Dog Behavior: Learn Why Dalmatian Puppyies Chew

The sense of taste is well developed even in newborn Dalmatian puppies. This has led to the marketing of several commercial substances designed to prevent destructive chewing by pups and mature Dalmatian dogs. If these are used regularly from the age at which conditioned responses are possible (3 weeks), investigative chewing may be minimized or prevented in later life, especially when teething becomes a stimulus for the problem. However, because the breeder would have to begin this type of regimen, and because most litters are raised under conditions that do not expose puppies to chewing taboos, correction is usually necessary.

Almost every owner recognizes that pups need to chew, if only to teethe properly. On the other hand, few appreciate that a dog’s mouth is somewhat similar to the human hand as an investigative tool, or that the healthy development of nervous and muscle tissue depends on hearty chewing exercise. The usual procedure is to give a pup numerous chewables, hoping these will be so attractive that electric cords, rugs, clothing and shoes will be saved from destruction - and the pet spared a possibly serious (or fatal) injury. However, furnishing many different kinds of things to chew may lead the pup to believe that everything is chewable.

Chewing appears to be an enjoyable experience for nearly all pups and many older dogs. So, the element of fun may also be part of chewing problems. The best approach to destructive chewing involves prevention and then guidance to chewable articles, such as a ball or bone. This helps the pup to discriminate between toys and inappropriate items. Practices that risk creating an orally oriented puppy include: playing tug-of-war, allowing personal belongings (socks, shoes) to be chewed, excessive attention to pup’s mouth during teething, and punishment for chewing taboos.

Some Dalmatian puppies are more oral than others. When this is coupled with an excitable or extremely inhibited nervous type, minor stress produces tension that tends to be released orally (rather than vocally or physically). Some of the causes for excessive tension in pups are: emotional departures and homecomings by the owner, excessive attention to the pup, social isolation, barrier frustration, delay of feeding, and boredom.

When 2 or more pups live together, chewing may result from competition for articles. Also, pups play games. When these involve articles of some value, the owner often attributes such chewing to spite or revenge. “Sparky’s mad at me for leaving him alone, and he’s getting even.” This is seldom the case. Usually one or more of the aforementioned conditions are involved. As diligently as one might try to be a model Dalmatian puppy owner, it is obvious that few people can avoid all of the causes for chewing.

Dalmatian Behavior: How Your Dalmatian’s Hunger May Result In Problematic Behavior

Many Dalmatians switch themselves to once-a-day feedings between 6 months and 1 1/2 years of age by turning up their noses at either the morning or evening meal. Most people interpret this behavior as a clue that the pet needs only one meal a day. What is probably happening, though, is that the dog no longer needs rapid growth nutrients and is entering the maintenance stage. In many dogs, maintenance requires a little more than one-half of growth needs.

So the owner naively starts feeding once a day, which leaves the dog with an empty stomach for most of its waking hours. This results in “hunger tension,” a phenomenon not hard to imagine when nature’s fuel gauge reads ‘empty’ for more than 12-14 hours a day.

dogs digest food in their stomachs longer than humans, probably because canine saliva has no discernible digestive enzyme function. dogs, as carnivores, are designed by nature to rip, tear and gulp, so it makes sense that their gastric juices require more time to sufficiently break down food before it enters the small intestine. It is not hard to imagine the consequences of cutting an accustomed two feedings down to one per day. Some dogs adapt to the change, though many owners give their once-a-day eaters tidbits around the time of their former feeding. dogs often develop oral behavior problems, such as pica, chewing, stealing food or begging at the table.

The reason some animals require only one, and others two meals a day is mainly due to the rate at which they metabolize their food. Other elements of the environment can bear on the situation as well. The amount of exercise a dog undertakes spontaneously, or is stimulated to undertake, affects food intake; even the temperature. For these reasons, two meals a day are recommended in problem cases. This requires feeding half the once-a-day ration twice daily.

Coming Up With A Feeding Schedule

Feeding schedules can play a significant role in problem behavior. If these are too near to the regular departure or arrival times of the owners, any change in the schedule because of unexpected delays or early departures can upset the routine - and the Dalmatian. This is especially true when feedings are given immediately after the owner’s arrival at home in the afternoon or evening. If the owner is late, the dog has double-trouble. The emotional ritual of the greeting is frustrated and the gastric schedule of the animal is violated.

Therefore, even though this practice may not appear clearly to be part of the problem, it is worthwhile to schedule feedings at least an hour before the owner’s departure and an hour after homecoming on regular workdays. The same schedule is used on weekends, at least until the problem is cleared up. This affects the social schedules of some owners, but it can help to solve problems.

Dalmatian Dog Behavior: Castration Information

Most owners of Dalmatians favor castration when they understand the role of testicular androgens in their dog’s behavior. The fact that secondary sex characteristics are not profoundly affected by castration is reassuring to those who fear it might feminize their Dalmatian dogs. Many are also reassured to learn that the adrenal cortex produces gonadal androgens and tends to take up the “slack” created by castration. In behavioral terms relevant to the owner’s concern, this means that castration of a mature dog will not cause it to revert to puppy behavior, become sissified, or run from a burglar.

When interviewing a local veterinarian, we came across one owner who called in to complain that her 10-year-old Sydney Silky Terrier was engaging in marathon copulation with her 1 1/2-year old Silky female, who was then in heat. The client’s fear was that the dog might die of a heart attack due to the furiousness of his sexual activities. The vet asked if she had considered castration and was told that this had been performed when the dog was 2 years old in an effort to stop his leg-lifting in the house (which had not abated). The vet advised the client to have the female spayed. This was done and at least the sexual problem was solved. Correction of the household urination required a 6-week I behavior program.

When supported by remedial behavior programs, castration may help alleviate habitual running away or roaming, fighting (other males), house urination and sexual mounting. Pre-existing problems that may persist or become intensified after castration without behavioral programs include aggression toward owners, children or outsiders, fighting with female dogs, and fecal house-soiling.

In a recent study, three of fifty-seven male dogs with various problems castrated at 2 years of age found the following:

* Aggressive toward, or fear of strangers: No significant improvement.

* Urine marking, mounting, roaming away from home: 25- 40% of the dogs cut their unwanted behavior by 90%; 60% of the dogs did so half as often.

* Aggression toward family members: Fewer than 33% showed a marked improvement.

* Aggression toward other family dogs and outside dogs, and territorial aggression and fear of inanimate objects: 35% of the dogs showed a 50% improvement.

Dalmatian Behavior: 5 Ways To Avoid Accidental Sexual Excitability In Your Dog

When it comes to Dalmatian’s behavior based on natural reflexes, there is one subject that is not discussed much. And that subject is the tendency of pet dogs to initiate sexual behavior and/or to respond with sexual arousal or overt sexual behavior to certain physical or social stimulation from the owners.

Of course we lover our pets and want to make them happy by giving them attention, especially physical petting and rubbing. Not only does your dog love getting stroked by its owner, but this also creates pleasure for us as well. Unfortunately, you may be causing some excitability and sexual frustration because of this. Following are some stimuli about which few owners are aware, but which can sexually excite dogs:

1. dogs that are roughhousing with other Dalmatian dogs, children, or adults can excite dogs to the point of getting sexually stimulated.

2. Rubbing or petting your dog on the chest and between the forelegs is another way that can lead to your dog getting inadvertently sexually excited.

3. Prolonged petting or playful bumping on the sides of your dog’s neck, above the shoulders, below the ears, or on the throat is another behavior that you can stop which may be exciting your Dalmatian.

4. Prolonged scratching beside the base of the tail when it causes a lateral movement of the tail, in both intact and spayed females.

5. Physical stimulation of the genital region of either sex, as during bathing.

In roughhousing, a dog usually begins precopulatory clasping with the forelegs, nose-bunting or mouthing, or sexual mounting with pelvic thrusts.

Most dogs respond affectionately to the petting, scratching or playful bumping mentioned, without initiating overt sexual behavior. However, when it is prolonged, some dogs may attempt precopulatory “nudging,” display penile erection, or even persistently and aggressively mount people.

Usually the responses stop when the owner stops the stimulation. But the side effects of such handling are seen in various sorts of behavior, such as whining, renewed approaches for petting and attention, and extreme (or mild) anxiety when left alone or ignored by the owner and not surprisingly, aggression toward other people in the area, either immediately or later. Owners rarely associate this delayed aggression with their frustrating extended petting or naive sexual stimulation of the Dalmatian, so it is generally labeled as protective.

Preventing Neighborhood Dalmatian Urine Marking

A commonly accepted myth among Dalmatian owners is that dogs, especially males, have a fundamental need to spread their urine widely in order to be emotionally well adjusted. As a result, the dog is often taken off its own property, to dutifully sprinkle up, down, and across the street.

In addition to methodically despoiling the area’s greenery, the owner is allowing the dog to extend its protective feelings beyond its natural home and yard. An aggressive dog consequently begins to defend what the ignorant owner has “taught” it to consider its territory.

This is especially true when 2 dogs of the same household involved both suffer the misfortune of having equally ignorant owners. Each dog tries to protect its own extended boundaries. This type of defensive behavior predominates among males, but also has been noted in females.

When the above urination issues occur, one portion of a remedial program becomes rather obvious: the owner must not allow the Dalmatian to “brand” the neighborhood territory. Further,in dogs that are fighters, whenever and wherever they go off their property, it is best not to allow any urinating at all unless 5 or 6 hours have passed and the dog genuinely must urinate.

This avoids one of the most common canine rituals preceding aggression: urine marking.

Characteristics Of Dalmatians That Display Aggression Toward Other Dogs

Dalmatians that fight tend to have any or a number of the following characteristics:

Are dominant in their relationship with their owners.
Lacked exposure to other dogs during critical socialization periods.
Have been attacked by other aggressive dogs.
Fight only when a neighborhood bitch is in heat.
May have been the litter bully as a pup.
Usually become excited when stressed.
Are jealous because of owner favoritism.

Most fights between unacquainted dogs are related to the territorial boundaries or property (human owners in some cases) of one or both combatants. This type of aggression is easily understood but difficult to correct.

Another type of aggression that is difficult for owners to understand and correct involves dogs that live in the same household. Though both dogs receive what appears to be the same treatment from their owners, they engage in savage fights. Though the causes vary, corrective methods involve the same principle.

Correction centers around converting the feelings of hostility to “happy” emotional responses. This requires extreme self-control on the part of the owner, but it has proved effective when performed properly.

Dalmatian Behavior Problems: Window Jumping & How To Prevent It

When your Dalmatian escapes to achieve social interaction in the neighborhood, the owner must establish a very strong leadership role with the dog. This tends to fulfill its need for socializing within the confines of its own home, a step necessary for complete correction. This can be accomplished through basic obedience command responses, practiced daily over a 6-week period.

Some problems of this type have been solved by installing frosted glass in the Dalmatian dog’s favorite escape window, eliminating its view of the outside. However, several dogs have switched to other windows when this has been done, so the owner must be prepared to face this possibility. The more important adjustment is to eliminate the social gratification formerly sought, such as “bumming around.” If neighbors are feeding or otherwise accommodating the dog, their help must be sought to stop this.

It is always necessary to determine when the dog jumps out of a window. If it occurs shortly after the dog is left alone, the owner must leave the house, sneak back to the premises and apply some strongly distracting stimulus as the dog begins to prepare for the freedom leap. In every case, a period of initial anxiety behavior, such as whining, pacing or barking, precedes the actual leap.

If the jumping occurs just before the owner arrives home, the owner should arrange to come home earlier than usual to apply the corrections. Just as in barking cases, the distracting stimuli should not be painful, but should take the dog’s mind off its anxiety. This may involve a rap on a door some distance from the escape scene, and even stomping on the roof while monitoring the Dalmatian’s behavior by listening through an air vent.

If jumping is associated with fear of surroundings, it is necessary to change the area in which the dog is confined (the simplest method) or to switch the dog’s emotional association with the area from fear to contentment. This may be difficult because the fearful response usually occurs when the pet is alone; conditioning requires the presence of the owner or some other intervening factor. However, if the dog has been severely punished in the area, especially at homecoming times, it is often practical for the owner to stop the punishment and virtually ignore the dog when arriving home. Any interaction between the owner and dog at other times should consist of play, training work for command responses and quiet activities, such as just sitting around. This sort of correction takes several days to weeks.