How To Solve Common Dog Behavior Problems

Most dog behavior problems are caused by normal dog behavior that isn't compatible with living with humans, an understanding of your dog's natural instincts and a little patience in retraining will correct inappropriate actions with a minimum of inconvenience to you.

Chewing.
It's normal for dogs and puppies to chew and shred things, a problem only arises when they chew your clothes and shoes etc.

Please remember your dog does not do this to be spiteful he does it because he's a dog and that's what dogs do, it would be better to make sure he has plenty of suitable articles he can chew and this will hopefully avoid damage to your property.

If he has developed the habit of chewing your things, do not allow him free access to all areas of your home. Confine him to one room with a plentiful supply of suitable items to chew, toys, rawhide chews, or a puzzle ball filled with food will keep him happy for hours.

Take the time to teach your dog to play with these items, if you catch him chewing a prohibited item distract him and encourage him to play with one of his toys, praise and reward him when he does.

If he continues to chew forbidden items there are several products available at your local pet store that can be applied to make them unattractive to your dog, but these should only be used as a last resort.

Jumping up.
Most dogs and puppies jump up because they have been trained to do so, even if we didn't realize that was what we were doing at the time.

Think about how most people greet a young puppy. The puppy is picked up and hugged, allowed to lick the face and ears of the person greeting it, and it's also being trained and rewarded for jumping up.

Eventually the puppy becomes a dog that has been trained to jump up when it greets people, even when it's wet and muddy!

The best way to solve the problem is not to cause it in the first place, but if this has happened already encourage your dog or puppy to sit before you greet it. Your dog cannot sit and jump up at the same time, once it has sat and not before, crouched down by your dog and greet it in a calm manner.

When someone comes to your house make your dog sit before you open the door, ask the visitor to greet the dog in a calm manner but only if it remains sitting, the dog will soon learn that jumping up is inappropriate behavior. Remember to give both verbal praise and a small food treat when he gets it right.

Barking.
Remember it's normal for dogs to bark it is one of their main means of communication, if you have a dog you are bound to get some barking. In fact it can be a very good thing, when strangers call at your home, there will be very aware of the dog and this will give you a greater sense of security.

Problems arises when the barking is out of control, this usually occurs when a dog is left alone for long periods, which results in the dog becoming bored and taking up barking at pass the time, once this becomes a habit it will take patience and perseverance to correct.

To train your dog to stop barking first choose a command word that will mean stop barking, with Robbie I use Thank You.

When barking occurs give the command and distract your dog with a food treat, when he stops barking give verbal praise and another small food treat your dog will very quickly learn that Thank You means stop barking.

Chasing, cars joggers Cats etc.
Dogs instinctively chase anything that moves, the dog's ancestor the wolf was a predator that lived by chasing its prey and the instinct runs deep.

Until you can control your dog's chasing instinct do not allow him off the leash.

To correct this behavior you need to be in a controlled situation preferably where there are no distractions, with your dog on the leash show him a ball and then roll it away from him, as he goes to chase it give the command Leave, and stop him moving forward with the leash, praise him for not chasing the ball.

Repeat the exercise until your dog understands that that the command Leave means he cannot chase the ball.

Once this lesson has been learnt you can extend it to joggers cars etc. with the help of some understanding friends. Remember to use small food treats and verbal praise to reward correct behavior.

Pulling on the leash.
This problem is dealt with on the The four basic safety commands page.