Does you dog come to you when called? Unfortunately, I believe the answer is no with the majority of dog owners.

What causes a dog not to come? Here are a few of the primary reasons for the civil disobedience:

• Lack of obedience. Most dogs are not even leash trained consistently. There is no reason to expect a dog to come off leash. This is a dog obedience exercise that must be practiced just as with any other obedience command. I tell my clients not to expect consistent off leash results until their dog will obey them 9 out of 10 times on leash with the first command given.

• Lack of trust. Have you ever called your dog to you and then punish him for something he did? Your dog isn’t sure what is going to happen to him when you call … so why come? Never, ever punish your dog after calling him to you. If you want to discipline him for something, go after him.

• Lack of consistency and reward. Even if you never taught your dog obedience, he would still come to you if you were consistent and praiseful. When you call your dog to come, praise him each and every time he comes. And, don’t call him unless you know he is going to come. By doing this on a consistent basis your dog will more readily come to you.

So, how do you fix this now? You start from the very beginning and learn the right way to do the come command. Make the effort to build a trusting relationship with your dog and be patient. Results will not happen overnight.

In a hurry? Working with a professional trainer would definitely speed up the process. Just be prepared to work a little and still spend some quality time with your dog.

Have you ever come home and your puppy or dog was standing in the yard or at the door just happily waiting to greet you? Such a nice feeling that is … except when he is so excited, he begins to pee on your shoe or on your nice hardwood floor. This is called Excitement Urination.

Excitement Urination

Excitement urination is a fairly common occurrence among dogs, so there is no need to be alarmed if your pet pooch dribbles away happily whenever he is excited. It is caused by lack of bladder control and is more often seen in puppies, especially when they get overly excited. However, it is not uncommon in adult dogs too.

When and How it Happens

Excitement urination usually occurs during greetings and sometimes at play time. You may notice that every time you return home, your dog tends to dribble urine while jumping up to greet you. This is not a problem behavior.

Dogs get so excited to be greeted by humans, that they temporarily lose control of their bladder and urinate. Excitement urination in puppies is a result of nothing more than just infant muscles that are still too young to have any self-control. The bladder muscles have yet to be trained. Most puppies will outgrow this problem as their muscles get stronger and they gain control of their muscles.

In older dogs, this is mostly because no steps were taken to stop it and it has simply become a habit. This has nothing to do with housebreaking. Excitement urination can happen even in dogs that are otherwise perfectly toilet trained.

You should be able to differentiate between excitement urination and submission urination.

Excitement urination is accompanied by a lot of tail-wagging and joyful barking, whereas submission urination will be accompanied by a lowered head and the dog will usually have his tail between his legs.

What not to do when faced with excitement urination

Having this happen everyday can be very annoying and tiring. However, keep in mind that this is normal and your puppy may not even be aware that he is urinating. Excitement urination is just a passing puppy phase and will eventually stop if the right steps are taken at the right time.

What not to do when faced with the problem of excitement urination:

• Do not get angry with your puppy - Your puppy is not aware that he is doing anything wrong. Even when he does, he may be much too young to control it. Shouting at him for something that he cannot do anything about will create other problems and could even lead to submission urination later on.

• Do not just shrug it off as just a passing phase - You need to take active steps to stop it. Though most puppies eventually outgrow this phase, some do not. If your puppy is not aware that there is something wrong, he may see no need to change his behavior. Also, the longer it goes on, the harder it will be to break the habit later. A little pup dribbling urine may be a mere annoyance, but still tolerable. A full-grown dog urinating can be a downright nuisance and your guests are not likely to like you or your dog.

• Do not excite your pup - Excitement urination is induced by excitement. So it is extremely important that you do not unnecessarily excite your pup, at least until he has gained some control over this behavior. Don’t contribute to the situation by greeting him exuberantly when you get home. Don’t use that I am ‘so-glad-to-see-you-too’ voice. Tone down your greeting and stay calm and avoid all eye contact.

This should cover “What not to do”. We will cover “What to do when your puppy pees from excitement” in a future post. If you are having problems and can’t wait until then, feel free to email Jim at the following email address, sales@containapet.com and place “Excitement Urination” in the subject header.

Is your dog a pest to others? Chances are you would not know it if it was true.

Why? Your friends are afraid they will hurt your feelings.

Many dogs happily greet and jump all over visitors to their home. Clamoring for attention and getting rewarded for their behavior by unsuspecting guests and owners alike.

Notice the “rewarded for their behavior” in the last sentence? Unknowingly, when someone pets a dog for jumping up on them, they are saying it is okay to do so. And sometimes petting is the only thing a guest knows to do. They certainly aren’t going to hit or knee the dog.

It is up to you to stop this embarrassing behavior.

How do you do that? By taking control of your dog. Not allowing it to run freely to greet guests until it knows how to behave.

The best way to take control is to invest in 1-2 obedience/behavior lessons from a professional trainer.

Another way is to put your dog on a leash and only allow it to greet your guest when it calms down. Of course this isn’t a good solution if your dog drags you all over the place. In that case, go back to the obedience/behavior lesson.

The third way is to put your dog up when company comes. That is the easy way out and accomplishes nothing. After all, it isn’t the dog’s fault that it doesn’t know how to behave.

Many trainers talk about properly using an electronic collar, lightly kneeing a dog in the chest or grabbing and holding its paws or using a shaker can or simply ignoring and turning away from it.

Any of these recommendations could be correct when done in the proper measure followed by praise. It really depends on the personality of the dog.

Correcting the behavior is not meant to intimidate, dominate or physically hurt a dog. It is meant only to correct and then reaffirm/praise the proper behavior.

That is why I recommend deferring to a professional. They can show you how to correct the behavior … and I believe it will be worth every penny.