Dogs, descendants from wolves, started interacting with mankind thousands of years ago. In fact, scientists believe as many as 800 breeds of dogs exist in Western civilizations alone. Although some of their behaviors have developed due to relationships with people, some important traits stand out.

1) Dogs are social animals

Some pet owners try to lock up their pet dogs and isolate them, like in a pen or on a leash outside for lengthy periods without even human contact – just living outside alone year round. However, this type of isolation can lead to fear and / or aggression and other forms of bad behavior. Dogs need companionship.

Isolating a dog for brief periods can be a useful training technique. Fear of expulsion from the pack can move overly assertive, alpha-status seeking dogs into alignment with the trainer's goals. In any human-dog pair, the human must be the alpha (leader). The alternative is property destruction, human frustration and unsafe conditions for people and dogs.

But excessive time devoid of social interaction with another dog, the human, or even a friendly cat harms the dog's psychology and leads to unwanted behavior. Even guard dogs have to be able to distinguish between external 'threats' and members of its own 'pack'.

2) Dogs are scavengers

Dogs don’t know what’s good for them to eat and what’s not. So you need to try to keep them in a safe environment and not allow eating of things that would be harmful to them.

Recognizing a dog's nature, and working within in it rather than against it leads to less frustration for both human and dog. Enjoying the beneficial aspects, such as spontaneous dog hugs (leaning into a leg), paw offering and a head laid on the lap are just a few of the rewards.

3) Dogs are predators

Dogs have sensitive hearing and head muscles that allow precise orientation of their ears. They can pick up a range of sounds and locate the source quickly and accurately. 

A dog's field of vision is higher than that of humans. Their field of view has been estimated from 180-270 degrees, by comparison to a human's 100-150 degrees, allowing them to track events better.

They also have a heightened sense of smell. Citing figures such as having 25 times as many scent-receptor cells or being able to sense concentrations 100 million times smaller than humans conveys the fact one way.

4) Dogs are exploratory

Dogs can be like eternal two-year-olds.  They love to explore- anything and everything, get into trouble, not respect property, etc. So you need to train them and set rules ad boundaries for them – and enforce them.

Get them toys to chew on, set up a fence or lead line, get training guides and help if necessary.