This may get some eye rolls, “nice calm easy-flow state.” “Yeah, sure, whatever, dude.” Look, all I’m trying to say here is that it is very important to view things from a different perspective and find things that may have been overlooked. 

Tone er’ down a notch when you start looking deeper into your situation. It’s important. When mountain dew Billy is running around your house yelling “YEEEEHAAAWWWW,” It just may not be the correct time to do this evaluation. Instead, in this time, just remember to give ADD Billy his meds.

At the right time, ask yourself these questions in the right frame of mind, and you will come up with the why.

Break It Down

Why was your dog in the situation in the first place? Was it an out-of-place situation for him? Was he in his comfort zone, and something or someone was introduced to the situation?

Take time to write down everything about the situation by asking yourself the reevaluation question. Does anything pop out in your mind? Read everything you wrote down and try to make sense of it all. This is all in the name of being able to decipher where the bad behavior root was caused.

Once you shed some light on the situation, understanding will come next. You can’t expect them to change without your guidance. Understand how they do things for the greater good of them. Once you start this process, you see the bigger picture of why it’s happening. Get some clear understanding.

Whether you understand or not, take a breath, be patient.

Do not be afraid to look at yourself either. It could be something to do with you. You won’t realize it until you stop and go back to basics.

If you do not understand the root core of the problem, think about what else could have caused the problem. It could simply have stemmed from a situation handled incorrectly, “ruining the dog.”

“And now he scratches at the bathroom door!” And all of a sudden, you deem him with a behavioral problem, When really, it’s probably not a behavioral problem, until you make it one. 

Maybe your dog could tell you were having a rough couple of days and just wanted to “all of a sudden” be next to you all day. If you don’t realize something as simple as this and mishandle it, it really could have a negative effect on the dog.

Somebody could kick the dog for scratching at the bathroom door when the dog just cared about you. An incident like this could throw him into a tailspin. 

Dogs always want to do better. You cant correct it in the moment without understanding. It may take more patience with some dogs. Now, hopefully, you have a bit of thought as to things that could have created the problem.

Thrive off of routine and structure. With behavioral work, it takes repetition to break a habit.

Break The Cycle

Your dog should not be allowed to do everything. You should set respect-based boundaries. If you expect your dog to change, you must give back in the right manner, in the right moment. Keep this one simple.

 If you expect something, set it up to succeed by giving back

Dogs can get very focused on things. You might have to accommodate for a dog and his shortcomings. We want to add less stress. What worked before might not work anymore. 

You may have to accommodate for old age or bodily injuries. etc 

Do not create more problems because of your feelings. Just give them outlets and safe spaces. 

You do your part. They will do theirs. If you do not, they will strive to create their own balance. Even if they know the difference between right and wrong, they lose focus on good and bad balance. 

They can’t speak. They can only show by actions. They create what works best for them, even if that means being annoying, a nuisance, aggressive, or spooking you. But again, this isn’t necessarily their fault.

Change Your Perspective

Why can’t I? Should be looked at as, how can I? Change your perspective change your outlook. Look for answers. What can I do to help solve the problem? What am I doing that is not helping the problem.  

If you still need help. If you solve it and it reverts. If you do not come up with a solution in the end. Do not doom yourself by saying I just can’t get it! If you do not take the time to understand, it will never be fixed. Change your attitude. It can only get better.   

Be careful when you say it is one way because you may dig yourself a hole, tough to dig out of because of your beliefs.   

Think about how your perspective comes into play here. “My dog only pisses in the house!” That could actually be because you say, “He only does blank!” Break your thinking cycle. This is participating in doom and gloom. Be conscious of your beliefs. Pay attention to your dog. 

Storytime.

I had a case once Where a woman brought a dog to me. She said the dog would not stop pissing in the house, “all he wants to do is chase squirrels and piss in the house .” And, it was at random times. As I looked deeper into the case, she told me key points that all added up to me. The dog would stop pissing in the house for three days and then go back to pissing in the house. Well, those three days the dog was spending at daycare. 

When the dog was done with daycare, he would come back and eventually start pissing again, “and he will just start pissing in the house again!” 

I had her stop and reevaluate. I said the dog is his happiest when he is with other dogs. Maybe you need a new dog for his friend, she replied with, “Well then ill just have two dogs pissing in my house!” 

 I thought about it and said, “yeah, if you have that mindset, you will have two dogs pissing in your house.”  

She went home, put the dog in a bellyband and stopped caring, and let the dog chase squirrels all day and didn’t give one hoot or holler if he did piss in the house. Eventually, she got another dog, and now the dogs are living happily, pissing outside and chasing squirrels

Conclusion

There is a solution to everything. Believe you can fix it. Take time to understand the problem. And keep doing it until you get it. 

Commit to fixing the problem, even when the going gets tough. Fix it and move on. You can be a part of the solution. Learn and grow.

But, if you have tried all you can, you may want to source out for help.