In today’s society, dogs really are a man’s best friend. I’m not so sure that man is a dog’s best friend though!

All of us, at some stage or another, are guilty of forgetting that our dog is a dog and wondering why they felt the need to pee on the carpet, grab food off the dinner plate, chew the table leg or bark at visiting friends when they absolutely, definitely, most certainly KNOW it is wrong…

…or do they?

Believe it or not, a dog doesn’t misbehave on purpose or to ‘get back at us’ or because ‘he’s really stubborn and he knows it’s wrong’…he does it because… (drum roll please)…he’s a DOG.

Dogs carry out behaviours that bring them the highest reward. So, if you’re at the park and Fido won’t come back when you call him, it’s because chasing a squirrel rewards him more highly than coming back to you does. And if you tell him off when he does finally come back to you – well that just teaches him that staying away is by far the better option!

What can you do to resolve this?

Teach Fido that you are the most fun and most rewarding being in the entire universe. When he comes back to you after squirrel chasing, no matter how mad you might feel, PRAISE him for coming back…EVERY SINGLE TIME. Ideally, if you carry a clicker with you, you can click and then treat him (with food or some sort of game) and he will begin to understand that coming back when called rewards him more highly than chasing the squirrel. You must reinforce it and be consistent though – if you ‘punish’ him when he comes back, you will lose all the good work you’ve put in.

This is because dogs don’t understand the reason WHY you are angry. He doesn’t realise that running off drives you mad, he just sees that you get angry when he comes back to you – not very conducive to good training and a happy hound!

(btw you should be training recall inside your house and garden before letting your dog off the lead in public places. You don’t want your dog running onto a road!)

People also forget that dogs should be socialising with their own kind. I’m sure Rover loves spending time with you very much, but equally he should be running around with other dogs, learning doggy manners and enjoying some good rough and tumble play!

Of course, some dogs who haven’t been properly socialised as pups can have some behavioural issues regarding other canines. For example, they bark and lunge aggressively at other dogs. The ‘reward’ here is that either the other dog’s owner will take the dog away or you walk away removing your dog from the situation where he feels possibly anxious or fearful. However, it is possible to work on socialisation by going to training classes and/or meeting one-on-one with a behaviourist who can initiate gentle meetings between your dog and bombproof stooge dogs to begin to work on resolving any problems.

There is nothing better than watching a pack of dogs running round together!

The next time you feel cross with your dog, remember, he’s not doing something to upset you, he’s doing it because it rewards him and he doesn’t realise that, actually, you’d quite like to keep your Manolo Blahnik heels.

Don’t scream at your dog and tell him what not to do, instead, teach him what you want him to do!