Archive for July, 2009:
Written on July 12th, 2009 by no shouts
Instinctively, a dog is an aggressive creature. This is the most needed instinct to survive in the wild. Dogs used aggression to hunt, to defend themselves from other creatures, and to defend food, shelter, and a mate.
Over the centuries, selective breeding has minimized and refined this trait significantly. Dogs are physically capable of inflicting serious harm (their teeth tells it all!) because that’s how they’ve survived and evolved. And Mother Nature is pretty crafty – it’s hard to counteract the power of instinct! But that doesn’t mean that we, as dog lovers and owners, are entirely helpless when it comes to handling our dogs.
We can do a lot to prevent aggression in the first place and even if prevention hasn’t been possible for whatever reason, there are still steps that we can take to recognize and deal with it efficiently. Learn how to do that here:
www.dogcenteronline.com/Smart-Dog-Training-Techniques
There are several different types of canine aggression. The two most common ones are:
1. Aggression towards strangers
2. Aggression towards family members
These two types of aggression stem from very different causes, and require different types of treatment.
Aggression towards strangers - It’s pretty easy to tell when a dog is anxious around strange people. He’s jumpy and on the alert: either he can’t sit still and is constantly fidgeting, leaping at the smallest sound, and pacing around barking and whining; or he’s still, sitting rock-steady in one place, staring hard at the object of his suspicions. The one major reason why a dog doesn’t like strange people is that he’s never had the chance to get
used to them. Remember, your dog relies fully on you to broaden his horizons for him. Without being taken on lots of outings to see the world and realize for himself, that the unknown doesn’t necessarily equal bad news for him, he can’t realistically be relax in an unfamiliar situation.
Socialization is extremely important aspect of your dog’s upbringing. Socializing your dog means exposing him from a young age to a wide variety of new experiences, new people, and new animals. This gets him to learn through experience that new sights and sounds are fun, not scary. The more categories of people and animals he meets in a fun and relaxed context, the more at ease, happy and safe he’ll be around.
He needs to be taken to a whole bunch of new places and environments. Remember not to overwhelm him, start off slow, and build up his tolerance gradually.
Aggression towards family members - There are two common reasons why a dog is aggressive towards members of his own human family:
1. He’s trying to defend something he perceived as a threat (you). This is known as resource guarding.
2. He’s not comfortable with the treatment, handling he’s getting from you or other members of the family.
Resource guarding is pretty common among dogs. The term refers to overly-possessive behavior on behalf of your dog, for instance, snarling at you if you approach him when he’s eating, or giving you “the eye” (a flinty-eyed, direct stare) if you reach your hand out to take a toy away
from him. All dogs can be possessive from time to time – it’s in their natures. Even sometimes over things with no conceivable value.
It all boils down to the issue of dominance. Let me take a moment to explain this concept: dogs are pack animals. This means that they’re used to a very structured environment in a dog-pack, each individual animal is ranked in a
hierarchy of position and power, and dominance and aggression are the exclusive rights of a superior-ranked animal. No underdog would ever show aggression or act dominantly to a higher-ranked animal. To put it plainly: if
it was clear to your dog that he is not, in fact, the leader of the family, he’d never even dream of trying to prevent you from taking his food or toys. So what can I do about it? The best treatment for dominant, aggressive behavior is consistent, frequent obedience work, which will underline
your authority over your dog. Just two fifteen-minute sessions a day will make it perfectly clear to your dog that you’re the boss, and that it pays to do what you say.
You can make this fact clear to him by rewarding him with treats and lavish praise for obeying a command, and isolating him , putting him in “time-out”, either outside the house or in a room by himself for misbehavior. Brush up on your understanding of canine psychology and communication, so that you understand what he’s trying to say – this will help you to nip any
dominant behaviors in the bud, and to communicate your own authority more effectively. Train regularly, keep obedience sessions short and productive no more than fifteen minutes, maybe two or three of these per day.
Now to the issue of handling-induced aggression: All dogs have different handling thresholds. Some dogs like lots of cuddles, and are perfectly content to be hugged, kissed, and have arms slung over their shoulders, others usually the ones not accustomed to a great deal of physical contact from a very young age aren’t comfortable with too much full-body contact and will get nervy and agitated if someone persists in trying to hug them.
Another common cause of handling-induced aggression is a bad grooming experience: nail-clipping and bathing are the two common culprits. When you clip a dog’s nails, it’s very easy to cut the blood vessel that runs inside the nail. This is extremely painful to a dog, and is a sure-fire way to cause a long-lasting dislike to those clippers. Being washed is something that many dogs have difficulty dealing with. If you feel that in order to complete the wash you have to forcibly restrain him, it adds to the dog’s sense of panic, and reinforces his impression of a wash as something to be avoided at all
costs – if necessary, to defend himself from it with a display of teeth and hackles.
You can retrain him to enjoy being handled and groomed It’s a lot easier if you start from a young age. For an older dog that may already have had several unpleasant handling/grooming experiences, things are a little more
difficult. You need to undo the damage already caused by those bad experiences, which you can do by taking things very slowly – with an emphasis on keeping your dog calm. The instant he starts to show signs of stress, stop immediately and let him relax. Try to make the whole thing
into a game: give him lots of praise, pats, and treats. Take things slowly.
Dogs show aggression for a reason: they’re warning you to back off, or else! If your dog just can’t seem to accept being groomed, no matter how much practice you put in, it’s best to hand the job over to the professionals. Your
vet will clip his nails for you make sure you tell him first that he gets aggressive when the clippers come out, so your vet can take the necessary precautions!.
As far as washing and brushing goes, the dog-grooming business is a flourishing industry: for a small fee, you can get your dog washed, clipped, brushed, and whatever else you require by experienced professionals again, make sure you tell them about your dog’s reaction to the experience first!
For more information on handling aggressive and dominant behaviors, as well as a great deal of detailed information on a host of other common dog behavior problems, check out the No. 1 dog training and behavior website for over 4 years. It’s a complete owner’s guide to owning, rearing, and training your dog, and it deals with all aspects of dog ownership.
To get the inside word on preventing and dealing with problem behaviors like aggression and dominance in your dog, you can visit the kingdomofpets site by clicking on the link below:
www.dogcenteronline.com/Smart-Dog-Training-Technique
All the best to you and your dog,
Mark Handison
Written on July 12th, 2009 by no shouts
This is Mark Handison here again bringing you another insightful article on dogs. Today’s article is on the topic: Dog Nutrition. Enjoy it and never hesitate to shot me an email, if you need any further clarification on any part of this article. Okay, now let get to work.
The AAFCO sets the standards for pet food safety and nutrition, and the testing done by the AAFCO is used to determine whether or not specific ingredients are acceptable as pet foods. But the AAFCO will rate both low
and high quality ingredients as being nutritionally adequate, because there is a demand for pet food in all price ranges. So you need to learn how to read past the AAFCO approval statement on your dog food labels if you want to know what your dog is really consuming.
www.dogcenteronline.com/Best-Dog-Food-and-Nutrition
Reading a Dog Food Label
The label tells us many important facts and figures that may otherwise dissuade or persuade us from purchasing the food. In short, it is important to read the labels. To actually read that label, and not to just give it a cursory
glance, we will have to first know a little something about what can be found there and what it means.
The first thing most of us notice on any label is the product name. The product name may also contain primary ingredient names such as “Beef Dog Chow”, or what kind of dog the food is intended for, such as “Puppies, Adult,
Lactating”, etc.
If, in the product name, an ingredient is listed, say for example that “Beef Dog Chow”, that beef must be at least 95% of the total weight if there is no water required for processing, and at least 70% when water is included.
So, for dry kibble, 95% of that weight needs to contain beef.
When the title contains “dinner, formula, nuggets,” and other similar words, the ingredient named must be at least 25% of the weight. So in a product named Lamb Dinner, 25% of the total weight for the product must be lamb.
But, if only of that entire product needs to consist of lamb, the lamb may not (and probably is not!) the main ingredient. Ingredients must be listed in a descending order of weight. So, even though the bag says Lamb Dinner,
the lamb may be fourth in order.
Example:
- Lamb Dinner Ingredients: Corn, meat and bone meal, wheat, lamb.
In that Lamb Dinner, the main ingredients are really the corn and meat and bone meal. Not desirable for a healthy meal.
On the other hand if the ingredients listed were
- Premium Lamb Dinner Ingredients: Lamb, ground rice, ground yellow corn…
This presents a more desirable meal and one that your dog can actually consume and digest properly.
When it comes to the words “flavored” or “flavor” such as Lamb Flavored Nuggets, no exact percentage of the named ingredient, the lamb, needs to be present, but enough of that ingredient needs to present as to be detectable
Often times, the main ingredients will not be present in the title. In such a case, these foods often include items such as: ground yellow corn, meat byproducts, tallow, and other items that are not particularly digestible for your pet. The actual named ingredient will probably be down the list and make up only a very small part of the product.
Besides naming an ingredient with the product name, other phrases and adjectives are used.
Premium Dog Food, or X Premium and other like titles are making a justified boast, as these products complied with the nutritional standards for a complete and balanced dog food. This is definitely something to take into
consideration when shopping.
Natural Dog Food means that there are no artificial colors, preservatives or flavors. If a product has given the calorie content on the bag,
“Premium Beef Dinner: now with lower calorie content,” this is done so voluntarily as a service to the consumer. Because the calorie content of pet foods does not have to be displayed in their labels, however, here’s a formula to help you make sure Buster is not eating too much:
www.dogcenteronline.com/Best-Dog-Food-and-Nutrition
Multiply the carbohydrate by 4.2kcal (kilocalories) per gram, the protein by 5.65, and then the fat by 9.4 kcal per gram. If you need to convert the kilocalories to kilojoules (another unit of measurement for energy) simply multiply the total by 4.184. Of course, rounding to the nearest ten
might be helpful, as long as you keep in mind that it’s an approximation erring on the low side.
Where’s the Fat?
A good way to find the higher quality dog foods by reading the ingredient list is to search for that first source of fat. Everything that is listed before that fat source, and including it, is the main part of the food. Everything else
is generally used for flavor, preservatives, vitamins, and minerals.
For example:
- Food A: Ground yellow corn, meat meal, chicken fat, ground wheat, chicken byproduct meal, dried beet pulp …
- Food B: Turkey, chicken, chicken meal, ground brown rice, ground white rice, chicken fat, apples, carrots, sunflower
oil…
The importance of finding the source of fat and where it is listed is so you can find ingredients that may or may not be harmful to your pet, such as beet pulp or corn gluten meal.
Learning to read the labels on dog food is the single most important thing you can do if you intend to feed your pet a commercial diet. Your dog may be the smartest dog who ever wore a collar, but he can’t read, and he needs to rely on you to keep him healthy.
If what’s in that can or bag doesn’t sound like something you’d want to eat, it’s probably not something your dog would eat if there were an alternative. So take the time to learn the language of labels!
One of the most authoritative book on this subject is “The Complete Guide to Your Dog’s Nutrition” . It can help you with everything to do, choosing the healthiest food for your dog plus provides detailed help with managing all the common dog food issues you may experience with your dog.
The publisher, Sharda Baker has been around for a long while and is well known on the internet for her top quality dog ebooks and audios
She has put together a thorough and easy to follow resource on dog food and nutrition that lists 12 of the best dog foods for your dog!
Read more on “The Complete Guide to Your Dog’s Nutrition” here
www.dogcenteronline.com/Best-Dog-Food-and-Nutrition
All the best to you and your dog,
Mark Handison
Written on July 12th, 2009 by no shouts
Dogs are perhaps our most preferred pets because of their loyalty, exuberance and how useful they can be to us. They offer us unconditioned love and will always be there no matter what situation. Giving your dog a holistic regular massage is one of the ways, you can give back to your
beloved dog. The practice of dog massage has been proven to be beneficial to our canine friends.
Just like us human, dogs do experience emotional and physical stress. Every time you leave your dog at home when you go to work, your dog tend to get stress. This is generally known as “separation anxiety”. Your dog may also
develop muscular or joints injury from playing or bumping into thing. Some vets may also recommend dog massage therapy to treat certain illnesses. Most of the benefits from this practice will relate to fixing or at least relieving health issues.
One of the benefits of massage is improving blood and lymph circulation. This will help your dog to relax by relieving the tension from within the muscles. By pressing an stroking certain pressure points, it will promote better blood movement and elevates the tension built up in the body and let fresh energy flow through the muscle once again. Moreover, dog massage around the dog’s stomach can help improve digestion and help with the discomfort of gas and bloating.
Giving your dog a regular massage could help to improve your his behavior. When your dog is injured, he may develop physical or mental trauma. Just like human being, dogs tend to prolong their
recovery if they are still stress from the incident. By applying massage therapy, this will help your dog to shorten his recovery time. Apart from regular check up to the vet, dog massage will definitely improve the well being of your dog.
You’ll also spot trouble such as cuts, ticks, sprains, and foxtails, before it gets serious. As a result your dog will get better medical care because he won’t be frightened or fighting the vet every step of exam.
So you see, it is very important that your dog gets massage regularly. You don’t need an expect to do that for you. You can learn how to give your dog a happier and healthier life with regular dog massage on your own. Find out how here
www.dogcenteronline.com/Learn-Dog-Massage-Techniques
and see for yourself how you can use this same exact techniques to massage your dog for a happier and healthier life.
All the best to you and your dog,
Mark Handison
Written on July 12th, 2009 by no shouts
Today’s article is on the topic: Separation Anxiety. Enjoy it and never hesitate to shot me an email if you need any further clarification of any part of this article. Okay, now let get to work.
one of the most frequent problems that dogs develop is Separation Anxiety. It’s an anxiety disorder, and is defined as a state of intense panic brought on by the dog’s isolation/separation from her owner(s). In other words: when you leave for work in the morning, your dog is plunged into a state of nervous anxiety which intensifies extremely quickly.
www.dogcenteronline.com/Smart-Dog-Training-Techniques
As you know, dogs are social animals – they need lots of company and social interaction to keep them happy and content. No dog likes to be left alone for long stretches of time, but the dogs that do lot worse are the ones most prone to separation anxiety. There are a number of contributing causes to the condition: – Some breeds are genetically inclined towards anxiety and insecurity, which is something you should consider when deciding which breed you’re going to go for particularly if you’re going to be absent for long stretches of time.
A few of these breeds include Weimaraners, Springer Spaniels, German Shepherds, and Airedales. A significant proportion of dogs from shelters develop separation anxiety. Most of these ’shelter dogs’ have undergone
significant trauma in their lives they’ve been abandoned by their previous owners and thus they have little trust that their new found owner (you) isn’t going to pull the same trick.
Dogs that were separated from their mothers and siblings too early have been identified as being especially prone to separation anxiety. Puppies from pet-stores are a perfect example of this: they’re usually taken from their mothers well before the earliest possible age which is 8 weeks, and confined to a small glass box in the petstore for anywhere between a few weeks to two months. This early weaning, coupled with the lack of exercise and affection while in the petstore, is psychologically traumatic for the dog.
Neglect is the number one cause of separation anxiety for dogs. Separation anxiety is pretty much inevitable to your dog, if you’re absent much more than you’re present in her life.
Your dog needs your company, affection, and attention in order to be happy and content. The symptoms of separation anxiety are pretty distinctive, your dog will usually learn to tell when you’re about to leave and will become
anxious. She may follow you from room to room, whining, trembling, and crying. Some dogs even become aggressive, in an attempt to stop their owners from leaving.
When you’ve left, the anxious behavior will rapidly worsen and usually will peak within half an hour. She may bark incessantly, scratch and dig at windows and doors an attempt to escape from confinement and reunite herself with you, chew inappropriate items, even urinate and defecate
inside the house.
In extreme cases, she might self-mutilate by licking or chewing her skin until it’s raw, or pulling out fur; or will engage in obsessive-compulsive behaviors, like spinning and tail-chasing.
Upon your return, she’ll be excessively excited, and will leap around you in a frenzy of delight for a protracted period of time more than the 30 seconds to one minute of a happy, well-balanced dog. This extended greeting is a source of some misunderstanding: without realizing that such a greeting actually signifies the presence of a psychological disorder, some owners actually encourage their dog to get more and more worked up upon their return by fuelling the dog’s excitement, encouraging her to leap around, paying her protracted attention, and so on.
If you’re behaving in this way with your dog, please stop. I know it’s tempting and very easy to do, and it seems harmless after all, she’s so happy to see you, what harm can it do to return her attention and affection
in equal measure? But in actuality, you’re just validating her belief that your return is the high point of the day. So she’s as happy as Larry when you return but, when it’s time for you to leave again, her now-exaggerated happiness at your presence is under threat, and she gets even more unhappy when you walk out that door.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to minimize your dog’s tendency towards anxiety. Here’s a short list of do’s and don’ts:
Exercise the heck out of her. Really wear her out. The longer you expect to be away, the more exercise she should get before you leave.
Distract her from her boredom, loneliness, and anxiety by giving her an attractive alternative to pining, pacing, and whining. All dogs love to chew why not play on this predisposition? Get a couple of marrowbones from the butcher, bake them in the oven for 20 minutes so they go nice and hard and crunchy and so she can’t smear marrow all over your furniture, slice them up into chunks of a few inches long, and give her one about 15 minutes before you leave.It’ll keep her happy and occupied, and will act as a cover-up for your departure.
When you leave, put the radio on to a soothing station, classical music is ideal, but any station featuring lots of talk shows is also ideal. Keep the volume quite low, and it’ll calm her down a bit and give her the feeling that she’s got company.
If at all possible, supply her with a view: if she can see the world going by, that’s the next best thing to being out and about in it.
Let her become accustomed to your leaving. Taking things nice and slowly, practice getting ready to go: jingle your keys about, put on your coat, and open the door. Then, without leaving, sit back down and don’t go anywhere. Do this until she’s not reacting any more. When there’s no reaction, give her a treat and lavish praise for being so brave.
Next, practice actually walking out the door and returning immediately, again doing this gradually until there’s no reaction, and you’re able to leave the house with no signs of stress from her. Never act clearly sympathetic when she’s crying. Although it sounds very cold-hearted, trying to soothe and comfort your dog by patting her and cooing over her is actually one of the worst things you can do, it’s essentially validating her concern.
Make sure she can’t tell that you feel sorry for her, don’t ever say, “It’s OK, good girl” when she’s upset! If you’re interested in getting a more detailed
look at how to deal with your dog’s separation anxiety, you might like to check out Secrets to Dog Training. It’s a great learning tool for anyone who wants to learn how to deal constructively with their dog’s problem behaviors.
All of the common behavioral problems are dealt with in detail, and there’s a great section on obedience commands and tricks too. You can visit the Secrets to Dog Training site by clicking on the link below:
www.dogcenteronline.com/Smart-Dog-Training-Techniques
Thanks for staying with me till now, talk to you again soon.
All the best to you and your dog,
Mark Handison
Written on July 12th, 2009 by no shouts
The act of chewing seems to be a matter of individual preference among dogs: some have an innate desire to chew as a pleasurable activity in itself, and some seem to have no need to chew whatsoever unless they’re driven to it out of sheer boredom. Your dog is always learning. The problem is, without your intervention, your dog will learn, but probably not what you want it to.
www.dogcenteronline.com/Smart-Dog-Training-Techniques
The phrase “destructive chewing” may sound redundant, because – by its very nature! – all chewing is destructive. Your dog has strong jaws full of sharp, pointy teeth: just about anything she starts to chew on is probably going to show the effects of it inside of a minute. So just to clarify, when I use the phrase “destructive chewing”, I’m referring to inappropriate
chewing: the kind of chewing that’s focused on your own possessions
and household items, instead of on your dog’s own designated toys and chews.
The three main reasons why dogs chew:
1. Most dogs have a natural desire to chew. It’s fun, it passes the time, and it’s a self-rewarding, self-reinforcing activity (for example, if she’s chewing
on something that tastes good.)
2. Chewing provides a nervous, bored, or lonely dog with an outlet for her emotions. To an anxious dog, the repetitive act of chewing is soothing – it’s the doggie equivalent of comfort food.
3. Underexercised dogs often use chewing as a way of burning up nervous energy and giving themselves something to do.
How to prevent destructive chewing
Dogs are perfectly capable of learning not to chew your stuff – you just have to put in a little effort first, that’s all.
1. Take control of the situation: manage your own possessions. Your first step should be to dog-proof your home. Even if you have the best-behaved dog in the world, there’s still no reason to test her self-control after all, dogs explore the world with their mouths.
Dog-proofing your home means taking whatever you don’t want to end up in her mouth, and making it unavailable. Consider her size and agility when deciding whether something is out of reach: can she jump? Can she climb, or leap onto something else to reach the desired object? How tall is she when standing on her back legs?
Common targets in the home include books, eyewear, clothing, shoes, garbage, and small crunchy appliances like cameras, cell phones, and remote controls. It should go without saying that all food needs to be put
securely away: don’t leave snacks on low tables or even countertops – you’d be surprised how acrobatic she can be when there’s food at stake!, put all food into containers or the pantry. Rinse your dirty plates clean of
any food scraps before leaving them by the sink.
2. Prevent her from learning the joys of illegal chewing.
The more times she manages to snatch a jawful of a forbidden substance – a chair-leg, a pillow, a running shoe – the more readily she’ll target those items in future. If you can prevent her from chewing your stuff in the first place, it’s a lot easier for her to understand what you expect of her. Practically speaking, this means confining her in a dog-proofed area until you’re confident of her understanding of the house rules.
3. Don’t set her up for failure by blurring the boundaries between her stuff (OK to chew) and your stuff (not OK to chew). Don’t offer your dog cast-off clothes, shoes, or towels to chew and play with: realistically, you
can’t possibly expect her to be able to tell the difference between your current shoes and the one she’s got in her mouth that you gave her five minutes ago.
4. Provide her with lots of tasty alternatives to your stuff. If her environment is relatively barren of attractive, appropriate chewing objects, you can hardly blame her for targeting your possessions. Remember, most
dogs need to chew; if she’s an adolescent (under three years) or a puppy (under one year), her needs will be even more pronounced. Go on a toy and chew shopping spree, then give her two or three to play with at a time. Rotating the available toys every few days will keep things novel and
interesting for her.
5. Spend lots of time in active supervision. Yes, it might be easier for you to just keep her penned up in her crate, run, or the yard – but that’s boring and horrible for her, and hardly much fun for you either (if you wanted a
pet that you don’t need to interact with, you’d have got a goldfish, right?) She can’t learn what you expect of her if she’s spending all her time boxed up in the dog-proof zone: she needs the opportunity to explore the
boundaries of your expectations, so she can understand what’s appropriate and what’s not.
6. When you catch her chewing something inappropriate, interrupt her by making a loud noise: clap your hands or make an “Ah-ah-aaaah!” noise. Then, immediately hand her a tasty and dog-appropriate alternative (a rawhide bone or other chew toy); as soon as her jaws close around it, praise her lavishly. There is no better way to get your dog to understand that chewing “her” toys equals praise from you, but everything else equals trouble.
Maintain a productive attitude
Above all, remember to keep your expectations realistic. You’re not perfect, and neither is your dog: there’s likely to be at least one incident where a cherished item is damaged by her curiosity. Particularly in the early stages of your relationship, she’s still learning the ropes: it’ll take awhile
before she’s completely reliable (and even then, if she’s left by herself for too long or feels neglected, she may choose your stuff over hers to occupy her time and jaws with.) Remember to give her time to learn the rules,
and plenty of ‘you-time’ to help her learn faster – and don’t forget to take precautions and keep things out of reach until she’s got the hang of the chewing rules!
You can get more insightful information on dog training techniques and how to deal with problem dog behavior (like chewing), if you check out “Secrets to Dog Training”. It’s a complete manual for dog ownership and is designed to fast-track your dog’s learning. Check “Secrets to Dog Training” out by clicking the link below:
www.dogcenteronline.com/Smart-Dog-Training-Techniques
All the best to you and your dog,
Mark Handison
Written on July 12th, 2009 by one shout
Hi there,
This is Mark Handison again bringing you another insightful article on dogs. Today’s article is on the topic: Dog Barking. Enjoy it and never hesitate to shot me an email if you need any further clarification of any part of this article. Now here is the article, you’ve been waiting for:
As a dog owner, you may want your dog to stop barking just at anything. Right? You think a good dog is a quiet dog, and the only time that barking is allowed is when there’s a strange man clambering in through your bedroom window.
You see, dogs don’t see barking in quite the same way. Your dog has a voice, just like you do, and she uses it just how you do too, that is to communicate something to the people you care about. I don’t think that barking is necessarily a bad thing. I think it’s encouraging that my dog wants to “talk” to me.
It’s the thought that counts. Unfortunately, the language barrier between dogs and humans is pretty well not easy to break, which means it’s up to us to use the context, her body language, and the circumstances to understand the meaning of her barking.
Now the question is, why do dogs bark? Hey, it’s like trying to answer the question, “Why do humans talk?” Not easy to say, right? Let’s start by saying that dogs bark for many different reasons. A lot of it depends on the breed, some dogs were bred to bark only when a threat is perceived examples are guarding breeds such as Dobermans, Rottweilers and German Shepherds.
Some dogs were bred to use their voices as a tool to assist their owners in pursuit of a common goal. For instance, sporting breeds such as Beagles and Bloodhounds are trained to ‘bay’ when they scent the quarry. On the other hand, some dogs just like to hear themselves talk.
Regardless of your dog’s breed, there will be moments she will certainly bark. Such moments are when she’s bored, she’s lonely she’s hungry, or knows it’s time for a meal, something is wrong/someone is near the house, she’s inviting you to play, she sees another animal, she needs the toilet. If your dog is barking for any of these reasons, it’s not really realistic for you to try to stop her: after all, she’s a dog, and it’s the nature of all dogs to bark at certain times and in certain situations.
Of course, there are times when barking isn’t only unnecessary, it’s absolute unwelcome. Some dogs can use their voices as a means of manipulation. Take this situation as an example: You’re lying on the couch reading a book. Your dog awakes from a nap and decides it’s time for a game. She picks up her ball, comes over, and drops it in your lap. You ignore her and keep on reading. After a second of puzzled silence, she nudges your hand with her nose and barks once, loudly. You look over at her – she assumes the ‘play-bow’ position and pants enticingly at you. You return to your book. She barks again, loudly – and, when no response is given, barks again. And this time, she keeps it up. After a minute or so of this, you put down your book, pick up the ball, and take her outside for a game of fetch. She stops barking immediately.
I’m sure you know that respect is an essential part of your relationship with your dog. You respect her, which you demonstrate by taking good care of her regardless of the convenience of doing so, feeding her nutritious and tasty food, and showing your affection for her in ways that she understands and enjoys. In order for her to be worthy of your respect, she has to respect you, too. By the way, dog ownership is not about equality, it’s about you being the boss, and she being the pet.
Dogs are most comfortable and best-behaved when they know that you are in charge. A dog has to respect your leadership to be a happy, well-adjusted, and well-behaved pet. In the situation above, there was no respect being shown by the dog. She wasn’t inviting her owner to play, she was harassing her owner to play. In fact, I’d even say bullying. And even worse, the behavior was being reinforced by the owner’s admission of defeat. Effectively, giving in to this behavior taught her that to get what she wants, she has to make a noise and she has to keep it up until her goal is achieved.
Affection and play-times are obviously necessary aspects of a dog’s life, but they have to be composed out on your own terms. If she learns that she can get what she wants by barking, then your house is going to become a Noise Pollution Zone. You and your neighbors will really hate it.
To prevent this bullying behavior in your dog, you have to prove to her that you’re not the kind of person that can be manipulated so easily. It’s simple to do this, all you have to do is ignore her. I’m not talking about passive ignorance, you need to take more of an active role. This means conveying to her through your body language that she is not worthy of your attention when she acts in such an undesirable manner.
The absolute best and most effective thing for you to do in this case is to give her the cold shoulder. When she starts trying to ‘bark you’ into doing something for her, turn your back on her straight away. Get up, avert your eyes and face, and turn around so your back is towards her. Don’t look at her, and don’t talk to her- not even a “no”. She’ll probably be confused by this, and will likely bark harder. This is particularly true if you’ve given in to her bully-barking in the past, the more times you’ve reinforced the behavior, the more persistent she’s going to be.
In fact, the barking will almost certainly get a lot worse before it gets better after all, it’s worked for her the past, so it’s understandable that she’ll expect it to work again. As in all aspects of dog training, consistency is very important. You must ensure that you don’t change your mind halfway through and give in to what she wants , because by doing so, you’re teaching her to be really, really persistent (“OK, so I just need to bark for ten minutes instead of five to get a walk,” is the message she’ll get).
But what can you do in other situations where bullying isn’t an issue and you just want her to stop the racket? If you want to get the message across that you’d like her to cease fire and be quiet, the most effective thing you can do is to use your hands. No, I’m not talking about hitting her. There is a perfectly humane way.
Here’s what you do: when she’s barking, give her a second to get it out of her system. It’s a lot kinder, and a lot more effective, to give her a chance briefly, to express herself before asking her to be quiet. If she doesn’t calm down under her own steam, reach out and clasp her muzzle gently, but firmly, in your hand. She’ll try to shake you off, or back away, so you can place your other hand on her collar to give you greater control. This method is useful for two reasons:
Firstly, it effectively silences the barking.
Secondly, it reinforces your authority.
You’re showing her through direct physical action that you’re a benevolent but firm leader who will tolerate no nonsense, and who won’t balk when it comes to enforcing your guidance. Hold onto her muzzle and collar until she stop trying to break free. Only when she calms down and stops wriggling, does it mean that she’s accepted your authority. When she’s still, hold on for one or two more seconds, then let her go and praise her.
In addition to this short-term fix, there are also a few things you can to do to reduce your dog’s need to bark in the first place. The number one cause for unwanted barking- as in, the kind of barking that’s repetitive and is directed at nothing is nervous, agitated energy – the kind she gets from not getting enough exercise. Most dogs function best with one and a half hours’ exercise every day, which is a considerable time commitment for you. Of course, this varies from dog to dog, depending on factors like breed, age, and general level of health. You may think that your dog is getting as much exercise as she needs, or at least as much as you can possibly afford to give her – but if her barking is coupled with an agitated demeanor, fidgeting, perhaps acting more aggressively than you’d expect or want, restlessness, destructive behavior, then she almost definitely needs more.
Fortunately, the fix for this problem is pretty simple: you’ll just have to exercise her more. Try getting up a half-hour earlier in the morning – it’ll make a big difference. If this is absolutely impossible, consider hiring someone to walk her in the mornings and/or evenings.
The second most common cause of excessive vocalization in dogs is too much ‘alone time’. Hope you know by now that dogs are social animals, so they need lots of attention, lots of interaction, and lots of communication. Without these things, they become anxious and on edge. If you’re at home with your dog, not paying attention to her, and she’s barking at what appears to be nothing, she’s probably bored and lonely and needs a healthy dose of affection and attention.
There are more to learn on this topic, you’ll probably be interested in taking a look at Secrets to Dog Training. It’s a complete, A-Z manual for the responsible dog owner, and deals with recognizing, preventing, and dealing with just about every problem dog behavior under the sun. You can check out Secrets to Dog Training by clicking on the link below:
www.dogcenteronline.com/Smart-Dog-Training-Techniques
All the best to you and your dog, and talk to you soon
Mark Handison