Dog - Possible Problems With Adopted Dogs

Most shelter dogs arrive with a few behavior issues, and
those that don't will sometimes develop a few out of sheer ingenuity. And the

anxiety of changing to a whole new house and a whole new family is
extremely likely to create new undesirable habits or intensify old ones.

Remain calm, and don't take it personally; your dog certainly isn't doing
anything abnormal, uncorrectable, or spiteful. She's not misbehaving out of
spite, so don't correct her in resentment; your goal is to put a stop to her unfavorable
behavior calmly and authoritatively, not to get revenge. Keep in mind, she may
never have had to abide by anyone's guidelines previously, but that doesn't imply
she won't want to understand yours.


We've shown some of the more common doggie problems here, but some
important standards apply to all of them:

1. A little prevention goes a long way. If you know your dog likes to chew up your tennis shoes
or dig in your plants, don't leave your things where she can
reach them just yet. If she only causes trouble when she's left alone, don't leave her unsupervised until she's trustworthy. Simply put, prevent as many situations for her to misbehaved during these early
weeks. But don't go overboard and leave her in her crate all day either;
that's certainly not fair to her, and besides, she'll never learn if she's not
allowed to make mistakes.

2. Be consistent at all costs. Set rules, and abide by them. Correct
your dog every time she errs, not only when you feel like it (and not just
when you happen to catch her - which means it is critical for you to look after her
every move constantly in the beginning). And gather the family together to be sure that everyone in the house is correcting the same behaviors in
the exact same manner; don't let anybody try to be the "nice one" by not correcting your dog's unwanted behaviors. That won't earn anybody points; it
will just create a very confused and unhappy pet.

3. Catch her in the act, or don't catch her at all. The same as with
potty training, you need to correct an error as it's happening, not two minutes or
seven hours after. You can punish your dog if you catch her chewing on your
boots but not if you find your boots already massacred on the
floor and can't see your dog anywhere around. If you don't make the correction right away,
she'll have many terrific memories of chewing on your belongings and no clue that
your anger has anything to do with it. She'll simply think you are a crazy person who gets angry for no reason, and learn to fear you. Guess what that means? Yes.
Supervision.

Entrapment isn't against the law when training your dog. Let's say you're having some problems
catching your dog in the act of stealing eatables from your counters. Why
not set her up? Put some tempting tidbit where she can see it, and
be ready to correct her with your shake can or spray bottle and your
sharp voice when she gives in a goes for the goods. Cheating? Possibly - but it's effective.
Don't forget to give her rewards when she's good. You don't want to be a
naysayer all the time; if you've corrected her for digging in the garden, then praise her when you notice her resisting
the temptation to do so.