Coming When Called: Never scold a puppy when he comes to you. A typical scenario is you find something chewed on the floor, you call your puppy, and when he arrives, you scold him: Bad dog! No! What did you do? The puppy thinks what a mistake that was for coming to you when you called me. Never chase your puppy, this teaches your puppy when he runs you follow and becomes a game to him. He then learns to run when you try to crate him, take something from his mouth etc.

Playing:
Don’t encourage rough games, this encourages rough behavior. Tug-of-War, wrestling and other rowdy forms of play develop assertion and aggression. This may be cute in a three month old pup, but can be scary in a 90 pound dog.

Jumping: Petting an eagerly jumping pup is hard to resist. However, what you teach the pup, you are teaching the adult dog. Remember do not encourage a puppy to do anything you do not want your adult dog to do. Direction and praise are the keys to success.

Chewing: Dog toys (or items designed for dogs) are the only things puppy(s) should be given to chew. If you allow him to chew on an old shoe, he will not be able to tell the difference between your shoes and his, so kiss your shoes goodbye. If you find him chewing on the wrong article, replace it with the correct article and then praise, the puppy will soon get the idea.

Feeding: Get your puppy use to being touched while he eats, stroke him for a few seconds while you put his food down and play in his food while he eats for a few seconds, than leave him. For the first month, walk up on him while he eats and put a special treat in the bowl. This way he will learn to love it when you approach his bowl.

Barking And Whining: Never pet a barking or whining puppy, the puppy will take this as praise and continue this behavior. If you can, ignore the noise. When the pup stops, praise him. He will then quickly learn that the quickest way to your heart is through silence.

Handling: Get a puppy use to all kinds of handling early. When you pet your pup, gently grab his skin, hold his tail for a second, lift up one of his feet. Do so gently, you do not want to injure the pup. If you do these things on a regular basis, then when a child enters your home, your dog will take accidental grabbing and pulling in stride. Supervise children and dogs at all times. Children must be taught how to handle the pup gently.

It is important that all pet owners know how to prevent and recognize and rectify problem behavior. Bringing home your new puppy is exciting, but his future depends on how he spends his formative months with you. It’s easy to spoil your new acquired friend, but you’re not likely to enjoy the problem behavior that will result from such permissiveness. On the other hand, a puppy with obedience and well-socialized will be on the road to a long and happy life. To ensure this happy existence, for both you and your pet, here are five most common behavioral problems.

Barking: Is a thing all dogs love to do, whether it’s instincts or to guard there territory, dogs will bark for attention. From a dog’s outlook, barking is often rewarding. If your dog barks and gets you too play, next time he is more likely to bark with more incentive to get what he wants. There are many ways to ensure that your dog is less vocal, the first step is to have some control, so that your dog can still enjoy the occasional bark without taking it too far. If your dog barks at you for attention, try to ignore him, turn your back to him, and avoid any contact, when he stops reward the quiet behavior. You may want to consult a dog trainer if the problem consists.

Dominance: If you are referring to a pack society, the dominate one; usually reflects the highest ranked individual in a social unit. Dominance is not itself a behavior problem, but when the top position is not clearly defined and the rank structure is in flux, this can lead to different forms of aggression, example, possessiveness, mounting, fighting with other dogs, territory guarding, or anxiety-induced problems such as destructiveness, barking and whining. To Treat a dominance-related issue, the alpha position must be clearly established (the whole family above the dog in the pecking order). Obedience training will do most of the job, but you should also express your competence as a leader in other ways example; eat first, and make your dog work for his dinner, don’t allow him to sleep on the bed or furniture (train him to move on command). Pet him with confidence and handle his body with gentle authority. In really bad cases, a regimen of ignoring helps. Crate him in an active area for a least 1hour and indicate to the family to pay no attention to him, no matter what fuss he makes. Allow him out when he is calm and the hour is up. Don’t compensate with renewed excessive attention. After a few weeks of demonstrating your ability and training you dog, you should find your relationship with your dog beginning to improve.

Housesoiling: Patience and consistence are the keys to house-training. Dogs unfortunately defecate in our homes because they’re in the wrong place at the right time. Preventing this problem from happening means; being consistent and patient for a short time. House-training in teaching your pet from doing what comes natural in the house. This can be achieved by planning your pup’s day, so that he is in the right place to relieve himself. When first bringing your pup home, keep him in a secure place (example crate, make sure the crate is the right size for him, if it is too large, he will sleep at one end and defecate at the other) when you cannot supervise him. For the majority of dogs, they are less likely to soil where they sleep. The first few days, you will have to predict when the puppy will have to use the toilet. When he awakes, finishes eating or is released from the confined area, say “Outside” rush outdoors with your pup, run to the area you have selected him to go and command “Quickly (Pee, Poo, Hurry Release)” Whatever word you want the puppy to associate this behavior with, when the job has been accomplished, praise him lots. Now would be a good time to go for a walk or play time. This routine may be necessary even for an hour or two until you learn your pups schedule. As the pup matures and has more control of his bowel and bladder the time frame between bathroom breaks can be lengthened. Watch your puppy for the signs, that he needs to relieve himself, wandering off, doing circles, or even going to the door, these are all indications that he’s telling you in his way, I need to go to the bathroom. Be sure to praise your puppy for indicating his needs. You may want to keep at record of your puppy’s activities (eating, housetraining, playing, walking, sleeping) will facilitate the housetraining process. And remember: If your puppy has an accident, it’s because he was in the wrong place at the right time.

Separation Anxiety: Dogs who are left alone for long periods of time often manifest stress behaviors commonly know as “separation anxiety”. This is taught by the human accidentally. We feel bad or have a since of guilt, that we have to leave our puppy alone. We assume that our puppy is going to be upset by this and make a big deal about it prior to leaving the puppy alone. The puppy however doesn’t understand why we are upset, but does understand that there is a problem, this causes stress and to relieve it he does dog things, things that are not appropriate to us, but normal for a dog. When he is left alone under his own supervision, he may treat your home as one large chew toy. When you arrive home, you react with anger with the destruction that he has done. He understands only that you make a big fuss over him when you leave and that when you come home your annoyed. He quickly learns that your leaving is a bad thing and your return home is even worse; anticipating it is nothing but stressful. To teach your dog that our leaving is nothing to concern himself with, we have to stop making it into an event. Put your puppy into a safe environment, where he can’t hurt himself or cause damage, and then give him lots of toys. Don’t pat, cuddle or kiss him prior to leaving, just leave. When you come home, if anything is messed, just deal with it (not the dog). If he has destroyed a book, just clean it up; don’t say a word to him. If you do not make a fuss about the destruction and do not react, eventually the problem behavior will stop. Remember, if not angry with him, when you come home, he doesn’t have to be stress all day, waiting for your arrival. With your dog in a safe place and confined while in your absence, you can come home with confidence that both your puppy and house are safe. Everyone’s happy.

Territorial Aggression: The most common triggers of territorial aggression are people or dogs approaching or an animal that is fearful moving away from the dog. A dog who is outside on a leash or in a contained yard may react more intensely. In the house, the dog can easily make the sofa off limits when he chooses to have a nap or lay down. The dog may show signs to indicate his intentions to prevent his space from being invaded. If the dogs area is intruded the dog may allow the person to touch him, but he will show signs of displeasure by merely staying still and tightening his muscles in anticipation that the intruder will leave quickly. He may be allusive by avoiding the person or dog, this can be know as avoidance behavior. If the dogs behavior is triggered by fear then you will be able to read the body language of the dog (ears back, pupils dilated, lips pulled back to show the gums, tail down or tucked between legs) Sometimes there is crouching or rolling on side or back. If the dog thinks the intruder is of a lower rank then he will show body language that increases his position, his ears will be erect, shoulders forward, pupils small, whiskers stiff and forward, the tail erect and hair raised on shoulders. More encompass running away or barking, lunging, growling and biting. People’s reaction towards a dog’s behavior may accidentally make the situation worse. People may pull the dog in close to their side and tighten the leash, force a scared dog into a submissive position, or continue to scold the dog after the behavior has stopped; children may stream, wave there arms or run away. If the dog is outside on a leash, the owner should give the dog a verbal reprimand in a low firm tone and move on an angle that will allow the dog to keep moving forward but will increase the space between the dog and the stimulus. When the dog is no longer interested in the intruder, give the dog a neutral command such as “sit” and then praise your dog. The person who is being threatened should stay still, turn sideways to the dog and not make direct eye contact, until the owner gains control of the situation. When in the house the owner should give the dog a reprimand and call the dog away from the space being protected. Dogs are entitled to there own personal space, like people. It’s the owners responsibility to teach the dog what behavior is acceptable, at the same time respecting the dogs right to have privacy. If you are having difficulty, contact a professional trainer.