Behavior

One big reason your dog may lick other dogs’ faces is as an appeasing behavior. Licking another dog’s mouth or face can also simply be grooming. Many dogs “care for” other dogs or even other animal family members in this manner. It can also be considered a sign of affection

While there was some initial hesitancy among veterinary professionals to diagnose PTSD in dogs, data currently suggests that up to seventeen percent of all dogs are affected by Canine PTSD.

Oh, no, did you inadvertently create an OCD-like behavior in your dog by playing with laser pointers? Now that your dog is obsessed with that little red dot, are you wondering how you can undo what you did?

If you’ve ever wondered “Why does my dog hide under the bed?” or “Why does my dog sleep under the bed?” there are a lot of potential reasons. They include a desire for security, a search for a cool spot, or a bid for attention.

I suspect we’ve all been there, maybe more than once: your dog is off playing and acts like he’s lost his hearing completely: you call his name—over and over—but he pays absolutely no attention. Or maybe he gets so excited that he seems to be bouncing off the walls, and there’s nothing you can do to calm him down. Or even after hours of training, he still jumps up on visitors when he first sees them. At times like these, when you’re ready to tear out your hair in frustration, you may have wondered if it’s possible that your dog has ADHD…because he’s sure acting like it.

Have you ever wondered if dogs can have panic attacks? Many pet owners are surprised to learn that our four-legged friends can experience sudden and overwhelming episodes of fear that look a lot like human panic attacks.

I have often been asked by clients, “Why does my dog lick everything?” Sometimes the reasons are medical and sometimes they’re behavioral. In general, licking everything is normal puppy behavior resulting from exploration and learning about one’s environment. Of course, that does not make it desirable. Redirection rather than correction can prevent licking from becoming obsessive.

Temperament is a common term used to describe the behavioral characteristics of dogs. It is one of the main things people consider when acquiring a pet dog or training a working dog and is a large contributing factor to the surrender of dogs to animal shelters.

Nibbling, or “cobbing,” refers to a dog gently chewing with his front teeth. The term cobbing may have been coined because the dog’s nibbling resembles a human nibbling on a corn cob. Dogs have been known to do this to their owners, other humans, other animals, themselves, and toys. Let’s explore the many reasons for cobbing in dogs. I asked this question of both fellow trainers and just plain dog parents and received a lot of input on why dogs cob.

Dogs communicate their discomfort with subtle changes in their behavior, posture, and habits. Recognizing these signs helps you maintain your dog’s health.

Dogs lick the air for a multitude of reasons, some medical and some behavioral. It may not make sense to us, but it does to your dog.

When dogs fight, it can be scary and stressful for both owners and the dogs involved, especially if they result in injuries to the dogs or the people that attempt to break up the fight. Dogs can fight for different reasons and understanding those reasons—as well as body language precursors that can predict a fight—is important to help prevent fights. This helps keep dogs and the people they live with safe.