Responsible Dog Ownership Day
Destructive behavior in dogs is not a normal state of being – it tends to happen when an adult dog becomes bored or lacks adequate exercise. Such dogs are likely to develop nervous or frustrated tendencies, much the same as humans bite their nails, and an under-stimulated dog will often resort to chewing, digging, and repetitive behaviors. As well as ensuring the restoration of adequate exercise and play in your dog’s life, it is also important to provide some obedience training to instill discipline, exercise, and affection all in combination. This article will help you start to sort out your dog’s destructive tendencies.
Understand what can constitute destructive behavior in dogs. While what is destructive may depend on what you value and what your dog has been doing, not all behaviors that destroy human structures and items are spurred by an intent to destroy! While puppies can be destructive, their destructive play is about exploring, not about intentionally destroying things. On the other hand, a destructive adult dog displaying negative behavior such as chewing, digging holes in the backyard, or chewing up the shrubbery needs attending to. Abnormal behaviors in a pet dog include aggression, anxiety, displacement activities, trying to dominate you, fear and phobias, frustration, and stereotypical behaviors such as repetitious actions with little purpose.[1] Leaving aside aggressive behaviors, which while destructive are not treated in detail in this article, the most common problems that can be viewed as destructive include:[2]
Play with your dog more. Besides walking, play is an important part of your dog’s interaction with you.
- Play catch in the backyard for 15 minutes a day. Try doing this in the morning when you’re more alert and your dog is usually very hyper. You’ll notice that he’ll have less energy throughout the day if you drain him of it earlier on!
- Make a meet-up time for doggy friends. Find out which of your friends own dogs and plan meet-ups in central locations where your dogs can play together. Naturally, you’ll also need to learn in advance if they get along with each other!
- Buy a frisbee and help your dog become used to it. Once he is aware of what a frisbee is for, let him join in the fun.
Deal with digging. Digging is a common behavior because, simply put, dogs enjoy it! However, it is certainly exacerbated by boredom. The key to dealing with digging successfully is to find the motivation and deflect it as best you can. Any of the approaches alone or in combination might ease the digging ferocity:
Don’t always have the same old toys out. If your dog is always playing with the ten toys you bought him, then he’ll get tired of them and unimpressed when you leave. Make sure you hide all of his toys in a closet and only allow two or three to be out at a time. When you switch the toys around, your dog will be entertained more and he’ll think it’s a treat when he gets an old toy to play with that’s been hidden away. As an added incentive, this will prevent you from spending more money on new toys whenever you’re planning on leaving for a long period of time!
http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Destructive-Behavior-in-Dogs
Tags: behavior dogs, Dog Walk San Diego, dogs chew shoes, San Diego Dog Walk
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