Common Dog Behaviour issues

Aggression

It can be hugely embarrassing and emotionally distressing to recognise and admit that your dog has an aggression problem. Admitting this is a huge step forward to getting help and we can support you in this. Our extensive experience in this area means we really understand the effect it can have on family life and the emotional fall-out that can come from this.

We will help you gain an understanding of the aggressive behaviours and work with you at your pace to help your dog begin to trust again, whether it's dogs or people. Aggression can be a serious issue that needs treating with sensitivity and care. We are confident that we can work with you to achieve a positive outcome, but it does take time, effort and patience.

Multi-Dog Families

It's lovely to have more than one dog. However, with our busy lifestyles, sometimes things change all of a sudden and life becomes disrupted, for instance:
  • The addition of a new puppy to a family with an older dog. 
  • Competition over owner's attention, and food and toys are common conflict triggers.
  • Status within the family
  • Distress when left
  • Punishment of puppies or adolescent dogs by adult dogs
  • Self-defensiveness perhaps due to illness 

We will help you understand what is happening together build a plan of action to prevent and resolve them happening again.

Fears and Anxieties

Separation Problems
The signs of this condition are often house soiling when left, destruction of goods and furniture, barking/whining, trembling and self-trauma. In some cases, dogs are actually injured in their attempts to escape through windows, doors and crates. The process of treating dogs with separation anxiety is slow – sometimes excruciatingly so – but, from Sandra's own knowledge and experience treating dogs with this condition, plus the mountains of research she has undertaken on this condition, it is proven that separation anxiety is highly treatable. 
Sandra will provide you with lots of support during this process as it may be slow and often challenges us 'humans' to remain calm and patient as our dogs learn new coping strategies for when they are on their own. We use methods where you will observe your dog’s behaviours and body language, video them and work together with Sandra to devise a training and behaviour modification plan to help overcome your dog’s negative experiences when not with you. 
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Attention Seeking
Dogs can turn almost any kind of behaviour into a method of attention seeking! Nudging or licking you becomes a lot more demanding and repetitive just when you want to relax!!
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Sometimes they can go to quite extreme lengths to get our attention e.g. constant barking, jumping on us, nipping, stealing, etc.
One of our methods is for you to learn to view things from your dog’s perspective. Our tried and trusted methods then teach them an ‘off’ switch and gives them something else to do instead, resulting in him becoming calmer and less focused on getting your attention. Sometimes simply knowing what our dogs ‘were bred to do’ helps us come up with games and puzzles that they find really challenging and fun to do. We can recommend lots of books and ideas to help with this.
Noise Phobias
If your dog has a noise phobia, their response can be quite extreme, sudden and profound. Your dog can be injured as a consequence of their escape or in avoiding the noise. We see these noise phobias quite often, and there are many different behavioural techniques and interventions with which we can help your dog. Also discussions with your Veterinary Surgeon about this can be highly beneficial.
​CASE STUDY: This dog (pictured right) was suffering a phobic response to loud noises following an incident with a crow scarer when out walking. Diesel became housebound for many months and having a wee in the garden became a traumatic experience for him. He was highly traumatised when his owners came to us for help, and had not been out for a walk for over eight months. Working with Sandra, and the support of his Veterinary surgeon, a detailed Behaviour plan was created for Diesel who is now happily going out for his walks. ​



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Anxiety
There are a wide range of situations that result in our dogs feeling anxious and it is often linked back to the socialisation period when they were puppies. It can also be from a traumatic experience such as a dog fight, car journeys, firework night, crowds, young children running around, etc. We use a wide range of behavioural techniques to help dogs feel more relaxed in situations they find challenging and can find the best method for both you and your dog. Sometimes just learning how to read their body language and offering an alternative option before they become really scared can be all that is needed and we can help you to do this.

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Excessive Barking
Barking is one of a number of methods that our dogs use to communicate with each other, and also with us, their 'humans'. Every dog has a number of different types of bark and which one they use will depend on how they are feeling, and why they are behaving in that way, e.g:
  • Frustration and/or seeking attention
  • Anxiety e.g. when left alone or from boredom
  • As a warning e.g. when being territorial / from nervousness / feeling stressed / for fun
The key to tackling the problem is to identify the trigger! Then be consistent in your response! We help you learn the right techniques to interrupt their barking and distract them into doing something else. By looking closely at him when he barks you can look at why you think he is barking. Could it be when you stop playing with or stroking him, withhold an item he desires, restrict his access to something? We can help you to recognise these signs and deal with his barking.
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Barking will increase if it is rewarded by you. Do you.....
  • Give in and offer him exactly what he is asking for e.g. food or a toy?
  • Stroke or touch him?
  • Tell him to be quiet? Even speaking in a negative way can be rewarding
  • Frown at him or scold him?
  • Make eye contact?
Guarding – Food, People or Toys
When a dog guards something it is a message that he is not happy with you getting in his ‘space’ while he has his precious toy or food, or sometimes even his space like his bed. We don’t always appreciate what our dogs may find valuable and therefore do not give them a better reward to encourage giving it up. Sandra can help teach you how to communicate with your dog that you are not a threat to his food supply, or that you are going to remove a prized possession. He needs to see you as the welcome ‘source of all things good’ and that more good things may come his way!
It can be a lot of hard work to manage and change the behaviour of a ‘resource guarder’ especially those dogs who don’t give you much of a warning before launching an attack. We can help you to read the minute changes in their body language – one of the methods we use that is crucial to avoiding an unwanted situation.

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Destructive Behaviour and House Soiling
Some dogs, particularly young ones, need to have things to destroy. It is part of growing up so we must provide alternative 'better' things for our pups to chew if you want to save your furniture etc! We have lots of tried and tested methods to keep your dogs occupied that will give them successful alternatives to chewing your things, but most importantly, we find that consistent house rules and boundaries from all the family means a less confused or bored dog.
We never recommend any kind of physical punishment when a dog goes to the toilet within their home. This will just make your dog more secretive, damages your relationship with him – we can offer so many more positive training methods that really help with house training. Giving it a name such as ‘be quick' or 'busy busy’ means your pup knows what is expected of them when in the garden. Having them sometimes on a lead means they can’t play or run around if it is toilet time! I have trained many puppies and have lots of tried and tested ideas to share!
If you feel you have a behaviour issue that you would like Sandra to help you with, please get in touch with us so we can begin to get a plan in place.
ABOUT US

Worcester Dogs Ltd provides a professional dog care service to Worcester and Kempsey.
We provide an extensive range of
​dog services, including dog training, puppy classes, dog agility, dog walking services,  scent detection, gun dog training, puppy visits and
​dog behaviour consultations.
We care when you're not there!
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Old Road North
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WORCESTER WR5 3JZ

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