Before starting to educate or train your dog, it is very convenient to do a canine ethogram to know its natural behavior and learned behaviors Until now.
The ethogram is a simple study of the behavior that we can carry out over a given time. To do this, you do not need to be watching your dog 24 hours a day, it consists of observing his reaction to the usual stimuli of his day to day. From this information we can determine which situations cause you stress, relaxation or happiness.
Getting a good ethogram of a dog will help us know how to better train our best friend. On our site we offer you the keys to carry it out properly:
Canine ethogram example
The approximate time to perform an ethogram is usually around two weeks During this time we must try to expose our dog to certain stimuli (other dogs, physical handling, environment…) to observe their reaction All this work results in a more accurate picture of their behavior.
Below, we offer you an example of a canine ethogram created by our site so that you can identify certain behaviors whether they are sociable, fearful or undesirable. You can create a particular ethogram yourself to analyze your dog's situation and know what aspects you should work on with him:
Why is the ethogram important?
Developing a dog's ethogram is important if we believe that our best friend may be developing a behavioral problem. These types of tables help us differentiate and understand natural behaviors from those that are not.
It is also ideal if we are thinking of calling a dog trainer or an ethologist. These small details will help the specialist to understand our dogand therefore his work will be more effective:
- Your dog's behaviors you like
- Your dog's behaviors you want to change
- Distractions that will represent difficulties during training
- Reinforcers you'll be most successful with
- Situations that will facilitate training
- Some situations in which you have to test training
How to work the results of the ethogram?
Ideally, especially if we observe that our dog constantly carries out undesirable behaviors, is to see a specialist. Only a professional can properly guide you with specific guidelines for your case.
However, if this is not possible for you momentarily, you can analyze some behaviors and start working directly with some tips from our site, either by studying fear in dogs, stress or separation anxiety.
Don't forget that a well cared for dog, mentally and physically, is a happier dog. Taking time to analyze the behaviors that cause him fear or stress will go a long way in treating his behavior and leading him to a more social and positive life
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