If you don’t establish mastery at the outset, your dog will soon
have you wrapped around its little paw. While it is ideal to start
obedience training from a puppy, it’s never late to correct the
behaviour of older pets.
When you and your dog go for walks, do you walk it or does it walk
you? Who spends more time warming the seat in your TV room?
We
love and treat our pets like members of the family. Heck, even dogs
get mentioned in wills these days. But when it comes to the crunch,
can you safely say who’s boss?
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Biting, nibbling and chewing become the dog’s way of discovering
and playing with something. |
Thousands of years of domestication doesn’t mean your dog has lost
its inherent animal instinct entirely.
Want your dog to sit on command? Pee and poop in the right place? It
all boils down to understanding the psychology of a dog.
Potty training
The
first thing to work on when you bring a pup home is house training.
Expect some accidents during the early days. Puppies under three
months have little control over their bladder. Be vigilant. If it
needs to go, it will circle about and start sniffing for the right
spot to take a dump.
If
your pup does this while in the house, say NO in a stern voice and
quickly carry it outside.
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Dogs have famously been taught to fetch a stick. |
Puppies need a routine. Take your puppy outside every two to three
hours, immediately after naps, after playing and after feeding. If
you feed it on a regular schedule, its bowels will move at
consistent intervals as well, making it easier for you.
While it relieves itself outdoors, use a phrase like “go poo” as a
command for it to go. Praising it afterwards also drives home the
message that it is doing it right. You could also reward it with a
treat.
You
can establish routine schedules for your adult dog by taking it out
on a leash at the same time every day.
My
dog ate my homework
Digging and chewing are standard canine urges. A dog may dig because
the earth beneath the surface is cooler and it wants a comfortable
spot to lay on.
It
is not a habit that’s easy to break but you could show your
displeasure to discourage it from persisting.
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Consider sending your dog for obedience training. |
Try
to make your dog’s sleeping area as comfortable as possible and
consider providing it with a digging pit.
Biting, nibbling and chewing become their way of discovering and
playing with something. Teething puppies may chew to soothe their
gums.
Unfortunately, experienced dog owners will tell you that some degree
of destruction is inevitable. The best solution is to keep your
precious belongings out of reach. If you see it gunning for
something it shouldn’t, bellow out a NO and give it an appropriate
toy instead.
Top
dog or humble servant?
Being too “nice” to your dog can lead it to have undesirable traits.
You may be breeding an “alpha dog” at home by treating it as an
equal and not a subordinate.
Instinctively, a dog needs and wants a leader. If no one in its pack
– in this case you and your family – plays that role, it naturally
does. Speak to your dog in a confident tone and body language. Make
it earn its rewards. It should not only obey you but your family
members too.
If
your dog has scared you into submission, you may want to consider
professional help or sending him for obedience training. The
commands should be reinforced and incorporated in your daily
interaction with your dog. At the end of the day, your dog wants to
please you.
This is the third of six articles to educate and promote
Responsible Pet Ownership (RPO) among the Malaysian public as part
of a collaborative campaign by the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Malaysian Small Animal Veterinary
Association (MSAVA), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti
Putra Malaysia (UPM) and PEDIGREE Food For Dogs.
