Understanding Your Shih Tzu

Dogs and humans have been associated for 12,000 years, but we still don't speak the same language. Dogs are very different; they see differently, smell differently, and learn differently. Starting with the five senses, dogs and humans are vastly dissimilar.

Vision
The typical domestic dog has 20/75 vision, which is comparable to the typical 90-year-old human. While different from humans, dogs are far from blind. Stemming from their days when survival was the name of the game, a dogs’ ability to see movement especially in dim light is magnificent. There are two other key differences between the human and canine eye. The first is how color is detected. Due to the biological makeup of a dog’s eye, their ability to see color is vastly different from their human counterpart. Dogs have fewer cones, which detect color, but more rods, which detect light, than humans. This means that dogs can distinguish color, usually in the blue and violet ranges, but their true ability lies in their skill to see well when light levels are low. A second difference is the placement of the eye. While humans’ eyes are relatively close together, dogs’ eyes are set further apart allowing them a wider range of vision. This has two implications. They don’t have to turn their heads a great deal to see something, but their eyes do not share much information, which limits their ability to see clearly directly in front of them or to judge the distance of nearby objects.

Hearing
While a dog’s vision may not seem up to snuff compared to humans, their hearing far surpasses their companions. Though hearing skills differ between breeds, in general, dogs can perceive sounds twice as high as humans, and can hear a sound clearly ten times further than a human. This is especially interesting to remember when your dog seems not to hear a thing you say.

Smell
Smell is another area where a dog’s sense far surpasses that of the human. It has been estimated that dogs can catch a whiff of something that is 100 times less concentrated than what humans can. To put this in more understandable terms, while humans can smell bread baking, a dog can smell a week-old crumb left under the refrigerator!

Touch
Dogs interpret and respond to touch very differently than humans. Again, going back into history when dogs lived in packs dogs used touch to communicate. Puppies learn acceptable limits by play fighting, mothers nuzzle their young, adult dogs can show dominance or aggression all through touch.

Taste
It’s hard to imagine that you can have anything in common with an animal that eats garbage, or worse. But, surprisingly dogs and humans can taste the same things. Like with many people, food is a good way to communicate. Dogs especially love peanut butter, cheese and chicken.

While humans talk to communicate, dogs primarily use scents and body language. Similar to humans, the variation of communication styles is quite great between dog breeds. This is a result of years of breeding for specific duties. For example, direct eye contact with a golden retriever will probably result in a wet kiss, while the same with a Doberman may elicit a more aggressive reaction.

It is important to determine your dog’s temperament before you begin training as your dog’s temperament will affect how you train them.

After you have determined your dog’s temperament, establishing eye contact is very important when you begin to train you dog. It not only shows them that they need to be listening to you, it establishes a non-verbal line of communication. With most family pets direct eye contact will be acceptable. However, be cautions if your dog has shown signs of aggression and be very careful with strange dogs. If your dog tends to look away, start giving them treats when they look at you and keep your gaze. You will soon have a very attentive dog.

Because dogs understand body language much better than any words you say to them it is essential that you learn better ways to move. Especially with puppies, but with many older dogs too, the ‘come’ command is Greek to them. I will go more into depth in Basic Training, but to get started you will want to get lower to the ground - kneeling, squatting, and sitting are good, but bending is not because this forms a dominant posture. Use big playful gestures, such as waving your arms. Also, you will want to make your voice more animated. Lastly, if you have treats give them one when they come to you. Do not, however, bribe them with the treats; you want to teach them that coming to you when you call will get them the treat not when they ignore you. Simply, you are trying to create an inviting situation that your dog wants to come and check out.

Like I mentioned before, treats are a great way to communicate a job well done. With most dogs, food will be the key to training. One thing to understand that many don’t, is that you need to mix it up. Remember how I said before that dogs taste the same things you do? Pizza is great but would you want pizza every night, week after week? Dogs love food, and because there is so much variety don’t limit yourself to one type of treat. For everyday training I use string cheese, but when we are working on something that is more challenging I use baked hotdogs; my dog loves when she gets something new. Changing what you are treating with is great way to keep your dog excited about what you are doing.

For some dogs, food is not a motivator. Some like toys and some like to be praised. A great way to praise your dog is with touch, but it must be in the right way. If your dog has done something good, patting them on the head is the worst way to tell them. This is a sign of dominance and while most dogs will put up with, they don’t like it. Instead try rubbing their chest. My dog loves when I rub behind her ears. In general, dogs like the bottom half of their bodies rubbed: their chin, their chest; and their belly.

Now that you are on the road to understanding your dog you are ready to start training.

The above is general information always ask your veterinarian about the care of your Shih Tzu puppy or dog!