Dog Facts
Here are some dog facts you owners may not know. Please comment to me if you have any questions.
Fact: The actions and appearance of your dog are the only way he can communicate what he is feeling.
Key to reading the signs is understanding what is normal for your dog, and when change signifies a message.
Often times we don't know what is being communicated, and too often interpret canine messages according to our own, very different, language. Remember dogs are dogs and have a very different way of relating.
Although each dog has its own personality, all dogs share traits and behaviors. An understanding of their motivations, characteristics, and behavior will change your relationship, and therefore a deeper bond will happen.
Fact: The terms mixed breed and crossbreed are often interchangeable, but their meanings are different.
Both are dogs whose parents are from different breeds, but crossbreed refers to intentional crossing of purebred dog breeds. Rarely does the breeding of mixed-breeds happen intentionally.
In the end it comes down to the care, socialization, and training a dog gets that determines his temperament.
Environment plays a major role in a dogs future behavior. Many breeds retain the strong drives and instincts, hunting and herding, for example. That is why your strong leadership is needed at all times.
Fact: Dogs aren't color blind but they are underwhelmed by color; colors appear more muted and are not easily discernible as they are to us.
Dogs may have an easier time spotting a blue toy in the grass, rather than a green or orange toy, since they don't recognize as many colors as we do and find some colors easier to detect than others. They also don't see stationary objects as clearly, which is why you may have an easier time finding your dogs tennis ball in the grass than he does. They make up for their sensory shortcomings with a powerful sense of smell. If they are looking for something in the garden their powerful nose will sniff it out, regardless of color or movement.
Fact: Dogs interpret the world predominantly by smell, whereas humans use sight and sound.
Your dog's sense of smell is the most perfected of her senses and research indicates she may have used it prenatally. He uses it to explore and define his environment. He can even tell time with it: strong scents indicate newness while weaker scents signal age. He gathers a lot of information about you through his nose as well, such as where you've been and how you are feeling emotionally.Scent is not just pleasant or unpleasant to a dog; it tells a story. It lets a dog know when a stranger has been sitting on his favorite chair, or the sex of a dog that peed against the traffic lights or a fire hydrant. Dogs can learn to sniff out cancer!! Now that is truly incredible.
The development of Senses
Taste, touch, and smell are the first of the senses to develop in a newborn puppy. By the third week, a pup's eyes and ears open so he can communicate with his siblings. By the fifth week, the puppy's senses are generally fully developed and he is able to explore his environment by examining and sniffing everything.
At birth: taste, smell, touch. Sound: two to four weeks of age. Sight: well developed at four to five weeks of age, although eyes open earlier.
Treat your dog for good behavior at all times.
