Dogs are complicated creatures. They wag their tails, growl and snap, run in circles, snuggle on the bed, and eat the couch.

We all have those days when the family dog just drives us up the wall and over it. He won’t stop barking, he’s running around like a headless chicken, he’s chewing up your favorite shoes, and he marked the new table in the dining room.

Why are dogs so crazy? Why do they wreck the house when we leave, and sometimes when they’re unattended for a whole five minutes while you’re in the other room?

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Over the last few decades, and in particular the last few years, there has been a lot of discussion about the differences between the pure bred dogs and the mutts, which have usually been shunned from official circles. Some of this has been behavioral differences, and some are just physical differences, which can also include health problems, such as hip dysplasia, which is a common problem in many larger pure-bred dogs.

The pure bred dog generally has specific, predictable breeding quality. There are guidelines from the American Kennel Club, among others, that determine the qualities needed for papered dogs that can be shown in official circles. There are certain qualities that particular breeds are expected to have, and some of those qualities are mainstream enough that a person can determine from how a mutt walks what genes from what breed they have (For example, the German Shepherd walk) .

Owning a pure bred dog used to be, and in many ways still is, the goal of dog owners around the world. In old times, owning a pure bred dog was considered a sign of wealth and high status.

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An owner’s bond with their dog is one of the most amazing things to see.

The bond is subtle, and quiet, but you can see it between owner and dog when you look at them interacting with one another, when you see them reacting to each other in every environment.

For the dog, when their owner is a true companion, they have trust in their owner’s reactions and judgment. You can see that trust in how they come when called, running with a tail wagging and excitement in their step toward you. They respond to their owner more than others, though a dog with a well established relationship to humans in general will respond to everyone with some degree.

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Watching dogs is a long time hobby of mine, because they do such interesting things. No, really, watch your dog for just 10 minutes while he is outside with you. If you don’t have a dog, I suppose you could always borrow a friend’s (with permission, of course). The point is, you can learn a lot from simply observing.

Dogs are unpredictable creatures because they are first and foremost conscious, intelligent animals that we don’t always understand. So, when we look at them and note their behavior, we have to look at them and understand that perhaps we don’t understand them as well as we’d like to think.

A person who is walking in the park and encounters a dog on a leash barking and freaking out at them may make a few assumptions or conclusions. The first might be that the owner of the dog is not a very good one, since they can’t control their dog. Another might be that the dog is aggressive and shouldn’t be out in the first place. Unfortunately, a lot of these assumptions, whatever they might be, are wrong.

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Some things to consider around the house when you bring home a dog for the first time or the fiftieth time, whether they’re a puppy, or a fully grown adult dog.

Consider basic dog behavior. They play, they roughhouse, and they occasionally get into trouble that you wish they wouldn’t. That’s their nature, and unless you happen to be the luckiest dog owner in the world, any dog you bring home is bound to get into some trouble.

Look around your house. Are there wires everywhere? If you run a computer based business from your home, you’re bound to have electrical wires everywhere. If you have an entertainment system, a personal computer, or even just a stereo, you’re going to have something a dog can chew on, or trip over. Chewing or tripping on electrical wires is not only bad for your dog, but also bad for the equipment in your house. It can get expensive too, depending on what they happen to break in the process.

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