Why Do Dogs Pant?

Dogs pant for two reasons: to expel heat--it’s how they perspire-- and to relax. One reason why dogs pant is that they get rid of a lot of stress when they pant. In fact, if you are with a dog who is tense, an old-time trick we’ve been using for a hundred years is to just start running that critter down the street and within a half a block, almost every dog in the world will start panting because they build up internal heat real quick.

They’ll start panting to get rid of that heat and the baby goes out with the bath water—along with all the heat goes a lot of the stress and uptightedness. So you manage to get rid of a lot of stress in the dog by taking advantage of a mandatory physiological response in the dog. So dogs need to pant to get rid of heat and at the same time they are releasing stress.

Keep this in mind if you ever consider putting a muzzle on your dog--your dog can't pant and cool himself if he has a muzzle on.

by Dr. Dennis Fetko, "Dr. Dog"
http://www.DrDogsBehaviorSolutions.com

What About That Wagging Tail?

So a dog’s wagging tail means he’s feeling friendly--wrong! One of my favorite statements I hear is: “Don’t ever worry about a dog whose tail is wagging because they’re all friendly, right?” Well, a dog can be wagging like crazy in the back and ripping your spleen out up front.

A wagging dog tail means excitement, not friendship. Now granted, 95% of the time you see a dog wagging his tail, the dog will mean, “Oooh, a friend!” But the dog's wagging tail could also mean, “Lance, look at this banquet”. Wagging dog tails mean excitement. Now they can go up or straight out or down or whatever depending on the degree of aggression and dominance, etc. The important thing is that just because you see movement in the back doesn’t mean everything is ok up front.

Other things you can read from dogs’ tails:
· Wagging tail slowly in horizontal direction shows caution
· A stationary tail indicates relaxation
· A low, tucked tail shows fear or submission.

So, "reading" your dog's wagging tail is a great window into what he is feeling!

by Dr. Dennis Fetko, "Dr. Dog"
http://www.drdogsbehaviorsolutions.com/

Do Dogs Have Emotions?

Dogs have a highly evolved social system that includes sharing, bonding, pecking order, affection, protection and more. Dogs have a wide emotional range. Dogs feel emotions such as fear, anger, stress, security and attachment much as we do. Far from being just animated toys, dogs are complex social animals with behaviors uniquely their own.

Human beings are prone to two kinds of emotion. One could be called “pure” emotion and the other “impure”. A pure emotion is something you feel with no thought process--you don’t have to think about it. If somebody angers or insults you, you don’t have to decide to get angry. And you certainly don’t decide to fall in love or decide to feel sorrow at the death of a loved one.

Impure emotions such as self-pity, guilt or remorse do require a thought process. If you don’t stop and think about those things, they won’t occur. Dogs have our identical emotional makeup in the realm of pure emotion. However, they don’t think about them so they don’t feel guilt about the past or worry about the future, for example. Dog's emotions are purely in the here and now.

In interacting with dogs, remember that dogs feed on emotion. Dogs' emotions are very sensitive to your emotional projections.

by Dr. Dennis Fetko, Ph.D., "Dr. Dog"
http://www.DrDogsBehaviorSolutions.com