Dog Puppy Behavior Training Help

Dog Fights are Scary – Interdog Aggression

It’s scary when dogs in the same household fight. The solutions can be as simple as feeding the dogs in different areas, or as complex as implementing a behavior modification plan for inter dog aggression. Your first steps are to identify triggers and situations when the dogs are more likely to fight. Manage the environment so the fights are less likely. Remove high value toys and food items;...

Does Your Dog Own You? Resource Guarding of Territory, Food, Items, or People

Resource guarding is when dogs posture, growl, snarl, bark,  snap, lunge, or bite for reasons we believe are efforts to keep other animals or people away from what they consider to be valuable resources. Resources include food, territory, items and persons. Food related aggression, territory aggression, and possession aggression are specific labels for different types of resource guarding. Resource...

Amateur Shock Collar Use Starts Dog Fight

If you, the uneducated dog owner, want to control your pet dog’s involuntary aggressive responses via force and intimidation, you are entering a spiral of blackness and doom. One day, your chosen method or equipment will fail; injuries and sadness will emerge. I’ve seen it many times. Point being, punishing the growl with a quick burst of energy via an e-collar, leash jerk, Caesar Milan hiss, alpha...

Canine Behavior Modification for Reactive, Unwanted, Behaviors, including Fear and Aggression

Okay, so your dog is fearful, barking, lunging and otherwise distressed when he or she sees people, trucks, cars, or dogs. Depending on who you are talking to, those behaviors may be classified as territory or protective aggression, possession aggression, inter-dog aggression, fear aggression, or leash aggression. I’ll refer to the other people, other dogs, trucks, cars, as “triggers”, because...

Canis lupus familiaris, Food Related Aggression

Many people are aware that some pet dogs will guard food. Food guarding is not uncommon when it occurs between dogs. If that is the only problem, it can usually be controlled by managing the environment. Feed the dogs in different areas; remove the empty bowls, avoid feeding rawhides, crate the dogs during dinner, during pizza parties, et cetera.  Some people accept food guarding between dogs as...

Vacuum Chasing Dog:My Dog Barks and Attacks the Vacuum!

Does your dog or puppy hide from, bark at, chase, bite, your vacuum cleaner?  It seems there are a group of dogs who protest whenever we try to clean up! If you have a puppy under 12 weeks of age, now is the time to gently expose him or her to everyday events and noises. During the critical period of socialization, these exposures teach our dog lifelong coping skills. If you are reading this, I imagine...

Separation Anxiety in Dogs is Often Misdiagnosed and Misunderstood

Separation anxiety is one of the most misdiagnosed behavioral conditions. The hallmarks of separation anxiety are:  Excessive vocalization Salivation Inside Elimination (for a house trained dog) Destructive behaviors directed at entry and exit points For separation anxiety to be considered, some or a combination of these symptoms must occur ONLY in the absence of people. The behaviors most commonly...

Barking Behind Fence or Window May Increase Territory Aggression

Barriers such as fences and windows may encourage your pet dog to exhibit territory aggression. Suppose a dog watches out the window (or runs along a fence line) for hours at a time. Suppose the dog barks and snarls at passing dogs, bicyclists, joggers, walkers, children, etc.. Suppose the dog jumps, up on the window or fence, barks and lunges, snarls and snaps. At this point the dog will not listen...

Barking Dog? Resolutions ** Danger! ** Do Not Use an Anti Bark Collar on Your Dog or Puppy, without reading this first!

Okay, so your dog is barking and you have the perfect, initial solution; buy one of those anti bark dog collars, right? WRONG! Please do not misunderstand, I agree there are situations when an anti bark collar is a good choice, but spraying a dog with citronella, sounding a tone, (or using an e-collar ) are never at the top of my list of tools and solutions for barking. Anti bark collars address the...

Shy Puppy? Afraid of Leash or Collar? Tips and Suggestions

Some puppies are uncomfortable when exposed to new environments or equipment. If your puppy becomes excited or frightened, just name the item or event, and act as if all is well. If your puppy remains focused on the item or event, distract his or her attention from the scary thing. Instead of saying “It’s OK”, divert your pup’s attention with a treat or a toy. It’s normal for puppies to...

FREE – Fabric Licking

Here’s how I used the iPhone dog whistle application to interrupt and reduce excessive licking of fabric behavior by my AKC registered Australian Terrier dog, Bentley. The sound of the whistle performs the role of a positive punisher, which is a stimulus that is added, which reduces the immediate behavior of licking. Bentley’s licking is caused by chronic pancreatitis, and at times, the behavior...