What does your dog really need?
Having a dog isn’t just about teaching them to sit, stay, walk on a lead and come when called. It’s about fully caring for a living being and satisfying the needs of that species. If you don’t meet basic dog needs, you will likely struggle in other areas. And sometimes, meeting the lower level needs is all that’s needed to change a dog’s behaviour.
When you think of a dog’s essential needs, your mind may turn to basic requirements like food and water. But domestic dogs need much more than this to live healthy and happy lives.
In fact, their needs can be described in a similar way to human needs. Invented in the 1900s, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is still used today to explain human behaviour and motivations. American psychologist Abraham Maslow said humans are first motivated to satisfy basic physiological needs, like food and shelter, that enable them to survive.
Once those needs have been taken care of, a person will move through the levels until they reach the top of the pyramid. After biological needs come psychological needs – safety, love, belonging, esteem – and finally self-fulfilment needs, otherwise known as self-actualisation.
Rethinking basic dog needs
“Too often, basic needs are not met or are under met.“
Linda Michaels
Translating this model to dogs has been made a lot easier, thanks to the work of dog psychologist and trainer Linda Michaels. Her Hierarchy of Dog Needs uses Maslow’s idea as the foundation, altering each layer of the pyramid to suit canine companion animals. Those who live with dogs should start at the bottom, working their way up to fulfil the most complex needs of their dog.
As with Maslow’s hierarchy, biological needs are the first necessity to tick off. This means ensuring a dog has an adequate diet, fresh water and exercise along with a cosy place to shelter and gentle care from groomers and vets. As Michaels told Psychology Today: “Force-free training and fear-free veterinary and grooming care go hand in hand. Positive interaction between these professionals and our dogs is critical to their emotional and physical fitness.” (Most of these factors will require breed-specific research to ensure the right quantities and routines are adhered to.)
Meeting a dog’s emotional and social needs
When the physiological needs have been met, you can move to emotional needs. These consist of things like affection, trust and benevolent leadership – in other words, actions that make a dog feel safe and secure. Kind, positively reinforcing treatment and nurturing actions will fulfil many of their emotional needs, including love and trust. As time passes, dogs in a stable and positive environment will also develop that all-important sense of security.
Social needs are next, and involve play and bonding time with both humans and dogs. As well as making them feel included in a human social circle, it’s important to meet dogs’ canine social needs. This means allowing them to mix with other dogs in a safe and secure setting (as long as all the dogs involved are comfortable) and giving them the freedom to do whatever they like doing best – whether that’s rolling around in long grass, wading into a muddy lake or sniffing to their heart’s content.
At the top of the pyramid, you’ll find cognitive needs. This is all about giving your dog choice (for example, in toys or location), new opportunities and the chance to learn skills like problem-solving. So before you jump ahead to the training part, focus on the biological, emotional and social. They’ll enrich both yours and your dog’s life.
