What Does a Confident Human Look Like?
Remember the football player you knew in high school who was bigger than everyone at your high school? If he was like the guy I’m thinking of from my high school, he was about 6’ 7” tall, weighed about 250 lbs. and was all muscle. His name was Kyle.
The funny thing about Kyle was that he was the gentlest guy at my high school. He had time for everybody and never was involved in any kinds of altercations. If he ever got involved in a fight, it was to peacefully stop the fight. You know the person I’m talking about. I always think of these types of people as huggy-bears. Everybody liked Kyle and wanted to be his friend.
Was Kyle tough on the football field? Yes. He was courted by many colleges. However, and this is critical, he had nothing to prove to anyone. Further, he had no need to fear anyone. He was confident. He could easily afford to be relaxed and comfortable with everyone.
Raising a puppy takes time, energy and patience. Early puppy socialization is your first step in building confidence. Yet, there is a proper way to do so that will foster healthy relationships with people, other dogs and animals and their environment.
Learn how to read dog body language so you will know when you need to intervene, do more training/exposure and when to stop or take a step back, if you see your pup is too cautious or over excited. Get the Dog Decoder app to help you help your pup. It’s available in iTunes and Google play.
Let’s talk about a Service Dog for a moment. One of the most important distinctions between a Service Dog and your dog is that the pup was taken into many different kinds of situations, environments, trained in obedience and properly socialized early with people, friendly dogs/puppies, other species and handled properly from the time the pup was 8 wks old until the pup turned between 2-3 years of age which is the age of maturity for dogs. The first 2 years of a puppy’s life are the years in which we as puppy owners can build and instill confidence in our babies. Just because you’re not raising a Service Dog doesn’t mean that your puppy doesn’t need early socialization. All puppies benefit from this. Not doing so can be detrimental.
Do all of this until the dog hits her age of maturity and you’ll have one of the happiest and most confident dogs you’ve ever enjoyed.
It’s also fun to get creative with training these first two years when everything is so new and exciting. If you want the dog that can go anywhere, be with everyone, likes all dogs, cats, kids, cars, horses, sits quietly while you eat and have guests, you’ve gotta put the time in.
Signs a Dog Can be Confident
Your friend Suzy has a confident Collie and it has always struck you how alike they are. Suzy loves her life and Rex, her Collie, emits the same upbeat vibe. Together, they shine a light of positivity that beams wherever they go. Rex certainly has the life of Riley, but Suzy obtained him from a respected breeder who socializes their puppies knowing the importance of good genes and a non-stress early environment
Rex is the consummate cruiser and is a joy to be around. He greets you with tail wagging and a wiggling backside plus a super-smiley face where his teeth are exposed but there is no threat. Watching Rex hanging out with other dogs is a treat, as he play-bows with mouth open and tongue rolling from side to side.
If confronted by a mutt with lesser self-esteem, Rex will try to appease the other dog by averting his eyes, nose licking, or make a bee-line for his owner sitting on the park bench. Bored with the Retriever’s nonchalant stance, this bully boy will target a nervous pup, their submissive body language an invitation to be intimidated.
This anxious soul will yawn as a clear indication they are stressed. Their furrowed brow and constant lip licking are signs of fear as they start to shake knowing this guy means business. They’ll turn their head away showing the whites of their eyes, whiskers twitching and tail hung low.
Signs a dog can feel confidence include:
Signs a dog is not confident are:
It’s hard to imagine a planet where early man lived alongside wild animals, often hunting for the same prey. Times were tough as humans had a lot to contend with and their weapons were often no match for the mammoth, megalania lizard, and scary-looking ground sloths.
Back then, humans had their work cut out just staying alive and most of the time they must have felt out-numbered. Looks like the local wolves did early-man a favor when they scavenged for food around their campfires. As two very different species converged, evolution got a major wake-up call and taking the best attributes of the wolf created the cool dogs we know today.
Wolves are confident creatures that live in packs and work supremely well together raising their kids and bringing food to the table. Dogs, on the other hand, are generally reliant on us so they can be a stylish representation of a person with high self-esteem or a submissive, scared pup at the hands of a lowly human being. We make our dogs confident – or not.
As our companions, we have molded their characters with some dogs bred for working, friendship, and alas, fighting. In the right hands, a dog will show prowess in the show ring, agility trials, or as a police K9 – respected by all. In the wrong hands, they can be timid or aggressive. This is why the laws need to catch up as we created this species and are responsible for how they walk in this world.
Confident dog vs submissive dog. Which is better?
The bond between a dog and his person is nothing to underestimate. It’s based on mutual love, appreciation, and most of all, trust. Contrary to popular belief, earning a dog’s complete trust isn’t as simple as giving out a few treats and belly rubs. If you want your dog to trust you with his life, you need to earn it. It can take months, and even years, of dedicated love and attention to earn a dog’s trust. Not every relationship has it, but if your dog trusts you 100%, you’ll know. Here’s how.