"Other Nations"

Walking towards your dog, taking a curved route rather than a straight approach, is a nice thing you can do for him or her in your everyday life together.  Why would we do that? Dogs have a preference for non-direct approaches. Going straight up to another dog (i.e. direct route, body orientated straight-on, face to face) is generally not the way dogs go about things. Dogs who possess competent canine social skills, when going about their business, will communicate lack of intent towards those around them through the use of the direction they walk, the way they orientate their bodies relative to others, lack of direct eye contact etc. In addition, should socially competent dogs want to engage in a greeting, it will be a reciprocal arrangement involving curved/indirect approaches. If a dog is being aggressive or a dog wants to intimidate another dog that's when they are likely to use a direct approach. Alternatively, a dog may be over-excited and not have the social skills to put c...

One of the most important things in the world to dogs is sniffing!  Dogs explore the world through their sense of smell. It is their primary sense. As humans, we have no real concept of the extent to which dogs live in a world of scent. Sniffing the environment: the ground, the grass, a park bin etc. gives a dog so much interesting information about the other dogs and other creatures that have passed that way. They can tell from the chemical communication left by other dogs in their urine, information such as the age and health of those dogs. Why is all this important to those of us who live with dogs and are responsible for their care? It is because when we know these priorities of our dogs, we can best ensure their well-being by fulfilling these canine needs.   Dogs need to sniff!  As well as being fulfilling, processing scents is mentally tiring too so this can help with the calmness of your dog when they return home after a walk. It is a good sign if your dog i...