Jun 17 2010
You Can Fix Dog Behavior Problems With Training
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.
