Your Dog's Biggest Problem and How To Solve It

There is no magic solution, but you can change your dog's annoying behavior. It doesn't help you much now to tell you that the best way to deal with bad behavior in your dog is to prevent it in the first place. People spend time researching and buying a car and then maintaining it. They will spend hours planning a vacation. They send their kids to school for more than 180 days a year for no less than 12 years. But when it comes to their dog, they think it all should just work out somehow.

Dogs need to be properly trained in the first place and then most of the problems we encounter will not even happen. But it might be even more important to train the owner! How many dog owners have never even read a book or watched a video on how to relate to their pet? I know you don't want to hear this, but most problem behavior with your pet is your fault, not your dog's. Like Cesar Millan, the "Dog Whisperer" and TV personality, likes to say: He trains people and he rehabilitates dogs.

In many cases the biggest problem with your dog is that you have let him be in charge. He thinks he is running things, or he is anxious because you are clearly not in charge. It's not that you dog wants to be the leader. It's just that someone has to be and he's pretty sure it's not you right now.

You can love your dog and still e the boss. Dogs, like children need to have a leader. They don't want to be in charge. They want someone to show them the boundaries and direct them. They want to have rules and structure. In the wild, dogs have a pack leader who provides for them, protects them, and sets rules and boundaries. In your world, that pack leader needs to be you. But if you don't do it, your dog probably will.

Yes, your dog does need affection, but that is not his greatest need. You want to just love on him and comfort him and snuggle with him. However, in doing that first, you are causing him more harm than good. Discipline and exercise must come above affection. Then the affection has much greater meaning.

The other thing most dogs are lacking that contributes to their unwanted behavior is exercise. The typical household pet gets little to none of this each day. Just letting your dog out into the backyard for a few minutes doesn't count. When he's been cooped up all day alone, he needs a long walk, and better still a run. A lot of behavior problems would simply vanish when the pet has adequate exercise. He is then better prepared to follow your leadership.

The point is, if we would do our part, it would go a long ways to solving our pet's behavior problems. It doesn't do any good at this point to beat ourselves up because we could have avoided the misbehavior in the first place. Our dog has developed some habits that need to be changed. But even if the dog's problems behavior is dealt with and corrected, unless we make changes in the way we relate to him or her, it will probably not solve the problem permanently.

Here are some tips on how to establish yourself as the boss, as the "pack-leader."

1. Work on developing a "positive-assertive" attitude. It never helps to yell at your dog. Being upset only bothers you and does little to correct your dog's behavior.

Watch and control how you react toward your pet. He will sense your inner attitude. You need to determine and believe that you are in charge and not him. Then be positive, concentrating on what you want instead of what you don't want.

2. Do not react. Monitor your behavior and think before you act. Just as with children, usually your first reaction to a bad situation is the wrong one. So stop and think before you act.

3. Do not comfort your dog or offer him affection at the wrong times. When he is acting out of gear or anxiety he doesn't need comforting, he needs a positive-assertive leader. Save the affection and "mothering" for when his behavior is what you desire, not when he is misbehaving. What you reward will be repeated.

4. When you feed your dog, make him get permission before he eats. Don't allow him to rush you and grab the food. Make him sit and stay while you prepare and deliver the food. Make him wait a minute or two, just to prove whose in charge. Then tell him "Okay" and he can eat.

5. When you open the door, do not allow him to run out. Make him sit and wait until you tell him he may go out. Again, prove whose boss and release him when you are ready, not when he is impatient. It wouldn't even hurt to make him wait until he settles down some.

6. If you are going outside with your dog, you always go out the door first - or in the door first. Who goes first: the pack leader or the followers?

7. Teach your dog basic commands, enforce them, and require that your entire family be consistent with his training and behavior. If each family member does something different with the dog, he only becomes confused and anxious. Dog training must be a family lifestyle.

So first, we need to look at our self and how we react and relate to our dog. Then we will be ready to deal with the bad habits and go to the next step in a wonderful and rewarding relationship with our "best friend."