Dogs, Their Secret Lives

(Inspired by the Dog documentary featured on Channel 4)

Do you know what our dog buddies do in a day from the moment they wake up until they retire at night? Do you know what they were doing back home while we go someplace and do our own thing? Do you try to document how they’ve been even for a short period of time?
In a documentary featured about dogs on Channel 4, some amazing discoveries were discovered by pet parents regarding what life is with dogs all alone in several homes. The amazing discovery and account led animal behavioural scientists to study dog ethics and manners when they were not with their human parents. If you are a doting parents of dogs who have some questions about why and how their dogs have certain conditions like, overweight, depressed, diabetic and other known health disorder for dogs. You would surely find out most of the causes by spending a little experiment of close monitoring them especially if they were alone and not within your watchful eyes. The help of a CCTV or monitoring camera will be a sure edge to track about how they get to their condition.

Health Condition. Most of us pet parents claim we’ve been feeding them with healthy and correct diet. Not until we see what they are scavenging around once we go out our homes. In the documentary, the cause of the subject dog’s overweight condition was revealed: Aside from what his pet parents measured feeding based on his weight and breed. The dog also hovered over the bowls of the other pets in the house. Besides the dog’s pet parents, other people within the vicinity are also filling on the dog’s bowl without their knowledge contributing to the dog’s obese condition.

Frustration Due to Food Cravings. After watching and observing the subject dog on the documentary, animal behavioural scientists have observed that the thermal scanning analysis recordings led them to conclude that anxiety, panic and frustration add up to the dog’s craving condition. Making the dog relaxed by giving him treats and toys while everyone is out can prevent and control his food cravings where no one is around. A popular dog treat was bone. But based on actual studies real bones given to dogs can break into sharp splinter pieces that could damage a dog’s throat, oesophagus and other intestinal parts. It can also cause indigestion and other conditions that could sometimes be fatal. So you need to be very careful in choosing bones for your dogs.
Our buddies go into a lot of stress much so if they are left all alone in our homes. Dogs are pack animals and they need to belong to make them behave properly. That is why they need us so much to help them feel secure and happy. The bond between man and its loyal companion – the dog has been documented through history since the early generation of man. And through generations and ages, there are so many accounts that dogs loyalty to man has been tested and shown in so many ways and in many occasions dogs have laid their own lives for the sake and welfare of their masters – MAN.

Have you ever tried to find out what secrets does your dog keep while you are away from them?

Pretty much, Chipper just sleeps when I am not home, and we always put him and Tootsie in their crates if we are going to be gone, jut so there won't be any doggie accidents in the house.
One of the most amazing and unusual things that i discovered was part of my dog's secret life, was one summer when I had gone to visit my daughter (this was when I still lived in Idaho), and my husband was taking care of the dogs.
We had a beautiful blonde Shorkie named Fazoli. She usually liked being out in the yard in nice weather, and then came in later to sleep.

One day my husband called me and worriedly announced that when I came home, I would need to worm Fazoli. When I asked what had happened to make him think that; his reply was that he had found her out in the back yard, digging little holes and eating what he thought was dirt.
When he went out to look, it turned out that she was digging up ANGLEWORMS and eating them ! !

When I quit laughing, I explained to him that angleworms were much different than the parasitic worms that dogs get, and that it probably wasn't going to hurt her to eat one.

I've been meaning to watch this programme and had forgotten about it until now, thanks!

I remember watching a similar thing about cats (my fiancée is more a cat person) and it was actually really interesting.

Usually when we go out, our dog will sit on the chair and she'll watch us through the window as we walk/drive off haha. What she does when we're out is a mystery, I would love to know! I'd like to think she just sleeps and is relaxed, but I'm guessing maybe not. We've never had complaints about barking before, so that's good I suppose.

(08-21-2014, 09:01 AM)Happyflowerlady Wrote: Pretty much, Chipper just sleeps when I am not home, and we always put him and Tootsie in their crates if we are going to be gone, jut so there won't be any doggie accidents in the house.
One of the most amazing and unusual things that i discovered was part of my dog's secret life, was one summer when I had gone to visit my daughter (this was when I still lived in Idaho), and my husband was taking care of the dogs.
We had a beautiful blonde Shorkie named Fazoli. She usually liked being out in the yard in nice weather, and then came in later to sleep.

One day my husband called me and worriedly announced that when I came home, I would need to worm Fazoli. When I asked what had happened to make him think that; his reply was that he had found her out in the back yard, digging little holes and eating what he thought was dirt.
When he went out to look, it turned out that she was digging up ANGLEWORMS and eating them ! !

When I quit laughing, I explained to him that angleworms were much different than the parasitic worms that dogs get, and that it probably wasn't going to hurt her to eat one.

It's a good thing your buddies are that well behaved. But as animal psychologists points out in the documentary, tells that depression, anxiety and frustrations are no good for dogs since they can be unruly sometimes due to their condition. I remember I read an article about house fires initiated by pets due to this abnormal food craving condition. The dog accidentally turned on the stove knob where a pan of food was atop. That is why us parents and caregivers must take all the necessary precautions leaving them safe and generally healthy. Checking and observing their habits and their activities while we are out can really help us manage them well.

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(08-22-2014, 12:59 AM)sbnufc Wrote: I've been meaning to watch this programme and had forgotten about it until now, thanks!

I remember watching a similar thing about cats (my fiancée is more a cat person) and it was actually really interesting.

Usually when we go out, our dog will sit on the chair and she'll watch us through the window as we walk/drive off haha. What she does when we're out is a mystery, I would love to know! I'd like to think she just sleeps and is relaxed, but I'm guessing maybe not. We've never had complaints about barking before, so that's good I suppose.

The documentary was an eye opener and I really learned a lot from it and thought of really finding out my buddies whenever we were out. Its an experiment and a process we might learn a lot not only about our pet buddies of course but our homes as a whole.