How To Eliminate These 5 Common Behavioral Dog Issues

Dogs are wonderful creatures that are full of love, and they add an unparalleled level of joy to our lives. But with that said, dogs can have some undesirable behavioral issues. In this post, we’ll discuss 5 common behavioral dog issues that can arise, and provide helpful tips on how to eliminate them.

What Are Some Common Dog Issues?

Dogs can be territorial, dog trainers refer to this as the “territory concept.” Dogs that are kept in areas that they consider theirs are very possessive of it, and are likely to show signs of aggression, such as barking, growling, snapping, or lunging at other dogs that come within a certain distance of it.

If a dog keeps its property protected, it will feel safe, secure, and not need to expend energy on defending itself. This is what most people mean by a “dorminance” dog.

The dominance dog issue is a bit of a mouthful, but it essentially refers to dogs that see other dogs as competitors and are naturally aggressive towards them. Such dogs are usually dogs with huge muzzles, thick bodies, and short legs.

Destructive Chewing

Dogs have a natural attraction to sticks and other hard objects. While many dogs do enjoy chewing on a bone or chewing on an old sock, it can be a problem if you find any of these things lying around the house. A bone or sock will become an irresistible chew toy for your dog.

The biggest challenge is to keep your dog from having access to them. Be sure to put these items away or in another location that your dog can’t access. There are many products that claim to be very effective, but the best ones are those that help to strengthen the fence, a dog door, or any other gate blocking access to the object.

Aggression

Being fearful, aggressive, and/or anxious can cause you and your dog to form a bad bond, which can lead to numerous problems, including aggression. An aggressive dog will defend and attack if he or she perceives a threat.

In fact, aggression can escalate to the point that an aggressive dog will commit violent attacks without warning, and without attempting to escape.

Although this behavior may seem like it can’t happen to us, it can.

On average, it takes at least 18 months for a dog to form a good dog-human bond. This is why you need to be extremely vigilant when socializing your puppy, as this is when he or she is most susceptible to issues like aggression.

Avoid areas where dogs congregate, as this is where most aggressive dog problems arise.

Separation Anxiety

Dogs are social animals, and they need to have a strong connection with their human. That’s why, for many people, having their dog sleep at the foot of their bed is an important part of their life.

However, for some dogs, having their human in bed with them all night can be extremely traumatic, and even lead to severe anxiety and even fear of being in a bedroom all alone.

If your dog is showing signs of separation anxiety, he needs to be separated from you when you go to sleep. It doesn’t matter if he knows his routine, or has a special little bed in his room – he simply needs to be away from you when you sleep.

Separation anxiety can be prevented by making a few simple changes in your dog’s routine.

Potty Training Issues

If your puppy doesn’t use his/her potty pads, you could be experiencing some behavioral issues. This isn’t something you can take a short vacation over!

Using your dog’s waste products as a way to engage your dog or control your dog is considered psychologically degrading.

Did you know that dogs have more energy than humans? And when dogs have that extra energy, they also tend to “escape” their kennel, or house. Dogs often relieve themselves in the house.

Barking

The single most common problem that dogs have is the excessive barking of their owner! In fact, barking is by far the number one cause of dog separation anxiety.

Barking is just the sound of a dog’s voice that we humans can’t understand. They bark so much because they believe that they are in danger. They can’t think that their owners are not nearby.

They actually bark to tell the owner that their owner is too far away, and that their owner should return immediately. In fact, when you live with a dog, you really have to accept that your dog will bark. And you have to be okay with that.

This does not mean that you can’t try to remedy the situation. Unfortunately, there’s no magic solution to barking. However, there are several common strategies that can help.

How To Eliminate These Issues

If your dog has a history of aggressive behavior, it is important to help your dog learn to channel his/her aggression properly and safely. Collar, chain, and crate-trained dogs do best when they are not tethered to anything outside of your home.

A good basic training session should last for 5 to 10 minutes, so that your dog can get used to being under control for that long.

When out on walks, make sure that he/she is leashed and in a space where your dog cannot jump on any other people, cars, and other dogs.

When outside, use hand-held prong collar or choke chain collars to teach your dog the proper way to act around people and other animals.

Don’t make your dog wear a shock collar or a choke chain.

Conclusion

We love dogs. We have a whole page devoted to the benefits of dogs. We even have a research journal where we analyze different dog breeds and their health issues. And most of our employees have pets, whether it’s a dog, cat, or lizard.

But as dog lovers, we want to make sure that our readers know how to deal with common behavioral issues that can cause problems for your dog.

No one likes seeing their dog act poorly.

We want to make sure that you can avoid these issues completely, and we will provide you with tips and advice on how to do that.