Do you think your dog is being naughty on purpose

The couch exploded whilst you were out.

BOREDOM OR STRESS RELATED DESTRUCTION

Ok, so this looks pretty bad. And looking at his face, one would certainly think that his expression is telling you, "It wasn't ME". I don't know the story behind why this dog has made all this mess as it is just a picture I chose off the internet BUT I do know that Fido here did not do it just to annoy or get his owner's attention. People tend to assign darker motives to their dog's actions. This dog may have simply been left on his own way too long. He may have become stressed. The owner may not have enough doggie play toys for him as I said I don't really know. There could be any number of reasons that possible the owners are aware off or they could be just as clueless as me if they don't really know what is going on with their dog. This thing to work out first is - what is triggering this behavior. Is it stemming from boredom or stress related. Is Fido suffering from separation anxiety, is he in distress about something.. If you think the problem is stress related than "The Fix" is going to be more time consuming and will involve desensitizing and counter conditioning. For the sake of this article lets just say that Fido here was bored.

PULLING ON THE LEASH

Fido wants to get to where you are going faster because in his eyes, you are going to just to dam slow and at this stage he is stronger, he's in charge and all your pulling is just creating the opposition reflex syndrome. It is a natural reflex that simply means the more you pull in one direction, Fido is going to pull against it in the opposite direction. It probably started as puppy who either got dragged around or he pulled you around over and over again learning that a tight lead means he gets to go where he wants. Is he doing it on purpose, maliciously thinking to himself "yay, I'm finally out, let's see how many trees I can pee on, and how quickly I can make my owner walk ". The answer again is No.

Fido is pulling on the leash because basically HE CAN. He hasn't been taught anything different.

JUMPING UP ON ANYONE FIDO CAN

The kids get home from school. Fido is super excited so he runs up to them as soon as they get in the door and jumps all over them The kids don't really want Fido jumping on them so they start yelling and telling Fido NO NO at the tops of their voices. Fido hears the squeal and what he thinks is excitement in their voice so jumps even more. Its a vicious cycle.

BUT

If Fido hasn't been taught any other way of saying hello and greeting people than who's fault is it really. Fido is just doing what comes naturally to dogs. When dogs greet each other they jump, lick, roll over and generally have a good old time.

SO ARE YOU STARTING TO SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE

All of these behaviors are learned behaviors. They are learned because Fido has not been taught the correct or desired behavior. It is unfair to get a new puppy or dog and expect it to know what behavior you require just because you've asked it of them. He has no clue of our human world, human language or human expectations. UNTIL HE GETS TAUGHT!!!

If you want a different behavior, teach a different behavior. Spend some time and yes possibly some money, and seek professional help. Once Fido has clear direction in a manner that he can understand, both you and Fido will be a much happier family unit.

Happy well behaved dogs.