Are you one of those dog owners who have to spell the 'W' word rather than say it! For loads of dogs the W-A-L-K word means so many great things are about to happen that they cannot contain their excitement.  A 30 kilo dog is then running around the house and if you live in a multiple dog household this can actually be quite dangerous. 

Dogs are super clever and learn our body language and our behaviour patterns. That is how they anticipate that good things are about to happen. Even the closing of a laptop at a certain time of day, especially if it is the same time everyday, gives a clear signal to your dog that a W-A-L-K might just be a possibility! 

What is fascinating is to work out why going for a W-A-L-K  is so powerful a reward that dogs behave in this way. For most dogs any outing provokes a highly aroused canine. Going out offers dogs opportunities for enriching activities such as sniffing, playing, weeing, pooing, exploring and of course rolling and eating the most disgusting items such as other animal poo! On top of these amazing opportunities there maybe meets-and-greets, leaving we emails , and sex although we hope NOT!! All of these activities are not readily available at home and that is the difference. 

Of course the more we offer our domestic dogs especially exciting visits to local beaches, forests, lakes, mud flats to roll in, picnic parks the chance that these may be on offer are extra  drive up excitement that that potential visit may be on offer. Dogs today as unlike their ancestors where free roaming offered these opportunities all day everyday , these are smells and activities they do not encounter at home. Some dogs like particular activities more than others so we naturally offer these more on our daily outings, With a family dog who loves meeting people we tend to go to local parks with lots of people and our outings become even more valuable and exciting for our dogs. Some dogs just love physical exercise and going for a run. Dogs were not designed to lie around waiting for their owners to come home!

I find it remarkable that even when we go again and again to the same place with our dog, they convey the same level of excitement and urgency to get on with their activities every single time we visit! They sniff, roll, run and socialise the same as on the previous visit with the same level of gusto or sometimes even more!! Why does that piece of grass in the park offer such pleasure to roll in when grass is at home? But other dogs have rolled there, maybe left a wee email or an animal scent is present. Dogs live by scent and in a world of smells going out offers those opportunities to gain pleasure form new smells every day. Also rolling in that piece of grass means they can TOO leave their scent for others to pick up. maybe rolling in grass releases other  dogs odours and information for our dogs to gather. Maybe certain types of grasses which offer different textures and hence offer various pleasure effects. My own dog loves long grasses but never rolls on my back garden!

Finally, it is worth remembering what our dogs are bred to do and what stimuli and activities outside are more inherently rewarding than others. Sledding breeds are bred to run and pull so for them running and pulling maybe innately rewarding. Whereas Terriers might find hunting around in shrubs for small animals innately rewarding , while Border Collies and other herding dogs can find chasing moving objects innately rewarding.

So, when considering what type of dog fits best into your home , a good place to start is to consider what they where originally bred to do and being aware that the arrival of W-A-L-K  maybe just the best part of their day EVERYDAY!!

Do you own one of those dogs who is so persistent that they will go to great lengths to retrieve a reward  you no longer wish them to have. They just keep on trying to get it. It can be a 'blessing' if you take part in some dog sports to have a dog who never gives up until they get the reward. But for most of us the persistent dog who doesn't switch off when you want them to stop trying to earn a reward ( toy, food, your attention), is a challenge indeed. Managing these types of dogs means you need a training plan, human dedication to see it through and consistency to keep your cool and not give in . 

If your dog learns  that he needs to only try hard enough for long enough to get what he wants, then you own a dog who can outlast you on anything. You then have created a battle of wills between you both which ends up consuming a lot of your time and energy. Dogs have enormous amounts of time and us owners are always looking for more of it!

Dogs can whine and bark at you for longer than you can ignore them. They can repeatedly keep putting that toy on your lap or at your feet more times than you can stand it! Then we end up giving in by picking it up, or throwing it anyway for a moments peace, or shouting at them to stop . All these responses means our dogs are delighted by our actions to the object , the activity and to them. 

If you mean to discourage problematic behaviour by making sure you dog isn't rewarded for it, you need to absolutely certain you CAN do the following:
1. Prevent him getting what he wants , even if it could happen accidentally - MAKE SURE HE CAN'T GET IT REALLY IF HE TRIES HARD ENOUGH
2. Ignore his infuriating behaviour for longer than he can persist with it - usually the failure of the human is first!

There is a great saying 'win the war not the argument' so you need to train a default behaviour to make sure that you have a tool in your training box that ensures when your have the 'war' you win it .

I personally like to train TWO behaviours
1. Training your dog to 'sit' or lie down' quietly as a way to 'ask' for whatever he wants. This can be an excellent way to encourage less obnoxious , yet effective rewarding behaviours for him that he discovers
2.Train an 'all done' signal which means the game is over. Crossing your arms works well. I think of it as 'BAR OPEN, BAR CLOSED' and you are no longer open for business!! . This works extremely well if you have a determined canine companion and enables you to offer a 'switch off' cue to end the game. Just don't give the cue and restart the game immediately!

Fast asleep as if butter won't melt in their mouth!! That is how we often find our beloved canine friends after they have chewed something they shouldn't!! Moi they say!! No never!! , we often surmise they would say if they could talk
But of course the evidence is in front of them . Our precious shoes have been chewed whilst we were out. They are covered in dog slobber and there are chew marks all over the leather. Clear evidence they have done it! But why are some dogs shoe collectors?
Sometimes it is pure and simple they were easily available, you were out and they were bored! Chewing releases feel good hormones and this activity generates loads of them. 
For other dogs it is also a simple explanation. They smell of you! The most important person in their world and your dog finds this comforting when you are not with them. They don't have a sense of value and your brand new very expensive shoes were just doing a job whilst you were gone. So missing you was temporarily forgotten.
Some dogs it is a coping mechanism to deal with stress such as being left alone or even the fear of being caught stealing!  For a few it becomes a great game as you chase them to get your precious shoe back.
I recorded a video yesterday on the value of 'prevention is better than cure'. It is always better to prevent these type of behaviours becoming 'an addiction'. And it can do very quickly especially if you react loudly or chase them on your return. Keep your shoes in a wardrobe, on a high shelf or in a closed cloakroom. If he does get one of your shoes, call him to you and SWAP it for a scrummy reward. The best outcome is that if he does it again he will bring it back to you in anticipation of a scrummy reward!  Personally , I favour  giving the shoe back to your dog and exchange it again. Doing multiple swaps means it stops becoming a valuable item to steal. 

We get asked this question lots in all our classes. I come home from work and my dog jumps all over me and starts licking me. It is like having a dog facial wash! What we always say is to think about where your dog's mouth has been before it licks you all over your face!! When we begin to look at it from this angle and begin to 'think Dog' we get some answers.

We may taste nice and certainly people who have just been exercising often find that it is much worse with their dog licking them loads  and with more frequent long licks. Certainly your skin may be more salty and they may like the taste. However, the most likely explanation is actually quite a simple one. It is OUR reaction to them licking that means they do it again. We probably laugh, at the very least engage in getting them to stop it. It is these human behaviours that offer a rewarding experience for your dog and 'what gets rewarded gets repeated'. And so you then have built a chain of behaviours,that you arrive home, dog licks you furiously, you laugh or try to get them to stop and suddenly that is your dog's new greeting routine! 

Science has provided evidence to support that puppies licking their mothers mouth is seen as a pacifying action. But this is usually confined within the litter. So how do we stop this behaviour in our home. It is actually quite simple and quick to resolve. As soon as your dog licks the greeting ends by you standing up and leaving the room for 30 secs. This is a direct consequence that your dog will link with his licking. The purpose of his licking is to greet you, so when you leave that is the very least desired result for your dog.

However, I much prefer the approach of giving your dog something else to do instead by offering a toy. If you know when it happens be prepared when you arrive home and give a favourite toy positioned at the door ready, Then have a really good tug game for 2 mins. He can then continue to carry the toy in his mouth afterwards too!  You can build up some lovely new learning that when he tries to lick you you pull out the toy for him to carry in his mouth. Building up alternative behaviours to those behaviours we don't want is the best training approach for many of the behaviours our dogs do we don't like. 

Most dogs stand on all four paws or lie down when you greet them but for some dogs they enjoy seeing the world from a different angle - on their back, with their legs in the air and they appear not to have a care in the world! 
Some dogs love to sleep in that position and are only totally relaxed lying on their back. Maybe you have a dog like that!!

But why do some dogs do this behaviour. It stems back to their ancestry where the Wolf showed his tummy when trying to diffuse a threat and appease another Wolf attacker.  By showing his underside he would be communicating to the other Wolf that he was not a threat.  We see this behaviour from our dogs today, and this piece of natural canine behaviour. It is often seen in puppies when they meet bigger dogs or people when they find themselves in situations that are overwhelming. Puppies often urinate too . Also our dogs are super smart and when our beloved canine friend lies with his belly towards us we often lean over and tickle them or give them really lovely belly rubs!  So, this behaviour really works for dogs and brings a smile to our face too. It works too when a dog presents their tummy to avoid a threat from another dog as the other dog perceives that they are no threat and any aggression is often avoided .

It is NOT helpful however if your puppy or young adult dog meets and greets everyone like this . They can often be covered in dirt or wee ends up on your friends best carpet or even their foot! You can encourage a 'sit for a greeting' instead but you do have to been prepared and fast! Just before your dog rolls over, offering the tastiest, smelliest treat works best to stay upright. if they do rollover then the greeting stops and you just both walk on if on a free run or ignore. The main point to communicate to your dog is that rolling over showing his tummy results in nothing scrummy appearing. 
If you have a young puppy urinating on greeting, keep all greeting very low key and end the greeting before it gets wet. Then work out how best to begin training a sit to greet instead, but keep it simple and easy for puppy to succeed. This is so he gets message that the alternative pays so much better!