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                     Behavior: Understanding and Modifying
                                       
Author

   Cindy Tittle Moore, rpd-info@netcom.com
   Copyright 1995.
   
Table of Contents

     * Prologue
     * Top Ten Canine Myths
     * Principles Behind Dominance
     * Aggression with Other Dogs
     * Housetraining Problems
     * Submissive Urination
     * Other Common Problems
          + Chewing
          + Biting
          + Fear Biting
          + Barking
          + Digging
          + Getting in the Garbage
          + Jumping
          + Car Chasing
          + Tug of War
          + People Food
       
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
Prologue

   First, you should understand that there are two components to
   "training" and they are frequently mixed. There is the kind of
   training that solves _behavioral_ problems. There is also the kind of
   training that creates a command-response pattern. It is perfectly
   possible to have a dog that heels, sits, and stays perfectly and digs
   out all your marigolds. Conversely, you may have a dog that does not
   destroy things in your house nor jump up on people, but does not sit
   or heel. For purposes of clarity, I consider the former type of
   training as "behavior modification" and the latter type as "obedience
   training."
   
   While this article discusses behavior modification and tries to help
   you understand what the sources of trouble between you and your dog
   may be, I want to stress that there is absolutely no replacement for a
   trainer or animal behaviorist you know and trust to help you and your
   dog. Having someone to ask questions and show you what works with your
   dog is like having the picture as opposed to the words -- a thousand
   times better. Nevertheless, this article will hopefully help with some
   common problems. For some help in finding a behaviorist near you, try
   this site: http://www.cisab.indiana.edu/ABS/Applied/index.html. To
   find a good trainer near you, try asking your veterinarian and other
   dog owners for references.
   
   That said, some good books that are aimed at helping solve problems
   between dogs and owners are:
   
   Gentile, Dan Jr, _Guide to Beginning Obedience_.
          This little book crams an impressive amount of information into
          64 pages. It's great for the first time dog owners. Very
          concise and precise.
          
   Dunbar, Ian and Gwen Bohnenkamp, _Behavior Booklets_.
          Recommended especially for the first time dog owner. He has a
          booklet on every common problem, such as: biting, fearfullness,
          housebreaking, chewing, digging, barking etc. and has a really
          simple, common sense, all bases covered sort of approach which
          doesn't leave you asking, "But what do I do if the dogs
          performs (such and such) variation?" which is *really*
          important for people who don't have experience to fall back on.
          They can be had from:
          Center for Applied Animal Behaviour
          #2406 2140 Shattuck Avenue
          Berkeley, CA 94704
          
   Evans, Job Michael. (1991). _People, Pooches, & Problems_. NY: Howell
          Book House. ISBN 0-87605-783-0 (hardcover). $19.95.
          Excellent suggestions for dealing with common problems between
          dogs and their owners. Highly recommended. [Evans was a New
          Skete monk.]
          
   Milani, Myrna M., DVM. _The Weekend Dog_. Signet (Penguin Books USA,
          Inc.) (1985). ISBN: 0-451-15731-1 (paperback).
          This book outlines practical solutions for working people with
          dogs. It has excellent suggestions for understanding dog
          behavior, particularly destructive or unwanted behavior. Gives
          all kinds of practical solutions to the problems of adequate
          exercise, adequate training, housebreaking, and so forth.
          
   Monks of New Skete, The. _How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend_. Little,
          Brown & Company. 1978. ISBN: 0-316-60491-7 (hardback).
          A monastery in upstate New York breeds, raises, and trains
          German Shepherd Dogs. On the basis of their considerable
          experience, they offer troubleshooting guides, discuss
          discipline, environmental restrictions, basic and puppy
          training, and much more. Extensive bibliography. The emphasis
          is on understanding the dog in order to communicate with it or
          to solve problem behavior. An excellent, well written classic.
          
   Pryor, Karen. _Don't Shoot the Dog!_.
          Introduction to inducive training. Lots of food for thought
          
   Other websites to reference include:
   
   http://www.canines.com/behave.html
          Canines of America's Owner's Guide to Behavior offers a number
          of for typical problems. The articles are a little simplified
          and not terribly detailed, but it's worth checking out. I have
          no clue as to whether it's worth using their hotline and paying
          the $$$ for additional advice.
          
   http://www.inch.com/~dogs/
          American Dog Trainers Network offers a number of resources for
          the dog owner. Extensive & useful.
          
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
Top Ten Canine Myths

   _Hey, Rover would rather be outside all day than cooped up inside!_
   
     False. Dogs are strongly pack-oriented animals. They prefer best to
     be with their pack whenever possible. If you are inside, they will
     want to be inside with you. If you are outside, again, they will
     want to be with you. If you are at work, while they would still
     like to be with you, this is not usually possible. In this case,
     does it matter whether the dog is kept inside or outside? It turns
     out that many dogs behave well when kept inside; bark, dig, and
     whine while kept out in the yard. Why is this? Your home is the
     "den." Dogs prefer to be closer to the center of the den -- the
     place where the pack's smells are most acute. While some dogs are
     happy to stay outdoors during the day while the rest of the pack is
     gone to work, a great many dogs develop behavioral problems as a
     result of daily "expulsion" from the den.
     
     In addition, a dog with access to a large territory may feel
     compelled to "defend" all of it, resulting in other types of
     problems: frantic barking at "intruders," and so on. Restricting
     the amount of territory it has to protect may reduce this type of
     behavior.
     
     A good compromise for many dogs is access both to a restricted part
     of the house and a restricted part of the yard. The inside-outside
     access keeps him from feeling ejected from the "den" without having
     too much territory to defend. A dog that can't be trusted inside
     and is destructive outside will probably benefit the most from
     being crated during the day. With most dogs, if you crate them
     through puppyhood (which also helps with housebreaking), by the
     time they are mostly adult (from 8 months to 24 months of age
     depending on the breed) you can start weaning them off the crate.
     Because they are used to spending the time in the crate quietly,
     they will form the habit of spending that same time quietly whether
     in the crate or not as adults.
     
   _Well, OK, but it's different in the country, isn't it?_
   
     It is an absolute myth that living in the country confers greater
     latitude in the dictum "thou shall keep thy dog constrained to the
     immediate environs of the pack." Country dogs allowed to run free
     get shot by hunters or farmers protecting their livestock. They get
     into fights with other dogs over territory. They can kill
     livestock, fight and tassle and get disease from wild animals, and
     be hit by cars on the highway. They become increasingly aggressive
     as they vye for larger and larger perimeter boundaries to their
     territory, and they no longer relate to YOU as the leader of their
     pack. Also, don't forget that intact animals will breed and add to
     the overpopulation problem.
     
     This same misconception leads people to dump unwanted dogs "in the
     countryside." Most such dogs die a painful death, either by slow
     starvation, injuries from being hit by a car or in a fight with
     another animal, or they are shot by farmers protecting their
     livestock. The countryside is not some sort of romantic haven for
     stray dogs.
     
   _When dogs are mad at people, they do all kinds of spiteful things._
   
     First remember that "undesireable behavior" is in the eye of the
     beholder. To the dog, it's perfectly alright to dig, to bark, to
     chase after other dogs, etc. This doesn't mean you can't control
     these behaviors, of course, but it _does_ mean that the dog isn't
     doing them "to spite you." The dog hasn't a clue that it's not to
     do these things unless you train it not to. And it has to
     understand what you want from it!
     
     When dogs start undesirable (to humans) behavior, its best to try
     to understand the source of this behavior. Often it stems from the
     frustration of being left alone. Dogs are very social animals. One
     positive solution is to make sure your dog is properly exercised.
     Exercise is a wonderful cure to many behavioral problems and dogs
     just love it. Do check with your vet for the proper amount of
     exercise for both the age and breed of any dog. Another solution is
     obedience training. The point is, your dog needs your attention,
     whether it is by taking it out on a walk, training it, or both.
     
   _Ah, but my dog always looks GUILTY after he's done something like
   this!_
   
     No. He's reacting to your body language and emotions. When you come
     in and see the toilet paper all over the floor, you get mad. The
     dog can tell that you are upset and the only thing he knows how to
     do is to try and placate you, as the alpha. So they try and get you
     out of your bad mood by crouching, crawling, rolling over on their
     backs, or avoiding eye contact. You interpret the dog as acting
     "guilty" when in fact the dog hasn't the faintest idea of what is
     wrong and is simply hoping you will return to a better mood. The
     important thing to remember is that if your dog finds that it
     cannot consistently predict your anger or the reasons for it, it
     will begin to distrust you -- just as you would someone who
     unpredictably flew into rages.
     
     This is why it's so important to catch dogs "in the act." That way
     you can communicate clearly just what it is they shouldn't do.
     Screaming and yelling at the dog, or punishing it well after the
     fact does not tell your dog what is wrong. You may in fact wind up
     teaching it to fear you, or consider you unreliable. You must get
     your dog to understand you, and _you_ have to work on the
     communication gap, as you are more intelligent than your dog.
     
     Preventing your dog from unwanted behaviors coupled with properly
     timed corrections will go much further in eliminating the behavior
     from your pet than yelling at it.
     
     In fact, you should not yell at, scream at, or hit your dog, ever.
     There are much more effective ways to get your point across. Try
     instead to understand the situation from your dog's point of view
     and act accordingly. The techniques in this chapter approach
     problems with this in mind.
     
   _Crating a dog is an awful thing to do to it and they hate it._
   
     Again untrue. Dogs are by nature den animals. When properly
     introduced to a crate, most dogs love it, and they will often go
     into their crates on their own to sleep. Of course, no dog should
     be left in the crate so long that it must soil the crate. It's a
     wonderful tool to use for housetraining, but puppies are not
     physically equipped to go for more than three or four hours without
     going to the bathroom. And all use of a crate should be done with
     an eye toward eventually weaning the dog off of it. There are only
     a few dogs that must always use a crate while you are gone.
     Afterwards, it is a very useful thing to have -- for example if at
     all possible your dog should always ride in the car in his crate.
     
     Crating a dog works to prevent the dog from doing many of the
     behaviors you don't want it to. What your dog does not do does not
     develop into a habit and thus requires no correction. Second, it
     means that when your dog does have an opportunity to engage in the
     unwanted behavior, you are around (because you're home to let it
     out) to give a proper and timely correction.
     
     As the behavioral aspects pointed out above, reducing the territory
     to protect and keeping it in the den are also positive things from
     the dog's point of view, reducing the overall stress that it
     experiences.
     
   _Ya gotta show a dog who is boss._
   
     To some extent, this is true. But what many people think this is
     comprised of are usually quite wrong. You don't show a dog "who is
     boss" by hitting it, yelling at it, or via other methods of
     punishment. You show a dog who is boss by being its leader. Show it
     what to do, how to behave. Most dogs are waiting for you to take
     the lead. There are actually only a very few dogs who will actively
     challenge you for "top dog" position. Rather, most dogs take the
     "top dog" position because their owners have made no effort to do
     so, and not only that, their owners don't recognize what is
     happening -- until the dog starts correcting them for their
     misbehavior!
     
     Interestingly, many forms of behavior that have been touted as
     showing dominance over a dog backfire badly. This is because in
     many cases dogs really aren't contending for the "top dog"
     position: applying techniques to "show him who is boss" in these
     instances results in the dog being alienated from you and
     distrusting you because you corrected it for no good reason. The
     alpha roll, long touted as the "best" of these methods is in
     reality a last ditch, all out correction. It's what you do to your
     teenager after he's taken a joyride in your car and totalled it,
     not when he first asks you for the keys. Being unfair to your dog
     in this way can create a fear biter, one who has lost all hope of
     being treated fairly and defends himself the only way he knows how.
     
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
Principles Behind Dominance

     See also:
     * http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/tac61/dominent.htm [sic]
       
   For obedience training to proceed smoothly, your dog must consider you
   its alpha leader. This means that it considers YOU the boss. There are
   a number of exercises you can to to establish and maintain dominance
   over your dog. Individual dogs vary in submissiveness. If your dog is
   very submissive, you don't need to worry about establishing dominance
   (in fact, you may need to tone down your own dominating behavior to
   help bolster its confidence). Most dogs are happy to be submissive:
   just be sure to show approval at the occasional signs of submission,
   and assert dominance if it tries to test you (most dogs will, in
   adolescence). A very few dogs may be dominant and continually
   challenge you for dominance, in which case you will actively need to
   assert and establish your position, but this last is exceedingly rare.
   
   More often, people will misinterpret adolescent high energy or bratty
   behavior as ploys for dominance when they are not. Think of a two year
   human child testing her parents. She's finding out what the limits are
   rather than actually "challenging" her parents for leadership. Puppies
   and young dogs do exactly the same thing. Correct them firmly, but
   don't go into an all out "dominance battle" -- it's inappropriate and
   your dog will begin to distrust you. Returning to the toddler analogy,
   the most you might do is a sharp word or a small swat on the rear. You
   would not pick her up, hold her against the wall and scream at her.
   Remember that most dogs are still "young" (in human terms, under 20
   years of age) until they are two or three. In other words, don't
   confuse physical maturity with mental maturity.
   
   Never mistake being alpha with punishment. An alpha leader is fair. An
   alpha leader *deserves* its position. An alpha leader does not use
   fear, punishment or brute force to achieve and maintain its position.
   An alpha leader, instead, makes it crystal clear what behaviors it
   approves of and which it does not. An alpha leader _expects_ its
   subordinates to follow its lead, it does not _force_ them to.
   
   If you get mad at your dog, or angry or furious, you've lost the alpha
   position. Dogs do not understand fury. You have to be calm and
   focused.
   
  Always show approval at signs of submission
  
   Praise your dog when it drops its eyes first. Praise it when it licks
   you under the chin. Give it an enthusiastic tummy rub when it rolls
   over on its back.
   
  Be consistent and fair in your corrections
  
   You must demonstrate to your dog that it can trust your orders. Do not
   ever correct the dog after the fact. Such corrections appear to be
   arbitrary and unfair to the dog, because it has no associative memory
   the way people do.
   
   If your dog is still a puppy, socializing it is a good way to gain its
   trust.
   
   If you decide that some action requires correction, *always* give a
   correction when you see that action. For example, if you decide that
   your dog is not allowed on the sofa, then *always* correct it when you
   see it on the sofa.
   
   Consistency can be a big challenge with a family: every family member
   must agree on the basic ground rules with the dog; when and for what
   it should be corrected, what commands to use and so on. Families must
   cooperate extensively to avoid confusing the dog. It is best if only
   one person actively trains the dog; thereafter if the commands are
   given the same way, everyone in the family can use them.
   
   Finally, always use the *minimum* correction necessary. If a sharp
   AH-AH will do, use that rather than an alpha roll. If a pop under the
   chin will do, use that rather than a scruff shake.
   
  Correct the dog's challenges
  
   Especially during adolescence, your dog may test and/or challenge your
   position. Do not neglect to correct this behavior. You don't need to
   come down like a ton of bricks; just making it clear you don't
   tolerate the behavior is sufficient. For example, don't let your dog
   crowd you through the door, don't let him jump out of the car until
   you've given him permission, don't let him jump for food in your hand.
   Don't let him ignore commands that he knows.
   
  Learn how to display alpha behavior
  
   You may not need to use all of these, but you should be familiar with
   them. They are listed in "escalating" order. Do not use any of these
   if you are angry or upset. The point is never to hurt the dog, but to
   show it who is alpha. They work best if you are calm, firm, and matter
   of fact. Again, always use the minimum correction necessary.
   
   More important than knowing how to perform an alpha roll is learning
   to play the alpha role. That means having the attitude of "I am always
   right and I will _never_ let my dog willfully disobey me" without ever
   becoming angry or giving up. Picture a small two-year old toddler, for
   example. You're not in a struggle over who's "Mom" but over what the
   child is allowed to do, and there's a crucial difference in the two.
   
   Using an alpha roll on a dog who is already submissive but disobeys
   because it doesn't know what is expected of is destructive to the
   relationship between you and the dog. Likewise, using an alpha role on
   a dominant dog but not using any other positive reinforcements can
   alienate it. Most dogs never need to be alpha rolled in their lives.
   
   Furthermore, alpha rolls are one of the strongest weapons in dominance
   arsenal. Save it for the gravest of infractions.
   
   Being dominant is no substitute for learning to read and understand
   your dog. Proper obedience (which should be a part of any dog's life,
   even when "only" a pet) is a two way street and requires you to be as
   responsible to your dog as your dog is responsive to you.
   
   There are a number of ways in demonstrating dominance:
     * Timeouts: put the dog on a down stay or if not yet trained to do
       so, put it in its crate quietly and without fuss. Fifteen minutes
       is fine. No yelling is necessary, keep it all very quiet. This is
       often suprisingly effective, since dogs are such social creatures.
     * Eye contact: alphas "stare down" subordinates. If your dog does
       not back down in a stare contest, start a verbal correction. As
       soon as it backs down, praise it.
     * Taps under the chin: alpha dogs nip subordinates under the chin as
       corrections. You can use this by tapping (NEVER hitting) your dog
       under the chin with one or two fingers. Don't tap on top of the
       muzzle, not only can you risk injuring your dog's sense of smell,
       you may make him handshy.
     * Grabbing under the ears: alpha dogs will chomp under subordinate
       dogs' ears and shake. You can mimic this by holding the skin under
       your dog's ears firmly and shaking. Again, do not use excessive
       force. Do this just enough to get the point across. DO NOT grab
       the top of the neck and shake. You may injure your dog this way.
     * Alpha roll: Pin the dog to ground on its side with feet away from
       you. Hold scruff/collar with one hand to pin head down (gently but
       firmly) with the other hand on hip/groin area (groin area contact
       will tend to cause the dog to submit to you.) Not recommended.
       
  Insist on decorous behavior
  
   Feed your dog after your own dinner. Make him lay down while you are
   eating rather than beg at your lap. Don't let it crowd through a
   doorway ahead of you. Don't let it hop out of the car until you say
   OK. There are a variety of small things you can do that assert your
   dominance in a non-traumatic way. If you're clever about it, you can
   use them to get a well-behaved dog (one that doesn't shoot out of the
   front door or scramble out of the car or beg at the table). In
   particular, putting a behavior that the dog wants to do on hold until
   you say OK is a very good way to be the alpha and keep the dog well
   behaved.
   
  Make sure your dog obeys everyone in your family
  
   This is a fairly important point. If your dog seems to have trouble
   obeying a particular family member, you must make sure it does so, by
   always backing up the family member when he or she tells the dog to do
   something. If the family member seems to be afraid of the dog, or is
   very young, then you should supervise all interaction until the
   problem is resolved.
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
Aggression with other Dogs

   Dogs can be aggressive with other dogs, especially if they have not
   been properly socialized with other dogs in puppy-hood. Sometimes a
   dog that is naturally dominant has trouble with other dogs especially
   in puberty. Sometimes a dog has a specific experience (e.g. a dogfight
   with another aggressive dog) that causes it to become aggressive
   toward other dogs in general as well. Whatever the reason, it is well
   worth your time working on your dog's aggression toward other dogs.
   You will probably get the best results, especially with a problem dog
   -- extreme aggression, for example -- if you contact a local trainer
   (preferably one that specializes in problem dogs) for individual help.
   However, there are some common-sense things you can do.
   
   First a bit of basic dog pychology: friendly behaviors include moving
   side by side, sniffing butts, tails wagging at body level (not up high
   or over the back). Not-friendly behaviors include meeting
   face-to-face, esp. a face-to-face approach, ears forward and tail over
   back.
   
   Force them into friendly behaviors as follows: walk the dogs in
   parallel on leash. They should be close enough to see each other but
   not close enough to snap at or touch each other. Be careful when you
   two turn that the dogs don't tangle. Make sure one doesn't get ahead
   of the other: keep them parallel. Keep this up until they relax.
   Slowly start walking closer together as behavior permits.
   
   Hold one dog on leash in a sit. Have food treats and a water bottle
   handy. Walk the other dog toward it, to about six feet, then turn away
   (increase the distance if the sitting dog snarls). The idea is to turn
   away *before* the sitting dog shows any aggression. If the dog shows
   no agression, reward it with a food tidbit or verbal praise. Do NOT
   touch the dog (stand on the leash or tie it down). If it does growl,
   spray it with water. Switch the dogs so that each experiences sitting
   or walking toward. They are learning that good things happen without
   defensive behavior. As they improve, start walking a bit closer before
   turning. If the sitting dog snarls, do NOT turn the other dog away:
   the person with the sitting dog should correct it and when the dog
   subsides, THEN the moving dog should turn away.
   
   Finally, holding the head of one dog, but allowing it to stand, have
   the other dog investigate its rear briefly. This is really the extreme
   extension of the above.
   
   These exercises have several purposes. One is to force the dogs to
   consider themselves friendly by engaging in the behavior of friendly
   dogs. The other is to teach both dogs that an approaching dog is not
   necessarily grounds for aggression.
   
   This will take a lot of work, probably over a couple of months, but
   they will work, and what's more, should reduce tensions with _other_
   dogs as well (i.e., not only between the two specific dogs in the
   exercises).
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
Housetraining Problems

   All housetraining problems are frustrating, but the good news is that
   it's often easy to fix with a little thought and care. Some tips:
   
  Sudden changes in established habits
  
   If your dog has been fine with its housetraining up till now, there
   may be several reasons for it to break with its training.
     * If there have been no major changes in its life, your dog may very
       well have a medical problem, such as kidney trouble. Have your vet
       rule out possible medical causes.
     * It may be trying to defend its territory if you have a new animal
       in the household. You will probably need to separate the pets for
       a while, and reintroduce them gradually. Provide each with a
       retreat area.
     * It may be generally upset or anxious if you've just moved and
       trying to assert ownership of the new territory. Mark your
       territory first: scatter dirty laundry around the house to tell
       your dog YOU'VE claimed the territory and your dog should subside.
       After a few days, you can pick up the laundry.
       
  Eating feces
  
   Some dogs will eat other animal's feces. By and large, this is a
   fairly normal, if disgusting, habit. The main risk of this habit lies
   in picking up internal parasites. If you have such a dog, you should
   make sure it is frequently checked for worms by your veterinarian.
   
   If it is cat feces in an indoor litter box, you can try the following:
     * If you have a utility closet or some other closet where you can
       keep the litter box, you can fix the door so that it only opens
       enough for a cat to get through (assuming big dogs) by using
       something like a string/ribbon/rope over the door handle to a
       small hook on the adjacent wall or door jamb. If you can make a
       more permanent change, you could put a kitty door into the closet
       and be able to keep the door shut.
     * Get the kind of litter box with a big top and a "kitty door" or
       even just an opening on it. Place the litter box with the opening
       about 4"-6" from a wall (backwards from the way you would normally
       think of placing it). This leaves just enough room for the cat to
       get into the box but not (usually) enough room for the dog to get
       to the box. The kind of box with the swinging kitty door helps
       make it a little harder for the dog to get into it.
       
   A surprising number of dogs eat their own feces (coprophagy). This is
   a fairly disgusting habit, but difficult to cure. One way to prevent
   this from occurring is to clean up feces as soon as possible, but this
   can be difficult for dogs left in yards or kennels all day.
   
   The Monks suggest feeding your dog a dry food that is at least 23%
   meat protein, and about 25% raw meat. In addition, either an egg, or a
   tablespoon of vegetable oil every few days. They also think that
   eating feces may involve a dietary deficiency. Adding Accent
   (monosodium glutamate) or kelp tablets (usually available at health

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