Puppy Training Tips

Dog behavior is sometimes a consequence of our behavior when interacting with the dog. Beyond the elementary needs of food, water and shelter, a dog needs social dealings, positive attention from his owner, physical activity and mental stimulation. Many of these additional  requirements  can be fulfilled by merely taking your dog for a walk. Walking your dog daily provides him with the attention from you that he needs. Perhaps more than anything, our dogs simply want our company. Even when you stay at home throughout the day, a lot of your time is spent doing chores instead of interacting with your family dog. When going for a walk, take along a plastic bag or similar container and be certain to pick up after your dog.

A walk allows you to reinforce obedience skills with your dog to improve the reliability of training. Going over the basic commands in addition increases the benefits of a walk since your dog isn’t just ambling along, but is also performing extra tasks. Walking your dog keeps him mentally alert through territorial inspection. With nose to the ground and attentive to the sights and sounds of his surroundings, your dog gathers clues about how his territory has been altered since the last outing.

Along with the emotional advantages, there are tangible benefits. Walking your dog can be the best method to exercise a dog that may not be very active in your home or even in your yard. Aging pets must be kept as agile and fit as possible. However, your dog may not be disposed to exercise without some encouragement. Even if your pet is active in your backyard, it’s definitely more active during a walk. Merely sharing an activity with you is one of your dog’s greatest motivations to exercise.

If you encounter another dog or person during your walk, your dog has the chance to socialize. Studies of dog behavior show that dogs are social animals. It is only natural for them to investigate new individuals. Puppies ought to be encouraged, at an early age, to appropriately greet and interact with other dogs and people while away from home. These friendly encounters help the puppy learn to behave appropriately when encountering visitors to your home, or when he is with you anywhere else. If a dog does not have to socialize, it will not understand how to interact appropriately with other people or dogs.

Taking your dog for a walk is among the the simplest means to avert behavior problems. At least one walk each day will help avert elimination issues, destructiveness, separation anxiety and similar general behavior disorders. Take your dog for a walk soon after each meal, as this is the time it is most likely to urinate or defecate, and you’ll be able to direct your dog to an appropriate location. Praise must be given immediately to be effective. If you merely let your dog go out within the yard, you forfeit an excellent chance to strengthen good behavior.

Permitting your pet to wander freely is dangerous both to your dog and to other pets and people. It also gives the unsupervised dog freedom to regress to unacceptable wild behavior. Your dog’s life could depend on his listening to your warnings. Not permitting certain activity can’t be viewed as unkind in view of the possible consequences.

Technorati Tags: behavior of dogs, dog behavior, dog care, dog health

Tags: behavior of dogs, dog behavior, dog care, dog health

If you have a new puppy, you may have already started seeing common puppy behavior problems in action. One of the most common problems is the digging and excessive barking you will see from many dogs. Some people opt to ignore the issues because they think it will resolve itself as the puppy grows up. It’s unfortunate, but this isn’t how it works. If you would like for your dog to grow up with good manners, it’s important to address the common puppy behavior problems as soon as you can.

A puppy who barks a couple of times at strangers or when someone rings your doorbell is exhibiting perfectly normal dog behavior. If he doen’t stop until you leave, you need to teach him that it is unacceptable to bark like that.

Stopping Puppy Behavior Problems

A good way to stop some of the more common puppy behavior problems is to hold your puppy’s collar firmly. At the same time, give him a command to stop barking. Pretty soon, the puppy will realize what you need him to do in regards to good puppy behavior. When you think your puppy’s gotten it, you can take his training a step further and teach him that he shouldn’t be barking at strangers out of the house. Ask your friends to walk by your house a few times while your dog learns not to bark at them.

Barking & Digging

At this point, you should also realize that common puppy behavior problems like excessive barking occur much more frequently when the dogs are under-stimualted. In other words, the dog resorts to barking if he is not getting enough physical activity. In this case, you may want to take more walks or spend more playtime with your pup to minimize the barking problem.

Digging is another common problem that new dog owners have to face. If you’re planning to let your dog run loose in the yard, it’s important to train him that digging up the lawn is not acceptable. Since digging is a very natural instinct in dogs, it is very difficult to make them stop the habit altogether. What you can do is to allocate a special place in your garden where he can dig all he wants. All you have to do is to teach him where it is okay to dig and where it is not.

At the start, this might be challenging, but when you’re patient, you will be able to do it with some secrets to dog training. When you catch your puppy digging in an area that is restricted, make sure to give him a command that will stop him from digging, then take him to his digging spot right away.

There will of course, still be times when your dog refuses to listen to you and choose to dig in the areas you don’t want him to. To prevent such disasters, you may want to install temporary fences around your plants until he overcomes these common puppy behavior problems.

Technorati Tags: dog behavior, Puppy Behavior, puppy behavior problems, secrets to dog training

Tags: dog behavior, Puppy Behavior, puppy behavior problems, secrets to dog training