You love your furry friend but he can be rather naughty sometimes! Three of his favorite naughty games to play are jumping, chewing and digging. Sound familiar? These behaviors are all rooted in his canine instincts but with proper training, they need not be a problem for you or your dog.
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Stop Jumping!
A dog who jumps on people is a normal behavior in young puppies, but not a behavior of a well-trained dog. Learning how to stop a dog from jumping on people is really as simple as training your dog where to do his business. Following these simple techniques to stop your dog from jumping on people, you can have the dog trained in about one week.
Body Block
One of the best ways to train your dog not to jump on people is to use the body block. When the dog attempts to jump up on your body, you raise your leg upwards and twist your body sideways to block the dog from even getting her paws on you. At the same tell the dog in a stern voice to sit. Repeat this until the dog sits back and then squat down to pet the dog and give the dog a treat. Wait a minute and then repeat this process up to 10 times each day.
When Visitors Arrive
Dogs get excited and tend to jump on visitors when they arrive at your home. Of course, this is not the behavior you want from your dog or for your family and friends. To remedy this you need to enlist a friend to help. After your dog has the body block command down, it is good to practice with a friend who can pretend to be a guest arriving at the home. This will get the dog used to the excitement of the door being knocked on or the doorbell ringing. When your friend arrives at the door and knocks or rings, you have the dog sit and reward the behavior before you answer the door. All the while maintaining the dog behind you and having her sit instead of getting exciting and jumping on people.
Teaching your dog the behavior you want instead of the behavior the dog wants is the best form of dog training. By following the simple body block technique, you can easily train your dog not to jump on people. Just be consistent and steady with the dog training, and your dog won’t jump on people or get excited when a guest arrives at your home.
Stop Chewing!
So you’re having dog chewing issues! Keep in mind that instinctively dogs are pack animals hardwired to live in the bush. It seems obvious to point out, but they don’t have hands like us and thus have evolved to use their mouths as an exploration tool. When a dog is curious about an item it is naturally inclined to just put it in its mouth. Chewing is like a human being fiddling with something. In the case of a dog, it can be extremely destructive.
Destructive dog chewing can be one of the most annoying things. How can an animal so beautiful and loving destroy all your good stuff? Let’s look at why they do that and how you can help change that behavior.
Just like kids, dogs interact and learn about their environment by taste and smell. Of course, dogs rely more on the sense of smell than a baby does but they also rely on taste a lot. Most dogs like to chew on things. Some of their favorite things are shoes, dining room table legs, and children’s toys. Dog’s chewing on things is a natural dog behavior.
So what should you do? There are a lot of options. Until your dog learns you may need to confine him to a doggie-proof room. You may need to do this, especially when you leave the house. Another solution is playing more with the dog because often dogs chew on things out of boredom. Another technique is to spray the item with a bitter spray. These are available at pet stores. If your dog is a puppy, it’s also possible that they may be teething, having soft chew toys can help. Just like people eat emotionally, some dogs chew emotionally. Again, your dog may just need more walks.
If your dog never had destructive chewing problems and now is doing, that is most likely to a major lifestyle change. If you catch your dog in the act of destructive chewing, a firm no and spraying the item with a non-staining bitter spray may be the best choice.
Dogs are very much like children, children teethe and children explore. Dogs, like children, can take a lot of work. Don’t give up. Use the tips above and remember that most dog owners have a story or two about things that their dog’s have destroyed just like we have stories about things that are children have demolished.
Pointing out to your dog through stern body language and tone that you are the alpha leader of the “pack” will spill over into all areas of dog obedience training. Like I said above, your dog naturally behaves as though you are part of his pack. If it thinks it is the leader and above you in the hierarchy, it is not going to listen to your commands and will actually be confused when you don’t follow its subtle instructions. However, if you take the alpha leader role your dog will make an effort to learn your instructions. This will happen as a subconscious survival instinct
Stop Digging!
To stop dog digging, first, you should analyze canine instincts. For millions of years, dogs survived in the wild as pack animals and mom had no problem with the behavior. Dogs enjoy digging, that’s why they do it. Stopping dog digging can be like taking a video game away from a kid. It’s better to never let them have it in the first place. If you’re like 99% of people including myself, and I assume you are since your reading this article, then it has become a problem.
Don’t worry, this can be taken care of and quickly as long as you don’t listen to your friends who say, “Fill the hole up with water and dunk their head in there!” A good dog training tip is that when puppies misbehave, the mother would bat their nose with their paw or pick them up by the scruff of the neck. You should never do something to actually physically hurt the dog, however, simulating this scenario helps address canine instincts. These are not traditional dog punishment training techniques
This alone will not stop dog digging. Before I give you the strategy, it is important to consider how dogs communicate. God forbid someone goes blind, however, when this happens their other senses become heightened. Someone who loses their eyesight begins to develop unbelievable hearing to a degree that people perceiving with normal eyesight cannot understand. Dogs cannot communicate with language like us and thus have naturally learned to communicate with body language. They can sense emotion extremely well.
With that in mind, you need to wait until your dog is ging and firmly say their name to get their attention. Do not move towards the animal but give a strong body language and maintain eye contact. The dog will likely break it and continue digging. Say their name again and use whatever word your family uses to tell the dog to stop in other situations. Eg. If the dog is on the couch do you say off, no, etc.? Whatever you use, say that word. It is important he knows you’re not playing so make sure you’re not portraying that in your body language. Now you can move towards the animal. If he thinks your playing it will run away as if its a game. If you did it right, you can bat his nose lightly and pull the scruff of his neck firmly but gently. To be clear, you are not hitting the dog’s nose, you are tapping it with your pointer and middle finger gently. This will invoke an emotional response inside the dog that this behavior is not tolerated.
Your dog will be confused at first by you telling him not to do this. He can have no idea why a hole in the yard would be bad and is hardwired to just do it. To stop dog digging, you have to be persistent in your dog training efforts. Dogs are hardwired to behave as pack animals. If your dog isn’t listening to your commands, then he likely thinks you are below him in the hierarchy. You must take over this role to get your dog to start trying to listen to your communications. This is a hardwired survival strategy.
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