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Chances are that your dog is one of your most faithful companions. But, from time to time, he may present you with unique challenges that could lead to frustration for both you and your four-legged friend. The information in this section will help you handle the responsibilities and potential difficulties that accompany the joy of sharing your life with a dog.  Dogs, like humans, are highly social animals and this similarity in their overall behavioral pattern accounts for their trainability, playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and social situations. This similarity has earned dogs a unique position in the realm of interspecies relationships.Dogs have lived with and worked with humans in so many roles that their loyalty has earned them the unique title "man's best friend." The loyalty and devotion that dogs demonstrate as part of their natural instincts as pack animals closely mimics the human idea of love and friendship, leading many dog owners to view their pets as full-fledged family members. Conversely, dogs seem to view their human companions as members of their pack, and make few, if any, distinctions between their owners and fellow dogs. Dogs fill a variety of roles in society and are often trained. For dogs that do not have traditional jobs, a wide range of dog sports provide the opportunity to exhibit their natural skills. In many countries, the most common and perhaps most important role of dogs is as companions.  Dogs communicate in a variety of forms. They use certain movements of their bodies and body parts and different vocalizations to send signals to other dogs, animals and humans. There are a number of basic ways a dog can communicate. These are movements of the ears, eyes and "eyebrows", mouth, head, tail, and entire body, as well as barks, growls, whines and whimpers, and howls. Dogs have a reasonably high intelligence. This intelligence is varied with different breeds and individuals, however. For example, Border Collies are noted for their ability to learn commands, while other breeds may not be so motivated towards obedience, but instead show their cleverness in devising ways to steal food or escape from a yard. Being highly adaptable animals themselves, dogs have learned to do a great number jobs as man has required over the ages. Today they are still employed at such roles as: search-and-rescue; law enforcement; guards for livestock, people or property; herding; Arctic exploration sled-pullers; guiding the blind and acting as a pair of ears for the deaf; assisting with hunting, and a great many other roles which they may be trained to assume. Man loves dogs. Affection, devotion, protection, and companionship - dogs give us so much more than we're able to repay. |
