Canine Behavior Problems are Solvable in 2019 with Long Island Dog Training

Our dogs are like children in many ways. We love them dearly, yet some of their behavior can frustrate us to the point of despair. Unlike children, however, people often give their dogs away or surrender them to a shelter rather than work through the problem behavior. At Canine Commander, we encourage you to identify the issues you can’t resolve with your pet and then seek input from one of our professional dog trainers. Long Island dog training provides intensive training that can work wonders for canine bahavior problems in 2019.

Below are some common dog behavior problems along with what you can do at home to change them. If your dog is extra challenging or you’re just not getting anywhere with your training, profesional Long Island dog training from Canine Commander can help.

Common Canine Behavior Problems

While your dog can exhibit any number of challenging behaviors, here are five common ones:

• Barking too much: Just like a baby can only communicate by crying, barking is the only way for your dog to talk to you. The problem is that you don’t speak his language. Is he barking because he’s bored, anxious, or sick? Sometimes it takes a lot of detective work to figure this out.
• Excessive chewing: Since puppies teethe between four and six months, you may lose more than one pair of slippers as your puppy tries to relieve tooth and gum pain. All dogs have the inherent need to chew, so make sure that you provide plenty of appropriate chew toys and redirect your dog when she’s headed for something she shouldn’t have.
• Housetraining: Teaching someone else to eliminate body waste in the right place is an exercise in patience whether it’s a toddler or a puppy. The good news is that most puppies catch on quickly where they need to do their business. Be sure to provide your puppy with lots of praise, the occasional reward, and keep plenty of training pads on hand. Surrendering your dog at this stage means it will be that much harder for the next person to housetrain him.
• Destructive scratching: Dogs scratch for many reasons, including marking their territory, eliminating frayed claw pieces, playing, and getting rid of pent-up energy. That’s probably little comfort to you when you see that your dog has scratched up your sofa again. Soft claw coverings can be helpful in this case as can redirecting your dog to more appropriate behavior. Scratching could indicate their desires to dig. This would be an excellent time to take them outdoors and find a small spot in the yard that you don’t mind her digging in. If that’s not possible, you will need to redirect her to another activity.
• Too active at night: While you’re settling down for a good night’s sleep, your dog’s playtime may just be getting started. This makes sense when you consider that dogs are nocturnal by nature and that they sleep for many hours during the day. Try playing with your dog before you go to bed each night to help him release some energy. If his rambunctiousness doesn’t stop, confine him to one bedroom where he can’t break anything valuable to you.

Behavior Change is Possible in the New Year

Perhaps you feel discouraged because 2018 has passed and your dog’s behavior only seems to be getting worse. The new year is an ideal time to sign up for Long Island dog training so your dog can overcome her specific behavior issues for good. Contact Canine Commander today to learn more about our canine behavior training programs.