In the West we all care for our dogs in much the same way. We put them in a crate when we go to work and we give them treats. We remind them now and then who’s boss. But if we all basically do the same thing, does that make it okay? According to welfare professional Judith Versluis, there is room for improvement. Says Judith, this way we can also become our dog’s best friend. This is her story.

Image: Pexels, Mathias Reding

Judith, if our dog lived free, how would it spend its day?

There is an Indian dog ethogram which shows us how a dog behaves when it lives in a more natural way. Outside the confines of a home. We can see on what activities it spends its days, how it behaves, and what its needs are. So, we learn that such a free-ranging dog spends 54 percent of its life resting and sleeping. It spends 27 percent on walking and other individual activities. It spends 10 percent of its time on being social with other dogs. Six percent goes to foraging for food and other self care activities. Three percent of their time is spent vocalising itself. It is interesting to add that the researchers of this ethogram found that zero percent is spent on being aggressive. The thing is, when we compare this life to the one we give our average domestic dogs, we see very few similarities!

What would such a free-range dog need?

The ethogram shows that if we want our dog to live a happy, healthy and contented life, a few things are essential. The researchers found there to be five basic needs that must be met. The number one basic need, on which the other three depend, is the absolute need for a dog to feel safe. Number two is good quality sleep. Then exercise comes at three, and food and drink come at four. Taking care of its own body is number five. But when you ask people what they think a dog needs most, they almost never mention feeling safe or good quality sleep. Even though those are the most important, basic needs.

Wouldn’t we be spoiling our friend?

If we want to give our dog the least possible it needs in life, we don’t spoil it. On the contrary, it is of vital importance for them. Take sleep. Enough good quality sleep is crucial for a dog. It needs it to stay balanced. A dog is what we call a “polyphasic sleeper” and needs more sleep phases than we do. It has to go through a sleep cycle about six times. Such a cycle lasts about 45 minutes and includes both light REM and deep sleep. What this means is that an adult dog needs 14 hours of sleep every 24 hours. For a puppy this is 18 hours.

A dog must also have the room to stretch out when it is lying down. It needs that for its spine and back. It needs to have the chance to regulate its temperature and the option of several sleeping places. It also gives it a feeling of security if it can lie higher up. So that’s why it wants to be on the couch. Not because it wants to be the boss over you. Its own special sofa can be a solution, or a plaid over the sofa.

What would happen if we did all those things?

Well, a dog that feels safe at home, and gets enough quality sleep, is mentally stronger. It will be less likely to show undesirable behaviour like lunging at other dogs or people, excessive barking or destroying things. Provided this does not arise from pain or physical discomfort, of course. If it occurs suddenly, and feels out of character, it is always advisable to visit a vet.

“A dog that feels safe at home, and that gets enough quality sleep is mentally stronger and will be less likely to show undesirable behaviour.”

Most dog owners make use of a crate. Does that make it right?

Nowadays, everyone puts their dog in a crate. Many people who bring a puppy into their home already have a crate ready. Plus, most dog ​​schools offer crate training. Dog owners lock up a high number of dogs up for many hours of the day. In the beginning, they lure it in with treats. When they go to work, they then lock their dog in the crate for half a day or more. It often has to go back into the crate at night.

Particularly puppies are locked up in a crate on their own for the night. We don’t realise it, but locking up a baby is not okay. It has just lost its mother, brothers and sisters and everything that felt familiar and safe.

To justify the use of a crate, which really is for the owner’s convenience, we call it a ‘safe place’. But what’s actually wrong with the rest of the house? If we give our dog a stable, safe base from the start, why do we need a crate?

How would a dog experience a crate?

When you think about it, a crate is really just a cage. And what animal is cool with being locked up? When we lock a dog in a crate it often enters a state of learned helplessness. There will be stress; after all, we have confined it. But knowing it can’t get out, it leaves it at that. It’s how it survives.

Another thing we are not really aware of, is that a dog doesn’t sleep very well in a crate. As mentioned, a dog needs to modulate its body temperature and it can’t do that when it is shut in. A dog should have the opportunity to choose where it wants to sleep.

We (welfare-oriented professionals) would prefer that the crate would disappear completely. Humans have designed it for their own convenience. A dog does not feel comfortable in it. In fact, there are countries in Scandinavia where crate training and crates with closed doors are not allowed.

How do dogs experience things we find normal?

A dog is a pack animal. They do not live alone, but with family. So, it is not fair to regularly leave the dog alone at home for long periods of time. It also needs to be done step by step. Nowadays there are many behavioural experts whose specialty is separation anxiety. They go through a process together with the owner so a dog can learn to be home alone.

Another thing we find normal is having a dog running next to our bicycle. Apart from the issue with safety, I would never encourage anyone to do this. After such a bicycle journey, I often hear people say about their dog it is now nice and tired. Which means they now they can leave the house all day without feeling guilty. But a dog tied to a bicycle in traffic certainly does not feel safe. It is of no use to them.

In a similar way, if you watch a dog tied up in front of a store, you can see it yawn and lick its mouth up to the nose. It is experiencing an enormous amount of stress and feels very unsafe. And so, this is how it tries to calm himself down. We humans often can’t imagine that something that is so normal for us, can be extremely stressful for an animal.

“We humans often can’t imagine that something that is so normal for us, can be extremely stressful for an animal.”

We make most of the decisions for our dog. Is that good for them?

I recently saw a dog sitting down somewhere, while the owner walked on. It made me wonder what would happen next. When the owner came back and asked the dog whether it would prefer to walk in another direction, I was pleasantly surprised. You don’t see that often. Because we actually make all the decisions for a dog and then say: “It likes that.” But would the dog ever have started on its own with a ball or a Frisbee? Would it have stood next to a bicycle with a questioning, inviting look? Again, if we look at the ethogram, that is most certainly not the case. It’s us humans who have come up with all those activities for them. We don’t let them decide, we do it for them.

It’s us humans who have come up with all those activities for them. We don’t let them decide, we do it for them.”

What about food?

Most dogs are fed the same food twice a day, their entire lives. Then we punish them when they steal something from the table. But no one eats the same thing every day for 15 years. So why do we do that to our dog? Dogs have fewer taste buds than humans, but they still need something different every now and then. It is important to continue to stimulate all their senses for life, and this includes taste. Having the opportunity to choose something, and to make a decision, is very important for a dog. For example, we can place several chews in a circle on the floor, and let our dog choose one. Just like you would let a child choose a treat from a tin.

And what are your thoughts on exercise?

When you go for a walk with your dog, why not leave your phone at home. Or at least don’t look at it. Instead, take time to really look at your dog, its body language, and enjoy being together. Also, a dog benefits from what we often call a sniff walk; loose or on a long leash, so it can choose the pace, and the route. So it can sniff around as much as it wants, after all, it’s its social media.

I teach scent or track training with dogs and owners. I always do a trial lesson first. If the dog does not want it, the course will not take place. By the way, I haven’t experienced that yet. Tracking and scent detection are activities that every dog really enjoys doing. In fact, a dog’s health and state of mind depend on regular use of its nose search system. When we put this into action, feel-good hormones are released in the dog. This is also good for their brain. Solving a puzzle together with you as a team, is a win-win for everyone.

By the way, suppressing play can be detrimental to a dog’s brain development. Playing with other dogs is important and owners should find suitable playmates when they can.

We are the leader, and we should punish our dogs if they do something wrong?

Punishment is a no go. A dog never does anything to irritate us on purpose. Undesirable behaviour usually arises from misunderstanding on our part. If we don’t learn to read its body language, how can we understand them? Getting angry comes from our own frustration. Going back to our ethogram one more time; a dog is never aggressive by nature.

So, if your dog is barking at another one across the street, something is going on. It is doing exactly as it should. It is not just barking for the sake of it, it has a reason. Likewise, I often see people with a dissatisfied face pulling their dog for something they are doing. “Hurry up,” they shout, while another time the animal was allowed to do the same thing.

By the way, if a dog does something that you experience as undesirable, this is often their natural behaviour. Dogs dig and they bark, it’s what they do. When it is on a leash and approached by another dog, it can feel unsafe and start to bark. Correcting or punishing that is really not fair, and the way a dog naturally behaves can never be unlearned. It is something that simply can’t be changed and it’s not something that the dog can do anything about.

“Punishment is a ‘no go.’ A dog never does anything to irritate us on purpose.”

What can we do instead?

That being said, with a lot of patience and a positive reward structure, desired behaviour can be learned. We can do that by being 100 percent predictable and making sure our dog can trust us. That it feels safe and receives support where necessary. The book ‘On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals‘ by Turid Rugaas should be required reading for any dog owner. We should always remind ourselves that our dog can’t help that we become frustrated. That it can’t always understand what we mean, and that it is often the victim in all of this. And this should just not happen. It is fear, uncertainty, discomfort and not feeling safe that cause them to express what we consider undesirable behaviour.

“Dogs dig and they bark. It’s what they do. Correcting or punishing it is not fair, and natural dog behaviour can never be ‘unlearned.'”

And finally, how can we best ‘see’ our dog?

By paying money to a breeder, shelter or foundation, you become the owner of your dog. But you should know, a dog can’t see itself as your property. It really wants to be your friend, how amazing is that! Honestly, a dog is the animal in the world that enjoys the most living with humans. We owe it to them to make their life with us as valuable and fun as possible. To become their best friend. To treat them as a member of the family, at all times. And not just when it suits us. Incidentally, this is a win-win situation. After all, our own physical and mental health benefits enormously from such a close and unconditional connection.

My advice is not always nice for my clients to hear. But as a specialist in animal welfare, I have no choice but to be on Team Dog. So; be a predictable owner. And every time you want to do something with your friend, ask yourself: How would they feel about it? Then you will become their best friend too.

“Every time you want to do something with your friend, ask yourself: How would they feel about it? Then you will also become their best friend.”

Judith’s training is based on:

The work by internationally-acclaimed Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas. Her book ‘On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals‘ is considered a classic in the field of dog behaviour and the brain. It is based on what dogs need to live a safe, happy and healthy life.

An Indian research model based on free-roaming dogs (see here). In india, dogs are an integral part of the human environment. Such a model can help us understand our domestic dogs better.

The dog ethogram by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata. It is a list of dog behaviours based on free-ranging, urban dogs.

Image (Pexels, Hiago-Rocha): Can we learn from street dogs?

About our Interviewee

Judith Versluis is a recognised dog welfare behavioural specialist. Judith helps dogs and their ‘owners’ find balance in life. Just like people, dogs can handle life better if their capacity to handle things and stressors are in balance. Judith’s site also has tips. For example, how a dog’s health and state of mind depend on regular use of its nose seeking system, such as scent training.

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