Articles - How to Stop Chewing and How to Stop Digging
How To Train Your Dog To Stop ChewingBy Jay Schaefer
Chewing is a very natural dog behavior that often starts in puppyhood when a dog starts to teethe. However, without the proper discipline and training, the behavior can become a problem when your dog gets older. Training your dog to stop chewing can save you a lot of time, money, and frustration as your dog grows up.
Whether you have a puppy or a grown dog, you can train your dog to stop chewing. It is usually easier to build new habits when a dog is young and impressionable, but it is not impossible to train the adult dog to stop the habit of chewing on inappropriate items.
Still, it is important for you to understand that chewing is natural. Yes, it was said before, but it bears repetition, because you will be embracing the normal behavior and just changing the object of desire. So, if you think any chewing is inappropriate, then you probably want to reconsider having a dog. Dogs chew out of frustration, loneliness, boredom, and anxiety, so addressing those issues and changing your dog’s focus will help stop the destruction of your household items.
The idea of redirection is important, because it also involves no punishment. Punishing your dog will not stop the behavior, it will just stop the dog from chewing when you are around. Punishment interferes with your relationship, and it only creates a dog that is afraid of you. It is more important to address the underlying issues for the chewing behavior so that your dog starts behaving appropriately. Your praise and appreciation for good behavior will go a long way with your dog.
Redirection is the best way to train your dog to stop chewing. When you see your dog knawing on something that he or she should not be touching, that is the time to turn his or her attention away from that item and toward an appropriate chew toy. There are great tools out there like Kongs you can fill with tasty treats, bones, Greenies, rawhide, and more that dogs really like. When your dog is chewing on the right toy, make sure you give him or her a lot of praise.
If your dog is chewing on things when you are not around, it can be frustrating to come home to the destruction. You can begin to train your dog to stop chewing by keeping a lot of chewable items around. Having several of these toys will often keep your dog busy enough that he or she will forget the inappropriate items. Also, use active toys like puzzle games that require them to move the toy around to get food. Stimulating toys will keep your dog from getting bored.
However, if your dog is still chewing, you can then try another form of redirection. As your dog greets you at the door, hold off on your greeting until your dog finds the appropriate toy. At first you can help him or her to find the toy, but after a while, do not give your dog a greeting until that toy is there in his or her mouth. If you are consistent, your dog will learn to search out the toy to greet you at the door and the chewing will stop.
It will take time and effort to train your dog to stop chewing, but if you are patient and consistent, you will find that your things will not be chewed up - making both you and your dog happier.
About the Author: For more helpful and Free Dog Training Tips you can visit our site http://www.free-consumer-guides.com/pets/
Jay Schaefer is a staff writer at Free Consumer Guides.
Source: www.isnare.com
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How To Stop Your Dog From DiggingBy George Kane
Why does a dog dig?
Digging is a part of a dog’s instinctual behavior. The major causes that can set a dog to start digging are boredom and the weather.
Boredom: Sometimes a dog will dig just to escape boredom. This especially true if a dog is in a fenced off yard.
Weather: Dogs usually dig the most when the weather is hot. The soil gives off a cool feeling to the dogs and thus digging in the ground feels very good to a dog if he is very hot.
While digging is a natural part of a dog’s life and often can be quite harmless it can also pose a problem. If a dog digs anywhere and everywhere this may be bad both for your dog and for your yard! That’s why it’s a good idea to use a training guide to help teach your dog how to dig only in a particular area.
How do you train your dogs to dig in a particular designated area?
Give your dog a place where he or she is allowed to dig. Reward your dog for digging in this area but do not allow him or her to dig anywhere else. This will train the dog that only in this one area is digging allowable.
To begin your training, look for a sandy area. Loose soil is highly preferred not just by most of the dogs but by most of the trainers. Cleaning off becomes easier if the soil is more loose and sand like. Unlike the dirt that can blanket a dog’s body, sand can easily be removed.
It’s also important that the dog’s digging area have a lot of shade. Your dog will not want to be out in the sun all day during the summer.
If you have no area in your yard that is very soft and loose you may want to try and make it that way yourself. Perhaps using some gardening tools to loosen the ground up in one area for the dog. You could even buy some sand and mix that in!
After you’ve decided on the perfect digging area for your dog one trick is to bury one of his treats in the soil. This will make digging fun for him. It will make it into a bit of a game and it’ll definitely help get him to want to dig in this area again rather than elsewhere (like your garden for example!)
Don’t bury the bone or treat all the way into the ground. Leave one portion of it sticking out so that your dog will understand. If you do it this way you’ll have no problem getting your dog to start digging in this area. As your dog is able to dig out the bone or treat you should share in his excitement! Give your dog lots of rewards and pats on the back for his good behavior.
This will not be an overnight success. Dog’s naturally want to dig everywhere! So you must spend time training your dog to dig only in this one area. You must be strategic and patient. It will take constant practice and showering of treats to get your dog to understand that this one area is the only area for digging.
If your dog starts digging in other areas you need to stop him at once but not by punishing him but instead by redirecting him to his proper digging area. This is when you’ll want to put another bone in the ground. Eventually in time your dog will learn that this is the area that is fun to dig in. It is the area with the buried treasure.
Read more of my writing about dog training at http://www.dogtraining-atoz.com
About the Author: George writes about issues like How To Stop Dog Digging and rottweiler dog training at Dog Training A to Z.
Source: www.isnare.com
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