2 wolves howling together at the moon, and the dog misses the owner.

Has she growled or tried to bite anyone yet?
Is she sometimes naughty or hard-to-control?
Does she sometimes act restless or nervous?
Does the house sometimes have "accidents"?
Do you often have to swear or punish her?
It is sometimes annoying or demanding?
Does she create problems when she's left alone?
Is she looking for conflicts with other dogs?
Maybe she was very shy?
Have you noticed any recent changes in her behavior?

If you answered "Yes" to even one of these questions, then your dog problems.

Most serious problems in pet behavior can be easily prevented if you know how to react to them.

In the behavior of dogs that bring the owners serious problems if left home alone, often three symptoms that can occur together or separately:
- excessive noise. Many dogs whine or howl so loudly and for a long time, causing great anxiety to neighbors around the house. Often the neighbors formed a bad opinion of the owner of the dog, and he has something to take to the neighbors complaining in VES or other authorities.
- destructive behavior. A dog can cause serious material damage, scratching doors, floors, walls, tear the upholstery of the sofa, etc.
- grubbiness. Coming home, you can step into a huge puddle of urine, and on your couch will show off a bunch of feces.

This problem is quite often from 10 to 30% of the owners applying to veterinarians for advice on the correction of behavior of your pet, talking about these symptoms. Apparently, this is only the tip of the iceberg, because many have come to terms with the fact that they can not leave their pet alone. They either take it everywhere with them or, if separation is inevitable, leave with friends and acquaintances. Some use another way to solve this problem. They leave the dog in a closed car, and for a few hours. Some dogs tolerate it much better than alone in the house.

Even if excessive noise, destructive behavior, and unscrupulousness often manifest themselves simultaneously with other problems, it is usually easy to make the right diagnosis when it comes to fear of loneliness. The dog owner understands that his pet does not like to be alone. The material damage caused shows that the case is not just in too active a game. The barking continues for too long, so it can not go direct reaction to external stimuli. In addition, it so happens that the dog celebrates the natural need in half an hour after a walk.

What can cause a dog's behavior?

Taking into account the sociable nature of dogs, we can assume that loneliness gives them extremely unpleasant sensations. Most dogs at an early age learn to calmly endure the loneliness. At this time, they sleep, chew their toys or do something else that does not create problems for the host. But there are dogs that react to the loneliness of fruitless attempts to find a way out of the situation. They perform uncontrolled actions and show aggressive behavior, as well as symptoms of strong emotional excitement, which is expressed in coping with natural needs in the apartment.Heredity.

Not all dogs behave in this way. This can be explained by the different perceptions of the environment by individual dogs. In turn, this is due to genetic differences between dogs, defining such features as sociability, susceptibility to noise, desire to bite things, playfulness.

Lack of experience at an early age.

Another important factor is the individual experience of being alone, obtained at an early age. Typically the owner within the first weeks of life leaves a puppy in the apartment of one. He has since started sleeping in his place. The owner ignores the yipping and barking of the puppy, and so he soon calms down. From this moment, the puppy is left alone for different time intervals (from several minutes to several hours during the day). Dogs that are afraid of being alone usually brought up in other conditions. Usually, with them constantly someone was constantly everywhere or took with him and never left alone during the first months of life.An unexpected change in the family situation.

The problem of fear of loneliness often arises unexpectedly, due to changes in the family situation, due to which the dog for the first time in his life leave one (for example, the death of an elderly person or another animal, in whose society the dog was in the absence of the owner). Often it also happens that the dog is almost daily in solitude for a long time and behaved normally, but after a certain period of time, when it was always someone from the family members (for example, due to temporary unemployment or a long illness), she began to create problems when she was again left alone.

The traumatic experiences.

A classic example is the unexpected manifestation of fear of loneliness in the behavior of a dog that is afraid of lightning and thunder after being left alone during a thunderstorm. The same applies to the explosions of firecrackers, during the celebration of the new year.

Possible methods of correction of behavior.

Fear of loneliness:
The dog should never get what she wants (e.g., food, affection, games, attention), if she begs, acting pushy or demanding, e.g., whines, jumps on the owner, is a catch teeth his hand, licks or scratches. In such cases the dog must be completely ignored or run, if she starts acting too pushy.
The time and duration of emotional or physical communication with the dog should be determined by the owner. If the owner calls the dog to her, and she needs attention, affection and wants to play, it should be ignored. After the dog cease his fruitless attempts to establish contact and depart from the host, it can call up and, as usual, to Pat or play with her. The dog need to practice 2-4 times a day for a short time using favorite treats. The dog should be taught to approach the owner to sit down and remain in your seat or on the carpet in the room, which is located near the front door. If you are using a Mat during training, you must spread it out only for the period of time during which the exercise is performed.
At any other time, while under a course of behavior, the dog is in any case can not be left home alone.
At the dog spot or near it, you need to put a few toys that need to be removed at the end of class. The dog should be able to take these subjects only during class.
If the dog is behaving quietly and stays in one place during a lesson, for it it is necessary to encourage stroking, praise and treat.