By: Kelly Marshall
Submitted: 2009-08-16 22:59:45 | Word Count: 529
Getting a new puppy is an amazing thing. All of a sudden your home is filled with a furry bundle of love and energy. Of course it is cute when your little puppy is barking, but somehow as your puppy starts to get older the barking can become far less cute and actually become quite annoying.
The truth is that this is not an unfamiliar story. Many owners find themselves dealing with overly vocal dogs that bark at anything that catches their eye. There are many different reasons that your dog may be barking and growling. They may start to bark when they are in a new and unfamiliar environment or if something startles them. Of course you cannot forget that dogs often bark when food enters the picture as well.
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Now growling actually comes out of a different motivation. Growls can originate from a fear and/or a dog trying to show dominance. However, one of the more common reasons for growing is that a dog could be sick or in pain. In older dogs often growling may develop due to senility.
Of course if you notice a significant change in barking and/or growling in your dog it is advisable to check with your veterinarian. However, sometimes barking and growling simply develops as a bad habit. In order to keep your dog from picking up that type of a habit there are a few things that you can do.
One of the best things that you can do is when your dog is a puppy you should try to socialize them. Take your puppy to many different environments. Introduce them to different people. Expose them to different noises, smells, and situations so that their anxiety is significantly reduced. The more variety that you give your puppy socially, the more well adjusted he will be.
Now if you are past the puppy stage you may have work on correcting your dogs growling and barking issue. This will require you to be dedicated to solving the problem. Rewards are a good way to help to change a behavior, as typically punishing a dog will not be successful at solving the issue. Start small when you are trying to solve a discipline issue. If your dog tends to bark when someone is at the door try to adjust that behavior rather than taking your child to the middle of dog park and expecting to get your dog to not bark at all. Additionally, when the behavior occurs you need to correct it immediately. Just as a correction needs to occur immediately so does a reward. You need to make sure that your dog’s good behavior is getting validated so that they learn to repeat that good behavior.
You are going to need to continue the training process for quite a while. It is normal to for your dog to experience a few slip ups so as an owner you need to be diligent in your training. Do not forget that as your four legged friend starts to master the new and more positive behaviors you will want to fill their time with positive activities like walks, play, or affection.
Author Resource:-
This article was written by Kelly Marshall of http://ohmydogsupplies.com - your online dog supplies site for high quality dog grooming supplies.
