If your dog does not have enough to do and is suffering from boredom this is likely to lead to your dog misbehaving. So if you are suffering from dog behaviour problems, it might not be that you have a bad or abnormal dog, he (or she) might just be bored. In most situations if you mange this boredom you will solve the bad behaviour. There are a wide variety of materials and activities that you can use to entertain your dogs and distract them from such negative behaviour.

When your dog is bored there are a number of different negative behavioural patterns that he might exhibit. For example, some dogs will be seen barking continuously and some may be engaged always in some digging activities. Others may constantly lick or chew their paws, or other parts of their body, and start to cause themselves harm. Alternatively they might start to chew and scratch at your furniture and soft furnishings; if you leave your TV remote in reach expect a bored dog to give it a good chew.

If you have to leave your dog alone for long periods of time there are many ways to stop your dog getting bored. Firstly make sure that they have plenty of toys to play with and chew. Whatever is their favourite, stuffed toys, tennis balls, ropes with balls on the end, make sure they have plenty around and that they are allowed to chew these. Another great toy to look into is the Kong. This is a sturdy rubber chew toy that has a central area that can be stuffed full of treats. Fill it up with a mix of your dog's favourite treats mixed with something like peanut butter and your dog will spend hours trying to get the yummy treats out of the middle of the Kong.

Whilst it is all well and good using distraction methods like those above to tackle your dog's boredom, the only real way to address the issue in the long-term is to take time to interact and exercise your dog.

Normally dogs will just love being with their owners. If you are reasonably active and going about your daily business they will follow you around and find this very interesting. Even though you might be busy, take some time to acknowledge them and have a 'quick play' with them now and again.

When you have more spare time to spend with them then make sure you give them plenty of physical and mental exercise. Physical exercise can be achieved by walks or throwing a ball. Investigate how much exercise your breed of dog needs and make sure they get that most, if not all, days. As well as giving them this physical exercise, try to introduce them to new sights and sounds, and situations so that they need to use their mind a lot. One approach would be to take them to visit a friend's dogs. Also you could play a game where you hide their food around the house so they have to hunt it out with their sense of smell. Another option is to purchase one of the new activity games that are now appearing in the shops. These have been designed to encourage your dog to use their mind to solve simple puzzles to get the reward of a treat.

Try out some of these routines and you will find that you dog will become more relaxed and is more likely to be sleeping peacefully at your feet than engaging in negative or destructive behaviour.

David Zak Price is life long dog lover and dog owner. Based on his personal experience with his dogs he often writes on the topic of Dog Behaviour. He also writes on the topic of Dog Health.