5 Ways to prove to your dog that you love him! "How do I prove to my dog that I love him?" is a question that every good dog owner should ask himself. Indeed, the dog is a species apart, it has been with us for so long in our evolution, that it would be difficult to imagine life without it. But in a human world, do we really do what it takes to make our animal happy? Do you really know your dog? Do you do whatever it takes to make him as happy as possible? Here are 5 tips to prove to your dog that you think about him and that you love him!
1/ Get to know your dog
The first thing to do to prove to your dog that you love him is to know him as a dog but also as an individual. Your dog, like you, feels emotions. He can be sad, happy, frightened and have cravings. Any disruption in his life can lead him to adapt his behaviour (whether you like it or not!).
Your dog is also an opportunistic carnivore. This means that he might want to "steal" the food from your table or slit the garbage can. He will never think it is a flight, he will simply think that these two activities were really too pleasant! He can also, to your great dismay, kill your cat or rabbit even if he grew up with it! Just as your dog is capable of being the sweetest in the world and yet he will be able to bite the child in the family. Not out of malice, but because, as a dog, his mode of communication can be through a bite.
If for the dog this is totally justified and controlled, it will not be less painful for the victim and often not understood by humans. These are called communication signals. Understanding your dog's natural behaviour is a better way to communicate and understand your dog to avoid accidents.
To learn more about your dog's communication signals you can click here: The signals of appeasement how to read and interpret them?
2/ Satisfy your dog needs
Dogs, like all species, have their own needs in order to guarantee their well-being and balance. However, the needs of man's best friend are still too little known and that is why many dogs find themselves unhappy or abandoned. Here are the main needs your dog should have thanks to you.
Social needs. Your dog is a social animal, he needs to share regular moments with fellow dogs and other species. These moments of communication and games must take place as naturally as possible. It is therefore necessary to avoid leashed meetings and to prefer dropped meetings. This allows your dog to fully express himself. These social gatherings should be as positive as possible so that the dog has a good impression of them and not come out traumatized. Your dog should be able to share moments of play, caresses (if he likes it) or freedom with you.
Your dog should be stimulated every day outside the house and garden. Indeed, the dog needs a minimum of 30 minutes of daily walk when he is an adult. The dog lives in a world of scent. If he has not left his garden or too little, he cannot satisfy the needs of his species.
3/ Devote time to it
Your dog is a social being. He often needs contact with his human and other family members. Don't take a dog to leave him alone in the garden. Take a dog because you have time for him. So are you willing to spend several hours every day, 365 days a year and for more than 10 years? If not, there is no need to get a dog.
Naturally, your dog will find his balance if you spend time with him and this time is experienced as something positive and constructive. Spending time with your dog can take many forms. This should be done according to the dog's abilities and personality. But it is quite common to go for walks with two people in places like the countryside or the forest is a good way to spend some time together.
If your dog likes to play, you can also offer him different games every day, in order to stimulate him as much as possible. Do a sport for two. Something that will make this moment of sharing more fun. There are lots of fun activities like:
- agility
- treiball
- cani-paddle
- frisbee
- canirun
- dog crossfit
- cani-vtt/cani-cross
- oberythmosed
- etc.
4/ Give him the choice
It may sound silly or simple, but most of our dogs have no choice but to live their lives because they live in a human world. Imagine, they can't even choose when they can go do their business. When we are not with them, they are dependent on our home, our goodwill, the environment in which we leave them.
So, when you can, let your dog choose what he wants to do. Not for everything, we wouldn't want them to put themselves in danger. But, you can give him the choice of a walk. It is he who chooses where he goes and if he wants to stay several minutes on a smell. After all, it's his ride!
Give him the choice to come to you, don't force him. If he wants a caress, massages, give him a hug. He wants to roll in the mud, let him do it! Isn't he allowed to have cravings? Leaving him the choice to learn, to make your relationship positive, is finally strengthening the relationship with him.
If possible, give him the choice. In our society, dogs are not allowed to bark, cannot hunt, must not sniff out the needs of other dogs. People who love dogs want their dog to be happy. For this to be possible, dogs need to have the choice to act like dogs.
5/ Give him freedom
Most dogs have a very constraining life and we must do everything we can to free them when we can. This may require effort on the part of the master. But, we are responsible for the being we adopt. It is therefore our duty to ensure that he can enjoy a certain freedom. Our dogs are captive animals, in the sense that they are almost entirely dependent on humans for their physical, emotional and social needs. This does not mean that dogs cannot be happy in human homes. But the reality is that humans must work on them in order to make their dogs as happy as possible despite the constraints.
The first logic of freedom is to be able to be detached as often as possible, but if this requires working on the human-dog relationship, trust and positive renunciation of the environment when necessary. Being able to move at your own pace in the sense you want is a very important freedom. But it is not the only one.
Your dog should have the freedom to be himself as much as possible. Let him express his personality. Don't let him lock himself in emotional distress. He must be able to express normal dog behaviours such as digging in the ground, rolling in mud or even in a dead body. He must be able to let himself go and also be able to get to safety or to be isolated. In short, he must be free to be a dog as much as possible.