Dog training - How to Deal with Your Neurotic Dog.
How do you know if your dog is neurotic? Can you train a neurotic dog? Why is your dog neurotic? Do neurotic dogs ever get cured? Find the answers to these and many other questions in the article below.
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Title: Is Your Dog Neurotic?
Author: Dr. Mayra Alfonso
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It is widely accepted within dog training circles, that a neurotic dog is down to how the master treats him. More and more dogs these days are neurotic. More and more owners these days take their dogs for behavioral modification. And more and more dogs, are started on medications, like Prozac, for example.
How do you know if your dog is neurotic? If your dog appears moody, in need of constant reassurance, and overly suspicious of other dogs or cats in the house, or even of humans then chances are you have a neurotic dog.
Think of it in human terms. Imagine that when you were very small, you were taken from your family and given to someone that you had hardly met before. This person is huge, and can pick you up by the scruff of your neck and place you anyway that they choose. Can you see how neurosis can develop?
Add to that, you no longer have a soft place to sleep. You see the new owner sleeping on a bed, but he doesn’t let you do the same. You see that your new owner wants you to do certain things, for example, he expects you to sit and wait for your food. But you also notice that the cat doesn’t have to sit and wait, and that it still gets fed anyway! Add to that, the cat probably gets to sleep on the couch, or even on your lap. Thinking about it in this way, you can begin to appreciate why your dog could start to feel a little hard done by, and this is when neurosis is likely to creep in.
All dogs can be trained eventually. It will take time and patience, and your dog needs to know that you are on its side. It is no good simply shouting at your dog whenever he does something wrong. Remember, that he may not even realize that he has done wrong, and the shouting just reinforces the idea that if he does this, then he gets attention from you. The more you shout, the more neurotic and confused your dog is likely to become. In a dogs eyes, any attention is better than no attention.
Think of ways to get around your dog if you suspect that he is neurotic.
One owner who had a dog that liked to chew books, simply moved the books out of his way. As he grew, the books were moved to a higher shelf, and so on until the books were on the very top shelf.
The dog never chewed the books. But the owner never got to read them.
A neurotic dog is no fun, it can be a lot of hard work to train and they tend to be stubborn. Wish you the best in training your neurotic dog, if you have one.
Have a great “dog training” day,
Dr. Alfonso
