Behavior Problems

If your sweet puppy suddenly turned into a different dog, you’re not imagining it — and you’re not necessarily failing. The adolescent phase is typically somewhere around six to fourteen months while they’re maturing into adults. It varies by dog. What you’ll often see is crazy energy, crazy behaviors you haven’t seen before, and slight personality changes. That’s a normal part of owning and raising a dog. A lot of owners panic in this window. The puppy who was “so easy” star

Separation anxiety shows up in a lot of forms, from mild to extreme. In the extreme cases, I’m talking about a dog constantly busting out of the crate, destroying things, and trying to escape — chewing door frames, door knobs, whatever stands between them and getting out. You’ll also see dogs that bark or howl constantly until they finally tire themselves out. It’s important to tell that apart from something that looks similar but isn’t the same problem. If a dog slips the cr

Busy kitchens reward sneaky dogs every time food gets left out between school, work, and dinner chaos. Owners teach a "leave it", the dog listens once or twice, and then the counter thief is back. That’s not because the "leave it" is useless. It’s because "leave it" alone isn’t the whole fix. Why "leave it" doesn’t eliminate counter surfing Teaching a "leave it" alone is not going to eliminate counter surfing. "Leave it" can apply to a lot of different things — toys, househol

Place is one of the most useful commands I teach, and it’s also one of the most misunderstood. So let’s clear it up. Place means any elevated object your dog can get all four paws onto. It means: get on this object and stay there until I release you. That object can be a place cot, a dog bed, the top of a crate, a big boulder — the options are pretty much limitless. What matters is the elevated surface and the expectation that the dog stays on it until released. That’s Place.

A lot of owners get scared or embarrassed when their dog starts barking, lunging, or snarling at the end of the leash. They immediately think their dog is aggressive. But here’s the truth: aggression is not usually the problem — it’s the outcome of a problem. In my experience, about 98% of leash reactivity stems from something other than true aggression. Dogs don’t think rationally like people do. They live in the moment. They just are. They react without forethought. The mai

Leash pulling is one of the most common complaints I hear from dog owners. Walks become miserable, frustrating, and sometimes even dangerous. A lot of people try to fix it by switching to a harness or using a flexi leash. But here’s the real reason most methods fail: those tools don’t actually solve the problem — they just make it easier and safer for the dog to keep pulling. If your dog and you are disconnected, the dog simply won’t care that you’re on the other end of the l

Jumping on guests and door dashing are two of the most common frustrations I hear from dog owners. These behaviors usually come from the same root cause: a clear lack of boundaries, structure, and respect. The dog simply doesn’t respect you or the person coming through the door. Dogs are very opportunistic. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. If you let them get away with even the smallest things, they will start running all over you and running your house. One o

If your dog reacts aggressively toward other dogs, people, or gets overly anxious in certain situations, I know exactly how stressful and exhausting that can feel. Many owners I talk to feel stuck, frustrated, and sometimes even embarrassed when their dog barks, lunges, or snarls on the end of the leash. It often reaches a point where walks become dreaded instead of enjoyable. A lot of approaches focus heavily on “management” — things like keeping distance from triggers, cros