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“My dog is a picky eater – What can I do?” is a common question for many dog owners. It’s actually a much easier behavior problem to address than most dog owners realize. Money motivates people, but food is the monetary system of dogs. Food is an important variable in a dog’s behavior and needs to be controlled by the dog’s owner and not by the dog. I’ve provided five ideas below to help you get a handle on this.

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Dog Behavior FAQ #74: Why do veterinary employees take my dog to the back to take blood, etc.?

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"Why do some people have such a problem with punishment styles of behavior modification in dogs? I'm specifically talking about some of those used by Cesar Millan in his controversial TV shows. Seems like he has fixed the dog by the end of the episode and the owners are happy. What’s the problem?"

A dog owner submitted this question to me last week: “My dog is afraid of men. Why are so many dogs afraid of men?” I get this question in one form or another all the time.

Dogs jumping on people is the common cold of problematic dog behaviors. I describe it as a benign behavior problem - albeit a behavior problem nonetheless. Dogs who jump on you, your family and friends can really be annoying. Let’s quickly break down:

1) why your dog is doing this.
2) why all the things you’ve tried in the past don’t seem to help.
3) how to address the root cause of the behavior and stop it.

Dr. Ian Dunbar, who is the best-known dog behaviorist on the planet, said something that is 100% true about confident dogs at one of his seminars I attended. He said, "You will never be able to find the most confident dog on earth; it's really impossible."

What did he mean? Let me explain.

There are a lot of dog owners handing out bad dog behavior advice. Just because someone flies on Southwest Airlines doesn’t mean they’re qualified to jump in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 and pilot the plane. Likewise, getting anecdotal behavior advice from dog owners and the internet (i.e., Dr. Google) can get you and your dog headed in the wrong direction. Sometimes this advice can be funny because, like with most good humor, there is an element of truth in it sometimes.

If you have a dog-reactive-dog, your dog does one or more of the following as another dog passes by: forcefully pulls, whines, lunges, growls, barks, etc. This can be quite embarrassing for you. In an attempt to manage this behavior, you may force your dog to sit and watch as the other dog passes by.

If your dog grumbles, growls, barks or generally gets an “attitude” when humans or other dogs get near their food, toys, treats, favorite resting place, crate, etc. - they may have an issue with resource guarding. Resource guarding also goes by the name “possession aggression”.

I first saw Archie about one year ago. At that time, Archie was a five-year-old Golden Retriever mix who was scared of his own shadow. When I first met Archie, he wouldn’t make eye contact with me, his tail was tucked and he urinated a little out of fear. I have to tell you that seeing dogs like this hurts my soul, even after all of these years.

Do dogs have the capacity to love us like we love them? Unfortunately, we can't know what dogs are actually thinking, but we do understand the behavioral side of what motivates them. Dogs do things that either: a) bring them rewards, or, b) help them avoid pain.

Dog poop, it’s something you have to deal with every day if you own a dog. I like to tell people considering their first dog that if they can’t handle the idea of getting cozy with dog poop, they should consider a small aquarium instead. I’ve provided a list below of seven things to consider in the daily management of all things dog poop.

Earlier this month I was walking one of my dogs and passed a lady walking her beautiful Border Collie. I would estimate this lady’s age to be in her mid-forties. She was wearing workout clothes and was walking at a fairly brisk pace with her dog.

Liver. Seriously. Is there any person on planet earth who really likes liver? Covering it with an inch of gravy does not count as liking it either. There are only a few things that virtually every dog doesn’t care for either. As you read through the list I’ve prepared below, you’ll probably say “But my dog loves that!” to one of the items.

Almost every dog barks a little when someone rings the doorbell or knocks on the front door. My personal dogs usually give about three half-hearted barks and then immediately settle down; this is normal for most dogs and is usually nothing more than arousal. This article is not about normal front-door dog behavior. It’s about dogs with territorial aggression that typically exhibit the following when someone knocks or rings the doorbell.

When Linda M. first came to see me in May of this year with her dog, I had no idea that the story behind her beautiful dog was so remarkable. Quite frankly, I didn’t believe her story at first - but it turned out to be true and moving.