Basset Hound

　　Due to differences in dogs' intelligence and obedience, training dogs can be easy or difficult. Dogs with high obedience are naturally easier to train, but this also leads to a drawback that often appears in the owner. Because obedient dogs are very understanding, training them is much less difficult, which results in many owners not paying much attention during training and being careless, thinking "good enough" is sufficient. It is precisely this attitude that leads to many bad habits in dogs.

　　A dog’s temperament and behavior will change under the subtle influence of the owner and deliberate training. This plasticity helps dogs live more harmoniously with humans, but it also requires caution. Precisely because of this intelligence, sometimes described as being able to read expressions, when dogs spend long time with their owners they may learn to read their facial expressions and quietly adjust their behavior. When such changes run counter to what the owner expects, small issues can arise, causing unpleasantness in their lives.

　　A dog named Nancy is a good example. When she first arrived at her new home, the owner immediately loved this sensible dog. Once, Nancy ate something bad and vomited on the floor, and the owner silently cleaned it up. Surprisingly, afterward, whenever Nancy vomited, she would go to the rag herself and vomit on it. What’s more, training Nancy went extremely smoothly. So the owner did not train Nancy as strictly as previous dogs, only casually, and Nancy skillfully mastered the owner’s taught skills.

　　Additionally, one proud thing was that even if there was delicious food in front of Nancy, she would not eat it unless the owner allowed her. However, this pride did not last long, because once, while the owner was taking a nap and was not by Nancy’s side, Nancy woke up groggily and was found secretly eating food on the coffee table. This upset the owner, and several other times the owner caught Nancy doing the same.

　　Dogs are very intelligent animals; after spending time with humans, they gradually learn to read some of our expressions and know what to do when certain expressions appear. Although it is reading expressions, it inevitably feels somewhat insincere. Therefore, training dogs must never be careless or stopped halfway. Training should be a lifelong task. Only by strictly requiring dogs can they better complete the tasks we assign and avoid this kind of insincere behavior. When strictness is needed, we should not be too soft-hearted. We need to help dogs consolidate memories to know what should or should not be done.

　　Intelligent dogs have certain advantages in training, but we cannot be negligent because of this. Careless training also leads dogs to develop bad habits. This behavior of reading and mirroring expressions is also caused by careless training. So, whether our dog is smart or not, we should always invest 100% effort into educating them to prevent subtle bad habits.(Source: PetsZone)