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| How To Train Your Dog Not To Bite |
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| Written by Lee Dobbins |
| Friday, 25 July 2008 12:55 |
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The Center for Disease Control (CDC) revealed that more than 4.7 million people a year are bitten by dogs. These high incidents of dog bites result to various medical bills, law suits, and sometimes euthanasia for the dog. These cases might be avoidable if dog owners take safety precautions such as training their dogs not to bite. There are common techniques that have been proven to be effective in suppressing biting behavior of dogs. However, the degree of difficulty of dog training varies with the breed of dog, age and individual temperament. Like with any other training you should start training dogs not to bite while they are young. Puppies naturally nip and bite but this behavior should be discouraged by you from day 1. Owners that let their puppies bite because they think it is cute often end up with grown dogs who don't understand why this behavior is suddenly not allowed. Puppies as young as five weeks old can begin to respond to simple commands. For biting behavior, a gentle, firm "No!" and a slight squeeze of the muzzle can be a good place to start. Be careful not to squeeze the muzzle too hard or high enough to hurt his nose. Dogs have very sensitive and delicate odor receptors and you wouldn't want to damage this in any way. Squeezing your dog's muzzle isn't intended to punish him, but to let him know that the behavior isn't acceptable. By squeezing, you associate the verbal command with something the dog can readily understand: discomfort. Regardless of their age, dogs find having their muzzle squeezed uncomfortable. What can you do to train your dog besides discouraging bad behavior verbally and physically? Allow him to develop appropriate social behaviors as early as possible. This will develop his confidence and self-assurance, which in turn will make him less frightened of strangers, and less likely to attack. It's a good idea to let your dog get to know other dogs, as long as they're not aggressive themselves. This allows your pet to become aware of a variety of smells and appearances that might otherwise arouse his suspicions, and tends to negate his normal territorial reactions. Although dogs may take gentle nips at their litter mates, they rarely bite them seriously. This is an attribute you can develop, by encouraging your pet to consider welcome humans and animals as part of his "pack". When your pet first meets an animal from another household, begin by restraining them both. Slowly, allow them to meet each other and sniff, or do whatever seems natural for them to get tot know each other. Put your dog at ease by having the dog sit and stroke its back. Check your dog for signs of aggression like body tension, snarling, and erect ears. After stroking your dog touch the other animal to convey the smell of your pet to that animal. After checking to make sure there are no signs of aggression and the other dog got a scent of your dog then allow them to interact. At the age of four and a half months, dogs normally learn to inhibit biting. But for some dogs, the learning process may take longer time. Dogs behavior and their ability to learn varies with the breed, age, and other factors. Training of dogs will be more easy if they are started young. Some dogs never fully let go of the biting instinct, and in this case, the dogs must be carefully watched by their owners. If your dog is a biter, then you must insure that it cannot get close enough to bite a person or another animal. Persistent long term use of these dog training techniques will likely result in a more stable and fun pet, not to mention that it could prevent an unwanted situation where your dog could get hurt or hurt someone else. About the Author: Training your dog to be the perfect pet all boils down to using the right dog training techniques - find out what those are at http://www.positivedogtrainingtechniques.com/. Kindly provided by MoneyHunter.org You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |
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