Possible Problems With Adopted Dogs

Most shelter dogs arrive with one or two behavior issues, and those that don't will occasionally develop a few out of sheer ingenuity. And the anxiety of changing to a new life and a whole new family is extremely likely to bring out new unwanted habits or worsen old ones.

Stay calm, and don't take it personally; your dog certainly isn't doing anything abnormal, uncorrectable, or evil. She's not misbehaving out of spite, so don't correct her in resentment; your mission is to put a stop to her improper behavior calmly and authoritatively, not to get revenge. Consider, she may never have had to follow any guidelines in the past, but that doesn't imply she won't be able to learn yours.

We've made a list of the most prevalent dog behavior problems here, but a few pivotal principles apply to every one of them:

1. A little prevention goes a long way. If you know your dog loves to chew your shoes or dig in your plants, don't leave your belongings where she can reach them just yet. If she is only "bad" when she's left unsupervised, don't leave her by herself until she is completely trained. Simply put, prevent as many situations for her to misbehaved during these first few weeks. But don't go over the top and leave her in her crate all day either; that's not fair to her, and furthermore, she'll never understand if she is not permitted to make mistakes.

2. No matter what, stay consistent. Give yourself guidelines, and obey 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's crucial to manage her every move always at the beginning). And gather the family together to be sure that everyone in the house is correcting the same behaviors in the exact same way; don't let anybody try to be the "nice guy" by not punishing your dog's unacceptable behaviors. That won't earn anybody points; it will just cause an extremely puzzled and still misbehaved pet.

3. Catch her in the act, or don't catch her at all. The same as with housebreaking, you have to correct an error the second it happens, rather than twenty minutes or twelve hours later. You may punish your dog if you see her chewing up your shoes, but not if you find your shoes already destroyed on the ground and can't see your dog anywhere around. If you wait too long to make the correction, she'll have many fond memories of eating your book and no idea that your anger is in any way related to it. Guess what that means? Yep. Supervision.

Entrapment isn't against the law when training your dog. Let's say you are having some difficulties catching your dog in the act of stealing food from your kitchen garbage. Why not set her up? Leave some tempting tidbit where it can't be missed, 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? Maybe - 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 punished her for digging in your houseplants, then give her a reward when you see her resisting the temptation to engage in bad behavior.

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