What Are You Afraid Of, Dog?

2023 Author: Molly Page | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 22:49

Often, the owners look at their dog as some kind of abstract ideal dog that descended from the pages of a work of art. They expect that from the first days of his appearance in the house he will behave like a knight without fear or reproach. Forgetting that without the instinct of self-preservation, the dog's ancestors would not have survived in the struggle for existence, people perceive its manifestations in a pet dog as a personal tragedy, are disappointed in their pet and forever lose contact with him.

Welsh Corgi Pembroke. Kennel "KISkina Zateya"

Of course, the behavior of a dog largely depends on the breed and on heredity. Descendants of other parents will certainly not engage in battle with a strong adversary in order to protect their owners or their own honor, but prefer to run away or bark at a safe distance. But even if everything is in order with heredity in a dog, for example, several generations of its ancestors successfully carried out guard duty, this is not a guarantee of future fearlessness. In many ways, it depends on the correct upbringing of the puppy, on whether the owners will be able to "push back" the dog's self-preservation instinct to the background, or it will become dominant and will determine all its actions.

Perhaps the main thing that is needed to educate fearlessness is to get rid of their own fears that the dog may grow up cowardly. While the puppy is still small, it is not worth waiting for the manifestation of fighting qualities from him.

True, in a month-old puppy, the instinct of self-preservation is still poorly developed - after all, in nature at this age, puppies are under the protection of their mother and do not leave their native burrow. When a puppy gets to new owners in a month or two, he quickly adapts and begins to behave confidently within the confines of his apartment. Many owners take this for courage. No, this is just his inexperience: for him there is still no concept of "stranger", he knows nothing about the dangers.

Only from two or three months the puppy begins to distinguish between friends and foes, to show distrust of strangers (not members of "his pack"). Since he does not yet have confidence in his abilities, fears and, accordingly, a passive-defensive reaction begin to appear, All this comes from the depths of centuries, It would be strange if puppies tried to protect their territory along with adult dogs. This, of course, was not their task, at first they had to survive in a world fraught with danger, and only then become, in their turn, the protector of the pack.

When a domestic puppy encounters an adult dog on the street, in most cases it takes a submissive posture - squats on its hind legs, presses its ears, pulls the corners of its mouth, tries to lick the adult dog's face, or even rolls over onto its back, exposing its abdomen for sniffing. Young dogs can behave in the same way when meeting with an older, "mother".

In this case, the size of the dogs plays an important but not decisive role. Much depends on the smell, facial expressions, posture. So sometimes a tall boy feels less confident than an adult, albeit short, man. True, if the difference in size is too large, the dog may not “recognize” its relative in another dog. So, for example, a Great Dane may not consider a lapdog or toy terrier for a dog; accordingly, there is no ritual when they meet.

Many owners, unfortunately, do not allow puppies to deal with relatives, fearing infection and dog conflicts. Sometimes "isolation" is caused when his pet takes a pose of submission. In vain: such behavior is natural, it does not mean that the puppy will grow up to be a coward.

Of course, you can raise a puppy without contact with relatives; however, it should be borne in mind that such dogs, as a rule, are less interesting and peculiar than those that could communicate with their brethren. This is understandable - what will happen, for example, if a person is isolated from their own kind in childhood? A dog deprived of society at the time when its psyche was forming, it seems, most likely, will not be able to get used to communicating with other dogs, it will not be able to behave correctly in the "dog society", to observe the ritual. And this can cause aggressive behavior of fellows. At the same time, she is unlikely to be able to stand up for herself, because, unlike those who grew up in society, she did not timely work out the fighting techniques in the game. After a few beating, the dog will become cowardly in front of the strong and show increased viciousness towards the weak.

There are many examples. In the same four months the owner cannot force a huge East European Shepherd dog to come to the dog's playground when other dogs are walking there, due to the fact that the first time they dared to introduce him to his relatives at eleven months. Doberman Pinscher with good service qualities, when meeting with other dogs, tries to bite on the move, and can run away with a sharp rebuff.

Sometimes puppy shyness in front of an adult dog through the fault of the owner turns into panic horror. This happens when the puppy, when another dog appears, is grabbed into his arms, and even can not resist at the same time frightened exclamations. The fear of all dogs is firmly established in the mind of the puppy. Still would! Even if the owner, “the leader of his pack,” is afraid, then what should he, small and weak, do?