Is your dog barking at strangers or running away when you try to walk with her with no leash and telling them to behave in the end? Don’t worry you are not the only one with this problem! Amy has been a real troublemaker. She acted like an angel at home but as soon as you left the well-known house she turned into a small devil, barking at every stranger she could see from a mile onwards. Honestly speaking it has been embarrassing at times and exhausting to have an eye on her for the whole walk.
Here are some tips and tricks!
Dog trainers, who provide assistance with your dog is an ever-growing business as well as numerous shows and magazines, who dedicate their time in order to help dog owners tame their little beasts. Here are a few tips, which you can use at home to teach your dog the right behavior.
Most of the time, a dog acts aggressively because he feels threatened in some way. Dogs also recognize when their owners are nervous or when they don’t like the way certain people behave around them, and dogs will act according to their owners’ feelings. Get people you trust to interact more with the dog and be confident when you walk him. This will calm the dog down as well. By recognizing the signs before your dog barks and correcting him before he starts is a way to set rules for him. The owner has to set rules and restrictions and his pooch will respect him for that.
It is very important that your dog receives basic obedience training. You can start by teaching him the very basics and continue from there to more difficult tasks. By using positive reinforcement commands like sit, drop, stay, heel and come can be taught very easily. This especially applies if you just got your first puppy and he is still very wild. You can enforce this method by giving your dog a small treat whenever he shows a correct behavior. This will strengthen your bond more as compared to using punishment as a means of teaching your dog commands. Pay attention in encouraging good behavior instead of rewarding bad behavior with attention.
We all would rather walk our dog instead of sitting at work all day. Sadly, this is not possible for many of us. That’s why we need to train our dogs not to pee inside the house all the time. I mean, who wants to spend their free time cleaning nasty pee from the expensive carpet? Getting your dog to behave is so much cheaper. You should start to train your dog from early on and implement regular mealtimes with no snacks and treats in between. Try to walk your dog in the beginning as often as possible to give him the opportunity to pee. After every meal, nap and every 60 minutes is advisable for this. Make use of your dog’s great sense of smell by going to the same spot every time. He will recognize this and do his business there. Stay with your dog during the walk and avoid just putting him in the yard on his own. Similarly, a positive reinforcement is a great method to teach him the right way to act. Praise him and offer him treats.
It is very important to be patient and not let your mood decide your actions. Be patient and wait until your dog shows the correct behavior, which you then can encourage. Stay as calm as possible at all times. Dogs have a very strong sense of their owner’s current mood and will react in accordance to it. Try to spend time with your dog and spend a certain amount of time training your pooch.
A lack of exercise can result in many different behavioral issues. Exercise not only prevents issues like extensive chewing, unruliness, hyperactivity, attention-getting behavior like barking and play biting, but has several benefits for your dog’s health. Fearful dogs can even build up more confidence. It is important to adopt the right dog breed for your lifestyle. Age and dog breed decides how much exercise your dog needs, but at least 30-60 minutes a day is necessary. Find your gym partner in your dog and take him jogging or take your time to play with him. A well-occupied dog will show better behavior overall.
If an untrained dog should ever attack you, it is of great importance to stay calm. This will irritate the dog. Do not start yelling and kicking since this nervous behavior is what the dog is trying to provoke. Try to stand slightly sideways and avoid direct eye contact and watch the aggressive dog with your peripheral vision instead. If you have an object with you, please place it out in front of you to mark your personal space. After the dog sees that you are not a threat it will most likely lose interest.
Amy came to our house when she was only 5 months old. Sadly, she didn’t quite manage to stay all that clean in the house at first. This resulted in several cleaning tasks for use and especially our nice carpet never looked the same as before. Training your dog how to pee outside can be quite an embarrassing task. Every time Amy did so we arranged a small party and congratulated her exuberantly. Watch out or your neighbors might give you a skeptical look the next time they see you. Of course, we had to adjust the pitch of voice as well to make her even more appreciated. Another thing which might cause irritated stares towards you. But hey, anything to get your dog to behave right? 🙂
The second big task was to teach Amy easy commands so she wouldn’t run away too far. As soon as she ran away too far away, we would hide somewhere and observe her reaction. Amy would search for us within a few seconds when she realized we were gone. This task was meant to teach her to stay at our site and look out for us.
We always tried to socialize her by walking with friends and their dogs, but please be careful, two dogs together can be pretty wild. In order to deepen our personal relationship with young Amy, we gave her the food directly from our hands instead of the bowls. Yet another useful method to play games with Amy. This not only deepened our relationship but also exhausted this energetic dog. Catch has always been a popular game but we also hid food in the garden and Amy was supposed to search it.
All this exercise worked out quite well although she still remains very protective and skeptical towards strangers. Hopefully, all these things mentioned above will have your little fido behave!