1. Mouth relaxed and slightly open, tongue may be slightly visible or even slightly draped over the lower teeth: This is the dog equivalent of the human smile. It means “I am happy and relaxed.”
2. Yawn: While it is usually interpreted by humans as meaning fatigue or boredom, it is actually a stress-related signal, best interpreted as “I am tense or anxious.”
3. Lips curled to expose some teeth, mouth still mostly closed: “You are annoying me!” This is the first sign of menace or threat.
4. Lips curled up to show major teeth, some wrinkling of the area above the nose, mouth partly open: “If you do something that I might interpret as a threat, I may bite.” This is the next stage of threat but may also indicate fearfulness. Pressing a dog at this stage may lead to an aggressive attack.
5. Lips curled up to expose not only all of the teeth but also the gums above the front teeth, visible wrinkles above the nose: “Back off!” This is the full threat display that indicates a dog is ready to release a violent attack. If you are ever confronted with this display, you should not turn and run: the level of arousal is so high that your movement will probably produce a pursuit-and-attack response. Instead, cast your gaze slightly down (a slightly submissive eye position), open your mouth a bit (a bit of a counter-threat), and back off slowly.
DogandMaster.com
dogandmaster on December 15th 2006 in Dog Behaviour
Do you have an interest in becoming involved with dog breeding? If so then you probably already know that the practice of dog breeding is not something that people usually can just jump into. You must know what type of selective dog breeding is right for you.
Of course we are not talking about just having two purebred dogs that will mate and create puppies, but rather I’m talking about professional dog breeding where the owners spend their entire lives wrapped around learning only a handful of dog breeds and successfully dog breeding the animals to have specific traits.
For example there are dog breeding practices that center around selective dog breeding of large fighting dogs. These are dogs that are bred to be big and strong dogs with powerful jaws to grab and hold men or other animals.
Another example of selective dog breeding is when people work to breed scenting and tracking dogs. This type of dog breeding will produce powerful dogs with a good nose that is capable of following a scent.
DogandMaster.com
dogandmaster on December 9th 2006 in Dog Breeding
Selecting a female Dalmatian that you plan to breed is very important for proper breeding. You must choose one who you hope will become the foundation of your kennel. This means that she must be of the finest producing bloodlines with an excellent temperament and free of major faults such as deafness. Be cautious if you are offered a “bargain” brood female dog. This is a purchase to where you should not settle for less than the best and the price will be in accordance with the quality.
Conscientious breeders feel very strongly that the only reason for producing puppies is to improve and uphold the quality and temperament within the breed. It is not because he or she hopes to make a quick cash profit on an average litter, which never seems to work out in the long run and only accomplishes little beyond perhaps adding to the unfortunate number of unwanted dogs.
With conscientious breeders, the only intention for breeding a litter is a desire to improve the quality of dogs in their own kennel. As pet owners the reason for breeding is to add to the number of dogs that they own with a puppy or two from their present favorites.
DogandMaster.com
dogandmaster on December 4th 2006 in Dog Breeding
