Dogs and are smart, faithful and loving creatures but don’t be duped. Under the hood your loyal pal is really a wolf in dog’s clothing.

Accepting this idea is at the core of understanding how your dog thinks, and why he behaves in the ways that he does.

How Dogs View Their World

A dog’s thinking is based on drives and instincts. Their basic needs are food, a place to sleep, and a strong pack for protection. This means they need a strong leader – one they are prepared to follow without hesitation. This is the role you need to fill in your dog’s life.

The next thing you have to understand in order to comprehend dog behavior is that words are meaningless to a dog. Now, many people will argue this point. They’ll tell you that their dog understand everything they say. But what they’re referring is simply word association.

The fact is that dogs communicate mainly by body language, and hence have no reason at all to understand words. They are however, very good at interpreting the actions associated with words.

As part of this chain of action and reaction, most dogs learn to react to single words, so he may for example learn to associate the word “walk” with going out, but most likely it is the “pre-walk rituals” – putting on his lead, for example – that he recognizes.

Think Like A Dog

If you want to learn how to think like a dog, first understand that tone of voice and body language trump voice cues every time. Realise that your dog thinks in pictures and responds to actions and you’ll have a far better chance of understanding him.

Dogs pay a lot of attention to regular routines. If you always return home at a certain time your dog will anticipate and expect your arrival at that time. If you are caught up in traffic or otherwise delayed the dog may become anxious.

This is because the dog forms expectations based on past actions, and learns to expect a particular outcome. If that outcome is not carried through it creates anxiety.

How to Be the Alpha Dog

In a wolf pack the Alpha controls all of the actions of the pack including when they eat, when they move and who receives attention. When you think about it, these are the exact same things you control in your “pack”. By taking control of all these aspects you are actually managing your dog’s anxiety.

Where does affection come into this? Excellent question. A strong pack leader knows when and how to reward a pack member with affection. Get this wrong and your dog will see you as weak. And dogs are great at exploiting weakness.

Affection should be given as a reward for good behavior, so that it re-enforces the behaviors you want your dog to repeat.

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