How to Show a Dog Love

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Ryan Gwilliam with Expert Village and I am going to teach you how to love your dog. Most people think that the best way to love a dog is to give him treats, buy him toys, tell him you love him...things like that. But it is important to understand that dogs don't understand when you say you love them. They only understand your actions. They only understand the way it is that you touch them, so, think of a dog in his natural habitat. They aren't normally sitting on a couch all day. They are normally running around with a pack of dogs finding food, finding water, playing, things like that. What we want to do is make their life with us as close to normal and natural as we possibly can. Which is why i say a lot of things about not baby talking them, and giving them treats for doing everything. It's not because i don't love my dogs-I absolutely love my dogs. It's just because it's not natural to them and it's actually going to be a little bit confusing for them. So, we just expect the proper behavior from them, and when they do, then we reward them. When I pet my dogs it's not an actual pet because I really don't think that that's the most...I don't think they enjoy that the most. What I think they enjoy the most is a natural massage, just like we would. So I would actually, when my dogs are calm and relaxed, I like to give them a nice massage. Rub down their neck, their shoulders, back legs and everything like that. Give them a nice massage and you'll notice they'll go into a deep relaxation, even fall asleep maybe. So that's what they really love. The best way that you can show your dog that you love him is to take him on a walk, because that's his most natural activity. If you really love your dog and you want him to respect you and love you as well, take him on a walk. Give him some exersize. Let him know that you want to go out and experience the world with him. "