Dogs are affectionate creatures. They are also very helpful and of course simply love to have fun. They will love and protect their owners and family with their very own lives. But what dogs love a lot is that they love to be petted. You pet your dog by basically rubbing it down, scratching it behind the ear and head and many other ways. For most dog owners, they may have experienced that when they pet their dog, the dog may roll over on its back with open legs and bent paws. But why do dogs do this? Why does your dog go into this position when petted?

Well, the dog goes into this position mostly when it is petted while laying down. Your dog is basically submitting to you and is encouraging more petting. This position is a relaxing, submissive and pet me position. Your dog is signalling you to rub away, don’t stop that groovy hand massage all over its body. The odd thing about dog going on its back and opening its legs while paws bent is that it will do this also if you begin to pet it with your feet. Yes, I do pet my dogs with my feet when I see them laying down and  wish to give a little doggy love or just being playful.

Once you have stopped petting your dog, it will simply roll over and stand up. It is like your dog have gone into a petting trance. 

No they don’t. Dogs don’t bark at nothing, they bark at something you just can’t see or have not seen yet. Dogs have good eyesight, smell and hearing, way much better than any human being. What your dog detects and barks at you may not see because of your poor vision, sense of hearing and smell. It is also believed that dogs are able to see spiritual beings. Let me tell you a story about a dog I have named Venom. He is a cross breed between a Labrador retriever and a German shepherd.​

At nights when Venom was left outside to keep watch, he had this habit of barking at irregular hours when everyone was sound asleep. Sometimes it got quite annoying because the barking would go on for long stretches of time before he would give up. So we tended to ignore him barking as simply “Dogs being Dogs” until one day.
On this peculiar day, we were all in bed sleeping when Venom started barking as usual; by now everyone was used to it so we all ignored him as usual, covering my head under the pillow. I could not muffle his barking for long and got up and sat in bed. But I being the closest to him, I noticed something different about his barking; it was deeper than usual and way more aggressive.

I tried ignoring it but couldn't shake off the feeling that something was up, so I got up, grabbed a flash light and a baseball bat and went out to check on what the heck was all the deep barking was about. Immediately after I opened the door I noticed he had taken his “attack” stance with all the hair on her skin raising up, and then I noticed her barks were directed at a specific direction, a dark corner beside the main gate.
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I immediately knew something was definitely wrong so I went back inside and grabbed ditched the baseball bat and grabbed a machete and came back to Venom. He immediately started taking deliberate slow steps towards the dark corner while still barking aggressively and I walked behind her, flashing the light in the direction he was taking me. When we finally got there and I lifted the torch to inspect that area, there was someone at the extreme end of that corner trying without success to hide himself.

It was a thief that had jumped into the compound without realizing a dog of was in the compound. And on seeing the dog, had run to the corner but could not immediately jump back out thanks to the height of the fence. He was apprehended and handed over to the authorities. I did not have to let the thief know how skilled a machete wielder I was that day.

But we learnt on that day that Venom had a reason for every bark he made at night. And to experiment further I would stay awake beside the window at night just to confirm my theory, and for every bark he made I would observe what he was barking at. Most times it would be a cat or a rat crossing the fence. Otherwise it would be in response to another dog’s barking and other times it was in response to the footsteps of someone walking past our gate or a noise made in our neighbor's yard. But for certain, dogs do not waste barks and do not bark at nothing.

German shepherd dogs have been long known to be good guard dogs and service dogs. They are large multi-talented dogs which everyone loves. But one of the stigma regarding German shepherd dogs is that they are naturally aggressive. That is far from the truth. Train up a dog in the right way and it will give the right results. You need to have a workable training process and stick with it no matter what. If you look around, there are many training German shepherd programs out there, you just have to look around and choose the right program which suits your training needs. The key is to spend at least 30-45 minutes every day in the exact same location training your dog. Calm, fun consistency is essential. Shepherds like to have a job and love routine.

I have had the privilege to raise 2 really great German Shepherds. My current Shepherd is a female. At 6 months old, she was a handful but with daily training she learned quickly. Getting upset and showing your emotions disrupts the "safety" and stability of the pack. Remember you are alpha--you are the PACK leader. A Shepherd will not respond well too this type of crying and emotions. It is not a healthy outlet for you or the dog. Poodles, Shepherds, Dalmatians, and Weimaraners are highly intelligent dogs and extremely sensitive to human emotions.

​German Shepherds are intelligent dogs and training will not be difficult once you are committed to the training program. One of the reasons why many home dog trainers get little or undesired result is that they quit the program and do not remain consistent. Your best bet of having a non-aggressive German shepherd is to start the training from the dog was a pup. Then as the dog progress that non aggressive growth will be like a second nature. Remember that a dog is a dog and no matter the breed needs love and attention. Play with your dog and talk to the dog. You will be surprised at how great of an impact these little things have.