Have you seen Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan at NatGeo Well I love it and have somehow made me realise the importance of dog psychology. Dog psychology is interesting and it is essential that more people recognise the fundamentals in order to achieve a healthier bond with their pets. Owners should be aware of how dog's psychology work as it will help them in communicating with their pets and avoid future problems and know how to deal with it. There are many things owners do that they thought is right but they did not know that what they are doing is wrong. Here are some basic tips that can help you understand more about dog psychology.

Understanding your pet is not human
Always remember that dogs will not act or think like humans. They behave very differently and so we must treat them the right way for them to get the right message.

Understanding how dogs live in the Now
Dogs only live in the present not thinking about their past or future. This is a common problem with rescue dogs and new owners will feel sorry and show sympathy when they hear stories about the past of their new pet. Owners also show the same emotions when their pet dog is ill or had an accident. Such situations may lead to all kinds of negative behavioural crisis.

Understanding that dogs are pack animals
Dogs are direct descendants of wolves and wolves are pack animals. Even though they live with us humans, they still possess the pack mentality and dogs still consider us humans as part of the pack hierarchy. We as owner must show that we are the Alpha dog, the leader of the pack. If a pet owner lets his dog be the leader of the pack, then it could cause quite a number of problems.

Understanding dogs needs a leader not your sympathy
Owner sometimes are the creators of the problems by the way we treat their dogs. Remember that you are the Alpha dog, the leader of the pack and your dog don't need sympathy but your leadership. A good example of situations wherein owners create more problems is when a dog is startled by a loud sound. Usually in the wild the pack leader will ignore the sound and so are the other dogs, but the initial reaction of a dog owner is to show sympathy. This creates a wrong signal as it only reinforces a dog's fear on the sound.

Understanding dog senses
In Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan explains the importance of the senses and his method. Dog owners should understand how these senses work in a different way from us humans. A dog's senses work in these order. Nose, eyes, ears. Dogs uses their sense of smell all trough out their lives. At birth, puppies use their sense of smell to familiarise the scent of their mother's saliva to lead them to her mammary glands. Dogs also communicate through their nose as they smell other dogs scent. Understanding the order of how a dog's senses work is important in communicating with them in the right way.