1. Dogs lack a framework of time. On the surface this would be true if you were considering over a long period but there is well documented instances of dogs who exercise their right to leisure until the very appointed hour and minute arrives when the master is to arrive home and the dogs spring to action and waits for his return.
2. Dogs can only recall images within a short time frame. Certainly dogs have not shown the ability to recall massive amounts of information the way a person can but, how does one explain those instances when a dog shows deliberate action, positive or negative towards a person or child who they have not seen a in a long time.
3. It has been suggested that dogs do not experience emotional responses. Science proposes that genuine emotion are reserved only for people. That dogs are only exhibiting expressions which are similar to man. They avoid a contradiction by putting quotations marks around words such as "jealousy" to indicate the animal exhibited signs like it was jealousy. Why its necessary to go to such lengths I don't know. There is a distinct difference between the general pet owner, who misintreprets much of their dog is doing and experienced handlers who's job necessitates a bonding influence and knowledge of dogs. In reality, if you can correctly correlate the behavioral signs, so noted here and in the field, your bridge is half constructed.

I do not claim to know under which realm of recall that dogs initiate all of their action/reaction responses. It could be their ancestral link to wolves or the biological formula which binds all animals. We certain understand that dogs are not equal to people in intellect but some the statements used to substantiate this is are rather interesting.

Most pet owners would like to imagine their dogs love them enough to protect them in a time of crisis. That might be whimsical speculation but there is some justification that dogs are in possession of a reasonable facsimile of emotional expressions such as jeously, anger, sadness or happy. Canine emotions can best be explained by the phrase, boxes are meant for things, not people or dogs.

LOYALTY. When effort is put forth, most dogs will show a prefered allegiance to one person rather than focus equally on everyone. Exemplary K9 teams always bear a bold bond of loyalty with each other.

JEALOUSY. I use to think jealousy was a hypothesis of anthropomorphism but I have since seen otherwise. Judging by the fact that rivarlies are prominent component of sexual reproduction, it stands to reason jealousy is equally possible. Dogs do not share their favorite toy, food or bed. They will attempt to chase off other members of the pack in order to isolate attention for themselves. They may grab or attempt to steal object coveted by others. They will whine or pace around when more attention is directed to someone else.

SPITE. Is an emotion that I haven't seen but only heard about. Some pet owners like to say their dogs will destroy their house to spite them, when boredom is often the case. What I'm referring to, is the case where an older dog, who might be considered 'spoiled' is corrected for unwanted behavior and it goes into another room and urinates or takes a dump, when it hasn't done anything like that for year.

FEAR. There should be no need to explain this, fear is most definitely an emotional response capable of any animal. Fear is part of the fight/flight survival instinct. It can be directed towards a person/place/thing. It's origin can be enviornmental or heredity based.

ANGER is apparent in times of jealousy, defense of self or property

FRUSTRATION I almost forgot about this one, until I reviewed my notes and remembered the upholstery workover my dogs did in the past. I made the mistake of parking my vehicle next to the soceer field where we were doing protection training. We had just finished a 'hold-n-bark' when the agitator turned to me and asked why my car was rocking back and forth. When I turned to look, I didn't see my dog, who was on the carpet pulling the upholstery off my back door because he was pissed that he wasn't on the field but stuck in the car. You can't tell a dog their up next and hope they'll wait their turn. Dogs who are left behind and can see that the other dogs are go with the handler; will try to dig or chew their way out of their kennel, along with lots of barking and whining.

STRESS is the result of confusion, anxiety and conflict. Treatment for emotional imbalance in dogs with Prozac has shown to have the same behavioral results it does for humans. While we know that man shares the same system of hormones, brain structure and neurotransmitters as dogs, is it possible we share more? Signs of stess can be everything from whining, excessive barking, destructive behavior, aggression or avoidance behavior.

AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR is an emotional reaction, which could be labeled a subcatagory of fear and stress. When a dog goes into avoidance behavior it is essentially in 'sensory-overload'. It is mentally unable to cope, consequently it will 'avoid' further 'contact' with the person/place/thing of its distress. It may hide behind the handler or, start sniffing the ground like something of higher precedence demands their attention. If it can not escape it will circle, but never approach the person/object.

CONFUSION You may consider this a state of being but it often manifests itself as a form of stress. It is mental conflict which the dog is not able to resolve at that moment. Correcting the dog for something that occurred hours ago, causes confusion. Training too much at one time, or trying a complex exercise without the proper steps. The dog may stop working all together, come to your side and stand or sit. Often seen in the early stages of 'force tracking'.

ATTENTION SEEKING All socially oriented beings seek attention. Jumping on a person is one way, barking, whining and nudging are others. They seek physical contact or play. The 'play-bow' which is shown here can be exhibited by all ages of dogs.

BOREDOM most behavioral problems that are not heredity based are the result of boredom. Dog can dig up flower beds, chews off table legs, rips down the curtains, bark, whine, pace or chew on their paws because they are disillusioned with nothing to do.

SADNESS. Scientist would call these fables of sadness but some dogs whine for hours when they are left in a strange place. Until the dog learns otherwise, they don't expect to see their owners again. When a puppy is crated for the first time at night, it is best to keep them in the master bedroom. If they are isolated in an empty they will whine the first couple of nights. These are not songs of joy, call them loneliness or sadness but happy they aren't.

MOURNING. When a canine companion dies, the remaining dog(s) may show signs of grieving. I know they will show a marked difference for a few days afterwards. In 1996 the ASPCA conducted a study Companion Animal Mourining. They found that 36% ate less, 63% vocalized more or became more quiet and 11% stopped eating altogether. From this 66% showed four or more behavioral changes and half became more affectionate with their owners.

I am not really certain, what particulars of canine emotions researchers find less plausible. Certainly the general public likes to add things to this relationship which is truly not possible but it is not difficult to observe that many dogs plainly exhibit an emotional bond with people. In order for there to be a 'social connection' or bond, there has to be an emotional attachment. In conclusion, we might remember that it man who originally defined what the words joy, love or sadness,etc. meant. Who is to say, that dogs are not the true artisans of emotion.

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CANINE SENSORY DETECTION

We are acutely aware that canines have sensory detection far in excess of mans. My position is not their aptitude but their preception from processing this information. Just because we can't see, hear or taste their platterboard of sensory imiginary, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I took a horse ride into the backcountry once. My horse was familiar with the area and we were some miles in when he suddenly took off at a fast gallop, up a hill. I am not a horseman, so I held on, which amounted to being thrown around on the saddle. In one of my backward slides, I happen to see, way back down the trail, a grizzly coming from behind a tree. My final point being, animals know a lot more then we give them credit for.

SMELL We understand the significance of scent markings from a male or a female in heat but do you understand that dogs communicate by scent. Most dogs have an interest of 'posting' their scent on their property or the areas they frequent. Yet, these scent markings actually tell the dog much more.

I run my dog through the countryside. I can tell which homes have dogs, regardless of whether they have a fence or I even see a dog. Not because my dog marks every bush but its often his hackles, his head up searching or he does this side scoot backwards, which is his way to see if anyone is coming up from the rear.

SIGHT . While their vision is not comparable to people, it is similar to a near-sighted person. They can view close objects but not as good at distances. They may have a problem with depth perception and anytime they are at the top of a hazardous heights, buildings, they should be onlead. When approaching from a distance, your dog will first detect your movement but he wouldn't know who it is, so he stops and stares. Only when you get close enough will he bolt and run for a greeting.

Dogs are visually oriented, what they can't smell and know, they see and investigate. Put a wade of paper, a small address book or screwdriver in their kennel or backyard. The second they see it they walk right up to it and smell it. Take a walk in a tilled field, if one clod of dirt stands out, the dog will go directly to it. Objects don't have to have a purpose for them to make an inquiry.

They excel at motion detection, even at great distance, especially at night. I'm assuming this is a survival necessities from years gone by. The ability to detect motion camouflaged in the background or to see a threat coming from a long distance.

HEARING People hear 20Hz to 20,000 Hz, dogs have been rated at 60hz to 60,000Hz. Their ears are uniquely positioned for flexibility, you can watch their ears rotate and the head tilt as it zeros in on the origin of the noise.

I run at night, never at the same time or the same day. I estimated it once, I figured a quarter of a mile was the distance this one dog hears me coming. He's an outside dog, lives on a farm, I never see him but he hears us. An who hasn't seen a dog suddenly spring up from laying down, bark or even run to the door, when you didn't hear anything, only to have someone knock a minute later.

TOUCH The sensation of touch is one the first senses to develop. The mother uses it to stimulate the puppies to eliminate and the puppy uses it to stay close to their littermates. In adult dogs, touch usually wouldn't be a point of interest unless its uneven footing, slick floors, plastic vesqueen or vibration. Dog's don't like vibrations when they feel them.

 

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