Possible Problems With Adopted Dogs

By Kelly Marshall
2007-01-14

Possible Problems With Adopted Dogs

Most shelter dogs come with a few ready-made behavior problems, and those that don't will generally develop a couple out of sheer ingenuity. And the anxiety of changing to a new environment and a new family is extremely likely to bring about new objectionable habits or intensify old ones.

Remain calm, and don't take it personally; your dog certainly isn't doing anything unusual, unchangeable, or ungrateful. She's not misbehaving out of spite, so don't correct her in spite; your job is to put a stop to her inappropriate behavior calmly and authoritatively, not to get revenge. Just think, she maybe she hasn't had to yield to any guidelines before, but that doesn't necessarily mean she can not understand yours.

We've shown a few of the most prevalent dog behavior problems here, but certain essential standards pertain to each of them:

1. Use prevention. If you know your dog loves to chew your shoes or dig in your plants, don't leave your belongings out in the open yet. If she is only "bad" when she's by herself, don't leave her by herself until she can be trusted. In other words, prevent as many situations for her to be bad during these early weeks. But don't go overboard and leave her in her crate all day either; that's hardly fair to her, and plus, she'll never understand if she isn't ever permitted to make mistakes.

2. Be consistent at all costs. Set guidelines, and stick to them. Correct your dog every time she does something bad, not just when it's convenient (and not only when you happen to catch her - which means it's necessary to oversee her every move relentlessly at the beginning). And hold a family meeting to ensure that everybody in the household is correcting the same situations in the exact same manner; don't let anybody try to be the "good guy" by not correcting your pup's unwanted behaviors. That won't earn anybody points; it will just cause an extremely bewildered and unhappy dog.

3. Catch her in the act, or don't catch her at all. The same as with potty training, you should correct an error as it's happening, never three minutes or six hours after. You should scold your dog if you see her chewing up your tennis shoes, but not if you find your tennis shoes already massacred on the ground and can't see your dog anywhere around. If you wait too long to make the correction, she'll have many great memories of eating your book and no clue that your anger is in any way related to it. Guess what that means? That's right. Supervision.

Entrapment isn't illegal in dog training. Suppose you are having difficulties catching your dog in the act of stealing eatables from your kitchen garbage. Why not set her up? Set 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 goes for the goods. Cheating? Perhaps - but it works. Don't forget to reward her when she's doing good. You don't want to be a naysayer all the time; if you've told her she's naughty for chewing up your sneakers, then tell her she's terrific when you see her resisting the temptation to engage in inappropriate behavior.

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