Facts
The dog is the most popular of domesticated pets. There are more than 100 breed. They range in size from 2 lbs to over 200 lbs. The Chihuahua is the smallest and the St. Bernard and Mastiff are the largest.
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| Pictures of Dogs & Puppies | |||
Dogs have been domesticated for at least 10,000 years.
There are at least 6 main varieties of dogs: shepherds, hounds, greyhounds, terriers, mastiffs and bird dogs. In the artic, there are sled dogs.
A dog's intelligence and its willingness to train is very dependent on its breed as well as the individual. Shepherds and poodles are very intelligent and can be trained easily. However, this depends highly on the individual.
Cross bred dogs are called mutts or mongrels. Most people thinks mutts have a better temperament than a purebred dog but this is not always true. A mutt's size, shape and temperament are all unpredictable.
Dogs are members of the family of Canidae. They are related to wolves, jackals and foxes. The family of dogs belongs to the mammalian order Carnivoa. All dogs belong to a single species regardless of their size or other differences. The Latin name is Canis Familiaris.
A dog is a social animal. Normal psychological development are based on the association with other dogs. In other words, they are pack animals. When you adopt a dog, you are its surrogate pack leader.
A worried dog holds his ears down
An attentive dog will wrinkle its forehead and have its ears erect.
Characteristics- Varies from breed to breed
- Powerful jaws
- keen senses of smell and hearing
- social instinct that maintains order in a pack
Breeds
Dog breeds are specialized into groups.
- Sporting Breeds - bird dogs or gun dogs
- Griffon
- Pointer
- Retriever
- Setter
- Spaniel
- Vizsla
- Weimaraner
- Hounds - hunting, sight and scent hounds
- Afghan Hound
- Basenji
- Basset hound
- Beagle
- Bloodhound
- Borzoi or Russian Wolfhound
- Coonhound both black and tan
- Dachshund
- Deerhound
- Foxhound
- Greyhound
- Harrier
- Norwegian elkhound
- Otter hound
- Rhodesian Ridgeback
- Saluki
- Whippet
- Irish Wolfhound
- Working Breeds - herding, farm, guard and sled dogs
- Alaskan Malamute
- Belgian Malinois
- Belgian Sheepdog
- Belgian Tervuren
- Bernese mountain dog
- Bouvier des Flandres
- Boxer
- Briard
- Bullmastiff
- Collie
- Doberman pinscher
- German shepherd
- Great Dane
- Great Pyrenees
- Komondor
- Kuvasz
- mastiff
- Newfoundland
- Old English Sheepdog
- Puli
- Rottweiler
- St. Bernard
- Samoyed
- Schnauzer
- Shetland Sheepdog
- Siberian Husky
- Welsh Corgi both Cardigan and Pembroke
- Terrier Breeds - bred to attack animals living in the ground
- Airedale terrier
- Australian terrier
- Border terrier
- Bull terrier
- Cairn terrier
- Fox terrier
- Irish terrier
- Kerry Blue terrier
- Lakeland terrier
- Manchester terrier
- Norwich terrier
- Schnauzer
- Scottish terrier
- Welsh terrier
- Toy Breeds
- Chihuahua
- English toy spaniel
- Brussels Griffon
- Italian Greyhound
- Japanese spaniel
- Maltese
- Pekingese
- Miniature pinscher
- Pomeranian
- toy poodle
- pug
- silky terrier
- toy Manchester terrier
- Yorkshire terrier
- Non sporting dogs
- Boston terrier
- bulldog
- Chow Chow
- Dalmatian
- French bulldog
- keeshond
- Lhasa Apso
- poodle
- Schipperke
As Pets
The best time to get a dog is when it is a puppy between six and eight weeks old. Most people will adopt a puppy at this age. I, for one, would rather get a dog that is over a year. I choose to do this because the dog is most likely housetrained and its temperament, personality and size has already reached maturity. In other words, you know what you are getting when you get it. Puppies like to chew. A full grown dog most often wont chew your new shoes or chair leg.
Puppies
The newborn puppy is blind and deaf. In about 14 days, its eyes will open. During the 3rd week, the ears open and the puppy will react to sound. At this time, its first teeth come in and it will attempt to eat solid food if offered. It also begins to crawl and begin to respond to people and other dogs. A puppy will cry and yelp when removed from its litter at first. This is normal.
Training
Successful training is based on a reward. To be effective, you must reward your dog someway immediately after its performance so the dog recognizes the connection. I have housetrained all my dogs by rewarding them with a biscuit after they go out and do their business. The vet told me to do this. The problem with this is: every time my dog wants anything, it asks to go out.
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