November 9, 2008
Your dog's chewing habit will test your relationship early on
Dogs carry out destructive chewing for three main reasons, they are simply bored, they find it pleasurable to do so, or they find it helps get them through emotional times. The nearest human equivalent for which might be to consume a bar of chocolate!
Anything that gets in the way of this chewing normally ends up in poor state. Beware that your dog's mouth has a lot of sharp teeth in it which will chew into most things.
Whatever you do never let your dog chew anything of yours, just being allowed one item can be interpreted by your dog as there being everything up for grabs.
How To Avoid Your Possessions Being Destroyed
The first tip for dog behavior training is to not place valuable objects in the way of temptation. If you have ev er baby proofed your house then you know what to do here. Why tempt fate.
In addition, when hiding things be aware of just how agile your dog is. The height your dog can reach when standing on the back legs is always surprising?
Consider that common targets in the home include books, eyewear, clothing, shoes, garbage, and small appliances like cameras, cell phones, and remote controls.
Of course food is the one thing that needs to be stored securely. Storing food with a dog around is a problem that is best solved by placing some items up high and making use of strong containers.
The phrase prevention is better than cure applies to dog behaviour training too, if your dog is not given the opportunity to discover the delights of chewing a forbidden item then it is a lot easier for her to learn your house rules.
Allowing your dog to carry on some old habits can seriously undermine your training efforts. Once she has the taste do not be surprised to find shoes you care about being treated to the same destructive chewing.
Why not buy some doggy toys to show your pet what it is she can play with. Take a look around your local pet store for tough items such as rubber bones and balls etc. Buy a few and rotate their use as a way to keep your dog behaviour training interesting.
Some final advice on dog behaviour, when you catch your dog chewing something inappropriate be sure to interrupt her immediately and provide a suitable alternative and give lavish praise when this is accepted as a way of reinforcing good behaviour.
November 4, 2008
For some people it is an offence to have a barking dog around them, they think that dogs should be seen and not heard. This is slightly unfair given that the bark is a dog's voice and like yourself it uses it to communicate.
Barking is not necessarily a bad thing, in some cases you want your dog to be as loud as possible, such as if you have a suspected burglar in the house. In most cases your dog is just trying to talk to you, perhaps he is just happy about something, dog obedience training will help you to find this out for sure.
The problem is that the language barrier between barking dogs and humans is well nigh impenetrable. Therefore, you are forced to resort to the facts of the situation in which your dog is barking and try to understand from its body language just what it is trying to say.
Apart from that many people ask just why do dogs bark? Your dog can bark for many reasons and not all are good ones.
Naturally they will bark when they are happy about something such as greeting you on your return or perhaps they are happy about running around in the park.
Some dogs having barking bred into to them such as toy dogs or sporting breeds where they are trained to bark in order to notify their owners of the presence of a particular quarry being hunted. Other dogs like the guarding breeds are trained only to bark when a threat is perceived.
Other than the above common reasons for dog barking might include, boredom, hunger, being lonely, something is wrong, the presence of other animals or perhaps she just needs the toilet.
Again the context of the situation will help you to decide the likely cause. But of course it is not fair for you to try to shut the dog up. She may be communicating for a very good reason, you just need to spend some effort in understanding her.
However, dogs are not stupid animals there are situations where they realise that they can use their bark to annoy or force their owner into a particular action. Barking as a means of bullying is something your dog may well try, don't let it.
For instance you dog may have decided that it is time to play and continues barking until you give in and drop what you are doing to amuse her. The problem here is that the dog then learns that all she has to do is to bark whenever she wants something and you will oblige.
This can get very wearing after a quite short period of time. The best approach would have been to show the dog that it cannot get its own way by giving it the cold shoulder.
Make out to ignore your pet and turn away so that it registers your displeasure. After repeated actions your dog should eventually get the message.
Please remember that part of your dog's training is learning that you go out and play at times to suit you, not your dog. This teaches your dog respect and hopefully makes for a quieter household with limited barking dog problems.
Consult a good book on dog obedience training like SitStayFetch to solve many of the problems you will encounter when you are training your dog.
