Many dog behavior problems can easily be solved when you understand how and why your dog acts the way he does. We assess the cause of the problem and give you practical, clear-cut solutions to correct it. There are general causes for many dog behavior problems: lack of physical and/or mental exercise, isolating your dog for extended periods of time, boredom, and loneliness

There are general solutions for dog behavior problems: provide your dog with more and appropriate physical and mental exercise, the right kind of play, and, especially, the right kind of training. Remember that a tired dog is a happy dog, so try to exhaust your dog (so his tongue is hanging out and he is panting) at least once a day.

We help you solve many dog behavior problems or concerns such as:

• Aggression


• Adjusting to children


• Attention seeking or demanding


• Barking


• Begging


• Biting


• Bolting out of cars, doors, and gates


• Car behavior


• Afraid of the car
• Barking while in the car
• Destroying the car interior
• "Going crazy" while the car is in motion
• Motion sickness
• Chasing animals, bikes, joggers, or skateboarders


• Destruction problems


• Chewing
• Digging
• Scratching
• Crate behavior


• Eating problems


• Excessive
• Finicky
• Garbage raiding
• Gulping food
• Nonfood items
• Elimination behaviors


• Excitement
• House soiling
• In crate
• Marking or leg lifting
• Submissive
• Escaping out of yards


• Fearfulness, insecurity, and shyness


• Fence jumping


• Fighting


• Fly snapping


• Grabbing clothing


• Grabbing or biting your hands when playing


• Guarding toys or food


• Growling


• Hand shyness


• Heel nipping


• House soiling


• Hyperactivity


• Ignoring commands


• Jealousy


• Jumping on people or furniture


• Knocking into people or animals


• Leash behavior


• Aggressive to other dogs
• Balking on walks
• Biting or grabbing
• Lunging at animals, bikes, cars, skateboarders, or people
• Pulling on a leash
• Leaning on people


• Licking excessively


• Light chasing


• Marking territory with urine


• Mounting and masturbation


• Mouthing


• Moving to a new house


• Multiple pets


• Jealousy
• Introduction of a new pet
• Fighting
• Neediness


• Obeying only with a food reward


• Over friendliness


• Possessiveness


• Predatory behaviors


• Preparing for a new baby


• Problems at parks


• Reactivity


• Releasing items from his mouth


• Rolling in scents


• Running away


• Senior dogs and effects on behavior


• Separation anxiety


• Self mutilation


• Sensitivity to touch


• Shadow chasing


• Sleeping problems


• Sniffing people inappropriately


• Stealing


• Stool eating


• Stress


• Tail chasing


• Unruliness


• Whining

The first thing to remember is to make sure your dog does not have an underlying medical problem. So have him checked out thoroughly by your veterinarian.

Second, teach your dog what you want him to do using reward-based methods.

Third, please don't punish your dog for doing something wrong if you have never taught him to do something right. Punishment may stop a behavior from occurring at that moment, but it does not change his behavior, and your goal is to change his behavior.

Leash Pulling

The easiest way to stop your dog from pulling is to get a new leash. Whoa, I bet that surprised you!!! Before you attach this new leash to his collar, attach the loop end or handle of the leash to a large stationary object such as the leg of your couch. Ignore all your dog's wiggling and barking until he is calm, and then release him and prepare to take him for a walk on his new leash.

Put the new leash on him. The instant he pulls, you stop. Don't look at him, talk to him, or touch him. When he stops pulling, you take a step. If he starts to pull again, you stop again. What he learns is that this is a new magic leash -- it won't let him go anywhere unless he stops pulling!!! This method may take a while when you begin, but it really pays off handsomely later on.

If you are still having problems, use a head halter such as a Gentle Leader or Snoot Loop. These both guide your dog's head because leash is attached under the chin and you have control of the other end of the leash. Where the head goes, the body will follow!!!

Barking

Your dog barks; you tell him to stop.
Your Dog Barks; You Tell Him To Stop.
YOUR DOG BARKS; YOU TELL HIM TO STOP.

Congratulations. You and your dog are now barking together.

One contributor of barking while you are away is excessive petting while you are home. If your dog asks to be petted, make him sit first and then pet him. Make him earn the petting.

Do you want your dog never to bark? Probably not. Do you want him to bark at appropriate times? Probably. Then teach him to bark at those times and teach him when it is time to be quiet.

Praise him when he is quiet. If you take his good behavior for granted and only pay attention to his misbehavior, you are unintentionally reinforcing the behavior you want to change.

Begging at the Table

If your dog begs at the table, chances are good he has been rewarded for begging at the table -- someone has given him food at some time. So the first thing to do is never to give him food from the table. All family members must adhere to this at all times. To begin with, don't look at him, talk to him, or touch him while you are eating. (His behavior will get worse before it gets better, but you should persevere.)

Now you can teach him to go to a place and lie down. Teach this exercise when you are not eating. Get a bath towel, and stand next to it. Throw some delicious treats on the towel. Praise your dog when he goes to get the treats. Slowly increase the distance between you and the towel, but still toss the treats on the towel. When your dog gets his front two feet on the towel, praise him. Do many, many repetitions of this, and then move the towel to different places in your house. When you move it to a new place, begin teaching the exercise all over again by standing next to the towel and slowly increasing the distance between you and the towel as you toss the treats. At some point, your dog will not want to leave the towel. Now move the towel to the place where you want him to be when you eat, and practice in that area. Practice at first when you are not eating. Then practice when you are eating, and reward him with treats as he stays on his towel while you are eating.

Digging

If your dog has a problem with digging, you've probably scolded him, he has felt remorse (or not), and he has continued digging. You have gotten progressively angrier, the scoldings have gotten progressively louder, and the holes have gotten larger and more numerous. Now you are at your wits end and don't know what to do. It's time for a solution you can both live with.

What are the causes for your dog's digging, and when does he do it? Is he left outside because he cannot behave indoors? Then train him. Does he try to escape? Then he needs more exercise. Does he dig because he is going after gophers or mice? Then get rid of them. Does he dig because he watches you gardening? Then stop gardening when he is present. Does he dig to regulate his body temperature, either to cool off or to warm up? Or does he dig because he likes to dig? Then give him a pit of his own to dig in and train him to use the pit.

Jumping on People

Every time your dog jumps on people, he is practicing jumping on people and he gets better jumping on people. When he jumps and you tell him "no" and push him away, you are actually rewarding him in three ways -- you are looking at him, you are talking to him, and you are touching him. So instead of doing any of those things, just turn your back and walk away. Don't give your dog any attention until he stops jumping.

Or you can simply move out of the way so that when he jumps and expects to land on you, he lands on the floor. Then you just walk away without paying any attention to him.

An alternative method is to tell him to sit and reward him for sitting. If you do this often enough, he will learn that he only gets a reward (your attention) when he is sitting, and the jumping will diminish. This is the best way to get him to discontinue jumping -- have him do an incompatible behavior (he can't jump and sit at the same time) and reward him for doing that behavior. You are praising him for doing what you want rather than punishing him for doing something you don't want, and that is much more pleasant for both of you.

Remember, if your dog is misbehaving, he may not know what the correct behavior you want him to do is. So don't assume he knows what you want him to do. Be sure to train him to do what you do want and reward him for doing the good stuff rather than punishing the bad stuff. Teach him Doggie Manners!