A dog is an instinctively aggressive creature. In the wild, aggression came in very handy: dogs needed aggression to hunt, to defend themselves from other creatures, and to defend resources such as food, a place to sleep, and a mate.
For us humans, it can be a bit difficult to identify with the doggie habit of licking one another in greeting. We don’t do it, after all, and though our tongues come in handy for things like ice-cream eating and sucking that last dollop of peanut butter off the knife,
Some owners seem to want their dogs to stop barking, period: a good dog is a quiet dog, and the only time that barking’s permitted is when there’s a man in a black balaclava and stripy prison outfit, clutching a haversack marked ‘Swag’, clambering in through your bedroom window.
My dog crops grass like a cow. He eats it with gusto whenever he encounters it, to the extent that my friends have begun to refer to him, jokingly, as ‘The Ruminant’.
Jumping is a really common problem among dogs - or should I say among dog owners? It’s rarely a problem for the dogs themselves – in fact, jumping seems to act as a reward in itself.
Our dogs are pack animals. They’re highly sociable creatures with a genuine need to socialize and interact. Because we humans have done such a bang-up job in domesticating our canine friends, socialization with other dogs isn’t enough for your friend: you are the center of your dog’s world. She needs to spend time with you.
As puppies, it comes naturally: a very young puppy will whine without even realizing it when she’s hungry, tired, or cold. The mother dog will respond to this whining with milk, warmth, and a safe place to sleep
Coprophagia (sometimes called coprophagy, or poop-eating) is a pretty disgusting habit that fortunately only some dogs indulge in. It seems to be "one of those things" as far as dogs go: a behavior that defies logic and scientific study, and mystifies dog trainers and veterinarians around the world.
There’s a difference between disobedience and incomprehension. If your dog isn’t obeying a command because he doesn’t understand what it is you want him to do, that’s not a behavioral problem at all; it simply means that you need to spend some more time together in training.
If you've never seen a dog with serious food-guarding issues, it's difficult to appreciate the potential severity of the problem. Food-guarding issues are not necessarily a reflection on the personality or training level of the dog: