Dogs and Humans

Dogs develop habits that never cease to amaze us as they interact within a human habitat sharing mans lives and this allows a better way of life and communication. This is probably why dogs behave in special ways while they are trying to communicate by means of sound, looks and gestures like for example whey they want to alert us of danger etc. Dogs are excellent observers and they base it on numerous signals to which they condition themselves to naturally. It is impossible to know if dogs really feel the way we humans feel, but still it is nice to think that when our dogs come and lay their head on our laps that they are acting because of their desire to receive affection, and that when they lick our faces they are letting us know they care. It's possible that this is a conditioned reaction, but there does not seem to exist any instinct for a dog to express conditioned affection if he does not want to because of his own desire and need of both giving and receiving affection. One thing that is interesting is that the protective attitude a dog has towards a child could very well change when the child becomes a teenager. If the teenager starts to have a cruel attitude with the dog, the dog's behavior can vary completely. It's possible that the dog's love will not change but he will not tolerate any abuse. Within the family unit a dog learns to submit to the hierarchy order he is to be in but in front of a child he will feel he is on the same level, even when the child is a teenager, and he will try to continue on with the same relationship. Although a dog may be an adult dog, emotionally he is still like a child. There is still very little we know about the mental processes that go on in a dogs mind like their emotions and feelings. We still have a long road to follow before obtaining any answers.