In case you haven’t noticed, we here at the Habibi Bear Central Hub in the gorgeously lush PNW are absolutely, positively, crazy about our miraculous Original Teddy Bear Dog, the Habibi Bear puppy! We are totally obsessed with their loving characteristics and intuitive personalities. If you have one of our little Habibi Bear guys or gals, you know just how special and unique they are! Over the last thirty years, we have been fine-tuning and constantly working on improving the Habibi Bear Tribe experience with special attention paid to the base of it all: Education.
Every month, we take part in seminars and workshops to continue to expand our base knowledge of dogs so that we may serve you, our Habibi Bear Tribe, to be the best puppy parents ever. Last week, we examined the topic of pets and working pet partners and the long road to achieving those goals. We asked a series of reflective questions for the parents in order to help determine the road to take for their family.
We wanted to review one question this week: whether you and your dog have formed a secure attachment.
Attachment theory, of course, is a topic all over the internet and social media sources, from TikTok, X, Instagram, and Facebook. According to Wikipedia, attachment theory is the concept that as living beings, the young need to form a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for proper psychological, emotional and social development. As the young begin to explore their environment, they use “attachment figures as a secure base to explore from and return to” (Wikipedia). For example, if you have had a puppy or puppies in the past, you’ve most likely experienced being a ‘secure base’ for your Habibi Bear puppy as they play right at or from in between your feet! Literally! Quite often, the puppy will return from roughhousing to Mom or Dad almost as if they are using them as a Time-Out zone, or a ‘Home Base’ where they are ‘safe’ and can’t be touched. Puppy recognizes you, the puppy parent, as their source of love, stability, security, and comfort. Isn’t that awesome?
We can extend the concept of being a ‘secure base’ for your Habibi Bear puppy in developmental terms as well, to determine how well the bond between your puppy and you has formed. The goal is for your Habibi Bear puppy to form a secure attachment to you, which will benefit you both immensely, as your Habibi Bear puppy will grow into a confident, well-adjusted dog. A confident puppy sails through life without separation anxiety. A well-adjusted puppy rolls with small changes to their routine without experiencing major behavioral setbacks.
Hierarchy of Dog Needs
We can achieve a secure attachment with our Habibi Bear puppies by first providing for their fundamental needs, as recognized by Linda Michaels,MA., Psy. in The Hierarchy of Dog Needs.
Michaels outlines a pyramid illustrating the order of importance from bottom to top, an adaptation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of (Human) Needs (1943). Once the basic biological needs of sufficient food, water, physical safety, sleep, proper care and exercise are met, then the parent may begin working on reinforcing the bonds of emotional safety, trust, and consistency to nurture long -asting love.
That is why the basis of our holistic approach to raising dogs is based on the well-being of our precious Habibi Bear puppies first, building a bond, second, and only then may we introduce positive reinforcement methods as a means to encourage the dogs to make good choices that make both lives (Parent and Pup) easier. When seeking to influence dog behavior, we at Habibi Bears always choose something that will guide our Habibi Bear puppies, not break them. The secret is all in the bonding, it is the relationship between your puppy and you that makes all the magic and brings in the Love.
To foster and aid you in achieving gold-level bonding status with your Habibi Bear puppy, we have a treasure trove of free and paid courses on our website, links to those we partner with, and tons of content to get you in the right direction if you’ve lost your way and need a guiding hand to get you back on track. Don’t forget to check out our groundbreaking “Human’s Guide to the Dog Galaxy,” a pup-centric course anchored to expand the love and juicy magic between your Habibi Bear puppy and you as you grow in mutual communication skills and sacred trust. Habibi Bear Tribe members who’ve completed this course with their puppies are praising it to the skies. If you have any questions about Puppy Charm School or “The Human’s Guide to the Dog Galaxy,” why not reach out and find out firsthand how this will strengthen your bond and Love with your Habibi Bear puppy? After all, at Habibi Bears, we are all about the Love. We’re always here for you, cheering you on!