Babara Bush
Have neighbors complained about howling or barking dogs coming from your apartment? Take your time to scold your pet. This still does not help: the dog perceives the punishment only if it immediately follows the offense. Otherwise, she will not understand why she is being scolded and will lose confidence in the owner. However, you shouldn’t feel sorry for your pet with this behavior either. The owner needs to understand how to behave correctly if his dog is afraid to stay at home alone.
It is important to find out why the dog is afraid to be alone in the apartment. This is most often due to feelings of anxiety. This is the most common reason for howling. A dog may be afraid of loneliness because in nature this inevitably leads to death.
Also, the animal may be afraid of other dogs – the pet’s subtle hearing catches barking far outside the house. This anxiety is especially common in puppies that have been taken from the nursery. Scientists have found that an environment devoid of stimuli for the puppy’s emotions and curiosity slows down the dog’s adaptation. If the puppy has just recently joined the family from the kennel, be patient and allow him to gradually make up the development gap. After a month, the pet will be able to show all its skills in life in society.
As soon as the puppy has received all the necessary vaccinations, it should be accustomed to different sounds of the street, playing with other dogs, meeting with passers-by. For calm behavior, be sure to encourage the baby with affection and delicacy. You could, for example, keep food in your pocket, and every time people approach, give your dog one small bite of treats and compliment him. The dog will soon realize that humans and other dogs are not a threat.
Another reason for barking is the desire to raise your status and get closer to the leader of the pack. If the puppy is male and in puberty, this is the most likely reason for barking. In this case, the owner of the dog needs to reconsider his views on raising a pet as soon as possible. Most likely, the owner allows the pet too much, and he, already at the age of two or three months, is trying to take a dominant position in the pack. If the owner is too loyal and allows the pet to show signs of dominance (for example, putting paws on his shoulders, as the dogs of some large breeds do), then this will certainly bring problems in the future. A puppy should clearly understand from early childhood who is the boss. This is manifested, for example, in the one who enters the house first after walking on the street. Always the first person should be, and only then the dog.
It is important to track how household members react when they find out that the pet was howling. Often people make a common mistake: they rush to hug and feel sorry for the dog, sometimes they even distract with treats. In no case should you behave this way? The dog concludes that suffering is beneficial, and this does not improve its behavior in any way, but rather the opposite. Therefore, resist the desire to pity the poor fellow.
Finally, pay attention to how you behave when you leave home. Be calm when you leave, do not rush to your pet with a pitiful hug. Stay calm when you return home as well. You should not yourself believe that the dog has gone through grief, and rush to reward it. Let her get the right attitude about your absence from home.
If someone from the household finds the pet howling or barking after the owner leaves, then the dog can be punished. It can be a stern shout or a trickle of cold water directed at the animal’s face. The main thing is that the punishment is not physical.