When Lulu passed away last August I didn’t know when I would be ready to welcome a dog into our brood again. She was such a special dog (and my best friend for 15+ years!) but the last three years, after she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, were incredibly hard. I just didn’t know if I would be up for the same roller coaster again for a very long time.

Then we moved to paradise (a.k.a. Pacific Grove, CA) just a 10 minute walk to Asilomar State Beach and all the stresses associated with caring for a dog disappeared and I remembered all the awesomeness that comes with sharing your life with a canine. I began to daydream about neighborhood walks with a furry companion at my side, all the work hooky that could be had by running down to the beach with our new pup, and all the other joys that come along with having man’s best friend in your life.

After a few months of discussions with Bruce, which included looking at our schedules to figure out the best time to get a dog, we decided we wouldn’t look until after a trip in early July to L.A. for a friend’s wedding (congrats again Erin and Carlos!) Soon after coming home we headed to the Monterey SPCA to check out who they had to offer and fell in love with one adorable Chihuahua who had the most amazing big dog personality. His name was Bentley and he was the man. Despite only being five months old he was a dream on the leash, a dream around other dogs (not a yip or bark in him) and a dream around the cats he could see peering in on the dog run at the shelter. He walked with confidence and seemed absolutely smitten with Bruce. We fell hard. We put a 24 hour hold on the little guy and emailed our landlord to get final approval.

And cue the violins….

Despite starting a casual conversation with our wonderful landlord a few months earlier, he decided he just didn’t feel comfortable with us bringing a dog into the building. It was tragic, but we understood all of his concerns. As a landlord, any problems your tenants cause become your own. Unfortunately since bringing a dog into our family has become such a big priority, we knew that if we couldn’t have a dog here, we would have to start looking for a dog-friendly apartment to move into when our lease is up in January. We let our landlord know and that’s when a more open discussion began about the possibility of bringing a dog into our home.

In our many back and forths our landlord asked us to come up with a list of possible (and common) dog problems that may arise and how we would deal with them. As a certified dog trainer (though to be honest, I’ve barely used my certification due to the horrible economy) I used what I learned at Animal Behavior College and having been a dog owner for 15+ years to come up with a list of easy solutions to common problems. I thought I’d share them with you so, if you happen to deal with any of these concerns, you now know how to eliminate these bad behaviors before your neighbors, landlords, or roommates start to complain.

Problem: Barking/Yipping
Solution: Exercise and pinpointing what’s causing the barking are key to nipping your yapper in the bud.

A tired dog is a happy dog in my opinion. Barking can occur due to frustration from too much pent up energy. Either take your pup out on a long walk at least once a day or, if you have somewhere to play fetch, throw the ball with your dog until they just can’t fetch anymore. Just like us, animals need to move around and get exercise to destress.

Pinpointing what’s causing the barking and limiting your dog’s access to it is another way to tackle inappropriate barking. If your dog is constantly barking at wildlife outside the window, simply closing the shades can do the trick. If they can’t see it, they can’t get irritated at it. Also, desensitizing your dog to factors that may cause it to bark is another great method to solving the barking problem. This is a training process where you slowly introduce the dog to things that may cause it to bark, such as cats, people at the door, etc. and reward him/her for not reacting. You’re not punishing them for the behavior you don’t want, but rather rewarding the behavior you do want. It’s a long process, where you take small steps to get the dog to the point where he/she can be in the same room as (or bombarded with) the offensive item and not react.

Problem: Urinating or Defecating in House
Solution: Walks, walks, and more walks!

No one, animal or human, should be asked to hold their stuff for long periods of time. It’s just not healthy. Try to take your dog for as many short walks outside as possible. If you work all day, consider hiring someone to stop by at least once a day to let you dog out to do his or her business. I’m not a fan of wee wee pads in the house. I think it confuses a dog about what is and isn’t allowed indoors.

Keep your dog tethered to you until you can fully trust them to be alone in other rooms of the house. That’s the only way you can ensure that your pet won’t use the kitchen floor as their bathroom. There’s a strict regimen for housebreaking a new dog, which involves frequent outdoor intervals (whether they have to go or not) followed by lots of rewards and praise when they tinkle or turd outside (again, in appropriate areas). Don’t yell or punish if accidents happen inside as this will only tell your dog to hide their need to go to the bathroom out of fear of being punished. If an accident happens, clean it up right away with a non-ammonia cleaner (Nature’s Miracle has enzymes that eat up the urine/poop smells so that area doesn’t become a magnet for later accidents). Then you have to up the amount of times you’re going out with the little guy to make sure that they fully understand that the outside is for doing business and inside is for being an awesome companion animal!

Problem: Digging in yard
Solution: Again this has to do with boredom. Exercise is key to alleviating boredom, as is giving your pup toys that will help keep them occupied.

Shove some peanut butter in a Kong and watch them spend hours licking out the yummy stuff, rather than digging up your yard. Or, give them a spot they’re allowed to dig in, so they can get that out of their system, away from the flower bed. Oh and, if your dog is a digger, don’t let them run free in the yard without supervision. They don’t know they’re being bad if no one is there to let them know what’s ok and what isn’t.

Problem: Destruction in the House
Solution: As with all the other behavior issues listed above, the most important thing you can do for your dog (and your home) is to exercise him or her.

Ripping open the couch, clawing door frames, and chewing up remote controls are all sign of a frustrated dog. All destructive behaviors can be controlled with adequate exercise along with appropriate dog toys that allow dogs to be dogs with their stuff rather than yours. Your home is not a toy and should never ever be considered to be one by your pet.

Images: DanielWeir.esq

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