Dog Behavior
Emotions trigger physical responses in your dog and manifest as behavior. Likewise, behaviors shape your dog's emotions, showing a strong connection between the two.
Numerous things dog owners do stress out their dogs, usually without even realizing it. Factors like the owner's expectations, daily environment, and routine work together to either set up a dog for success or make her more likely to display undesirable behaviors.
Common Dog Behaviors
If you need HELP addressing your dog's behavior issues or are simply curious about why it behaves the way it does, you've come to the right place. Based on the presumption that behavior is NEITHER good nor bad, Two Dads Dog Training can assist you in understanding COMMON dog behaviors and in humanely addressing the habits of our canine friends.
Two Dads Dog Training strongly believes there is no reason to use pain, intimidation or scare tactics to educate and train a family member. These can ACTUALLY increase stress and anxiety while lowering your dog's ability to learn.
Make sure to visit our FAQ page for more information.
Aggression
Dogs show aggression through behaviors aimed at keeping something—such as a human, object, or another dog—away from themselves or a valuable object. Valuable objects could include toys, food, or a physical location. The underlying purpose of these behaviors is to increase the distance between the dog, or valued item, and the perceived threat. Understanding a dog's perception is crucial in behavior intervention plans. Punishing these behaviors will only make things worse one way or another.
Barking
If cats meow, cows moo, horses neigh, lions roar, goats bleat, bears growl, and bees buzz, then what do dogs do? They bark. Before addressing excessive barking, it's important to understand the reasons behind your dog's vocalizations. The most common types of barking include: 1. Alert 2. Playfulness and excitement 3. Attention-seeking 4. Anxiety and frustration 5. Boredom 6. Reacting to environment Identifying the right reason for your dog's barking is the first step to help them.
Pulling on the leash
Dogs pull on the leash for several reasons, including: 1. Human factor: Your dog isn't the only one pulling! How often do you find yourself tugging, pulling, pushing, or lifting your dog? This might happen when you use the leash like a steering wheel or the collar or harness as a handle to encourage your dog to do something they are slow to do on their own. 2. Excitement to Explore: Dogs are often eager to go for a walk and explore their surroundings, which can lead them to move faster than their human companions. 3. Learning Through Experience: Many dogs learn that pulling on the leash allows them to reach their desired destination more quickly, especially if they notice that their owners follow when they pull. 4. Inexperience with Walking: If a dog is not accustomed to using a leash or going for walks, they may react instinctively by wanting to escape the unfamiliar situation. 5. Discomfort with Equipment: If the leash or harness is uncomfortable for the dog, they may pull harder in an attempt to get away from the uncomfortable feeling. By understanding these reasons, owners can work on training methods to help their dogs walk politely on a leash.
Jumping
Jumping is a natural and instinctive behavior in dogs. Puppies instinctively jump to reach and greet their mothers, and this behavior persists as they grow, especially when meeting new people. Additionally, dogs jump up when they are excited or when they want an item from a person's hands. It's important to recognize this behavior as a key part of their communication and interaction.
Resource-guarding
Resource guarding is a natural and normal behavior for dogs, and it serves as an important survival strategy. Some healthy signals that a guarding dog sends include a hard stare, freezing, hovering over the desired object, growling, or snarling; these behaviors aim to prevent conflict by deterring competitors from approaching. Dogs guard resources because they fear losing them. This fear can sometimes be learned through experience; for instance, if someone has taken valuable resources away from the dog in the past.
Growling
Growling is an important form of communication for dogs that owners should appreciate rather than punish. It's a useful tool for preventing the escalation of aggression. Play growl is another form of communication that usually means dogs are having fun and not being aggressive. Understanding when our dogs feel uncomfortable is essential. By not punishing growling, we can better identify triggers and develop effective management strategies to keep our dogs happy and ensure everyone's safety.
With our KINDNESS-BASED COACHING, you can set up your dog for success. We will help you identify GOOD behaviors in your dog to reward and show you SIMPLE concepts and exercises you can apply anywhere, anytime.
Happy Clients
There are lots of nuances and tricks that only individualized attention from a professional can really get across. And besides really knowing their stuff, they were extremely generous with their time, helping us to problem solve for our puppies unique issues.
A Smith
My 2 yr old pup has anxiety/fear of lots of things. Michael helped me understand how working with my pup will get me closer to putting him at ease . It’s a slow process but I already see improvement in a few short weeks.
A Brosky
Seen Michael & Luis multiple times for my french bulldog. We have done group classes and privates sessions at home. These guys are excellent at what they do and what seems to be impossible to teach, they make happen! I have told friends and family about 2 dads and highly recommend!
B Mihalick