A mere twenty years ago many of us would have laughed when hearing the word dog-psychologist. If the dog had a problem, we believed it to be our fault, since according to the back-then-accepted theory "there is no bad dog, only bad owner". The outcome was silent suffering, feeling of shame or the physical and emotional suppression of the dog.
Thanks God we are past these times now. Nowadays we all know that around forty percent of dog owners experience serious difficulties with their dogs and an ever increasing number of them seeks out the help of a dog therapist.
The dog therapist, or dog therapy per se, tries on the basis of tried and tested psychological principles to modify dog behaviour to the advantage of the owner. In order for the therapy to be successful, one requires exact and sound psychological and general professional knowledge of dogs.
Very often exactly these or some very similar questions arise:
- Why does my dog hate the cleaning lady and no-one else?
- Does my dog understand what I am saying?
- What does my dog dream about?
- Can I teach my dog different skills? If yes, how?
- Is punishment an effective method?
- If my dog does not feel any sense of guilt, why does he/she look guilty?
- Why does my dog bark in the car all the time?
We try to shed light, mostly to the owner's full satisfaction, on "anomalies" relating to similar issues as above, mostly having their roots in neurotics, aggressiveness, obedience, food intake and metabolism, sexuality, walking problems and similar issues.