Dogs are like children
According to Mum, dogs are like children. I don’t mean that she gets us dressed in the morning and sends us off to school, well, not exactly anyway. We are often asked about training, and Mum likens us to the bright child in the class. If we’re in a mixed ability class and finish an exercise faster than the other dogs, we start talking in class and becoming disruptive. We’re fine when we’re really young as the difference is not so pronounced, it’s when we hit teens that the big problems occur. At that age, we haven’t learnt how to be calm and keep ourselves occupied. When we get bored we start wanting attention and something to do.
Not just in training
It’s not just those times. We need consistency and ground rules so that we know where we stand. Without that we make our own rules and it goes a bit wrong. We want love and reassurance, but we also want some freedom to think for ourselves. More than that if you leave us to our own devices, we will make our own entertainment and it will rarely be what you had in mind.
We go through the ‘terrible twos’ when we first realise we can do some things for ourselves and test the boundaries. In our case it’s at around 6 months old, but like toddlers we get through it. We go through a teenage phase when we think we know everything. With our breed that usually starts around fifteen months and can last around six months. After that we begin to understand we might not know absolutely everything. It take a bit longer before we begin to realise you might know a thing or two after all.
Physical changes
Like children we’ll be miserable when we’re teething. If we stay up too late and don’t get enough sleep we’ll be grouchy. When we’re young we have days we’re growing when we just need a little extra rest. We want your attention and your love, just like any child.
The best bit is we can see the wonder in the most amazing little things and can get excited by the same thing over and over again.
If you’re worried you don’t understand enough about dog psychology, start with child psychology and then you’ll have just a few gaps to fill in.
Love
Wilma