Having gone through many books, obedience class, and other resources, some of the things that I found to be VERY interesting that have helped me really understand a dog are listed here...

Enjoy and I hope just one of these sections helps someone with a dog with behavior issues.

This applies to young dogs, puppies, especially but sometimes older dogs, too...

When you meet/greet a dog and they sometimes get so excited that they piddle, our normal reaction is to scold them on the spot for peeing in the house. However, if we understand "WHY" they do this, we might be more effective in correcting this behavior.

This is done because the dog, call him Charlee, is happy to see the visitor or the owner return but it is using body language to say "I completely surrender all dominance to you, I don't want any and you can have it. I will be submissive to you." It piddles to show that this is exactly what the dog is saying to another dog (or to people). We usually get mad, or scold, Charlee. This makes it worse because now Charlee thinks, "Maybe you didn't get my hint the first time, I will do it more so you notice it and know I am not kidding." And usually this makes us more mad.

To correct this behavior, have all meet-n-greets be low key and outside if possible. Get Charlee outside right away if you need to (after coming home from work) but otherwise, don't let Charlee meet anyone until the initial excitement is over with. Then let Charlee come into the picture, but ignore him. Let him smell/sniff the new people. The last thing you want to do is scold because this makes it worse.

This is amazing...

Dogs jump because this is something that is hardwired into their minds. As puppies, they always jump on the pack leader or the mom (in the wild especially) because this licking of the mouth, which is what they are doing, will cause the mechanism in the pack leader to trigger and the pack leader will then regurgitate food for the puppies...in just the right texture that they can handle eating. It is something many dogs need to be trained NOT to do but at least now we know why they do it!

Why does this work so well? This is actually a very humane thing (WHEN DONE CORRECTLY) that works well for training. The prongs (and they should be rounded) act as a mother's teeth and the corrections do not need to be harsh. Believe me, the dog will "get it" more times than not with a gentle correction. There are some great resources for this and if you are inexperienced with it, please ask someone that has working knowledge of this tool to show you the ropes with it. It can make training a much better experience.

AGAIN, this is humane if done correctly. Please get instruction before attempting.

When a dog stands on you and you are sitting down, (more commonly with little dogs because they get away with it easier), this means that the dog is showing the person dominant behavior. As cute as it might be, this reeks of dominance and should not be allowed if the dog has any dominance or assertive behaviorial issues. In the dog's mind, it is thinking "I am the boss and you are just a little peon."