Drama In Doggoland

Various reasons may cause behavioural issues in pets. Let’s talk about some of the most common ones and how you can manage them!

Unleashing the Root Cause – Behavioural Issues Explained

The underlying cause of a young dog’s overall behaviour is related to poor socialization during their formative years. A pet who is frightened by people usually has its targets well defined. For example, it may be a man with a large stature or one with a really deep voice that induces fear in your furry friend. Children are also a common source of fear for a lot of pets. And some pets are just downright scared of strangers regardless of their gender, age, weight, and other physical characteristics.

Dogs who are scared of certain people avert their eyes, lower their head, flatten their ears, tuck their body and tail, and may roll over to expose their underbelly and urinate. The best advice we can give is to pinpoint who it is that might induce fear in your pet. This will help you avoid any unpleasant situations.

Gentle Training and Patience

Non-confident pets require gentle training and lots of patience from their pet parents. One of the most common causes of shyness is a lack of exposure to new people and places at a young age. Pets look to their pet parents to be the ‘alpha dog’ of their ‘pack’, and to guide them safely into new and stimulating situations. Without these experiences, your furry friend may become timid and skittish when introduced to things outside their immediate familiarity.

Shy doggos need to have repeated positive experiences with many different people. Most shy pets can become friendly with positive human interaction. Usually, they must learn to trust individuals before accepting a friendship. Just be sure to let your furry friend set the pace of training. Never force him to do anything that makes him nervous.

Strengthening the Bond

Here are a few guidelines you should follow as a pet parent to ensure that the bond between children and their pet remains strong.

Being a leader

As mentioned above, your pet expects you to be ‘the leader’ in your relationship. He looks to you for guidance and protection, and therefore, you must exhibit the level of confidence and firmness you would like your dog to follow. In Buzo’s case, his walker is acting as the leader here at the moment, and his pet parent needs to replace him.

Comfort him

When your furry friend is frightened, it’s human to want to comfort him and say ‘it’s OK’. However, your pet assumes that you are praising him for being scared, which reinforces skittish behaviour.

Praise him

Only praise your pet when he acts confidently.

Closer to a stranger

Enlist the help of less familiar people to educate your doggo. If you have treats or one of your pet’s toys handy, give it to the children/stranger. While the stranger is still far away, let him toss the treat or toy, then just walk away. Repeating this exercise over and over, with the stranger moving in closer and closer each time, will train your pet to associate strangers with good things, rather than bad experiences. Eventually, he will feel more comfortable around unfamiliar people.

Obedience training

Consider obedience training. Depending on the extent of your pet’s shyness, you may need to get the help of a professional trainer or behaviourist.

From Chase to Calm

The best way to try and prevent the pet from chasing is to retrain him. He may not have had much association with cyclists as a puppy, and therefore sees them as a game and something to chase and hunt. There are a few things that you can do to manage it –

Abundant exercise

Make sure that your pet gets plenty of exercise. On some occasions, this behavior is associated with boredom. Exercise and stimulation with play will encourage him to be less interested in bikes.

Obedience and agility training

He would probably benefit from obedience and agility training to mentally challenge him. Retrieving games will be especially useful.

‘Leave’ command

You should try to teach your pet the ‘leave’ command. This can be done in the house with a toy, and rewarding him when he comes to you rather than chasing the toy. For Buzo, this command can then be used with the cyclist. You can start by asking a friend or family member to get on a bike so that you can train them more intensely. Initially, start with him on a leash, and then take him off the leash to train him.