Content
- Reasons for my dog to change character and temperament
- Reshaping our dog's character
- The translation of your dog's emotions
- Your Dog's Other Emotions
Your puppy's character can change due to several factors, lived experiences and even for no apparent reason over time.
As a result, they can become more sympathetic, fearful or aggressive, in this article we want to guide you so that you know what are the causes that can change or modify a dog's behavior.
There are very different causes that can affect this change, such as castration, poor socialization or other everyday problems. Keep reading to find out because your dog's character has changed.
Reasons for my dog to change character and temperament
Your best friend has feelings. Remember that for some reasons that are directly related to you or not, you can feel alone, sad, anguished, worried, tired... The mental imbalance that you suffer generates discomfort that translates into a behavior change. The unstable and intense energy that we can contain transmits itself and causes negative arousal in the dog.
What should we do at first?
like your human, the dog need a mental balance and healthy physique. We must make sure that all your basic needs for sightseeing, play, cleaning and food are met. Both when arriving home and out on the street, we have to be energetic but remain relaxed, show an exemplary attitude towards him and master the situation ourselves. Don't dominate and make your pet want to take control.
What are the most usual reasons of a dog's character change?
- Castration: It is very common to have a character change after you neuter your pet. We may find a dog relaxed and submissive or the other way around.
- Old age: In old age our dog undergoes physical and mental changes such as the loss of some abilities. For this reason, we can observe a more aggressive or more passive attitude change.
- sexual maturity: In this growth stage, the dog explores the changes in its body. It is very important that during this phase you continue to support socializing with other pets, people and the environment. You must learn to behave in this new stage of your life.
- new pet: If we add a cat or a new dog to the family, our dear dog may show jealousy or dominance behaviors. Although this is normal behavior, it is very important that you respect the new member. You must set boundaries although it is important that he sees that he remains on top (hierarchically) of the new family member (new dog or cat).
- Disease: A sick dog may show abnormal behavior. If you believe that the behavior change could be related to some kind of illness, wait no longer and take your pet to the vet.
- Incorrect socialization: If your puppy has not learned since he was a baby the importance of playing properly with other puppies, you should teach him how to do it even if he is an adult puppy. Never fail to encourage socialization with other members of your species and even humans. Very important!
- Changes in the environment: If you've decided to move from a house to an apartment, if you've deprived it without realizing its toys or lately spend a lot of time alone, you should ask yourself if these could be reasons for your puppy's temperament change.
- Loss of a loved one: Whether it's another dog or a human being, the dog feels this loss just as you do. This is a psychological problem that should be treated with great care, giving the animal new stimuli and motivations that distract and help it to overcome this impact.
- baby at home: The arrival of a baby at home can generate a lot of jealousy and envy in the dog. Although it is very important to keep the distance between the newcomer and the pet, you should try for each one to have their moment of attention, care and pampering equally. Fostering a good relationship between the two is essential.
- Aggressiveness: Aggression is a serious behavior problem that feeds back and generates other problems on this same list. It must be treated by an expert.
- Depression: Several symptoms can indicate that our dog is suffering from depression (lack of appetite, avoiding games, not relating) and it is usually provoked for some reason. Look for the trigger of the problem so you can solve it.
- Anxiety: Lack of relationship with other dogs or a basic unmet need can be the reason for anxiety. Find out what is the problem that generates anxiety in your pet to solve it as soon as possible.
- bad communication: Not always a dog and its owner understand each other perfectly. It is important to know and inform yourself about the dog's language and how to treat it. If the dog and you are not in tune, it can create confusion and discomfort in the environment that will directly affect your character.
- Phobias and fears: It is true that many dogs are afraid of certain elements (other dogs, water, cats, cars, fireworks...) if what causes fear in our dog is inevitable and is present in its surroundings, we must practice a process of socialization so that our pet realizes that it shouldn't be afraid of this element, or at least learn to ignore it. Although it comes from a bad experience, it is never too late to help you overcome your fears.
Reshaping our dog's character
Once the problem is identified, we must know that we are the ones who are going to make our dog's daily life return to the stability it had before, so that it thus recover your usual character and temperament.. It must at all costs prevent the problem from getting worse.
It can be very useful to you resort to an expert to guide you in the problems of behavior change, to understand your flaws and improve your technique. If you do not have this option for economic or other reasons, you will have to work yourself and do your best.
As we said before, your dog's character change is due to a emotional imbalance that your pet suffers and that it can become chronic if you don't fix it in time. Avoid at all costs the tugging of your belt, aggressiveness, nervousness and encourage more social and relaxed attitudes.
The translation of your dog's emotions
Many people understand perfectly when you explain to them that they should be relaxed and firm with their puppy, but when the time comes, they don't understand. what do these behavioral changes mean and they adopt attitudes of nervousness or intolerance towards the puppies' enigmatic emotions.
To avoid negative situations that produce instability, we must adopt the language of our dog, to do so, follow the following advice:
- my dog moans when he sees another dog: Dogs are sociable beings that can get along better or worse with other animals, remember that they won't always be best friends. If you observe this behavior when you see another pet it means that your puppy simply wants to run, chase and have a good time with a companion of his species, you should still always be careful. Praise his relaxed, positive behavior with affectionate words and treats, and never force him to interact if he doesn't feel like it.
- Study your surroundings with your nose: Seeing your dog sniffing another dog, a foreign person or object is positive, it means that you want to meet him and you should praise him for it. On the contrary, one sees that he studies another dog, person or object with his ear or just his eyes and notices that they are suspicious or showing a hostile attitude. Give your puppy a prize whenever he smells plants, dogs, etc. Although he doesn't like it, if he's vaccinated he won't suffer any kind of illness. Smell is your dog's means of communication with the environment and it also means they are relaxed. It is very important that you take the time to sniff whenever you go out for a walk, to do this, take it to places where you can get to know various aromas that motivate you mentally and arouse your curiosity.
- my dog stares at other dogs or objects: Although your dog does not bark, grunt or be aggressive, you may notice that he maintains an attitude of excessive alertness when he meets other dogs. It has a raised tail and ears as well. Too much absorbed time means that the dog's anxiety and fixation on that dog or object are increasing. On this occasion we recommend that you capture your attention and make you disconnect from the stimulus that makes you stay alert. Congratulate him whenever he pays attention and comes with you, this is a good trick if he is sometimes a little intolerant of other animals, this way it makes him pay attention to you during the walk, something that is positive for both .
Your Dog's Other Emotions
If the translation of the dog's language is not enough to understand its psychology and the reasons for the change in character, we recommend that you go to a specialist or keep getting informed to know in more detail your pet's attitude and behavior.
Be sure to browse our website to know the different articles about dog behavior problems, in all of them you will find diverse and very useful information for solving everyday problems.