The good news is, that whether you own a puppy or an adult dog, you can do a lot to prevent the development of behavior problems or, solve those you may already have. It is a simple process of using the tools of education, management, leadership and appropriate training techniques. Education Learning to build a better dog takes knowledge and skill, just like any other job. Recent studies in the field of animal behavior and training have given us an enormous amount of new information about why our dogs do what they do. There are plenty of good, current books available.
Every owner needs to know what their dog was bred to do.
Most breeds were originally developed to do a particular job and have temperaments that make them suitable for this work. Bringing a high energy herding or hunting dog into a home where people have little time for training can spell disaster. Expecting protection from a poodle or a golden retriever may be very unrealistic. All dogs can bite, bark, jump, chew, dig, herd, chase and ignore you. Every new puppy owner needs to know how critically important it is to socialize a young pup with other pups or friendly dogs, and to take them to lots of new places to meet all kinds of people.