"Is Your Dog Driving You Mad With His Attention Seeking Antics?"
Attention seeking behaviour in dogs can manifest itself in many different ways:
Your Cocker Spaniel barks loudly for your attention while you're trying to have a telephone conversation...
He becomes over-excited and jumps up at you just as you're trying to get through the door with several bags full of shopping...
When you're sitting quietly, reading, your dog wanders over and paws at you, demanding you give him some attention...
Does any of this sound familiar?
These are just a few examples of attention seeking behaviour in dogs; it's not unusual, in fact it's fairly normal behaviour.
As pack animals, dogs are fairly sociable creatures and are used to regular contact and play with their pack members - if they don't get the attention they want, they will demand it!
To us humans, however, attention seeking behaviour in dogs can be annoying and is exactly the kind of behaviour we want to discourage.
Our usual response in the above circumstances would be to push the dog away, or shout at him to be quiet.
Unfortunately what we often don't realise is that, by doing so, we are actually reinforcing our dog's attention seeking behaviour and increasing and reinforcing his dominance!
This is because your Cocker Spaniel sees his bad behaviour being rewarded with eye contact, your voice and, if you pushed him away, your touch - you gave him attention! It may not be the attention he was expecting, but in his eyes, it's better than no attention at all!
If you succumb to your dog's attention seeking behaviour, your dog is controlling you and that's not good. You must maintain your status as pack leader - always - and this is particularly true with dogs which have dominant personalities.
If you continue to give your Cocker Spaniel attention when he demands it, he may become boisterous and unruly; he may even become aggressive, particularly toward an owner who is trying to regain control.
Types of Attention Seeking Behaviour
Your dog may try many different ways to get your attention. Some of these behaviours are listed below:
Barking
Pawing or nudging
Jumping up
'Stealing' items and running away with them
Whining
Vomiting
Feigning lameness
Chasing lights or shadows
Snapping at the air, almost like snapping at flies!
Some attention seeking behaviours are more serious than others (for example, stealing, biting, and aggression), and you may need to seek advice and assistance from your vet or an animal behaviourist to help you tackle the problem.
Potential Causes Of Attention Seeking Behaviour In Dogs
We recommend that you give some consideration to what could be causing your dog to behave in such a way before you begin to address your dog's attention seeking behaviour.
For example;
Your dog may not be getting enough exercise, and, as a consequence, may have way too much energy.
As well as physical exercise, dogs also need mental stimulation; he may be under-stimulated.
Your dog may be left alone for too long, causing excessive attention seeking behaviour when you return home.
Your Cocker Spaniel may be bored!
Relax Your Dog With Exercise, Play, And Training
We recommend you establish a healthy routine of exercise, play, and training for your dog, regardless of his attention seeking behaviour.
We recommend you adopt a routine along the lines of the following:
take your dog for a one-hour walk each day or walk him twice a day if you have the time;
play with your dog for approximately 15-20 minutes each day;
reinforce his basic obedience training for 15 minutes each day. This will not only help to reinforce your dog's good manners, but will help to give him the mental stimulation he needs.
it's a good idea to practise obedience commands whenever your dog wants something from you. For example, ask your dog to sit before feeding him, or putting on his collar and attaching his lead, or before meeting visitors - in other words, before you give him any attention!
check that his diet is not causing your dog to become hyperactive. If you are at all concerned about his diet you should speak to your vet.
Satisfy Your Dog's Basic Instincts
Give him tasks!
Many dogs need something to do in order to satisfy an inherent basic instinct. For example:
if your dog is a retriever, play some retrieval games with him each day;
if he's a herding dog, take him running, or throw a ball for him to chase;
if he's a hound dog, let him sniff out some hidden objects.
Plenty of physical and mental stimulation will not only ensure that your dog is healthy and obedient, but will also burn off his energy and tire him out.
This may help to stop your dog's constant attention seeking behaviour and you may see an improvement within a week or so!
However, if your dog's behaviour doesn't improve as much as you'd like .......read on!
Ignore Your Dog's Attention Seeking Behaviour
Always ignore your dog's attention seeking behaviour and reward him only when he's well behaved, or when he's quiet.
Ironically, we very often ignore our dogs when they're quiet, and (unwittingly) reward them when they're displaying annoying attention seeking behaviour - the exact opposite of what we should be doing!
When your dog is behaving well, or resting quietly, go to him and stroke him gently.
Make a quiet fuss over him and if, like our Cocker Spaniel Max, he rolls over onto his back, rub his belly and tell him he's a 'Good quiet boy'.
Rewarding your dog when he's quiet will teach him that only good behaviour will get him attention.
The objective is to give your dog lots of attention on your terms; in fact, the same attention as he gets now, but only for his good behaviour.
How To Stop Your Dog's Attention Seeking Behaviour
The worst punishment you can give an attention seeking dog is to deprive him of your attention and affection, so the next time your dog demands your attention, the best thing you can do is ignore him, as follows:
Remain 'neutral' in your behaviour; don't speak to him, don't touch him, and don't make eye contact;
Continue with what you were doing, for example, reading a book or unpacking the shopping. Whilst it doesn't make us feel good to ignore our dogs, we must teach them to wait quietly until we are ready to give them our attention;
If your dog backs off and sits down praise him and give him your attention;
If he continues his attention seeking behaviour, or if he jumps up at you, turn away and continue to ignore him;
If that doesn't work - and let's face it, some dogs can be very persistent! - move away from him, still avoiding, eye contact, speaking, and physical contact;
When it's convenient to give him your attention, make eye contact and put your dog in the 'Down-Stay' position.
Placing your dog into this position puts him into a submissive position. You can also use 'Sit-Stay', but the 'Down-Stay' position is more powerful.
If he persists, or becomes boisterous, take your dog into another room and leave him until he's calmed down. Remain in control and stay calm and unemotional;
Put your dog into the 'Down-Stay' position for a few seconds before letting him back into the room;
If moving him to another room fails, you may want to consider using a stronger barking deterrent, such as a water pistol or an air spray (this is compressed air used to clean computers and cameras).
Either of these may be used each time your dog displays attention seeking behaviour to startle your dog into silence; his attention seeking will be interrupted, allowing you to manage his behaviour;
Don't allow your barking dog back into the room until he's quiet for at least 10-20 seconds otherwise he will learn that barking for attention eventually works - he simply needs to be more persistent!
When your Cocker Spaniel responds in the way that you want him to, you can then give him what he was asking for, food, affection, etc. as you are rewarding him for for following your commands - rewarding good behaviour NOT rewarding attention seeking behaviour!
Summary
There's no such thing as a free lunch - make your dog work for your attention!
Ignore your dog's demands for attention.
Reinforce your dog's good behaviour by rewarding him for it - don't reward attention seeking behaviour.
Make sure your dog has plenty of exercise.
Organise daily play sessions with your dog.
Practice basic puppy obedience training commands regularly, and reward him each time he gets it right.
You may give your dog what he wants, but you must do so on your terms - not his.
If, after following the advice given here, you still have a problem with your dog's attention seeking behaviour, we recommend you consult your vet for advice. He may be able to offer assistance, or he may refer you to a behavioural therapist.
If your dog continues to bark excessively, and you think it may be something other than attention seeking behaviour, you might find some useful information in the articles listed below.
