02/07/2024
If your dog displays any undesirable behaviours (lead pulling, excessive barking, reactivity), I want you to answer these three questions before you reach out to your local dog trainer.
1. Is your dog healthy?
Here I am not just talking about any long-standing and serious issues (e.g. hip dysplasia, arthritis) but also tiny little niggles that they may have such as ear infections, muscle soreness and tightness, allergies and intolerances.
When you go to your gym / for a run (other exercise options are available) and overdo it a lil bit, you can get sore and snappy. Same with dogs. Before you take your dog to a behaviourist / trainer, make sure they are healthy.
Serious undesirable behaviours that have appeared out of nowhere with no clearly identifiable triggers (such as aggression) could be a sign for you to take your dog to the vet for a check-up / blood test.
2. What does your dog eat?
We can be here all day talking about what we should and shouldn’t feed our dog. Just like with training methods it is becoming a right minefield when it comes to choosing the right diet for your dog.
Not all kibble is bad kibble. Not all raw is great. Not all wet is amazing. You’ve got to look at the ingredients list. Again, I am no canine dietitian but make sure that starchy components like rice, peas, SOME (not all!) grains, and fats are not the first couple of ingredients on your dog’s food’s packaging. Let me know if you want some resources to find out more but I would look at allaboutdogfood.co.uk website for the ingredient lists.
When we eat rubbish, we feel rubbish. Same thing with dogs. From my experience dogs who are on a chunky (or extra chunkylishious) side can be more anxious! And also let’s try not to shave off any years of our dog’s life expectancy. Resist the puppy eyes and don’t overtreat your dog!
3. How much does your dog sleep?
I’m not talking about that sleep when they wake up every time you move. I’m talking about good quality, restful sleep.
Imagine if you can only sleep 4-5 hours a night. After a week you would be exhausted and shattered. Imagine operating like that for weeks, months, years?! Just like us, our dogs of all ages, puppies in particular, need plenty of restful sleep. I would aim for anywhere between 14-18 hours a day.
Most of the time you can find that fixing any of these (or all of these) can help you see a positive change in your dog’s behaviour.
If you feel your dog is eating good quality food, they get plenty of good quality sleep, and they are healthy BUT still misbehave, just reach out! Let’s get to the bottom of it!