If you have a dog and you understand basic dog psychology, it can be a huge benefit for you. When we understand their psyche, we can help them to live happy life. Like people, dogs have their own personalities, and they love to express their needs in different ways. The best way to understand dogs is to spend time with them. It will help you to strengthen your bonding with your dog. So, read this article till the end to understand basic dog psychology.
10 Basic Dog Psychology Facts Everyone Should Know
Based on the current studies, you can now understand how dogs brain work and how they use their body to express their needs. Let’s explore some interesting facts:
1. Barking
It’s a natural behavior, and you can’t do much about it. More importantly, you can’t stop it because there can be lots of reasons for barking—some dogs bark to signal that something is going to happen.
2. Dogs Response to Cues
Studies show that dogs respond to verbal and non-verbal cues like a two years old human. Moreover, some dogs can even understand sign language, but for this, they need training.
3. Positive Emotions
When the MRI of a dog’s brain was done, it shows that dogs have positive emotions similar to a human child.
4. Dogs Pick Up the Walker Emotions
When dogs walked by a male, they tend to be more aggressive and like biting. This is because of their ability to pick up on a walker’s emotion.
5. Preferences
Male dogs love playing with female dogs. In contrast, female dogs don’t have the same feelings. They feel comfortable with both sexes and don’t prefer a single one.
6. Behavior Improvement
It has been observed that when you take your dog on a walk regularly, it improves their overall behavior. More importantly, by doing so, you’ll also enjoy good health.
7. Tail Wagging
Dogs wag their tail either left or right. These movements have different meanings. Different people have interpreted it differently.
8. Training
Dogs tend to follow each other, so if you already have a dog at home and bring a new one, it will be easy to train that new dog.
9. Human Emotions
Dogs have the ability to understand their owner’s emotions. When the owner interacts with objects, dogs are likely to do the same.
10. Same Feelings
Studies have shown that a dog’s brain reacts to sounds of joy and pain in a similar way as humans do. It means dogs can understand the meaning behind words.
Dog Training Psychology Tips
When you understand the dog psyche, it helps you during training.
Cues are better than verbal commands
Many dog owners make the mistake of using long sentences as verbal commands. As a result, dogs fail to understand a bunch of words together. In contrast, dogs love and quickly respond to visual cues. So, try to mix them with verbal commands to get quick results.
Your body language should be confident. When you’re confident, your dog would love to follow you instead of taking charge. Positive body language will help your dog to accept you as a guiding source.
Use their natural instincts to your advantage
Both animals and humans can control their instincts through experience and training. Dogs love to show their natural instincts either by peeing at different places or tearing at shoes. When you understand the reason behind these instincts, it will help you know your dog better. More importantly, you’ll be able to make changes in your training methods.
Avoid rewarding too often
Many dog owners make this mistake. By doing so, dogs get used to treats and more often than not, they refuse to learn commands until they don’t get a reward. So, the best way is to reward your pup when they do something exceptionally well and perform well when you teach a new activity.
Positive enforcement is the best way to train your dog, but it doesn’t mean that you need to give treats every time. We reward dogs to encourage behavior we want to see. You can use praise as a reward. Moreover, if you want your dog to get rid of bad behavior, the correction should be the way instead of punishment.
So, after following these tips, you will see a difference in training your dog. It will help both of you to develop an excellent learning environment.
Final Words
If you want to strengthen your bonding with a dog, you need to understand basic dog psychology. It will help you mold yourself according to your dog. Moreover, dogs express their needs in different ways. We have covered the most critical points that can help you understand your dog’s psychology.