The home of Dr Platzhund
It has often been found humorous, yet disconcerting, by people in-the-know watching a dog take its owner for a walk. It is also found to be humorous by ignorant pet owners when they see dogs lunging and dragging their owner at great speed across the pavement or park. It is often commented as to who …
From the experiences and perspectives of reputable canine obedience instructors, animal behaviourists and veterinary ethologists one of the most difficult messages to communicate to dog owners as a basic rule of human-canine interaction is to do nothing! The inherent inability for people to learn to do nothing is a clear indication that most humans do …
Often a situation arises where a dog owning family or single pet person decides to introduce a friend for companionship. Reasons may include the readiness of the person in charge to acquire a second responsibility; sometimes a child reaches an age when he/she wants a companion animal of their own; when some people are more …
Introducing a second dog to a single dog household Read More »
Any dog that jumps up at people is regarded as having bad manners, is a downright irritation and has never been recognized by its owner as a public nuisance. In most cases the individual dog has the inherent propensity to jump which is then reinforced by the human attention, whether it is encouragement or rejection, …
Bite inhibition is a very modern term, used initially in veterinary behaviour circles, for a learnt or inherent ability in a pup to bite an opponent without inflicting damage. The opponent may be another animal or a human. It is natural, normal and necessary for dogs to bite, even from the time their teeth erupt. …
It will always remain a sensitive personal and social issue when dogs are found loitering around, begging or eating at the breakfast, lunch or dinner table. As recent as five decades ago it was almost unheard of to encounter animals in the house unless it was a caged bird, reptile or a fish in a …
Over the past three decades there has been an emergence of a wide variety of animal behaviour and animal-related charlatans. There used to be a national roving dog psychologist who diagnosed every behaviour disorder of dogs to be attributed to hunger. If a dog chased motor cars it was hungry. If a dog bit children …
There is one characteristic that prevails with canine aggression and that is people lack the knowledge and ability to communicate effectively with dogs. The constant miscommunication is unfortunate considering that man has lived alongside their canine companions for more than twelve thousand years. Although humans are regarded having superior intellect, this concept falls completely by …
What Dog Owners Do to Make Their Pets Aggressive Read More »
People often complain to their veterinarian, pet-groom, kennel owner, dog trainer or personal friend that they cannot understand why their pet will not respond to their call by using a command or the name. Come when it is called. Often a pet dog becomes desensitized to its name due to over-usage without effective responses. The …
Owning more than one dog is regarded as pack ownership. More than one dog in the pack automatically creates an instinctive hierarchy system where rules of leadership come in to play. Dominance may be exhibited in the forms of territoriality, resources, food, socialization and “top dog” status. These categories may be all controlled by one …