appreciate
The amount of food for dogs and food allergies
The recommended dry feed rate is usually indicated on the packaging by the manufacturer. Keep in mind that when feeding a dog with Super Premium food, you need half the daily norm than when using less expensive Economy class food.
With traditional homemade food, the amount of feed eaten is regulated by the dog’s appetite. The biological mechanism itself, which provides targeted behavior to meet the needs of the body in substances coming from food, must in its function control the optimal nutrition of the animal. However, this regulatory system is very sensitive to all kinds of influences and can be disrupted, like any physiological mechanism of self-regulation. Four-legged pets are so spoiled in their food preferences that they eat only one type of food, the usefulness of which can be called into question. According to scientists, the real reasons for food preferences and their changes do not always lie in the desire to satisfy the urgent needs of the body for certain food substances. Often this is a behavioral problem, exacerbated by the erroneous actions of the owners. Continue reading
How dogs learn
Animal behavior is influenced by hereditary factors and learning. The greater the proportion of the behavioral responses is the training component, the easier it is to control your dog.
Traditionally, the physiological foundations of training are considered from the standpoint of the conditioned reflex theory of I. P. Pavlov. In accordance with it, all forms of animal behavior can be explained on the basis of the principle of reflex neural communication. Moreover, the essence of training consists in the development and use in work of the necessary conditioned reflexes. According to this principle, a previously neutral stimulus — for example, the “Sit!” Command, combined with the forced landing of a dog many times — acquires the value of a conditioned stimulus, launching the arc of the conditioned reflex and causing the required actions of the animal. Without going into the subtleties of physiology, I will say that the arc of the conditioned reflex is the closure of the temporal connection between the auditory and motor centers of the brain. The reflex is considered fixed if the dog, without hesitation, sits in the desired position, barely hearing a familiar sound signal. Continue reading
What is dog functionality
Not one, even the most intelligent and strongest dog, can master all dog professions and perform all functions without exception. Like no living organism can be universal and operate flawlessly in any conditions. Features of a dog can be divided into: basic features; basic behavioral reactions; functional qualities.
1. The basic features include: breed characteristics; health, physical development; personal psychological characteristics.
Under pedigree characteristics is meant the specificity of behavior and features of the exterior of a particular breed. When buying a dog, it is imperative to take into account the breed characteristics of the selected service. For example, a huge heavy mastiff can knock a person to the ground with one jerk of powerful jaws, but at the same time he is not able to jump high in sports, as a light and graceful Doberman does. The fox terrier can be perfectly developed physically, possess a strong nervous system and even undergo a course of protective training, but in reality it simply is not able to become a bodyguard dog. Thus, an objective assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the breed is a fundamental factor in choosing a dog. The breed is not only a genetically fixed set of external characteristics of the animal’s appearance, but also its typical nature, stereotype of behavior, character. Continue reading
