After about a month in our house, our new gentle, laid back dog Archie began having some issues where he would go crazy anytime somebody walked by the house or if we would see another dog out on a walk. He even attacked a dog at the dog park! Then he started play-biting us! Ouch! We had used Bark Busters when training a previous dog, so we already...
Humans aren't the only species that can be calmed by soothing music, it can also help anxiety in dogs. Many owners leave a television or radio on when they leave the house to help a dog feel comforted. But there is also specialized music that one can play to help particularly anxious dogs. Through a Dog's Ear is a selection of music specifically aimed at calming nervous dogs. The website states, "The overarching psychoacoustic theory informing Through a Dog’s Ear is summed up in just two words — simple sound. This term refers to the process of minimizing intricate auditory information found in most music.
Hi there does anyone have any ideas, I have a 11yr old Golden retriever who has odd for him behaviour. he has started looking very scared his ears go back & he looks sharply behind him as though something is behind him, he rushes from my husband then back to me seeming to want reassurance, he pants & does pluck the hair from his front leg, he finds it difficult to settle & paces around these attacks normally last for around half an hour, I have tried rescue remedy & a herbal tranquil powder. I have now also started using a pet remedy diffuser he sometimes has a few days of this behaviour then is fine for a few weeks then it happens again. he usually is a very calm placid boy & in his old age has slept a lot he takes pain killers for a back problem & he is fairly deaf can hear high pitch & a shout Thanks for any help Jan

Keep your training sessions short, consistent and always have fun. The key to shaping your puppy's behavior is to start out with very easy commands, continue to build on these successes and apply heaps of repetition. Base your puppy training sessions around trust and mutual respect rather than old school methods based on punishment, avoidance and harsh corrections. In this environment you will find that your puppy loves his training sessions and his confidence will grow with each and every session.
Training should be a pleasure for both you and your dog. Granted, there are often challenges as you work towards better manners but if you find yourself becoming frequently frustrated with your dog, it’s time to get help. Frustration is only a few degrees away from anger and you probably won’t be able to make progress trying to train your dog when you’re feeling upset.
It is important to notice the signs of stress in their early stages; this gives you an opportunity to remove your dog from a situation before his reaction escalates and becomes potentially aggressive or dangerous. Other anxiety intervention tactics, like training, are also more successful if started as soon as possible, before your dog has a chance to become chronically stressed.
After we have conquered the backyard, I take her on short but more frequent walks that are close to home. I live in a quiet neighborhood, so it works out well. I make sure to always stay calm and to always make our outings positive. I play Find-It and other games with my puppy so that she gets engaged with me, and learns to associate walks with rewards and fun.
I have a 7 month old Chinese Sharpei/Lab Mix who I adopted from PACC when he was 4 months old. We currently have him in obidience training and have been working closely with my dog trainer to prevent his severe seperation anxiety. We have tried natural herbal medication and dietary suppliments and recently went to our vet where they prescribed him Prozac. Unfortunately, the medication made everything worse so we took him off of it. Our vet had no other recommendations other than to see a behavioral trainer. Luke, my puppy, has torn up my carpet by the front door, has broken the wooden paneling surrounding the door, and has practically ripped our French doors off the walls. We have tried crating him while we work and he has made it a point that he doesn’t want to be in it by chewing on the crate door and bending it to no repair. Luke would rather be around you and follow around the house then play with his favorite toy. We have tried kong toys, long walks, leaving the house and coming back, locking him in his crate, and desensitizing him but nothing works. Mind you, we have been working hard at this since the first week we adopted him. We’re honestly at a total lose at this point and we need some solutions and answers! Please help us!!!

This will give your new pup a good foundation for basic obedience! Also, during the training, Offleash K9 can teach you how to house train your dog in order for it to quit having accidents in the house! Additionally, Offleash K9 will train it to let you know when it has to go outside! During these sessions, Offleash K9 also answer any questions you have regarding your new pup or its’ training.
The American Kennel Club CGC is rapidly becoming recognized as the standard of behavior for dogs in our communities. Canine Good Citizen resolutions have been passed by 18 state legislatures and the United States Senate. Insurance companies are starting to use CGC to insure breeds they would not otherwise insure, and some condominium associations around the country now require that all dogs in the complex have earned the Canine Good Citizen award.
If your toddler was repeatedly sticking her fingers into open electrical outlets, what would you do? Would you sit her down and try to explain why that’s not a good idea? Would you smack her every time she did it? Nope, you’d probably buy some outlet covers. Voilà! Problem solved. Prevention is sometimes the best solution. When training a dog, the easiest way to deal with a behavior problem might be to simply prevent the undesired behavior from happening. If your dog raids the kitchen trash can, you could spend weeks training a perfect down-stay in another room-or you could move the trash can to a place where your dog can’t get to it. Prevention is also important if you’re trying to train your dog to do one thing instead of another. For example, if you want to house train your dog, she’ll learn fastest if you use a crate to prevent her from making mistakes inside while you focus on training her to eliminate outside.
Individualised training is used with dogs that have an urgent or unique training problem such as fear, hyperactivity, aggression (and other related problems), separation anxiety, biting, excessive barking, insecurity, destructive behaviors, walking difficulties, and inappropriate elimination.[80][81] This type of training would normally be undertaken where the problem naturally occurs rather than a class situation. Class training can be effective in encouraging socialization and play with a peer group. Classes are often offered at a more affordable rate and can cover both problem behaviors and teach new skills. Classes can range from puppy and beginner training to more advanced training and skill training such as performing tricks or therapy work.
There is nothing inherently wrong with telling your dog “no,” except that it doesn’t give him enough information. Instead of telling your dog “no,” tell him what you want him to do. Dogs don’t generalize well, so if your dog jumps up on someone to say hello and you say no, he may jump higher or he may jump to the left side instead of the right. A better alternative would be to ask him to “sit.” Tell him what you want him to do in order to avoid confusion.
If your dog is nervous because of certain situations, such as fireworks or thunderstorms, or even is nervous about being in a crowd, then distraction can work wonders. Engaging your dog's brain in work will help him focus on you and things he knows, rather than on the unknown around him that's frightening him. While it isn't the time to begin new training, it is a great time to practice tricks your dog knows and can earn rewards for. Try rewarding your dog with treats for simple commands like sit, stand, lie down, shake, sit up, roll over and other tricks he enjoys. Another possibility, especially for dogs who are highly food motivated, is distracting your dog with puzzle toys like a treat ball or tug jug, or even a frozen Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter. This can also help him associate frightening things like loud noises or strangers coming over with highly valued rewards, so that the event goes from being scary to being at least tolerable.
I am a graduate of Florida Southern College, class of 2005. Back then my passion was for the arts and I studied graphic design. I found I had a natural knack for reading dogs, so I went out of my way to expand on it. I started with an ABC-DT certification. Once I gained enough experience I joined APDT and got my CGC Evaluator certification. In November, I will be taking the exam for my CPDT-KA. My next goal after that is to try to get my CNWI (canine nose work instructor) certification.
Understand the value of the “stand” command. The value of the "sit" and "wait" seem obvious, but you may not understand at first why the "stand" is an important skill to teach your dog. You won't use the "stand" every day, but you'll need it throughout the dog's life. For example, a dog who can stay calmly in a "stand" is the ideal patient at a vet clinic or client at a groomer's.
Once your puppy can turn around to face you, begin adding movement and making the game more fun! Toss a treat on the ground and take a few quick steps away while calling your puppy’s name. They should run after you because chase is fun! When they catch you, give them a lot of praise, treats or play with a tug toy. Coming to you should be fun! Continue building on these games with longer distances and in other locations. When training outside (always in a safe, enclosed area), it may be helpful to keep your puppy on a long leash at first.
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One of the most common complaints of pet parents is that their dogs are disruptive or destructive when left alone. Their dogs might urinate, defecate, bark, howl, chew, dig or try to escape. Although these problems often indicate that a dog needs to be taught polite house manners, they can also be symptoms of distress. When a dog’s problems are accompanied by other distress behaviors, such as drooling and showing anxiety when his pet parents prepare to leave the house, they aren’t evidence that the dog isn’t house trained or doesn’t know which toys are his to chew. Instead, they are indications that the dog has separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is triggered when dogs become upset because of separation from their guardians, the people they’re attached to. Escape attempts by dogs with separation anxiety are often extreme and can result in self-injury and household destruction, especially around exit points like windows and doors.

To communicate clearly and consistently with your dog, you need to understand how she learns. Dogs learn through the immediate consequences of their behavior. The nature of those consequences determines how they’ll behave in the future. Dogs, like other animals (people included), work to get good things and avoid bad things in life. If a behavior results in something rewarding-like food, a good belly rub, playtime with dog buddies or a game of fetch with her pet parent-your dog will do that behavior more often. On the other hand, if a behavior results in an unpleasant consequence-like being ignored or losing things she finds rewarding-she’ll do that behavior less often.

I have a Jack Russell Chiwawa mix that I rescued from a shelter when he was about 2/3 months old. He is now about 2 years old. Recently we have moved from an apartment to a house. He started doing this screaming and running around like he was in severe pain and it only last a couple seconds off and on for about 5 minutes. He was doing this almost daily and then he started back to plucking our other dog and leaving bald spots on her. After he started to loose weight and getting a little aggressive with my husband over little things I took him to the vet. They said he had a bowel issue and put him on some antibiotics. That worked for all of 3 weeks. Then his symptoms started over. The vet over time got aggravated with me and I ended up switching vets. At the second visit with the new vet he put him on the same antibiotics and they cycle had started over. I finally got him on video doing this screaming thing and the vet stated he was having a panic attack and that the stress of us getting ready to leave in the morning was causing this. The vet stated that with anxiety can come bowel problems and aggression. We were then referred to a behavior specialist but are unable to actually take him to be examined due to the high cost of this. It really saddens me because his ribs are showing and he is back to literally going crazy when we leave. Any suggestions on how to handle this on our own?
On the other hand, a submissive dog will try to make himself appear small and act like a puppy. This is because an adult dog will "tell off" a puppy but not attack him. Submission will take the form of a sideways crouch near to the ground, his tail held low but wagging away. He may also try to lick the face of the dominant dog or human. He may even roll on his back.
Second, it’s easiest to ignore unwanted behavior and reward an incompatible behavior. When Rover bites at your hands, he wants attention. He wasn’t born programmed to know that you want him to sit and ask nicely for attention, so you have to teach him. Instead of scolding him, ask him to sit. When he complies, reward him with a food treat, lavish praise and petting on him, or offer a game of fetch or tug.

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A dog learns from interactions it has with its environment.[1] This can be through classical conditioning, where it forms an association between two stimuli; non-associative learning, where its behavior is modified through habituation or sensitisation; and operant conditioning, where it forms an association between an antecedent and its consequence.[2]

If your dog is nervous because of certain situations, such as fireworks or thunderstorms, or even is nervous about being in a crowd, then distraction can work wonders. Engaging your dog's brain in work will help him focus on you and things he knows, rather than on the unknown around him that's frightening him. While it isn't the time to begin new training, it is a great time to practice tricks your dog knows and can earn rewards for. Try rewarding your dog with treats for simple commands like sit, stand, lie down, shake, sit up, roll over and other tricks he enjoys. Another possibility, especially for dogs who are highly food motivated, is distracting your dog with puzzle toys like a treat ball or tug jug, or even a frozen Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter. This can also help him associate frightening things like loud noises or strangers coming over with highly valued rewards, so that the event goes from being scary to being at least tolerable.
Some people prefer to leave the training to the experts. You can find a professional dog trainer who offers private training sessions. Some trainers even offer online sessions. Many dog owners prefer to join a local dog obedience class so they will be under the supervision of a dog training instructor without the higher cost of private sessions. Plus, classes challenge your dog to learn around the distractions of other dogs.
Begin doorway “wait”-training early. Teaching a dog to respect the threshold is important. You do not want a dog that runs out the door every time it opens — that could be dangerous for him. Doorway training doesn't need to happen every single time you go through a doorway. But you should make the most of your training opportunities early in your puppy's life.
Providing lots of physical and mental stimulation is a vital part of treating many behavior problems, especially those involving anxiety. Exercising your dog’s mind and body can greatly enrich his life, decrease stress and provide appropriate outlets for normal dog behaviors. Additionally, a physically and mentally tired dog doesn’t have much excess energy to expend when he’s left alone. To keep your dog busy and happy, try the following suggestions:
Motivational training has its roots in captive animal training, where compulsion and corrections are both difficult and dangerous, and ignoring bad behavior is not problematic as the animal lives under controlled conditions. As a dog training strategy, purely positive training is feasible, but difficult, as it requires time and patience to control the rewards the dog receives for behavior. Some activities such as jumping up or chasing squirrels are intrinsically rewarding, the activity is its own reward, and with some activities the environment may provide reinforcement such as when the response from dog next door encourages barking.[58]
5. Learn your dog’s body language. Your dog constantly communicates how she’s feeling, and the better you understand what she’s saying, the easier it can be to avoid stressful situations. Something that was fine for her last week might be too much for her to cope with today due to a phenomenon called trigger stacking (an increase in anxiety-related behaviors caused by the dog experiencing repeated stressful events without enough time in between for the associated stress hormones to leave her system). Avoid this by keeping an eye out for signs that tell you how your dog is feeling.
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