Owning a dog is lots of fun… except when it isn’t! Experienced dog owners will tell you that having a dog is not as easy as everyone thinks it is. There are certain sacrifices that one has to make and a whole lot of work as well. All dogs come with common dog problems when keeping them inside your home.
The biggest challenge comes with keeping your dog inside your home. It does not matter if the dog is small or big, all of them come with certain doggy behavioral problems that you have to deal with.
But if you love your dog and generally like animals you will overcome them and adapt.
Here are just some of the problems that occur with keeping your dog inside your home and how to manage them.
Constantly Laying on the Sofa
If you have a dog inside your home, there is no escaping the fact of it spending a certain period of time on your sofa or bed. It does not matter how clean your dog is, it will most likely shed and leave its fur all around the house. Sometimes you even end up with a ruined sofa if your dog attracts mud or dirt on it.
However, you don’t have to prematurely throw out your sofa yet. There are ways of dealing with both the dog and the sofa. First of all, you can hire a service which will furnish your sofa and clean the upholsteries out. Secondly, you have to train your dog and lay down some boundaries. This is best done when the dog is small and young.
Mornings When You have to Walk your Dog
A dog that is locked up in the house all the time requires frequent walks. But a dog is not capable of walking itself, you are the one who has to do that. It is okay when you have a specific schedule but it really isn’t when your dog starts barking and asking for an early-morning walk, especially on a weekend when you want to sleep .
Since there is no getting out of this one , the best solution is to walk the dog at night or try adapting your dog to a specific schedule. That way the dog will get used to a time period when it is supposed to go out and will stop bothering you at inappropriate times.
The Smell…
One of the biggest issues of owning a dog is the doggy smell. You can’t really get used to it no matter how long you keep a dog. Bigger dogs are the worse as they produce more of it, but smaller ones are sometimes no better. It particularly gets nasty when the dog gets wet.
The way to avoid this is not to stop your dog from getting outside. They need the exercise and they should be let out once in a while. You should, however, teach your dog not to roll around in the dirt. Also, regular cleaning and grooming will also help. Try to find a nice, doggy friendly shampoo. But don’t overdo it, you can harm the dog’s health if you take away its natural smell.
Chewing the Socks, Shoes, Furniture…. Everything!
Many dogs have a bad habit of chewing your belongings. This is not because they hate it and want to make your lives miserable, it has to do with behavioral patterns of a dog. Some dogs simply have it in their DNA while others may only feel bored and frustrated.
You have to research a breed before you get it as certain working dogs try to find certain things to do when they are bored. If they are outside, they will most likely start digging holes and chasing small animals. But inside they tend to chew the furniture or roam around the house looking for things to destroy.
Proper training is the best solution and you should introduce it when they are young. If you don’t want to end up with a whole bunch of ruined things around the house you can also employ a professional trainer to do it for you.
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