PetDoctor.com.au

Negative Behaviour
Anxieties and fear behaviours are common in our pets. Other common problems include aggressive behaviour and destructive behaviour. Many owners feel overwhelmed by their dogs bad behaviour, which can lead to the dog being dumped or abandoned. The sad thing is that the owners are usually the cause of the problem.

Responsibility
We are ultimately responsible for the behaviour of our pets. How we react to them can determine whether the behaviour will more or less likely to occur in future. This is called conditioning

Conditioning
Conditioning is how a dog learns. We can encourage good behaviour (or bad) by positive reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement means the dog must develop a pleasant association between the action and the consequences of its actions. Put simply, this is a reward for behaviour .If you are rewarded for an action, you are more likely to do it again!

Rewarding
You must first decide what your dog likes for a reward. For some dogs it is a treat, for some it is a pat or play.
Food rewards tend to work best.

Isnt dog training for professionals?
No! Without knowing it Im sure you have taught your pets many things.
Most dogs can sit beside the dinner table and watch us eat for hours. This is because they have received a food rewards for this behaviour. Many dogs caper about like mad things when it is feeding time. This behaviour is learned and has been reinforced by the reward of dinner. The dog thinks the behaviour brings the reward. Will the same dog sit for hours while you throw a ball near it? No! Because there has been no reward for this behaviour in day to day life.

Letting your dog stay on the best chair when he growls at you reinforces bad behaviour. The dog learns that growling is rewarded with a seat in a nice comfy chair! With these ideas in mind you can start to train any dog at any age. You can teach an old dog new tricks. You can also make them forget old tricks! If your dog has learnt to beg at the table and you stop rewarding this behaviour, she may start to whimper, fidget, bark, jump up, turn in circles or do all sorts of strange things. This is because the expected reward for sitting at the table is not coming. She will begin to behave differently in an attempt to get the expected reward (a sort of tantrum if you like!). This is called extinction behaviour.

If you can keep ignoring her the behaviour will stop. If you reward her during the tantrum she will learn that a tantrum is now required to get the reward! This can lead to problems! Occasionally a dog will try an old trick again that you thought had been unlearnt. If you dont reward it, the dog will try it less and less until the behaviour is forgotten.

Counter-Conditioning
Rather than not rewarding a bad behaviour to get it to stop, it is quicker to get the dog to do a new trick instead. For example, if your dog growls and chases the broom when you are sweeping. You could teach the dog to sit (by rewarding) whenever the broom is nearby. The new trick will help the dog forget about the broom chasing.

I Need Help
Training does not always go smoothly though. Our vet Clinic staff is here to help you with your dogs behavioural problems. A consultation with our nurses or vets will develop a training plan and will put both you and your pet on the road to good behaviour.

Planet K9 has a behavioural training and activities centre based at the Lost Dogs´ Home. They are professional dog trainers that are experienced in addressing behavioural problems as well as teaching basic manners and have different classes for all types of dogs.