The Most Common Behavioral Problems in Dogs

dog-bitingOwning dogs is a joyful experience – most of the time. When they start behaving poorly… let’s just say things aren’t so easy. It usually doesn’t matter if you’re a brand new dog owner, or you’ve owned dogs for 20 years. Behavioral problems will happen. It’s when you accept and start to understand more about the problems, that you can better combat them. We’ll go through them, below.

Barking

A small bark once in a while? Not a problem – that’s just what dogs do. There’s no other way they can communicate. So when a stranger is approaching the house, or the dog hears something out of the ordinary, you’ll more than likely hear a bark.

But, constant barking? Certainly a problem. In order to prevent barking:
Don’t shout at your dog to stop. It sounds counterproductive, but shouting will just make the problem worse. Develop the use of a certain word, that when said at a normal volume, will trigger the barking to stop (similar to “Sit”, “Play”, etc.)
Change what they’re currently doing. Perhaps your dog is really bored, and just needs to play. Perhaps you’re waiting too long in between daily walks. Or maybe you just need to have your dog lie down. In situations where you notice excessive barking, simply switching up the situation could work wonders, and you could see a change in their barking behavior.
Patience is a virtue. Your dog won’t change its barking habits overnight.

Aggressive Behavior

Sure, barking could be a large part of aggressive behavior, but I’d like to break this into a category entirely of its own. Aggressive behavior could mean biting, lunging, teeth showing, etc. And if it’s serious, it’s usually not very easy to change.
•One of the best things I can recommend is working with a trainer. They’ll offer advice and plan development. It could entail creating distance between strangers, teaching different behaviors, etc.
•If that doesn’t work, you may want to talk to a veterinarian. Your dog may need a certain treatment for a condition that isn’t visible (or you don’t know about).

Leash Tugging

I noted in a recent blog that I often see dogs walking their owners, not owners walking their dog. Do you constantly find your dog pulling you along for the walk? Read about how you can change that, here.

Jumping on People

Maybe you (or your guests) get annoyed with the dog jumping up to you whenever you walk in the door. Often times, people attempt to combat this by pushing the dog down. It will get the dog off, but it won’t stop them from continuing to do it.
•The easiest way to stop this behavior is to ignore it. While it might not seem to work at first, it should over time. Dogs jump up for attention. When you don’t show them attention, they’ll learn that jumping won’t give them any benefit.

Chewing

A lot of times chewing is ok. But when your dog is chewing up your sneakers, or quite literally eating your kid’s homework, then you need to make a change.
•The most important things to have on hand are chewable dog toys. You’ll need them to show your dog what they can chew.
•Keep an eye on your dog, and confine them to certain areas until they know what they can and can’t chew.
•As with most other things, punishment will rarely help.
Lisa Podwirny is the owner of Ketchum Mfg. Connect with her on Google+!

Ketchum Mfg provides dog id tags & pet id tags in case you misplace your pet.

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