The Dog Spot!
The integration of the dog into the human environment is so comfortable and complete that many dog owners refer to their dogs as their children. This analogy comes to mind because the dog is often adopted as a family member and fits the child's role easily and naturally. Similar to a human child, the domestic dog seeks affection and approval and has the ability to learn. Like small children, dogs are affectionate, curious, adaptable, innocent, playful and basically happy.
Dog and people relationships are not all rosy. Dog owners often don't understand dog behavior. Most dog owners assume their pets think like people and expect them to have mental abilities far beyond what they actually possess. People generally find it difficult to think like a dog and thus don't understand why dogs do the things they do.
Few dogs go through life without acquiring some behaviors an owner finds annoying or even intolerable. Intolerable behavior can be the result of genetics, caused by inexperienced breeders indiscriminately breeding poor tempered dogs. Bad behavior is often the result of the environment in which the dog has been raised without proper training and guidance. Just like children, if dogs are not taught manners and disciplined, they can become out of control and a problem to themselves and for everyone in the family and the community. Problem dogs all too often wind up at animal shelters.
Knowledge of dog behavior can help alleviate most of the problems. The most common puppy and young dog blunders are soiling inside the house, destructive chewing, aggression, and running away. These are all natural behaviors for the young dog, and the dog must be trained to do as the dog owner wishes. If these behaviors can be prevented or corrected, a dog and his family have a better chance at living together happily.
Housetraining:
Housetraining requires patience and ingenuity on the part of the trainer. Housetraining can be accomplished in as little as a few days with dogs six months or older and often in less than two weeks with puppies 12 to16 weeks of age. Puppies from breeders who raise litters in the house often have a head start on housetraining because they are paper-trained or taken outside regularly. Puppies from pet stores and commercial kennels can be a bit more difficult because they live in cages and have nowhere else to relieve themselves.
Housetraining a dog is an adult job. Children are too easily distracted to keep an eye on the untrained dog and too easily tempted to praise, treat, and play even when success is not achieved. Dogs that are not housetrained should be fed on a schedule so their bowels become regular and their movements are predictable. They should be taken outside after meals, after naps, the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.
Housetraining tools are baby gates or other barriers, a crate, a leash, and some dog treats. The most common things that interfere with housetraining are leaving a dog crated too long, waiting too long to start teaching the routine, not sticking to the routine, not being consistent, and giving too much freedom too soon.
Destructive Chewing:
Puppies chew to help them teethe and to explore their surroundings. Older dogs chew to relieve boredom. To prevent destructive chewing, confine the puppy when you cannot watch him. Provide plenty of appropriate items to chew. Give praise for chewing the right stuff.
Appropriate chew toys can include everything from a fresh or frozen carrot to the various chew bones and chew toys available in pet supply stores. Use a repellant such as bitter apple or bitter lime on furniture, rugs, baseboards, woodwork, etc. if the puppy tries to chew.
Running Away:
Prevention is easier to manage than cure. Tools for teaching dogs to stay home are a leash, a fence, and obedience training. Unless confined to an enclosed area, dogs should be walked on a leash so they don't get the opportunity to take off. Sturdy fences will keep the dog home and provide a barrier to wandering dogs and neighborhood cats and kids from entering the yard. A dog that digs under or climbs over the fence should never be allowed outside without supervision.
Aggression:
Prevention is far easier to manage than cure. Puppies that are taught good manners from the start are far less likely to become aggressive than dogs that have no obedience training. Owners of potentially aggressive dogs must be ever vigilant. Many of these dogs do not like children in general. Some of them will love the children in the family but don't like visiting friends.
Supervise all contact between the dog and children. It is wise to limit rough play because it can encourage aggression in some dogs. Teach children how to care for and love the dog so that they understand that dogs respond to kindness and dislike teasing and rough treatment. Dogs might feel threatened by hugging, squeezing, or grabbing of their body parts and might respond by snapping, nipping, or biting. Running, screaming, and squealing can trigger the "prey" drive in dogs and result in an injury to the child.
Obedience classes provide techniques for dog management, such as teaching dogs to sit before going outside so they are not as likely to rush through an open door. Obedience class instructors can also answer questions about possible problems and suggest possible solutions. The money and time spent on obedience training will pay big dividends. |