Richard Cussons

Lack of Sheltie Training Can Lead to Excessive Barking

Some dog barks way too much than the others. Learn how training affects your dog's behavior...

There can be many reasons for a person or family to get a new dog. Active families can get a dog to join them in their outdoor activities. A dog also makes great companion to someone who lives alone. Many of them are guard dogs, show dogs and a lot are also used to assist disabled persons. But regardless of their purpose or role in their human's lives, every dog needs training. Yes, even the trainable shetland sheepdog needs proper sheltie training too.

Training plays a vital role in every dog's life. Not only can it teach your dog to perform tricks but lack of it can result to undesirable behavior such as excessive barking. While barking is a normal behavior among dogs, too much of it is not acceptable anymore. Would you want to stay up the whole night and hope that your pet will get tired of barking soon? Would you want to learn from your neighbors that Fido is barking too much when you're out? Dogs are intelligent creatures. If they are not physically or mentally challenged, they get bored easily which results to behavior problems including excessive barking.

To prevent your sheltie from developing such habit, better start your shetland sheepdog training at the earliest possible time. Socialization should start at around three weeks of age. This aims to expose the pup in social play, social investigation and playful sexual behavior. At around eight weeks of age, start training tricks and basic commands. Proper socialization and training can help a pup develop social interactions both with humans and other dogs in the later life.

When your sheltie has formed the habit of too much barking, identify what triggers him to do so. By doing this, you can easily determine the proper way to solve the problem. If your dog is barking out of aggression, the best thing to do is to make your dog realize that you are the leader of the pack and mustn't show dominance over you. If you notice that your dog is barking excessively in the presence of other dogs or when he's alone, then probably your dog wants to tell you that he is afraid. As the owner, find out what makes your dog afraid and try to deal with it. Move your dog in if he's afraid to be alone outside or get him used to the presence of other dogs and humans if he is scared of them.

Control your temper as much as possible. Never abuse or punish your sheltie physically for it will only worsen the scenario. By being patient, determined and consistent, you will eventually become successful in training your sheltie to stop barking too much.

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