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Can You Nurture Your Dog’s Natural Instincts?

By Jacquelyn Kennedy
Updated on

Our dogs have inherent characteristics that we wouldn’t change for anything! 

Dog jump for ball friendship with

Your pooch takes delight in the simplest of things, from sniffing the grass to meeting a dog they have never encountered before.

They also love to cuddle up with you and express their affection through a variety of other charming, endearing ways.

They’re natural companions in life, and that comes to them freely. 

But how can you nurture their natural characteristics in a way that enriches their life?

Well, we’ve prepared a brief overview for you below. 

Natural Food

Obviously, dogs aren’t chefs unless there’s a thrilling plot twist that we’re missing somewhere. 

Therefore, their natural way of eating food is to simply eat it raw.

That’s what their ancestral wolves did, hunting for their meals with every passing day.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should set your dog on a helpless chicken, and not much good would come of that anyway.

However, you can introduce them to a raw food diet instead!

Fortunately, there are plenty of remarkable offers when it comes to raw dog food such as these.

Bella and Duke provide the finest range of the stuff, instilling each portion with complete nutritional value for dogs of all sizes and ages.

They even have testimonials from top vets advocating the use of raw dog food.

In the end, a dog would rather tuck into this kind of meal than anything that’s got artificial additives included.

They have sharp senses, and they know what’s real and what’s fake from one good whiff!  

Play Dates 

Two dogs laying obey

Just as you might take your child to a play date, dogs can enjoy them too.

Take the growing popularity of swimming pools among dogs (yes, you read that right!).

For example, an event in Gloucestershire meant that owners could take a dip in an outdoor swimming pool alongside their dogs and enjoy a paddle together.

Fun times were had for all, and no doubt, many new friends were made on that special day.

Fortunately, these events aren’t a rarity either, with some people offering the use of their back-garden pools for this very purpose! 

How does this help your dog’s natural instincts, though?

Well, all dogs have some instinctive ability to paddle when they’re in deep water, as all it really takes is kicking their legs and trying to run.

However, this shouldn’t be confused with an ability to reliably swim in times of need.

Therefore, it can be a good idea just to build up that intuition on their part and teach them to swim in a slow, steady, and fun fashion.

They’ll get plenty of social stimulation, too, as all dogs do need! 

Further Training

We all love to train our dogs, and fortunately, dogs love to be trained! 

A recent BBC report stated that dogs are not only our best friends, but our oldest ones, with their loyalties baked into their very DNA.

Therefore, being obedient to their human owners does come naturally and could be regarded as being ‘instinctual’ on some level, especially after centuries of co-living with people and being domesticized.

Dogs are pack animals, and they need an alpha to follow. You’re it! 

Training can be a good bonding exercise, too, whether you’re teaching them essential tricks (sit, stay) or non-essential tricks (handshake, rollover).

Your best friend enjoys it because he or she is wired to please and loves spending time with you!

Stick to the training, and you’ll have a great relationship with your pooch that pays homage to their inherent roots. 

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About the author

Jacquelyn Kennedy

PetDT was founded by Jacquelyn Kennedy, a dog lover and pet admirer. She built the website to provide pet owners with information, experiences, and opinions on breeds, temperament, personalities, health, nutrition, products, and care.