Decoding Dog Behaviors: Why Does My Dog Act This Way? An Interview with Nick Franco | Pupford
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Sometimes we watch our dogs do certain things and are left wondering... why in the world are they doing that?!
The best part is, as we strive to better understand why our dogs do certain things we can better understand how to stop those unwanted behaviors.
Although you don't need a degree in dog psychology, taking steps to think about the why will help you improve your dog's behavior.
In this episode with Nick Franco, we talk about why our dogs act the way that they do. Plus, we discuss some real-life examples of how understanding the 'why' can help us improve that specific behavior!
In Nick’s words, he is an animal addict on a journey to learn everything he can about pet behavior, nutrition, and products so that he can spread the word and improve the lives of as many pets as he possibly can.
LET'S USE LEASH WALKING AS AN EXAMPLE... HOW CAN UNDERSTANDING "WHY" DOGS PULL ON A LEASH HELP US OVERCOME THAT CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR? (Starts around 4:40)
Not understanding the way leads to excuses and lack of responsibility
When we look at why dogs do certain things, it opens up our way of thinking to… ‘How can I make my dog want to do what I want them to do”
When we see the why, it helps us understand the best way to give them the ‘how’
WITHOUT NEEDING TO GET A PHD IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, WHAT CAN PUP PARENTS DO TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR DOGS LEARN AND WHY THEY ACT THE WAY THAT THEY DO? (Starts around 12:55)
Simply put, if something gets reinforced, that behavior will increase in frequency (and sometimes we do NOT want that)
If we want to decrease the frequency of a behavior, how will you ensure situations lead to less opportunities of it occurring and how do you interrupt the behavior to reduce the frequency
Often, we want to prevent the behavior from ever occurring while also practicing real-life scenarios BEFORE they happen
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR PUP PARENTS WHO STRUGGLE TO KEEP THE "WHY" IN MIND AS THEY TRAIN THEIR DOG? (Starts around 17:40)
Practice, practice, practice!
You have to practice and plan so you can practice the scenario BEFORE you are in a real-life challenge
Practicing leads you to better real-life results… education to application
Always be thinking… how can I set my dog up for success so that it is SO easy for my dog to do the right thing?
RECAP
Understanding why our dogs do certain things can help us better train our dogs and build stronger communication with them! Proper training,practice, positive reinforcement, and improving our communication with our dogs, will all assist in our efforts to better learn from and communicate with our dogs.
How do you think your communication is with your dog(s)? Let us know in the comments below!
Thank you – I look forward to your podcasts! I also want to endorse your Training Treats. They are just the right size for our miniature dachshund, since we need to watch her weight. I have used many of your positive training lessons and although Elsa is smart, she is a dachshund (wink) and she needs a lot of reinforcement!
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Pam 01/26/2025
My dog started eating poop. His own. I feed him pumpkin and reward for his poop left alone and it helps. Your situation is different. I would limit his area to a spot where I know there is no poop.
K
Kim01/26/2025
Thanks so much for this. I’m struggling with having my now four month old English Cream Golden retriever to sleep at night longer than 6 hours. It doesn’t matter when I put her to bed (in her crate, not in my bedroom.) I’ve done all the suggestions of making sure she gets enough exercise during the day. She’s potty trained too. I have to get up in the middle of the night and so let her out then put her back in the crate so I can get enough sleep. Any ideas on how to stretch that time out another hour or so? Thanks
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Team Pupford01/26/2025
Hi Kim, because your dog is so young, they do need to relieve themselves more often. The older they get, the longer they can go between relieving themselves, but as a puppy, it’s very normal to have to take them out more frequently, even after they are potty trained.
T
Team Pupford01/26/2025
I’m so glad you like the training treats! Thank you for the comment!
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54 comments
Leave a CommentThank you – I look forward to your podcasts! I also want to endorse your Training Treats. They are just the right size for our miniature dachshund, since we need to watch her weight. I have used many of your positive training lessons and although Elsa is smart, she is a dachshund (wink) and she needs a lot of reinforcement!
My dog started eating poop. His own. I feed him pumpkin and reward for his poop left alone and it helps. Your situation is different. I would limit his area to a spot where I know there is no poop.
Thanks so much for this. I’m struggling with having my now four month old English Cream Golden retriever to sleep at night longer than 6 hours. It doesn’t matter when I put her to bed (in her crate, not in my bedroom.) I’ve done all the suggestions of making sure she gets enough exercise during the day. She’s potty trained too. I have to get up in the middle of the night and so let her out then put her back in the crate so I can get enough sleep. Any ideas on how to stretch that time out another hour or so? Thanks
Hi Kim, because your dog is so young, they do need to relieve themselves more often. The older they get, the longer they can go between relieving themselves, but as a puppy, it’s very normal to have to take them out more frequently, even after they are potty trained.
I’m so glad you like the training treats! Thank you for the comment!