Healthy dog behaviors: Decreasing the potential for canine behavior problems

Encouraging appropriate dog behaviors can help avoid undesirable behaviors.
Photo Credit: Flickr.com/jdurham

Behavior problems such as aggression, destructiveness and other undesirable canine behaviors are some of the most common reasons dogs are abandoned or surrendered to pounds and/or shelters. However, some dog owners have difficulty in deciding which behaviors are normal for a healthy, well-adjusted dog and which are not normal.

Healthy canine behaviors are not aggressive in nature

Aggressive behavior is not considered to be a normal or desirable behavior for dogs. Dogs which exhibit desirable behavior patterns should:

• be friendly toward other people, even chidren which are well-behaved.
• be friendly toward other dogs which are acting in an appropriate manner (i.e. acting in a friendly manner).
• give up control of food, toys or other objects to their owner without acting in an aggressive manner.

Normal dog behavior is not overly fearful or anxious in nature

Normal dogs with well-adjusted behavior patterns:

• do not become anxious or nervous when the pet owner is absent.
• should urinate and defecate in a normal manner and in an appropriate place.
• should remain relaxed when being handled and touched (i.e. petted, groomed, etc).
• will calm down quickly if they are startled or become excited.
• are not overly fearful during normal, routine and/or frequently encountered events.
• will adjust to changes in routine or environment with few, if any, problems.

Normal dogs exihibit behaviors with proper inhibitions

Dogs with normal behaviors also:

• will not bark excessively but will bark when appropriate.
• do not become too rough when playing with people.
• play well with other dogs which are friendly and play appropriately.
• play with their own toys rather than damaging their owner's property regularly.
• are affectionate but not overly dependent on the owner (i.e. not "needy").

Well-behaved dogs are obedient

Well-behaved dogs are also well-trained dogs and will respond to their owner's commands (at least "sit", "stay", and "come"). Dog owners should consider basic obedience training to be part of the their obligations as a responsible dog owner.

These are the types of behaviors that dog owners should be attempting to encourage in their dogs. For those owners whose dogs exhibit abnormal behaviors, there are numerous training techniques which may help correct these problem behaviors.

(Source: JAVMA 2004;225(4):506-513)

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