Ann Arbor Dog Blog

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. It’s very easy to react inappropriately to common problem behaviors such as chewing, biting, barking and other undesirable things your dog may do. 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. The first step in fixing or avoiding common dog behavior problems is to understand them fully. In order to get to the bottom of these problems, you’re going to want to educate yourself about obedience training.

Undesirable Barking

Almost every dog out there is going to vocalize to some degree. However, when this barking or howling starts to disturb the neighborhood you’ve got a behavior problem on your hands. A first step to correcting the problem is to figure out why your dog is making so much noise.

Once you know this you can start to get the barking problem under control. 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. The most important components to dealing with this issue are your own dedication to the job and attention to detail.

Destroying Furniture, Shoes and Other Possessions

You must understand that dogs are designed to chew, it’s naturally part of their makeup. Of course, if your dog is destroying things, then the natural behavior has morphed into a problem behavior.

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. By removing things you don’t want to get chewed from your dog’s environment you can reduce the chances of a relapse. 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. A sharp noise can be used to deter you dog if he is caught chewing on the wrong sort of item. Once you have its attention take away the thing it’s chewing on and provide a safe chew toy. If your make sure your dog is getting a lot of exercise, you war well on your way to fixing this and a lot of other major behavior issues.

3. The Digging Problem

Under the right conditions most dogs will do some digging. It’s instinctual. The backgrounds of certain breeds, terriers for example, are more likely cause them to be diggers.

But it will still be annoying when you find your your lawn or flower bed has been dug up by your dog. If you’re able to figure out why the dog is digging you can then go straight to the root of the problem. 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.

Separation anxiety is really a disorder that shows multiple behavioral problems as symptoms.

A common dog behaviour problem is anxiety caused by separation from its owner. This is an entire host of problems that will manifest when you’re not around, including everything from excessive barking or whining, chewing on inappropriate things and even destroying things around the house.

This type of problem will need you to dedicate real time and effort to advanced training techniques. If your dog’s anxiety is too severe you may even need to get medication from your vet.

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. Such problems can make your dog an unwelcome guest in other people’s homes, in public and can cause damage to your own home. 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. But if it continues as your dog gets older, this problem will also require dedicated training to modify your dog’s behaviour and break this inappropriate habit.

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