Today’s Woof is a bit of a dog-appreciation-post…as if we would post anything different!

Valentine’s Day has come and gone and regardless of your romantic leanings, your dog is still awesome:

Despite dogs coming in all shapes and sizes (more so than any other species), they can still recognise other dogs as dogs, visually only – that’s pretty amazing!
Dogs recognise other dogs in a crowd and Do dogs know other dogs are dogs?

Dogs with grey muzzles are wise and proud, but why do dogs go grey early?

Always ask: Does my dog want to be petted or hugged?
So how do you know? Try the pet-pause-respect test with your dog and remember some dogs don’t want belly-rubs!

How much exercise does it take to keep your breed happy & healthy?

Physical exercise is great, but don’t forget you need to match it with mental exercise too. Here are a couple of really puzzling challenges for your dog to get his brain working hard:
Problem Solving Game and Fun with a shape sorter box!

Training is not just about teaching cute behaviours, like this amazing Irish dancing sequence, (even though that has lots of benefits too) but also preparing your dog for more difficult times – like maintaining open channels of communications – Choice & Control

I know you know our relationship with dogs is pretty deep, but did you know it’s this deep? Dogs’ hormones adjust to match those of their owners

A socialised person, like you, doesn’t need to approach, greet or touch other people while out and about; indeed to do so would be weird and a little creepy. Well, socialised dogs are the same – that’s what being socialised is, it means you can ignore stuff because it’s not a big deal. Most adult dogs are DINOS and the rest probably need to develop a little more self-control in learning about polite greetings, even if their people think they are just being friendly: “My dog is friendly!” A public service announcement and a funny spin on this here.

Here’s a tug of war that will make you smile 🙂

Snoopy has something to say about more traditional notions of dog training! A visit to the library