Sometimes our dogs have habits that DRIVE US CRAZY. We complain, complain, complain about these horrible habits but usually give in and learn to live with them.

My biggest annoyance with my crew is whenever we would go somewhere they would start barking and run downstairs, jumping on the door to the garage and barking, barking, barking, well you get the idea……

There is a group of us that bring in our favorite behaviorist in the world from England twice a year. We were talking about behaviors and I related my barking, jumping, barking, jumping (can you start to see how much this drove me crazy) story and Linda, in her funny little english accent got very close to me, looked me in the eye and said “Well then, why do you let them do it?” and then she quietly waited for an answer, which of course I had none.

Sooooo I had to come up with a plan!!!!

There is one rule that is imperative when changing behaviors, “YOU MUST REPLACE THE BEHAVIOR YOU WANT TO EXTINQUISH WITH A DIFFERENT BEHAVIOR”.

After a fair amount of thought I decided I wanted the dogs to go down the stairs, sit quietly while I went into the garage and wait until I released them. Good, I now had a plan……. the first day I allowed an extra 15 minutes and it took every bit of that time to get the behavior I wanted from all 4 dogs. BUT I DID IT!!! Yahoo It has gotten much better, but, like everything, requires vigilance so we don’t slowly slip back into old bad habits. Sometimes I take tasty treats and whoever sits first gets the treat, sometimes whoever sits without being asked will get treats, sometimes they get nothing, but I am delighted with my gang and how much more pleasant taking them all with me has become.