Dog Behavior Problem

While most dog owners know about the most common behavior problems seen in dogs they may still have a lot of curiosity as to why these behaviors are so common in canines. Many of the most common behaviors in dogs, including barking, biting and chewing, are frequently handled poorly by dog owners who may not understand the behaviors at all. You might have no experience with dogs and are looking into getting your first one, or maybe you already have a dog that has began exhibiting these kind of problems. Regardless, the best way to either improve your dog’s behavior or stop your new dog from ever developing problems it is to know where the behavior originates. If you have good command of obedience training it can really help you to avoid the most common dog behavior problems or avoid them altogether.

The most common complaint about dog behavior is problem barking.

It’s normal for dogs to bark to some degree, and some also whine or howl. If a dog barks excessively it can be considered a behavior issue. You really do need to figure out why your dog is barking to begin with before you can correct the problem.

Then you can take steps to correct the barking. The first rule of training is to be consistent and very patient when working on a problem. Teach your dog to obey the command to be quiet. Ultimately you need to stick with the training and provide your dog with positive reinforcement.

Destroying Furniture, Shoes and Other Possessions

You must understand that dogs are designed to chew, it’s naturally part of their makeup. But it can quickly become a serious problem if your dog chews on valuable belongings in the home.

First things first, you need to give your dog a chance to chew on the correct types of items. Make sure he has lots of safe chew toys. Be sure to keep you own items that you don’t want chewed up out of your dog’s reach. It can be really helpful to keep your dog confined to a crate or specific area of the house where he will be less apt to ruin something when you are not home. If you do happen upon your dog when he is chewing on an inappropriate object, stop him immediately by making a sharp sound. Then give him a chewable toy in place of the object on which he was chewing. Getting your dog an adequate amount of exercise can also cut down on problem chewing in addition to a host of other behavior problems.

Digging Up The yard

Under the right conditions most dogs will do some digging. It’s instinctual. Some kinds of dogs, such as terriers, will dig more than others, mainly because of their breeding as hunting dogs.

But it will still be annoying when you find your your lawn or flower bed has been dug up by your dog. You first have to find out why your dog is digging, then try to get rid of the cause. You may need to spend some extra time with your dog, be sure he gets additional exercise and possibly more training too. You can also provide a place where your dog can dig without doing any harm, such as a sandbox, and let him know that it’s okay to dig there.

4. Separation Anxiety Behaviours

A very widespread behavior problem is known as separation anxiety. Separation anxiety may manifest itself as inappropriate elimination, chewing, howling, backing and other destructive behaviors that are preformed when the dog is apart from it’s owner.

Correcting separation anxiety is difficult, necessitating zealous training involving desensitizing and behavior modification exercises. Extreme cases of anxiety may require medication, but only after every other remedy has failed.

Failure To Housebreak

Possibly the most frustrating of all canine behavior issues is that of inappropriate elimination. This is when a dog urinates or defecates where it is not supposed to. It can cause damage to furnishings and floors in your house and make it so you can’t take your dog with you to public locations or to the homes of your acquaintances. The first rule in dealing with inappropriate elimination is to consult a vet to be sure that there are not underlying medical problems causing the unwanted behavior.

Puppies under twelve weeks old will of course not be able to control their elimination. In older dogs there may be a long term commitment to modifying this behavior. Many times, a dog’s own self perception has to be altered to stop this particular bad habit.

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