[apbt1luv]

How Dogs See the World

Dogs and humans have lived together for thousands of years. Dog’s ancestor, the wolf, and humans shared their lives and homes for over 100 thousand years. After all this time humans are finally beginning to learn and study the behaviors, intelligence, and physical capabilities of their canine companions.
Dogs and humans share many cultural traits. Both are highly social animals that live in family groups and share responsibilities with other members of the group. However, despite many cultural similarities, dogs and humans have very different physical abilities. These abilities color how we perceive the world we live in. Having a greater understanding of how dogs see the world can help you to understand and communicate more effectively with your canine friends.
Physically speaking, dogs’ perception of the world around them is greatly influenced by how they see and by their sense of smell and hearing. In fact their world is probably overflowing with sensory input nearly all the time.
THE EYES HAVE IT – OR DO THEY? Dogs’ eyes work quite differently from humans’. Dogs don’t see colors the way we do although dogs can be trained to distinguish between colors. Dogs see in only two true colors and they aren’t black and white. Dogs actually see in shades of blue and green. This allows them to have better night vision and even though they don’t see as much detail as we can under normal lighting, it is easier for them to see hidden objects – like bunnies in bushes. A dog’s vision works great at a distance—especially if they have had plenty of opportunities as puppies to focus on far away objects—but they cannot focus clearly on an object closer than 25 centimeters. This is where the nose comes in handy. The sense of smell is also important because if you are out surrounded by bushes and trees it can be very hard to see your companions or prey.
THE NOSE KNOWS: Dogs possess approximately 200 million olfactory cells, compared to the 5 million found in humans. The dog’s more densely packed cells communicate with a greater percentage of brain causing the information they receive to go beyond the mere 40 to 1 ratio of cells. In fact a dog’s sense of smell may be upwards of one million times superior to a human’s.
A dog can smell you coming from over thirty yards away. And with his finely tuned nose he can get a great deal of information from a single scent. For example, when Roversniffs where another dog has urinated, he can tell the age, sex and health of the other dog.
Why is this important to humans? First, it's nice to know that the reason Rover sniffs everyone so thoroughly is because he is reading them like a newspaper. He is smelling their dog – AND - where they were earlier that day, what they stepped in, who they were with, what they ate for lunch, and of course, them.
Second, humans have natural body odors that allow Rover to recognize individuals and relatives as well as being able to determine our physical wellness. In fact, a dog’s sense of smell is so good at detecting illness that some are being trained for this very purpose.
Keep in mind that wearing heavy perfumes that mask your natural scent can cause dogs confusion and "musk" scented perfumes/colognes can confuse Rover and may cause unwanted behaviors such as aggression or over-excitement.
HEAR HEAR! Have you ever been in a large crowed room where it is difficult to hear the person next to you? As social animals we frequently have to practice tuning in and tuning out certain noises in order to hear the specific sound we want. Sometimes this can be very difficult, but just imagine that your ears were like the dogs.
A dog’s sense of hearing is highly developed. A sound that a human can hear at a hundred yards, a dog can hear over a quarter of a mile away. Dogs not only hear better, but they also hear more than humans do. They are far more sensitive to pitch than humans including being able to hear ultrasonic sounds that are completely out of our hearing range.
What does all of this mean to you? It means Rover may often be bombarded with sensory information. His world can be easily distracting and overwhelming. As a human companion you can create times and places in Rover’s life where he can recover from sensory overload. You can also help Rover to learn to focus his attention despite distractions and create a well-bonded, well-loved animal.
The more you know about the world your dog lives in, the more you will be able to help him live happily in yours.

In Summary: Forming Good Habits
When you have spoken to two or more people at the same time, have you noticed that the different people have different levels of interest in what you are saying? Have you noticed yourself being more inclined to speak to the person that is most interested – OR – are you the type who is determined to win over the least interested party? Whether you speak to two people or two hundred you will always find yourself in the position of both trainer and trainee.
Let’s just imagine that you are trying to convince your two best friends, Dennis and Lucy, that football is the best sport to watch on television. Dennis acts as if he has heard this conversation a hundred times and Lucy, who has just recently begun to show interest in football, is hanging on your every word.
Lucy smiles at you, makes eye contact and asks pertinent questions. She leans forward in anticipation of your answers and seems ready to join you in watching tomorrow’s game.
Dennis yawns and stretches, avoids eye contact while cleaning his fingernails and sighs heavily until you say that football is the best sport to watch on television when he argues the case and announces that he thinks basketball is better.
During the entire conversation you and your friends are making choices that affect not only the conversation but also the way that each of you will feel about yourself and your friends. The choices are both conscious and unconscious.
The choices you make may be an unconscious smile or friendly eye contact with Lucy. You may consciously choose to scowl or act annoyed with Dennis. Every choice you make will affect the choices your friends make. For example: Lucy may indeed be encouraging you to be friendly with her, and become annoyed with Dennis for behaving rudely. Or, Lucy may decide that she will be annoyed at both you and Dennis for the lack of effort to be kind.
Dennis may be feeling jealous of the relationship between you and Lucy and therefore is unconsciously trying to create tension – perhaps by making Lucy agree with him that you are wrong about football. On the other hand Dennis may be angry with you for not noticing that he wanted to talk about his new car and your annoyance with him may make him feel justified in treating you badly.
Even when we don’t understand why a person makes the choices they make, their choices affect our choices. Because Lucy is interested in you, you reward her with kindness. Because Dennis is rude, you punish him with dirty looks. This is training. Lucy and Dennis are training you to react with kindness or with annoyance – and you are training Lucy to continue to be interested and Dennis to continue to be rude.
If you were more consciously aware of how this training worked, you might have made different choices and your friends would have had different responses. For example: Dennis started out showing total disinterest. If instead of getting annoyed, you showed compassion and said, "Dennis, you don’t seem very interested in the conversation, is something bothering you?" He may have responded, "I’m really not interested in football right now. I really want to show you guys my new car." In which case you could have responded with excitement about his new car and perhaps the three of you could have come to the agreement to discuss football while taking a spin in Dennis’ new car.
Every interaction between you and any other living creature is a training session. Both of you are training and both of you are being trained. The questions you must ask yourself are:

1. Are you consciously aware of what you are training?
2. Are you consciously aware of what you are being trained?
3. Is the training session going the way you want it to?

Niagara, the cutest wolf puppy ever, is the newest addition to your home and you want her to have good manners. You know that she is an intelligent animal and you have a good understanding of wolf language. What you aren’t exactly sure of is how you are going to go about teaching her to understand what it is you want and expect from her.
It is important to keep in mind that Niagara is not going to automatically know what your rules are. She will not be able to tell the difference between something you think is a good chew toy (her bones) and something you don’t think is a good chew toy (your leather shoes). She will not automatically know that you would prefer she eliminate in the cold grass as opposed to the warm carpet.
What Niagara will know is how to be a wolf. This means that she will be an opportunist. She will look for what she considers to be: the most fun chew toys, the best food, the most comfortable sleeping spot, the best ways to earn affection and the most interesting projects/puzzles. Niagara will explore her world (your house) with energy, enthusiasm, big feet and her mouth. Niagara will not come with a sense of right and wrong – she will simply learn what is and is not rewarding.
You are going to have to be Niagara’s mother/teacher and show her what you want and expect from her. In order to be successful with this it is imperative that you understand consciously how training works. When humans train animals the primary goals are for the animal to be obedient and have good manners. It is very important that we practice what we preach and model appropriate behaviors. In other words if you want to teach good habits, you need to have good habits.
The following is a list of rules that will show you how to use good training habits to your advantage regardless of whom or what you are training. Please remember every interaction with any living creature is a training session for you and them.
FIRST, DO NO HARM!
This means that whenever you approach a situation, your FIRST objective must be that you cause no harm, physically or emotionally to your trainee.
PHYSICAL HARM: Do not hit, kick, slap, pinch, pull, push, shove or force Niagara to do anything - this is unnecessary as well as inefficient. For example: Let’s say that I want to train you to perform a specific behavior. We do not speak the same language and therefore when I say to you "Cookamongaphobia," you do not know what I want. Because you do not offer the behavior that I want, I slap you. Then I repeat, "Cookamongaphobia." This time you try to tell me that you don’t understand what I want by shrugging your shoulders and I slap you again. There is no way for you to escape me because I have you on a leash. You can’t do anything else until you figure out what I want from you. I shove you away from me and yell, "Cookamongaphobia!" You fall to the floor and upon sitting up; I give you a tiny piece of candy. Then I get you back on your feet and demand, "Cookamongaphobia," again. Again I shove you and again you land on the floor. Upon sitting up I give you a pat on the head and say, "That’s good." Then I get you back on your feet and demand "Cookamongaphobia." Being an incredibly smart individual you immediately sit on the floor and I smile and give you another piece of candy.
At this point you know that Cookamongaphobia means, sit on the floor. However, I would like you to examine your training experience. Did you enjoy this method of learning? How do you feel about me? Are you interested in proceeding to the next training session?
In my experience (having used this example verbally with many clients) no adult would be willing to take a second slap. They would either adamantly refuse to work for me or, as most say, they would hit back. No one has every said they would like me after such a training session and no one would be willing to work for me again. Sadly this is still the most common way humans train other animals…Force. For more details on punishment read the chapter Discipline, Punishment & Consequences.
EMOTIONAL HARM: Do not punish or reward behaviors that you don't like - this is unnecessary and may teach precisely the opposite of the behavior you wanted. The two most common emotional problems that humans create in their canine companions are fear and aggression.
Fear: There are two common ways that humans promote fear in canines. The first is through reward. For example: Niagara is going to the vet for the first time. You carry her into the office and put her down on the floor, she shivers, whimpers and hides under your chair. You being a compassionate, wonderful human being pick her back up and pet her saying, "It’s all right Niagara. No body is going to hurt you. You’re just fine." Which is absolutely the best thing you could do for a baby…if it’s a human baby. Unfortunately Niagara is not human and translated into wolf language you just said, "Oh what a good girl you are Niagara. I love it when you act afraid. Please do this every time we come to the vet."
Basically every time you look at, talk to, or touch Niagara she is almost certain to view it as a reward. If you pet her and "soothe" her for being fearful, you are in effect telling her that you like her behavior and that if she acts this way she will be rewarded.
The second way to promote fear is through punishment and/or force. For example: Niagara is going to the vet for the first time. Niagara who is fearful, growls to tell the vet that he’s too close and she’s not ready to meet him yet. You reach down and bop her on the nose, give her a leash correction, tell her "No," or other wise ‘discipline’ Niagara. Your thought is; I can’t have an aggressive animal, I need to stop this behavior immediately! What Niagara thinks of this experience is; Oh my god! If the vet gets too close to me, my Mom will attack me. Because this is Niagara’s doctor she is then forced to allow herself to be handled. Niagara becomes very frightened. She begins to believe that strange humans near her mean punishment and forced invasion so she begins automatically offer supplications. Her supplication is intended to tell us, "I’m frightened please don’t hurt me." Under the circumstances it doesn’t work to get the vet to back off, so she will begin to make bigger and bigger gestures. She may urinate, lie down on the floor, roll belly up, hide and whine, and in general become a skittish and nervous wreck whenever approached or confronted by the vet or any other unknown human.
Aggression: There are two common ways that humans promote aggression in canines. The first, just like fear, is by rewarding the behavior. For example: Uncle Joe comes over to the house for the first time. Niagara who is fearful, growls to tell Uncle Joe that he’s too close and she’s not ready to meet him yet. You reach down and stroke her head saying, "It’s okay girl, it’s just Uncle Joe. There’s nothing to be afraid of." Which, of course, translates into wolf language as, "Oh you good girl. I love it when you growl at Uncle Joe. You should do this every time he comes over." And Niagara thinks, "Oh boy, wait until Mom sees what I do next time Uncle Joe comes over."
The second way of creating aggression is through aggression. For example: Uncle Joe comes over to the house for the first time. Niagara who is fearful, growls to tell Uncle Joe that he’s too close and she’s not ready to meet him yet. You reach down and bop her on the nose, give her a leash correction, tell her "No," or other wise ‘discipline’ Niagara. Your thought is; I can’t have an aggressive animal, I need to stop this behavior immediately! I need Niagara to understand that it is unacceptable for her to be aggressive to Uncle Joe.
What Niagara thinks of this experience is; Oh my god! If Uncle Joe gets too close to me, my Mom will attack me. I better keep him further away next time. Niagara then becomes more aggressive a little sooner on Uncle Joe’s next visit.
If you discipline Niagara again, then she will become more aggressive even sooner and the cycle will continue, she growls, you punish, she growls more and sooner, you punish, she growls more and sooner, until finally no human can come within 50 feet of her before she goes completely ballistic.
For information on what TO DO see the chapters, The Rules of Behavior, Handling & Grooming and Socialization with Humans.
If In Doubt, Don’t:
If you are uncertain about a solution to a problem - first, do no harm! Second, stop and think. If Niagara is doing something you don't like, be creative and come up with a way to make the opposite behavior more rewarding to her. Or, find a way to take the reward away so that the behavior is no fun for her (see the chapter The Rules of Behavior). Or, develop an appropriate outlet for the behavior i.e. chewing furniture is bad, chewing appropriate toys is good. If the behavior is beyond your abilities to deal with seek professional help (see How to Choose a Trainer).
Do Not Reward Undesirable Behaviors:
This is by far the most common method of training that humans use with their canine companions. It is mostly unintentional. You don't intend to reward their bad behavior… you simply don't know that what you are doing is considered a reward. Looking at, touching, & talking to are almost always considered rewards by Niagara. Even if you were offering negative attention Niagara would rather have that than no attention. Be very careful. It's very easy to reward bad behaviors which not only makes problem behaviors worse, but can also cause emotional harm by increasing fear and/or aggression. You must remember that you are both the trainer and a trainee.
It's time to become aware and see what it is you are teaching Niagara. A good example of this is jumping up. This is the number one bad habit in canines. Most wolves jump up in order to get attention. Most humans try to stop the jumping by saying, "No! Stop it. Get down." While they push their wolf down and look them right in the eyes. Wow! What a reward! There’s no reason to ever stop that behavior. Niagara wanted attention and she got it – her human looked at her, spoke to her and touched her.
I’ve seen humans unintentionally reward their canines for: jumping up, destructive chewing, being fearful, being aggressive, lying down when told to sit, getting on the furniture, raiding the trash, counter surfing, playing too rough, eliminating in the house, and barking. Amazingly this list is just the most commonly rewarded undesirable behaviors.
Generally speaking, one the best ways to stop unwanted behaviors is to ignore them. This only works however, if your attention is the reward for the behavior. Some behaviors are self-rewarding like chewing, and eliminating. They are not going to stop when you ignore them. For details on how to stop specific behavior problems please read the section Good Manners. For details on how rewards affect behavior see the chapter The Rules of Behavior.
Keep in mind it is much easier to prevent bad habits from forming than to try to undo them later. Teaching Niagara what you expect from her before she makes mistakes will go a long way in preventing problem behaviors.
Find the Motivation for the Behavior:
If you don't know what the problem is, you cannot solve the problem. As you read through this book you will increase your understanding of Niagara and it will become easier to understand her motivations. This is critical in solving problem behaviors. It is very important that you don’t spend your time trying to solve the symptoms of a problem. Solving symptoms may simply create more symptoms without fixing your problem. For example: if Niagara is eating your walls is it because she gets your attention for it, she’s bored, she’s trying to escape or she’s teething and it is the only thing available to her? Each of these problems has the same symptom, eating the wall, but different solutions. If a problem behavior begins to develop, you will need to look up the program for that behavior and make sure you are following all the necessary steps. It is better if you don’t wait for a problem to develop. All the programs in this book are designed to prevent behaviors from becoming problems. If you already have a behavior problem that you cannot fathom or fix please seek professional help see How to Choose a Trainer.
Respect Your Wolf as a Member of Your Family:
Wolves and humans are both highly social animals that live in family groups and have the same basic rules of determining who is in charge. It is important to understand that a wolf who lives outside of your home is not a member of your family/pack and, therefore, you will not be able to have much if any control over that animal. Just as you may respect your neighbor - Niagara may respect and even love you. However, you don't let your neighbor run your house and an outdoor wolf will not see you as their leader. If you want respect, a strong bond and the title of "boss" you need to be sure that both you and your wolf consider each other family. This means living together and working toward mutual understanding of each other’s language and culture.

[bellsoffreedom]

Wow, thank you so much for this great information! This is very informative! Do you have any more info like this? I want to learn as much as I can about how dogs see the world vs. how humans do, and how to understand them more thoroughly/ what works, and what doesn't work with training.
Thanks again.

[bellsoffreedom]

Okay, one question:
Several times it says to see certain chapters for more info. Example:

For information on what TO DO see the chapters, The Rules of Behavior, Handling & Grooming and Socialization with Humans.

What chapters? Where?

The original posting reeks of .

[PNWPBR]

If posting information from a book or website, please always make sure you include WHERE the information came from. Without it, it is considered plagiarism. Thank you.

[apbt1luv]

This information came from the CD I have as a member of The Americn Pit Bull Registy and is used with their permission....... My APBT is registered through this registry as well as The American Dog Breeders Association.

[bellsoffreedom]

Where can I get all the original information? I'd like to see the chapters referenced in the above post. Thanks.

[apbt1luv]

The chapters you are asking about are in the post...each one is underlined....they are ust refering you back to the info I.E when it say refer to the chapter on behavior....scroll back up to" The rules for behavior"