What governs the behavior of a dog? How far does its mind think? What can be put down to instinct? Most trainers think that before a puppy is eight weeks old, instinct is nearly 99 percent of the dog’s mind, and the control of its actions is almost entirely guided by the desire to eat, sleep, keep warm and play. After that the human contacts it makes, the discipline it receives, and the affection it develops for a person who nurtures it, begin to play an important part in the forming of the dog’s mind and character.

No two people are alike; no two dogs are alike. We often see in the same litter an almost entirely different makeup in character and looks. Although it helps to study pedigrees and see the parents of the dog you are going to take into your home, there is no guarantee that a dog will be much like the last dog you had with similar breeding, or even like the rest of the litter he was born into.

To train a dog with sympathy and understanding, one must try to understand a dog’s mind. That mind has several big thoughts, its body a few major requirements. Firstly, the body governs the mind to a great extent when the puppy is young. The needs to eat, sleep, urinate and defecate are the main factors. It hasn’t entered a dog’s mind that it is wrong to puddle on the floor or soil its bed. Its reactions are entirely spontaneous. When scolded for these things it does not at first connect its action with the cross words and fear enters its mind. Nature’s reactions to fear are many; some animals crouch and stay as still as if they were dead; others snarl and attack the thing or person that frightens them; others turn up their tummies believing this age-old action of a baby animal will help them; some urinate and move their bowels with seemingly no control whatsoever.

In training dogs, we must take all these things into consideration before we punish a dog and look upon him with disappointment or disgust. Only by repetition do dogs know what is right or wrong when very small. Their mind cannot reason what is right or wrong. They learn from experience of the tone of voice of the owner, or the jerk on a choke chain, or by being put into their kennels when naughty or any other punishment that the owner has thought to be suitable. But whatever the punishment it is not always effective, for one to gauge the natural reaction of the dog’s mind to the treatment it is receiving or is about to receive. In many instances this reaction is to bite the person that is reproving it, or to lick and jump up on the person who is praising it.

The dog has an enviable mind; it remembers the nice things in life and quickly blots out the nasty.

Easily Care For Your Pet At Home – Treat Illnesses Confidently And Competently, Using…Natural Vitamins & Supplements for Dogs & Cats at Only Natural Pet Store.