1) To calm the dog.
Diet. Avoid canned and semi-moist foods as these usually contain preservatives and artificial colours which cause some dogs to become over-excited. An increase in the protein content of the diet to at least 30% results in a calmer dog. Most good quality dog foods contain 26% protein for adults and 28% for puppies. To bring the protein content to 30% or more add meat, chicken, fish or cooked eggs to the diet daily.
Exercise. Time and energy limit the amount of exercise we can give our dogs by walking them on the leash. Try to devise activities that make the dog work very hard for short periods, such as retrieving a ball, going over a series of jumps in the garden, swimming in the summer or pulling on a stick tied to a springy tree branch. If you don't have a fenced yard and your dog will run away when free, use the local tennis courts for ball games. Teach the dog always to come when called by walking it on a 30 to 40 foot nylon cord, calling ONCE, hauling the dog in if it doesn't come, tell it to sit and immediately reward with very attractive food. The best exercise for dogs is to team up with another owner of a friendly dog and let the dogs play together in a fenced area.
2) Response to demands for attention.
These demands can take various forms; barking, begging, pulling at clothing or deliberately, and in full sight, doing something that is forbidden. When we are busy we feel driven to do something quickly -- give a dog biscuit, throw a ball -- to pacify the dog but this just reinforces the annoying behaviour.
The answer is to train the dog and if you enrol in an obedience class this is excellent but the same effect can be obtained at home by short ( 5 or 10 minutes ) training sessions a few times a day. Keep the lessons upbeat, with ample praise and treats so they are times of pleasant teamwork for you and your dog. Make the sessions varied; heel up and down stairs, sit on a low stool, step over the dog when it is lying down. Work towards getting the dog to sit, lie, stay, heel and sit automatically when you stop walking. When you have reached this stage do not stop, even if you teach the dog things that are not important to you. You do not need a dog that will "shake hands" but in teaching this the dog has to give you his attention, think and remember, has your full attention for those five minutes and the great satisfaction of knowing he has pleased you when he succeeds.
Along with this basic training you can work on the situations causing annoyance. A begging dog can be taught that the only successful begging movement is to lie down and stay quietly beside the table. He is given these commands and at first rewarded after a short down and stay with the interval lengthened until he is not rewarded until after the meal. With a dog that barks when you are on the phone or otherwise occupied, have the dog on a 6 foot lead and go to the phone. Put the dog on a down/stay beside the chair, sit on the lead and pick up the phone. At first, again reward after a very short interval of pretend phoning, then lengthen the time. When the phone actually rings, call or catch the dog and attach it to the leash you have left tied to the chair. The dog will soon learn that he is expected to be lying beside the chair when the phone rings. Keep some special treat beside the phone that he only earns after lying quietly beside you.
For dogs that constantly bring you a ball to throw when it is not convenient, praise them, gently take the ball away and put it out of sight. With repetition, the dog will stop begging as he knows he will only lose the ball. It may be that the dog comes begging for a game but will not give up the ball or come close enough for you to take it. Tie a nylon cord to the broad collar and when the begging starts, call him to you. Call once and if no response, pull the dog to you, seat the dog (one command, then enforce) and ask for the ball. You take the ball with heartfelt praise and maybe a treat. The treat will often trick the dog into opening its mouth and releasing the ball if he has a hard grip on it.
With dogs that pull at clothing or deliberately misbehave, try to time your practise session before the begging for attention begins. If it still occurs, put the dog on a leash and make it lie beside you or send it to lie down on a mat. Give a treat at the end and gradually lengthen the stay. This long down/stay, especially if the dog is beside your chair and you sit on the leash while watching TV, will, like the change in diet, lead to a calmer dog.
With barking dogs it is useful to teach the dog to bark on command. I use the word "speak" which sounds like a yap. If this command is used as one of a series of commands in a training session, the dog obeys it, then waits for the next command. This carries over into general behaviour and the dog is generally quiet unless there is an outside noise. It is difficult for a dog to bark when lying down so this is a good command to use if the dog barks for no reason. A bark is one of the first signs of aggression and since lying down is a submissive posture this also inhibits barking.
Some ideas for training beyond the basics are; to get the dog to drop to the ground when returning to you at the word "down" and an arm raised over your head, retrieves, jumps, hide and seek, to carry objects between people or letters in a basket to the post.
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