Dogs and Instincts
A squirrel goes racing across one tree in your backyard, leaps onto a branch of another and disappears down a hole in the trunk. He has a large nut with him that is about to be put away for upcoming cold winter nights. That’s instinct. Squirrels don’t check out super market ads, don’t go visit the in-laws when they need something, they take care of their needs out of pure instinct.
Dogs have instincts as well, and it is helpful if we as their human owners recognize some of the ones they have and use daily. You may give your dog a bone to chew on, and then notice him walking around from place to place just carrying it in his mouth. What you may not realize is that he might well be looking for a proper place to bury it. There are a lot of other noticeable instinct influenced behaviors as well, and they vary from dog to dog depending on environment and training.
The Pack instinct is universal in all dogs, and influential in a lot of his behaviors with other dogs as well as with humans. Dogs are pack animals and as such are constantly evaluating their own position with respect to other dogs, and the humans with whom they live. They determine who is “Alpha” and where they stand in the rank. You will notice that if you take your dog on a walk. Meeting another dog will quickly get your dog’s “grey matter” flowing observing, judging, and determining who is Alpha. Just the way that you walk your dog also is significant. A lot dog trainers say that a dog should always follow you through a doorway, and always walk behind you. That way, you are establishing that you are alpha.
If you know and understand your dog’s instinctual tendencies, it can be a very helpful thing in training. From the day that we received Jasmine through the Golden Retriever Rescue League, we had her in a crate at nighttime, and when she would be alone in the house. The den instinct played right into that, and she actually was very happy with the crate. Now that she is older, we still keep her in the crate at night, but it is totally voluntary at this point. When she gets tired in the evening, she goes in her crate of her own accord.
Once she stayed with our daughter overnight while we were out of town. We had taken her crate, but daughter wanted to give her a treat tried to entice Jasmine to hop up on the super comfy temperpedic bed with her. Jasmine whined and would not stay on the bed. Finally daughter put her in her crate, and Jasmine was very happy and soon dosed off into slumberland. There is no doubt that the den instinct is strong, and that instincts in general do influence the way that dogs act and react.
It is also fun to play with and enjoy your dog, and have your dog enjoy and play with you. One thing that never seems to fail is the tail. No matter what the situation is, no matter how traffic was on your way home from work, or how aweful the meeting was that you had to attend, when you get home, and look at your pal, you can be assured that the tail will take off, and start Waggin’ Delightfully.
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