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Tip
50 - Dog
behaviour - understanding your dog's behaviour
Dogs
behave in doggie ways and not human ways. Understanding this
simple principal may help to cure unwanted behaviours. When we
are unhappy with
a dog's behaviour it is important to know that dog's
rarely do things to upset us on purpose. (There are exceptions
to this rule like attention seeking. If we ignore our dog completely,
it may well engage in bad behaviour to get our attention. From
a dog's (or even a child's point of view, negative
attention is often better than no attention at all.) However for
the most part like all living things, behaviour is related to genetic
makeup and environment. Therefore if the behaviour is bothersome
to us humans, instead of scolding the dog for something that
comes natural to it, we must ask WHY is it happening.
The
needs of most dogs are fairly simple and predictable. Dogs need
to
be well fed and watered. Dogs need play and exercise. Dogs
need attention and love. Dogs are pack animals and need
to be part of a family, your family. Depending on what breed of
dog you have, you can also expect to encounter
breed specific behaviours. Obvious examples are terriers that
were bred to dig and chase game, and hounds being able to sniff
out even the weakest scents. These behaviours
have been bred into particular breeds on purpose by humans. Those
breeds that did not exhibit desired characteristics were not allowed
to reproduce. Some of the behaviours that were originally bred
into certain breeds and are now hardwired, are no longer attractive
qualities for us humans. This of course is a good reason to do
some research on dog breeds BEFORE you get a dog,
When
bad behaviour arises it is important to ask WHY is this bad behaviour
happening, A good example is chewing. Dogs often chew
up their owner's shoes and other clothing . This is very
upsetting to many dog owners and they often scold or worse, hit
the dog. This is the wrong approach. First off, hitting a dog
for
any
reason
is wrong. It is an old school approach like whipping
a school child with a tree branch or a ruler. Instead, we must
ask why is the dog doing this. Only then can we or with the help
of a
trainer,
solve
the
problem. In this particular case it is because all dogs love
to chew and chewing is absolutely normal dog behaviour. It gives
the
dog an
activity, helps clean its teeth and gums and when it happens to
be an owners shoe, it has the owner's scent on the shoe
so it is soothing to the dog. Now you know why and now you can
solve the problem. The easy solution here is give the dog stuff
that it is allowed to
chew
and hide
or make less desirable things it is not allowed to chew. If you
don't want your dog to chew your new shoes, don't give it an
old shoe. Give the dog something it is allowed to chew like
a large uncooked bone, or a Kong stuffed with peanut butter.
Only
when you ask why your dog is doing what it does can you learn
to solve particular problems. As a rule most behaviour problems
are easily solved once you know what's going on. Deal with problems
sooner than later and puppies are easier to train and correct
than adult dogs.
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2006
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