Understanding the Dog - Introduction and Focus on Touch
Thursday, November 16th, 2006 by Mike CronkArchived from “The Paw Report:” Issue #5, November
Humanizing is one of the primary “human errors” that Cesar Millan describes as an impediment to gaining and maintaining a healthy alpha relationship with your dog. Millan says that treating your dog like a human is using human psychology when we should be using dog psychology. Human psychology contradicts their natural psychology and prevents them from meeting their needs. This confusion and frustration can result in what we see as bad behavior. We’re human beings—human psychology is what we know and what we respond to. To understand dog psychology, we need to find out what the world is like from the dog’s perspective.
In my research, I’ve been amazed at the dramatic difference between our sense of smell and that of the dog but I’d like to start with the sense of touch because we are more similar in that area so it will be easier for us to comprehend our dog’s perspective. Additionally, touch is a key aspect of communication with our dogs in their role as a companion. In subsequent issues, I will follow up with the other senses so that we can get a more complete understanding of our dogs.
Touch
This sense is very meaningful for how I relate to dogs—I like petting my dog and she likes being petted. Dogs will snuggle up, put a head in your lap or nudge your hand to comfort you and to remind you they appreciate the affection you give them. If I get my face close to Lizzie’s and I get a lick on the nose, that’s okay with me! Since my dogs weren’t allowed on the couch or bed (remember, the last three were Great Danes) I would often get on the floor next to them for a petting session that was comforting for both of us—especially if my wife was upset with me! In each of these instances, we are using the sense of touch to communicate.
In the grooming process, touch is a constant—brushing, clipping, bathing, drying—and most of this is not what your dog would prefer. While routine brushing is not necessarily painful for a dog, it’s certainly not a good time for either of us! On the other hand, when dogs are exceptionally thick or matted, thorough brushing can be very uncomfortable. Respecting what a dog feels during this process may mean going to a short haircut to get under the matts instead of a painful effort to brush them out.
Brushing out a dense coat is part of our job, it’s what grooming is about but yanking out matts is something we refuse to do. Yet, you’d be surprised at how many customers ask that these matts be brushed out to maintain their appearance, regardless of the discomfort it may cause their dog. If you don’t want matts that must be clipped out, brush your dog frequently at home or increase your visits to us. Dogs do experience pain. It is irresponsible and unkind of us to ignore their comfort in favor of keeping hair length. We won’t do it.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine how much is too much because dogs react differently to pain than we do. If you look back at the origin of the canine, the expression of pain was repressed to avoid showing any sign of weakness to the rest of the pack. This defense mechanism developed because the pack enforced “survival of the fittest:” no weakness was tolerated. Often, I’ve seen dogs with sores, ear infections, or severe arthritis that would have us moaning, crying and refusing to get out of bed—yet our pets show limited outward signs of that pain. We’ve seen dogs come in covered with hundreds of fleas that have bitten them raw—yet the dog is stoic and handles what must be incredibly unpleasant a lot better than you or I ever would. Imagine being a breeding ground for itchy, biting pests…and not voicing complaints about it!
While our sense of touch is reciprocal and endears us to one another, when it comes to pain tolerance the dogs have us beat! In working with our pets, we’ve really got to be aware of their comfort because they probably won’t tell us they’re in pain until it gets to an unbearable level.
-Mike