Dog Depression

There are two concepts that mark the posterior development of the puppy: the mother's dependence and the imprinting. At the beginning the puppy is very dependent of the mother, before the owner comes into the picture. The mother is the first physical image that imprints between the puppy's third and eighth weeks. This period is known as imprinting, it will allow the puppy to recognize its kind and especially to recognize the later on when mating. If these links have not been established normally, the puppy has no references and that harms its balance. The depressions are usually the last evolving step of anxiety. There are depressions familiar with puppies and those with adult dogs.

The Puppy's Depression or Indifference Depression: These are very serious problems. The puppy is in the stage of development and any error in its development can lead to fatal consequences. The depressed puppy is very calm. It rapidly shows indifference toward the outer world, it doesn't look at us in the eyes, runs away from visual and physical contact. The puppy does not stand being held in our arms, it howls and doesn't play. It will not be capable of going out for a walk and if it does it won't even move 1 centimeter.

Adult Depression: The dog is completely insensitive to its surroundings and it is incapable of reacting on its own. The following types of depression are show below:

• Reaction based depression: it is the consequence of an important shock or a state of stress. It can be due to the loss of a companion, an accident or an important change in the dog's surroundings. The dog stays still, it doesn't eat and can be moaning constantly. The case in which the dog has lost an animal it has lived with for several years, is very significant.
• Regression depression: the dog seems like its back to its infancy and has forgotten everything it has learned. This usually happens in the old dog that enters the phase of senility. The animal is dirty and doesn't stop moaning.
  Antidepressants have good results, as long as the owner has the patience to wait a little. It is clear that prevention is the way of avoiding these types of problems, which can lead to aggressiveness.

Aggressiveness: This is another type of behavioral upheaval which is very feared by the owners. It can be expressed in different ways and have different etiologies. A normal type of aggressiveness exists; it is an instinct of survival that works when the dog is in its wild state. Aggressiveness is not harmful for the rest and its objective is not to rebel against the rules. We have to be able to differentiate between the inter-specific and the intra-specific conducts of aggression.

The Intra and Inter Specific Aggressions: Intra-specific aggression defines the threat and clash behaviors between 2 individuals of different species. A clear example is the relationship between the predator and the prey, which is not the case of aggressiveness toward humans. The inter-specific aggression concerns the individuals of a same species while defending a territory, hierarchical position, etc.

Aggressive Attitude: Independently from the motive of aggression, the dog usually presents the same attitudes: prickled hair, retracted lips and growling. If the dog is sure of itself, the tail is straight up; if it is scared, its tail will be down. The most dangerous dogs are the ones that show no signs before they attack. Dog Biting