What Do Your Dogs’ Strange Habits Mean?

15/05/2017 - Blog

Here at CK9 Training, we’ve encountered all sorts of odd little behaviours in our clients’ dogs. These are just some of the stranger habits dogs can have which actually make sense when you look into them properly.

Howling When Alone One of the most frustrating behaviours, especially for your neighbours, is howling. For the dog who is left home alone, his reaction makes sense. He’s alone and howling is one of the ways that he uses to reestablish communication and get back together. Essentially, he is afraid that he has been abandoned. Chasing Cars Dogs love to chase things like balls, frisbees and cats, and cars are just a further manifestation of this behaviour. The desire to chase stems from an innate predatory drive and some dogs, particularly of different breeds, exhibit this more highly than others. Chasing cars seems strange to us as they are so big and fast that they’re impossible to catch in any real way, and obviously, we know they’re potentially dangerous, but dogs that fixate on cars don’t understand that. They’re just something else to chase!

Humping Other Dogs and People Dogs that very publicly ‘hump’ other dogs and people’s legs are pretty embarrassing. This is not as sexual as it first appears and female dogs can hump just like males do! Most dogs hump for a range of other reasons, from being overstimulated and excited or trying to get attention; after all, dogs that do this don’t often get ignored! Bottom Dragging When a dog drags its bottom along the ground it can look comical but it often indicates serious discomfort. The most common cause is a blockage or inflammation in the anal glands but it can also arise from all sorts of problems in the rectum and surrounding areas. This is one behaviour that should prompt you to make a vet appointment pretty quickly.

Got a dog behaviour problem not on this list and not sure where to turn, such as ones derived from lack of socialisation? Contact us to see how we can help.

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