As a dog guardian, you may find yourself developing certain habits that not only reflect badly on you and your dog, but also set you both up for failure down the road. Many of these are easily countered with changes in attitude and some behavioral modifications, though. Here’s a list of five behaviors you need to stop doing with your dog in order to make things better for you both.
Projecting Bad Expectations
If you label your dog as lazy, aggressive or even worthless, it’s a good possibility that he will be that way due to your stance on the issue. Take the time to watch what you say about him with regards to his behavior, and see if this is something that perhaps requires just some additional training. Make the effort to observe and evaluate the label you use for your dog, and then examine if it is something that may be easily fixed with some training time with the two of you and a nice bag of dog treats.
Aggressive behavior is something that is of a particular importance. A show of aggression may be for a few reasons, such as fear or a lack of socialization training. Look at the circumstances leading up to your dog’s aggressive behavior to see if there is a particular trigger that set him off. Finding this type of clue will help you discover ways of training your dog to behave differently in the future. If there is a socialization issue, look into working with a professional trainer who specializes in teaching dogs to get along with others.
Not Being Actively Involved With Your Dog
Outside of structured training sessions with your dog, if you’re not regularly interacting with him just to have a connection and camaraderie, you’re opening the door to a whole host of behavioral issues to rear their ugly head. Your dog needs to spend time with you every day, working on good behaviors such as not jumping on you (or others) and learning self-control overall. A failure to do this consistently is akin to telling your dog it’s okay to misbehave.
”He’s Just a Dog.”
This attitude dismisses any behavior that may be normal to a dog, such as barking, digging or chewing, but it’s no excuse for the behavior to continue. Instead of stating that it’s just normal dog behavior, take steps to stop it from happening. There are many distractive training practices to help with these situations.
Thinking That Your Dog Misbehaves on Purpose
Your dog doesn’t choose to misbehave just to spite you. He acts based on his natural instincts coupled with how you react to him. It’s an equation that may be easily shifted by reinforcing good behavior and training against poor behavior. Never use force to train a dog to stop a bad habit, though. Gentle, yet firm guidance is the best combination.
He’s Not Here Just to Please You
While dogs love to please their owners, that is not their main purpose or intention. They require more reinforcement and interaction than just a simple “good boy” from you to ensure a full relationship between the two of you. Take the time to become truly engaged with your dog, and you will see your interactions flourish.
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