Dog Behavior
What Are They Thinking?

"Understanding dog behavior is understanding how dogs think.
The thinking that dogs do well, I call basic addition. You know 1+1=2."

Dog behavior may be difficult for us humans to understand, but once you know things such as how they think and how they learn, you may be well on your way to seeing your dog's point of view.

Once you realize what in the world your dog is thinking about, you will be one step closer to being able to train your dog with ease.

So, what do dogs know? There are things that dogs cannot understand, yet, there are other things that they are very good at. Take for instance the word sit. If you invite me over to your house and ask me to relax, take a load off, rest a moment or put up my feet, I know that all of these means to sit.

It also wouldn't matter as to where we are either, the garage, front steps, patio, or out in your backyard.

Now, if you trained your dog to "Sit" and you only practiced in your house, don't be surprised if she doesn't understand the command outside in the garage, or at the dog park.

With the change in the surroundings and/ or circumstances, it is a totally different situation for her. Your dog will not recognize the command because that command only applied to where she was taught.

Not all is lost, dogs are very specific, and have the ability to understand the word sit and apply it to different circumstances. Understanding this part of dog behavior only tells you that you must train your dog different commands in different places.

This sometimes holds true for the person that is teaching or training your dog. Example: Your son has finally trained your dog the command "come here" and is now excited to show off how smart the dog is.

Your son says, "Okay mom, ask her to come here". She gives the command, but your dog doesn't seem like she understands the command. What's up with that?

In your dog's mind, being so specific in her thinking, cannot understand the command because it didn't come from the right source, in this case, your son.

Again, the good news is that we can easily show dogs that their commands work in all situations by practicing with different people (that you want your dog to listen to), and practicing in different locations.

Understanding dog behavior is understanding how dogs think. The thinking that dogs do well, I call basic addition. You know 1+1=2.

My dog knows the minute I grab the fishing poles that it is time to go to one of her favorite places. Or when I pick up the car keys, she knows that I'm leaving and her ears perk up wondering if she is allowed to tag along.

I never taught her that the fishing poles meant a day at the pier, or that the car keys meant a ride somewhere, she just put one and one together and she knew what came next.

Understanding how your dog thinks can make dog training fun and easier. Our brain and a dog's brain is very different, so one should not expect a dog to comprehend things the way that we do.

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