Dog Trainer Hurstville – Home Training & Classes

Dog Trainer Hurstville – Home Training & Classes

Eazy Dog Training in Hurstville – Private home training and obedience classes available!

3 Problem Dog Behaviours You Should Stop Now

What should you do when you notice unwanted behaviours? While we all wish behaviour issues would just go away on their own, this rarely happens. In fact, the opposite is more common, problems usually escalate and get worse! The best time to address a problem is when it starts. Dogs are situational learners and just like us, what they practise they get better at. We’ve all heard of the phrase, “Practice makes perfect?”, right?  The longer your dog practices a behaviour, whether it’s a good one or a bad one, the better he gets at it. Thewrefore, waiting to address an issue will make it harder to fix later. Here’s advice from your dog trainer in Hurstville.

 

1) Jumping for Attention

If you don’t mind your dog jumping on you, then that’s perfectly fine. But if you have anyone else in your life for whom it may be an issue, then it can become an issue in general. It’s not fair to expect a dog to understand that it’s only allowed sometimes but not all the time.  For example, jumping on kids or elderly people is usually not accepted. If you don’t want your dog jumping on them, then you need to train your dog not to jump on people at all, ever.

The best way to eliminate jumping up on people, is to never give your dog any attention when they are jumping up. Only give attention when the dog is down on the floor. Remember, even if you push him off, or yell at him, or even give him eye contact, you’re giving him attention for jumping. Teach your dog to sit instead.

 

2) Getting Comfy on the Couch

Allowing dogs on the furniture is a personal decision, there’s no right or wrong way of living with pets. If you don’t mind, and your dog doesn’t  have any resource guarding or other aggression issues, it’s fine.

Solving this problem is quite straightforward, it simply requires you to be consistent. Every time your dog gets up on the couch or other furniture, gently get him off. Every single time, do not allow any time on them. Also, don’t give him access to the couch when you are not there! It becomes very confusing for a dog if they spend the whole day on a couch when you’re at work but then aren’t allowed to do it when you get home.

 

2) Kids Are Fun to Chase

This is a huge ‘no’ in my book! Some people seem to think that it’s fun to let their dog chase kids. Then the fun stops when the dog bites a child. It’s never ok for a dog to chase a child and topple her to the ground and in worst case, bite.

If your dog loves to run and chase, give him a better outlet for it such as fetc or recall games. Or get a flirt pole toy—a long pole with a cord that has a toy attached to it. Teach your dog to chase the toy and never your -or anyone else’s-  kids. If he does chase a child, say “No!” and immediately remove him from the yard. Don’t wait until a child gets hurt or the situation gets too much to handle. Be consistent and remove him at the first offence, after the first steps chasing a child!