Hello inquisitive canine‘s and inquisitive dog guardians! Our friends from Noozhawk have updated their beautiful website, but not to worry, our Dear Inquisitive Canine dog behavior advice columns can still be found quite easily! Just head over to our designated Noozhawk web page where you can peruse all of the dog behavior topics me and my certified dog trainer mom have written over the years.
You can find common dog behavior topics such as:
- Introducing a puppy to a resident cat: Of course young puppies want to play with kitties! Its fun!
- Teaching a dog to greet politely. (Instead of jumping up like us canines like to do)
- House-training: please, sending us outside to go potty? Of course we need to learn where to go! It’s as if we’re having to camp when we’re at home!
- Counter-Surfing: Oh come on! This is my favorite sport! If you’re gonna leave goodies out, us canines are probably going to help ourselves!
Anyway, if any of you have a question about dog behavior or life with each other, please feel free to email us with your questions. Your answer may just appear in one of our Dear Inquisitive Canine dog behavior advice columns.
*Need help right away? Contact us directly so you can find out what dog training services there are for you and your inquisitive canine.
4 Responses
Hi there, I been struggling with my Shipoo for a few years now…. Leah is 4 years old and lives with me in my apartment with no other dogs around. When I first brought Leah home from the breeder she was living with me at my friends house and her two dogs. She was great. VERY well paper trained and a qucik learner to going bathroom outdoors. She never had accidents and loved to be around people. I could easily teach her small comands like sit and stay and she caught on fast.
This quickly changed. I was starting to see odd behaviors in her as the months went on and moved out of the living situation before she turned 1. I’m worried something went on while I was not around to create all of these sudden anxietys she was showing.
She has many anxietys such as obsessive licking to humans she feels safe around, the need to be touched and be the ONLY one being touched. She has his hyper active and jumps and bounces like crazy when the people she is comfortable with come home. When there is food out she is so overwhelemd with the idea of getting some she can’t snap out of it. She loves my nephews who she has become to feel safe around but growls at other children. She is around my parents three dogs and never shows agression with them but when other dogs are in view she goes nuts. She can’t calm down and starts racing and panting. I have to drop my dog off at my parents house every single day before work or at anytime that I need to run out and run an errend. She barks and wines for hours after I leave and since I live in an apartment community I can not have that. I have already had a resident call in on her. I can’t have company over because she freaks out, barks at them and remains stressed the entire time they are there. She has never bitten anyone but has come close to nipping them when they stand up and walk towards the door. They can not look at her or acknowledge her. She will crawl on their laps and want to be friendly and lovable but the second they look at her or try and touch her she starts to growl at them and the process begins all over. This is just to name a FEW things….
It’s begining to overwhelm me and cause me to not live a “normal” life with her…. HELP
Hi Cathleen,
Thank you for writing in about the situation with Leah – From what you’ve described it sounds as if Leah is getting reinforced by others, along with her environment, for behaviors you would rather her not perform. And, she’s had practice doing so for the past 4 years. This means she’s very good at what she’s doing. As a trainer, I’d recommend teaching Leah impulse control, coping skills, and good manners. In order for you to modify her behavior, I’d suggest you find a local training options, since you have many issues you’d like to address, which goes beyond a simple blog post answer. Or, if you prefer virtual coaching, I’d be happy to assist. In the meantime, keep in mind that if and when an animal (this goes for humans too) are displaying behaviors, that means they’re getting reinforced for doing it by someone or something. So if Leah is doing something you want, pay attention to it, if she’s not, then ignore her. (Saying “no” or “stop it” is still paying attention, not ignoring). To help find local services, check out The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers.
My partner and I stumbled over here from a different website and thought I should check things
out. I like what I see so i am just following you.
Look forward to going over your web page repeatedly.
Thanks for joining us Erik! Your partner too. We look forward to connecting out here in cyberspace. Poncho and I invite you to join our Inquisitive Canine Facebook community (if you haven’t already) and post pics/videos, as we love “meeting” fellow dog families!