For the next few weeks, our blog will be written by Dee Hoult, owner/operator, and head trainer at Applause Your Paws. Dee is a certified professional dog trainer and more importantly, she is one of Zohan's favorite people in the whole world! We hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as we have!
Canine Boredom
Boredom in dogs is a very common behavior problem. You, as a dog owner in Miami Florida, cannot devote 24 hours a day to just your dog, you have things to do! In this post, I will go over some of the most common behavior problems related to boredom as well as how to handle each problem behavior.
Dog’s require a lot of interaction, whether it be from a human, another animal, or even a toy. When a dog is bored, it will create activities for itself which usually are annoying behaviors to us. Say for instance you are very tired from a long day at work so you want to relax and maybe lie down or watch TV. Your dog who has been away from you all day is likely looking for attention from you but because of your extreme exhaustion you just ignore the dog, so your dog will start looking around trying to entertain itself. Your dog might try to get on the couch, and you find yourself reprimanding or have even saying no to the dog — yet the dog still does it. WHY? Well the answer is simple; even the negative interaction you gave your dog is the attention he wanted in the first place. Even your physically shooing him off the couch is every bit of social interaction that the dog wanted from you in the first place. Another example and this seems to be the “all too common” one, is when a dog greets someone excitedly at the door. Why do you think that your dog jumps at you all the time when you enter the house despite your continuous shooing it off, or telling the dog no, or giving it a quick little nudge? Well, it’s because you are giving your dog exactly what it wants again —INTERACTION.
We see this all too frequently where a dog will jump and bark and go crazy when someone comes through the door. The most common excuse we get from dog owners is “ Oh, well he’s excited to see me”. Although that may be true in some instances, there could be multiple reasons as to why your loved one is jumping you at the door. Your dog was excited because there was nothing else to do for the amount of hours you were gone, and now all the dogs’ energy is now focused on you, which can be overwhelming for any dog owner. Luckily there are solutions to these sorts of behaviors as well as fixing the boredom issue for your loved one.
Give your dog something to do while you’re gone. Try this, grab yourself a KONG TOY (the one that looks like a little snowman) and stuff it with non flavored, fat free yogurt as well as put some of your dogs food in there. Put it in the freezer, and let it freeze for 24 hours. Now when you leave to work, make sure to give your dog the Kong toy and your dog will now have something to do. Now, when you come back from work, and your dog is jumping on you, try standing still, no eye contact until your dog is calm, once your dog is calm, then give your dog all the attention in the world.
Simple solutions can be found, you just have to have patience and consistency to tackle through these behavioral issues. Even in such a diverse place like Miami, canine culture is still misunderstood. The goal for any dog owner is to be on the same page as your beloved friend. This is where we come in. Need help with your dog or puppy? Does your dog have a behavioral problem? Do you want your dog to be more obedient? Call us your expert Certified Professional Dog Trainers at APPLAUSE YOUR PAWS, 786-529-7833. training@applauseyourpaws.com and remember, you don’t have to be ruff, to teach your dog stuff.
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