Retraining Your Dog And Helping Him To Overcome Food Or Object Guarding

Both older dogs and puppies can display possessive behaviour through guarding their food, or other objects in a number of ways; for example, growling, showing their teeth, and in some cases attempting to bite, or actually biting those people who go near to, or attempt to take the object the dog is guarding.
Dogs that guard their food or other objects do so for many different reasons, therefore, before you can help the dog overcome his problem, it's important to understand first, why he is behaving possessively.
Dogs are similar to humans, in that we both rely on certain things in our lives which give us pleasure. For your dog, some of these things will include, food, the comfort of a certain chair in the house, toys, his or her basket, you - the dog's owner, and so on.
Some dogs display this kind of behaviour for other reasons, for example, a dominant dog may challenge his owner over resources, he believes he has a claim to, a dog who has developed behavioural problems, due to very low confidence, or quite simply, a dog who has been allowed to develop this kind of behaviour from puppy hood, due to being teased for example, either when eating, or playing with his toys. Certain breeds if not socialised adequately can develop guarding behaviours, such as Rottweilers, for example.
If your puppy or older dog has developed a problem in this area, then calm and consistent training are called for, in order to help him. Let us look at two of the most common situations when dogs display this kind of behaviour, and how you can effectively train your dog, new behaviours.
The first thing to remember is not to react negatively in any way to your dog showing this kind of behaviour, as it is counter productive. Shouting, smacking, or trying to force your dog to surrender his food or any other object he is guarding, will just intensify his actions, try understanding his motivation for his behaviour first, then move on. Next organise a plan of how you are going to help your dog, use a formula for training, as it will help you to break things into small stages. I have outlined a simple training formula for you to follow in an earlier post, but I will use it again here, to show you can apply it to a practical situation.
If your dog is guarding his food, remember, it is you who feeds him. Take control of and manage his food in order to retrain him. To give an example, prepare a small meal of boiled rice or pasta. This bland type of meal will have a low value for your dog, so he is less likely to become possessive over it if you go near him.
Next prepare some tasty food treats your dog will like, for example, sausage, liver or cheese. Put down your dogs meal of rice, and as he sniffs around it, or begins to eat it, drop the food treats by his bowl. Be guided by your dog's response, for example, if he begins to show possessive behaviour, move away to a distance he is more comfortable with, and throw the treats from there. Decrease the distance gradually over time, but always be guided by your dog's reactions.
If your dog behaves possessively towards you when he has a toy, use the same method as above. Take a toy, one that is large enough for you to hold safely, so as you don't come too close to your dog's teeth. Give your dog the toy and as he takes it, show him the food treat and at the same time give him the command 'out' or 'leave'. When he opens his mouth, take away the toy and give him the treat. Remember, you are only going to succeed here, if you offer him a treat he likes more than his toy, so find out what treats your dog really likes. Your dog will soon realise that giving something up that he has possession of, brings an even greater reward. When he is happy to exchange a toy for a treat, practice this exercise by exchanging different toys.

Wellness Cat Food Coupons Helping Cat Owners Save Money

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It used to be that any cat product was very expensive. But now thanks to cat food coupons cat owners can give their cats the highest in nutrition while also saving money. This is a great comfort to any cat owner that is concerned with all the filler and fiber found in other foods for cats. They can rest assured that with cat food their cats are getting the proper balance of meat, fish, vitamins and minerals necessary for a happy healthy cat.

The easiest way to get cat food coupons is by going directly to the Wellness site. Once there be sure to register for coupons and select whether your cat prefers canned or dry food. Some cat owners like to mix both since that is what their cat prefers. Others prefer to use one or the other. You can also mix cat food in with other foods that your cat enjoys. This gives them the variety they enjoyed and mealtime is never boring.

You can find cat food coupons at other coupon websites however, it's difficult to find those websites since there aren't many of them available. Another great place to find coupons is by going to any pet supply website that sells pet products. One of the more popular pet supply website is PETCO that offers a wide variety of food for cats, both canned and dry. Once on the mailing list you will receive the email newsletter that has additional savings on various cat products such as treats and toys.

Helpful Hints For Helping Your Kids Do Chores

Establishing structure around chores is very important because:

Helps Parents - With our busy lives, having a basic structure helps us with the running of our households, and lowers our overall stress. It also helps us feel like we aren't in this all alone, that we are part of a team rather than a Servant or Slave Driver.
Helps Home Environment - these types of routines help lower the overall stress of the home, creates an environment of safety and security rather than chaos, and makes room for fun and relating time rather than always putting out fires.
Helps Children - These practices help children prepare for life in two major ways:

By developing Life Skills. Kids need to learn how to handle money, do household chores, and negotiate for what they desire, as well as persevere on difficult tasks even when they don't want to.
By developing their Character. A person's character largely determines how they will function in life, both in work and interpersonal relationships. Most of the problems people have in life result from character weaknesses. A major part of successful parenting is the process of helping children develop their character in hopes that their future will go well.




Always keep in mind the big picture:

Remember:

Kids don't know how to do anything at first and this is normal. They need to have the freedom to fail, and learn from their failures.
Children need instruction without shame
Instruction says," You did a great job sweeping the floor. The job will completely do when the broom is put away." Shame says, "What's wrong with you? Don't you even care enough to finish the job? Put that broom away, NOW!" Instruction comments on the action, shame assassinates a person's character.
Our job is to help them develop these life skills by being their Coach not their Drill Sergeant. Being a coach involves teaching them skills (or seeing to it that they learn from someone else if we are not able); encouraging them for their progress; and providing logical consequences to teach them when they do not follow through.
The "tips" offered in this article are not meant to be ways to control your children to do what you want but rather provide you ways to gently teach your children in order to build their character and life skills.
If your overall relationship with your child is not emotionally close and safe, you will have many, many more problems in all these areas. When children's emotional needs are not being met, they will try to let us know that they are in distress through their misbehavior. Whenever your child refuses to do his/her chores, keep in mind he/she might be resisting because of a valid emotional struggle.
Combining instruction with love and grace can build the relationship with your child, build your child's self-confidence, and develop his/her character. Teaching these skills is not something we as parents just have to do...it is what healthy parenting is all about!




Tips for Chores

Remember:

This is a long learning process. We need to see it this way rather than as success / failure.
Kids model what we do, not what we say. Do they see us keeping up with our chores? Do they see us have a happy attitude about it? Do they see us express satisfaction at how good it feels to get them done? Do they see us do a good job? Do they see us do what we need to do first (with a GOOD attitude) before the fun stuff?
It is NORMAL for kids to not want to do chores. They need to be able to not like them, and still do them. This is a major reality of adulthood that many adults have not even mastered yet. Give them the freedom to struggle with not wanting to, but still doing them. "I know you don't want to do your chores before you go to Emily's. I know just how that feels. That is still what will need to happen, and I will be happy to drive you over when they are completed."






Guidelines that up the chances of success:

Do not pass judgment or criticize the performance of your child as he/she is trying to learn to do a chore. Comment on the positives, "Wow, you folded all those clothes!" rather than pointing out the parts that aren't quite right, "You put the clothes in the wrong piles." Being critical while they are still learning can be very discouraging and will kill their spirit of wanting to help and learn.
Preschoolers begin "chores" by imitating us - doing what we are doing. They rarely decrease our workload, and this is normal. We want to focus on encouraging their desire to help, and complimenting them for their efforts. With time, they will master the skills.
Five to Six year-olds can be given simple tasks such as cleaning up messes they make, help clean their rooms, making their beds (not strict standards), set the table, etc.
Seven to Eleven year-olds can unload the dishwasher, empty the trash, fold laundry, sweep, dust, scrub the sinks, make their lunches, etc.
Teenagers can add mowing the lawn, vacuuming, cleaning the whole bathroom, mopping, washing windows, weeding, doing their laundry, etc




Getting Started

If you would like to begin this with your kids, or renegotiate it here are some ideas:

Frame it as each of us "doing our fair share" as opposed to "helping" mom and dad. They need to see these chores as a normal part of contributing to the household.
Make a list of all the chores that need to be done to run the household. Include everything like working to earn money, paying the bills, driving family members to school and errands, going grocery shopping, etc. Write down everything you do for a week. Post on refrigerator, and ask others to add to the list of things they would like you to do for them. A few days later, have a family meeting to decide how to divide up the chores. Give your kids choices.
You'll need to decide what works for you as far as daily chores versus weekly chores. Make it clear by when these chores need to be done. Examples of this might be "by Saturday at 4:00pm", "before I drive you to your friends house", or "before your next meal", etc. Give a reasonable time period.
Put a list on the refrigerator with each person's chores listed, and when these need to be completed
We invite resistance when we don't give choices about chores, or when we demand they do then RIGHT NOW!
If they do not do their chores, you can ask them if they would like to do them or pay out of their allowance to have another family member do them for them. If they have no money, you can either deduct the amount from next week's allowance, or repossess a toy to pay to have the chore done by someone else.
The attitude in which we dole out the consequences is very important. Consequences need to be applied without anger. Remember, we are not punishing them, we are lovingly instructing them about consequences and responsibility. If we share consequences with anger, their focus comes off of themselves and their actions, and refocuses on us and how unfair we are. "For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." ~2 Thes 3:10









Realize that resistance and/or non-compliance on the part of your child or teen may be the result of struggles on the inside.

If your child is going through a hard time, or a time of transition in some way, he/she will express this pain in a variety of ways - some of which could be:

Difficulty concentrating
Resistance to do anything else that is draining (school, homework, chores, etc) since he/she is already tapped out.
Anger, sadness, acting out which will make doing homework and chores hard. A child's inner world (feelings, worries, etc) needs to be paid close attention to, otherwise your child will be suffering silently, while acting out his/her pain through his/her actions.



Before focusing exclusively on your child's problematic behaviors (including not doing chores), try asking yourself some questions:

What stresses, losses, and/or changes is my child going through in his/her life? How serious (scale of 1 to 10) do I think it is, and how serious would my child say it is?
Is there any chance that my child is trying to get attention from me (even negative attention) by resistance to doing homework, chores, following house rules?
Am I gently consistent with my discipline, so that my child knows clear school and home expectations as well as consequences for non-compliance?
How much one-on-one nurturing time does my child get? How much being listened to without interruption does he/she get?
Would I be willing to work at consistency in discipline, encouragement, and affection? What would I be willing to commit to? It is crucial that a child's emotional needs be met before he/she will be in the best shape to tackle school and household duties. If lacking, start here.









Encouragement for Today

It's not too late to learn.
Set small goals.
Helping your kids develop life skills and a strong character is a huge gift to them
The way you interact with your children in these areas can build and deepen your relationship with them.
Ask God for help. You don't have to do this alone.
Ask friends for help. Check in with one another to see how you are both doing. Share your successes and your frustrations.