This page is part of the Auxiliary section of the Beginner's Course of the
D.S. Dog Training Workshop - an element of the Dog Science Network
How to Make Your Dog Happy in General
Your Dog's Essential Need for Companionship and Belonging
Dogs are social animals that are born with a powerful need to be in the physical presence of their loved ones. Therefore, to be happy, they need to view themselves as respected members of a family group that values their contribution.
Nature never meant for dogs to spend much time alone. They are not very good at it, and it tends to make them tremendously unhappy.
The Value of the Opportunity to Make Many Well-Rewarded Responses
Beyond that, what makes a dog or a human happy is the opportunity to make a lot of responses, many of which are rewarded.
Let's break that down a bit for clarity's sake. What your dog needs to be happy is a situation in which there are a great many opportunities for him to do things that either are intrinsically rewarding or that, very frequently, produce a consequence that he finds rewarding, for whatever reason.
For example, German Shepherds are wild about interacting with their favorite humans in intense ways. Therefore, if your goal is to make your German Shepherd happy, you will want to place him in a situation where his humans are frequently telling him to do something that he thinks is fun, either that or place him in a situation where his participation in interactive activities produces a consequence that, from the dog's point of view, makes his participation worthwhile.
A Shepherd would much rather do obedience drills or herd sheep than lay around the living room watching you watch TV. That is true even though both activities may involve being constantly ordered about by his human handlers, and the herding is physically demanding, on top of being out-and-out painful from time to time.
Think in terms of yourself for a second. You might think that you would hate working a job where you had to try to talk people into buying something. However, if you had a sales job where the clients were lined up one right after the other and the great majority of those people bought something that provided you with a huge sales commission, then, you would love being a salesman. It's not the job itself that matters, so much as the rewards that count.
Do you see what I mean? In addition to what we know from our own observations, research tells us that what makes both dogs and humans happy is the opportunity to be in a situation where they have a chance to make many responses that very frequently pay off in a very significant way.
The Impact of a Dense Schedule of Reinforcement on Your Dog's State of Mind
That kind of situation where the subject has the opportunity to make a great many responses, a great percentage of which are either highly rewarded or are, in and of themselves, intrinsically rewarding, is known as a dense schedule of reinforcement, and it makes for a very happy dog.
So if your dog is of a breed that needs a great deal of exercise, then, the more chance he has to exercise, and the more fun those exercise opportunities are, the happier your dog will be. The same is true for your dog's need for affection. In fact, the same is true for all of his needs.
You just need to read up on your particular breed of dog, to find out what his natural likes, dislikes, and preferences are.
How Obedience Training Can Serve to Ensure Your Dog's happiness
Wouldn't you be happy if someone gave you a high-paying job, one where you knew rewarding opportunities would be coming your way in a fast and furious fashion? If you handle it right, then for your dog, the chance to work for you in the obedience field can be just such a dream job.
That's the beautiful thing about obedience training. It provides you with a framework of interaction that will allow you put your dog on the kind of dense schedule of reinforcement that can ensure his happiness.