Dog Behavior Solutions–Top 5 Behavior Problems and Solutions

You may be seeking dog behavior solutions so many of the common problems that dog owners have faced from the beginning time–in terms of dog ownership. Would you like to put a stop to your dog’s behavioral problems? I have a few tips for some of the most common you may be facing right now.

What are the six most common problems? Here is our list:

1. Chewing
2. Didgging
3. Separation anxiety
4. chasing
5. Biting
6. Barking

Here is how you can begin solving these common dog behavior problems today.

First on our list of dog behavior solutions, chewing. Generally, puppies chew because they are teething, exploring the world(curiosity), anxiety, and lonliness. Reduce lonliness and anxiety by spending time with your puppy, giving it affection, and playing with it. We also advise that you kennel train your puppy as soon as it is old enough. We’ll talk about that in a later post. Other, normal sorts of chewing can be discouraged by gently holding the muzzle closed until the puppy whines and releasing the muzzle. However, remember that it will be normal for a puppy to chew and you will also need to put your valuable items out of reach. Although you can discourage the puppy from some sorts of chewing by the muzzle technique, you divert the puppy’s chewing by giving it alternatives and rewarding proper behavior.

Digging can be discouraged by stopping it wheneve you see it occur, and then rewarding the dog when it stops. You have to catch the dog every time it starts to dig and intervene. You have to do it every time and be exact, precise, and firm in your correction. Another common way to handle this is to stop the dog from random digging, but give it a special location in which to dig. That way you divert the destructive digging by giving the dog an alternative and rewarding it for using the alternative. Remember, digging is often instinctual.

Separation anxiety may be difficult. To be honest, there may be no quick and easy behavioral solution for this dog problem. I actually recommend trying to deal with this before it is ever a problem. That is, spend time with your dog when it is a puppy. As it matures, gradually introduce it to increasing periods of separation. Another strategy is to have two dogs so that neither is ever purely alone. This won’t completely solve the problem, but it will help. We really advise gradually breaking the dogs into separation from puppy-hood. It may also be necessary to take the dog to a vet to see if there could medical reasons causing anxiety.

Chasing is another serious problem and requires basic dog behavior modification. The crux of this solution requires use of the leash and “sit, stay” command. As always, you will need to apply patience and exact repetition of the procedure. Basically, you will have a partner drive a car slowly past you and the dog. The dog will be on the leash. You tell it to “sit, stay.” Enforce the command with the leash. Reward the dog for sitting and staying. Repeat. Expect to spend two or three weeks on this depending on time available. If possible, do this for 10 or 15 minutes a couple or three time througout the day. when the dog starts performing well on the leash, take the leash off and repeat.

Barking is another problem that often corrects with this simple behavior solution. The heart of the solution is to correct the dog whenever it barks. Gently hold its muzzle shut until it whines. Give it a command such as, “no bark.” Reward the dog for not barking. Repeat exactly whenever barking occurs. You can also try to trigger barking by having a friend come to the door or by walking another dog past the residence. Be prepared to carry this out for several weeks.

I know that many people use shock collars, but I don’t. You can give them a try if you want. I believe they are generally considered to be humane. You might also try some other sort of benign intervention. Part of the point of the shock collar is to cause an intervention that the dog cannot directly attribute to you. The idea is that the dog thinks the barking is causing the shock. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

For more depth and for a clear grasp of how to approach dog problems and their solutions, we recommend gaining a thorough and reliable understanding of canine behavior.

Related posts:

1. Dog Behavior Problems: Learn To End Them Once And For All
2. Common Problems In Dog House Training
3. Anti Bark Collars Canine Fans Will Adore
4. Essential Tips How to Stop Dog Barking–Part 1
5. Dog & Puppy Training Techniques–Review