Saturday, June 2, 2012

The way to forestall possessive behaviours

By Steve Cote


A dog can become possessive over many things. Some of the most common products that a canine will guard are toys, food, high price treats and human feelings or attention. It is very important when bringing up a puppy to show him that guarding things is neither rewarding nor obligatory.

You can mostly do this successfully and simply when your puppy is extremely young and before any guarding behavior is established. While playing with toys you can swap them continually to help your puppy to permit each toy to be taken from him in turn. You can swap toys for a pleasant succulent food reward and ensure that you handle your puppy a lot while he's playing with a toy.

By touching your dog all over his body while he is playing with his toy and also touching the toy itself you'll be showing him how to relax whilst holding something that he likes. You may also place a little extra treat into your dog's food bowl while he eats his dinner. By introducing the hand with something pleasant to his bowl you can make a good association from an exceedingly young age. I often approach with something additional for the bowl while he is eating, when I feed my dog.

A standard way for possession of toys and foods to develop is to heed the experimental growl of a puppy. Learning all of the time your puppy may provide a growl or bark simply to find out how you respond to it. If he is playing with or eating something that he sees as very valuable your puppy may try a small growl. If you then react to that growl by heading away from the dog or his treasure he will try it again at his next opportunity.

By moving away you will teach your puppy the growl "works" and if this occurs every time he makes the noise it'll be simple for the growl to progress into a snap and presumably a bite. So if your puppy does try a growl, simply offer him an alternative behavior such as swapping his treasure for something else. Always keep swapping light hearted and avoid any clash. Keep canine training positive and rewarding and you'll make sure that your puppy learns well.




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