When it comes to territory there are many important keys to understanding it. It is very important to have territory when you are a dog so that other dogs and leser animals like squirrels and bunnies know that you are in charge in this area and they should stay out of your way. You should claim as much territory as you can because the more you have the more powerful you will be. You must not only claim territory but also protect what is already yours. You don’t want any intruders to invade so if you see any run them off immediately. When you have territory you must also know how to use it. There are many things you can do on your territory that you will see are quite great.
When claiming territory the most common way dogs do this is by spreading their urine on whatever they want to be theirs. They will often put messages in like “stay back” or “this is mine.” Although most people think that only male dogs mark that is not true at all. I have many times after another dog urinates on my territory gone right over and peed exactly on top of their spot to show that this is mine and not theirs. Most dogs leave small messages but I want to have others understand not to mess with me so I leave something more like this “stay back or I’ll send the vacuum cleaner after you.”
Protecting territory that is already yours is a very important because you do not want to lose it to invaders. If you are a brave and courageous bulldog like me you will most likely have no trouble at all protecting what is yours. But for those of you who don’t have as much experience here are a few pointers. First whenever you hear a sound that you are unsure of you should bark at it. This may drive your humans insane but what they don’t understand is that we’re protecting them from what could possibly be an invader by scaring it of with our terrifying barking. Humans are so strange. Second if you do spot an invader like a squirrel, bunny, or in the worst case the mail carrier, chase after them until they have left your territory (or in the mail carriers case bark and lunge at the door). Third and finally you should also patrol your territory daily to make sure there is no suspicious activity that you should know about. If you happen to stumble across some see above what to do.
There are many wonderful things that you can do on your territory that you can’t do anywhere else. For example since you are in charge here when your dog friends come to play they have to listen to what you say and if they don’t you can nip their ears until they do. You can also explore freely without worrying about other animals attacking you for invading. The only animals that don’t follow this rule are chipmunks. I hate those little guys! The most wonderful thing of all though is that you can use the bathroom wherever you like without getting threats from other dogs about using the bathroom on their lawn. (That’s why I never use the bathroom on walks).
As you can now see territory is a very important thing that all dogs should have. I hope you have learned about the keys to claiming and maintaining your territory. I also hope that if you see any chipmunks you will chase them off for me.
