Many guardians who adopt abandoned dogs from animal shelters say the same thing.
I wanted to comfort her, but instead I was comforted.
If you look at it that way, you can see how precious dogs are to us humans.
And how pathetic are the humans who exploit such dogs?

--- p.60

Most behaviors that dogs exhibit (barking, aggression, separation anxiety) are basically determined by their innate temperament.
Of course, the efforts of the guardian are also important.
But that's not absolute.
A dog's temperament usually begins to become apparent between 7 and 10 months of age.
Before that time, like most guardians, if you bring a dog in based solely on appearance and later find out that the temperament does not match your lifestyle or personality, you could end up in big trouble.
On the other hand, it is relatively easy to understand the temperament of an abandoned dog that you meet after it has grown to a certain extent.

--- pp.63~64

Corporal punishments such as 'hitting the nose', 'showing the belly', and 'hitting the butt with a newspaper', which are often introduced as 'educational methods' on Internet sites, are difficult to achieve their original purpose and instead bring about terrible consequences that the guardians could not have imagined.
It causes the dog to become accustomed to violence, increases stress-induced aggression, and ultimately breaks the bond with its guardian.
Some people even come to me after using this method and say, “I don’t care if things don’t get better, I just want them to go back to how they were before.”

--- p.81~82

When humans interpret the language of a dog's tail, they must also pay attention to the speed at which the tail moves.
The speed at which the tail wags tells you how excited the dog is.
Dogs get excited not only when they are happy, but also when they are angry.
A rapid wagging of the tail can indicate either great joy or great anger.


You can also use the length of time a dog wags its tail as a criterion for differentiation.
Usually, when the range is wide, it expresses positive emotions, and when the range is narrow, it expresses negative emotions.

--- p.93

Many people say that separation anxiety is caused by us doting on our dogs too much, touching them too often, hugging them, and sleeping with them.
This is a very wrong idea.
In the United States, there have even been studies showing that co-sleeping has no correlation with separation anxiety.
Of course.
Because it's not about being pretty, it's about being predictable that matters most.

--- p.127

The reason we think our dogs are vengeful or feel guilty is because of anthropomorphism.
Personification refers to the tendency to attribute human characteristics, especially human mental characteristics, to non-human beings and to interpret them by comparing them to humans.
Because we don't know much about dogs' emotional development and don't try to understand it properly, we just look at dogs the way we want to.
Opening your mind and embracing the research findings of the veterinary community can give you a new perspective on your dog.

'How anxious must the dog have been after I left home for it to go to the bathroom against its will?' 'How scared must the dog be of being scolded for it to make such a pitiful (as if feeling guilty) expression without even knowing why it's being scolded?' Only by thinking like this can we begin to work on treating the dog's separation anxiety, and as a result, people and dogs can understand each other better and truly communicate.

--- p.152

I like the saying, 'A dog is a dog.'
Some people may find this statement offensive.
Because it can be heard as meaning that dogs are dogs and you can treat them however you want.
But the saying I like, 'a dog is a dog,' never means that.
This means that dogs are not people, so they should be understood and respected as dogs themselves.

--- p.153

Sometimes I see children who are good at walking in the mountains or quiet parks, but have a particularly hard time walking in the city.
Why is that? Dogs have much more sensitive senses, like hearing and smell, than we do.
Although their vision is inferior to that of humans, their field of view and sensitivity to moving objects are far superior.

--- p.158

There are some things that guardians should be careful about when potty training their dogs.
Young puppies eat a lot and therefore defecate frequently.
Also, because the sphincter and colon muscles are not well developed, it is difficult to hold back bowel movements.
That is why, rather than scolding your child for a potty mistake during this time, you should give them time and wait.
The age at which children can control their sphincter muscles and hold back their bowel movements well is from 5 months of age, and at this age, they can hold back their bowel movements and urination for up to 1 month plus 1 hour.
For example, a 5-month-old puppy can tolerate 6 hours, and an adult dog can tolerate 9 to 10 hours at 8 months.

--- pp.167~168

If your dog shows signs of separation anxiety, you may need to create a space of their own using a crate.
By creating your dog's own space and getting them into the habit of staying in the crate for a certain amount of time even when at home, you can help them develop independence and overcome anxiety about being alone.

--- p.175

In our country, there are many parents who have negative perceptions about education.
I was worried that it might be putting too much stress on the dog.
But in reality, dogs in modern society often become stressed due to boredom, as they have no time to do anything or think about anything.
If you train your dog incorrectly, such as through corporal punishment, it will definitely cause stress to the dog.
But if done correctly, training becomes fun and educational for your dog.
Through such play, the dog 'thinks' about what he should do and how to do it, and gets pleasure from the process.
Thinking dogs have more flexible behavior and feel happier.

--- p.245

Studies of dogs with anxiety have shown that they lack serotonin, a hormone that helps control anxiety, similar to depression in humans.
Medications commonly prescribed for behavioral problems in dogs focus on increasing the amount of these hormones.

--- p.272

When people ask me how to make their dogs happy, I always say, "Tired dogs are happy."
Until recently, dogs were used for a variety of tasks, including protecting people from wild animals, helping with hunting, and carrying heavy objects.
In the process, I burned off energy and de-stressed.
Just as people can become depressed when they do nothing for a long time, dogs can also become stressed and more likely to engage in behavioral problems when they have excess energy.

--- p.291

When you free-feed your dog, he will stop eating the free-feeding food and will try to eat other foods until he develops a habit of eating the free-feeding food in the early morning when everyone else is asleep.
Because they don't see much value in the free, unlimited feed they get.
The problem is that if you develop such a habit, your fasting period will become longer, and if your fasting period becomes longer, bile will build up and you will vomit yellow vomit.
This can lead to unhealthy consequences.

--- pp.306~307