Dynamic Dogs – What I Didn’t Know

If you’ve always been a dog person, you probably feel like you’re completely in tune with dogs and you’ve easily connected with them. If, like me, you were a bit more slow to warm up to the world of pets, you might be discovering things about your pet that you didn’t realize before immersing yourself into pet care.  Here are five things I didn’t know about dogs before getting one:

1. Dogs Offer Emotional Support

A dog can be in tune with the emotional climate of a room and can offer their people support when it’s needed.  Our pup seems to know which person in the family needs a little extra attention when he or she has had a bad day, and she goes running to whomever needs her when they’re visibly or audibly upset about something. Healthcare professionals understand the value of pets for emotional support – they can recommend a companion animal that is registered as an Emotional Support Dog (ESD), and the animals can help people manage mental health issues or emotional challenges, including anxiety, depression, or panic attacks.

2. Dogs are Extremely Expressive

My understanding of dogs before getting one was that they either bark, or they don’t.  In my mind, barking expressed displeasure, while there were no clear signs if/when they were happy, because they were just silent.  Now I know that a dog can uses its ears, tail, or even face to express how it’s feeling.  For example, a question-mark tail means it’s curious, ears pricked up and forward means its alert and interested, yawing or panting may mean that it’s stressed or confused. Our dog is SO expressive that it’s hard to believe anyone wouldn’t be able to read what she’s trying to communicate.

3. Dogs are Afraid of Loud Noises

Fireworks, nail guns, air compressors, construction equipment….any of these things will send a dog running with its tail between its legs.  For prolonged, unpredictable noises such as fireworks, they may be reduced to a scared, shivering bundle in the corner. Worse, they may bolt in fear and get lost or injured.  As a pet owner, my enjoyment of fireworks has shifted immensely because they are so scary to my pet.

4. Barking or Growling Isn’t Nasty

Sometimes barking can be scary, especially if you’re not familiar with the dog and the barking sounds aggressive.  However, dogs use barking for many different things, such as trying to get someone’s attention or trying to engage in play.  Dogs also make other noises that really don’t qualify as either barks or growls, but are certainly entertaining to listen to.  In general, their noises are a means of communication and knowing the context of their noises will help someone discern what that noise means.

5. Dog Training is an Ongoing Process That Never Really Ends

I’m sure this is dependent on the personality of the dog, but I didn’t realize that every little thing about our life with our dog would need to be trained. I naively just assumed that every dog would walk nicely on a leash without their person spending countless hours working towards that goal.  While some dogs master loose-leash walking after only a few lessons, others are just so hyper and excited and curious about everyone they meet that keeping them under control requires a lot of effort, patience and consistency from their person.

Though every dog comes with their own personality and quirks, there are many common behaviours among dogs of all breeds which can be generalized to help us understand them. Because our household now includes a pet, we’ve gained a better understanding of dogs in general. The more we learn, the more we enjoy our relationship with our pet.