In the home, he quickly learned to open cupboards and get at the garbage, or anything in the food pantry not sheathed in metal.  Even when we installed state-of-the-art baby guards on all cupboards and drawers, he quickly learned how to defeat them and get to the goods.  We had to permanently relocate any and all discarded “delectables” behind locked doors, until Lou became too old to pull off his slight-of-hand break-in move. 

Domestication tends to butt heads with Mother Nature’s natural programming.  When you ask your dog not to perform an instinctive behavior, you are in reality going up against millions of years of evolution.  That’s what “domestication” is- a comprehensive attempt to alter behavior to suite the new environment, so that the benefits of that adjustment outweigh the disadvantages, for both parties.  So, one major cause of misbehavior in a dog is caused not by the pet’s desire to annoy you, but by the owner’s inability to find a way for the dog to divert its natural instincts in an acceptable way, or to cleverly let the animal know what the new rules are concerning good and bad behavior in the home. 

A good way to minimize bad behaviors in your dog is to try to think like her.  If you were a dog, wouldn’t you find that little hamster a tremendous temptation, especially with it sitting atop the easily accessible desk, in an open-topped fish tank?  Sure you would.  Scratch one hamster.  This “misbehavior” could have been avoided by you looking around the home through the eyes of a dog and seeing all the temptations.  The hamster should have been in a dog-proof area, out of reach.  End of problem before it starts. 

Or, let’s say you put your young dog into a fenced-in front yard and keep her there all day while you are at work.  The dog develops a chronic barking problem, and your neighbors complain.  Why is she barking so much?  Simple.  A stranger walks by the house, and your dog woofs a bit out of a natural proclivity to guard territory.  The stranger keeps on walking and disappears; your dog thinks the barking made him go away.  So each time someone walks by, your dog will again bark, and assume that she triumphantly caused the stranger’s departure.  Over weeks, this becomes a self-reinforcing behavior, and you end up with a barker.  The simple solution is to place an outdoor dog in a fenced-in back yard or dog run, with no visual access to pedestrians, bikes or cars.  Management 101.

In addition to prevention, there are other ways to avoid dog misbehaviors.  Again, think like a dog; do you want to have nothing to do all day?  All dogs need mental and physical stimulation to keep themselves occupied and out of trouble.  If you do not supply your dog with acceptable distractions, it will find ways to entertain itself that might not meet with your approval.  The bored dog will get into cupboards, closets, and other areas you consider off-limits, simply out of a need to satisfy its instinctive curiosity.  Get down on all fours and think like a dog; what is there to investigate? 

A good rule of thumb is, if it’s there, the dog will find it.  So, thinking like your pooch again, look around the home and see if you can spot items that she might want to investigate.  Well, look at that, a cupcake left on the counter.  Guess I’ll just jump on up there and eat it.  Then you come out of the bathroom, find the food half-eaten and on the floor, and proceed to badger the dog.  Bad move.  The whole thing was your fault.  You should punish yourself- no cupcakes for you!  Next time, put the food where your pooch can’t get to it and the undesirable behavior won’t occur.