feels like her only recourse is to bite.

Living with a dog who bites their owner, or other people for that matter, can be scary, stressful and in some cases - dangerous....

It’s something we all know: our dogs wag their tails because they’re happy. Because they’re thrilled to see us. Because they love us. But it turns out that what we “know” may not be the truth. Or it may be only part of the truth.

If your dog won’t eat, you have a small window of time to evaluate the situation, The better you know your dog, the easier it is to decide if it is something serious or just a phase.

There are quite a few behaviors that are normal and natural for dogs that just don’t work very well in the human world. Luckily, there are often training solutions for these common dog behavioral issues.

We’ve all seen human babies sucking on pacifiers, their thumbs, or even on blankets and child experts tell us that this kind of instinctive sucking calms babies and makes them feel more secure. The same is likely true for dogs who can suffer from anxiety and stress.

Have you ever thought about why your dog seems to like belly rubs so much? I know why I like to give them: the belly fur is generally the softest and silkiest, and caressing it simply feels wonderful. That begs the question though: does my dog like it just as much?

Fights amongst dogs living in the same home are common and can be a very scary experience for dog guardians and their dogs. Dog fights can vary in severity from relatively mild, consisting mostly of noise (barking and growling) and minimal, if any, injuries, through to severe, resulting in serious injuries and even death.

Back in the late 20th century, people—and even trainers—believed that this kind of dog-sitting-on-us behavior was related to the dog’s desire to assert their dominance over humans. Luckily, science has now roundly dismissed this dominance theory as, in a word, bunk.

Why do dogs wag their tails? Everybody knows that when a dog approaches you wagging her tail it means she’s inviting you to pet...

Dogs’ hearing is both more sensitive and has more range than our own. This can create complications when things that sound fine—or are even inaudible—to us come across as painfully loud or jarring to our canine companions.

If your dog won’t stop panting or settle down, she is probably either hot, stressed, or having trouble getting enough air or otherwise in distress.