Dogs And Their Environment

Just as it is with people, there is ongoing debate as to whether dogs receive most of their programming from their genes or their environment. Most end up agreeing that there are elements of both that affect the dog’s way of behaving. In the wild it is survival of the fittest; the smartest, strongest, and healthiest are the ones who make it the longest. When you bring a dog into your home, you have to add to the mix the canine-human interaction.


Most of us know about the fight or flight instinct that we all have. When human beings observe them in their dogs they don’t always recognize that that is what’s going on. For example a person might be afraid of something and they project their own feelings onto their dog. If they see a dog fight they think the dog is very brave for trying to protect them, when in fact the dog is instinctively fighting for his own life, or so he perceives. If a dog they don’t know adapts the fight response, that is also fear-based in them, but they view the dog as vicious. The same confusion hits people when they see a dog freeze or run away in a conflict. Some people feel sorry for them and want to coddle them, while others will think they have a coward on their hands.

The point here is to get you to think about how to read your dog’s body language. Learning more about it will enhance your relationship. However your dog acts, don’t worry about whether its genetics or environment talking, use what you do know to train her into becoming the dog of your dreams.

Dogs as Rescuers

Some dogs are trained in search and rescue. Because of their keen sense of smell and their desire to please, they can be excellent in this line of work. For instance in the UK one group that trains and uses dogs in this way is the National Search and Rescue Dog Association (NSRDA). They train the dogs to work with scent in the air rather than having to let them get a sniff of a missing person’s clothing or other item. Their dogs can work in teams and often do when there is a vast expanse to be searched. They employ more than 90 dogs specifically trained to find missing people.

Dogs have other assets beside their noses and trainability. They can also work in dark areas and have excellent hearing. Some believe that one dog is equal to about 20 people when performing a search.

Search and rescue dogs are called in for a number of things, including looking for crime victims, lost hikers and climbers, missing children, and natural disasters. The dogs work with a human handler that they have trained with.

Dogs are used worldwide for search and rescue work. Some of the other areas they are employed are law enforcement, finding dead bodies, pulling people from water they may have fallen into, and avalanche rescue.

In 2001 when the World Trade Center Towers in New York City were destroyed, dogs contributed invaluable services. Although it quickly became more a search than a rescue, these dogs contributed above and beyond the call of any duty. Not only has credit been given to their incredible noses, their hearts were mentioned just as often if not more.

Lost Dogs

We’ve all heard or read amazing stories about a dog somehow being lost and finding his way home weeks and months later and across many miles. These stories are heart-warming and uplifting and even bring tears of joy to our eyes. The sad fact is that of the millions of pets who are lost each year, only a lucky few are reunited with their people.



If the unthinkable should happen and your dog goes missing, you now have more options than at any other time in history for finding him. Besides the obvious forms of ID (more later) the Internet has a number of sites to help you. You can post pictures for a much wider exposure than just flyers around your neighbourhood. You should definitely use these as well, but the web gives you another great tool.

Speaking Dog

Other anecdotes we hear a lot are from people who swear that their dog understands every word they say. We don’t want to burst any bubbles, but it is more likely that you and your dog are so bonded that he knows your habits, tone of voice, body language, and also some words. There are definitely people in the world who can communicate with animals, but you may or may not be one of them.

One thing that is important when you talk to your dog is how you say what you say. You should try to stick to about three voices. One is your happy, loving “good dog” voice; another is your sterner “naughty” voice, and the one you use when you give him a command. The more negative or serious messages don’t need to be delivered in an angry or mean tone, just one that says that you mean business.

There are researchers who conduct tests on dogs to find out how many words they can recognize. Some of the studies have had surprising results. There are dogs who can actually remember 200 or more words. They learn by attaching a name to an object. That fact was already well-known, but the fact that some of them can learn so many and keep them in their memories is what is so amazing.