Question: Our ten-month-old Cockapoo is adorable; however, he has a problem. Whenever he gets excited, especially when my grown children and grandchildren come over, he pees on them and on the floor. We try very hard to give him lots of attention and everyone greets him on arrival, but the peeing is quite extensive. It also occurs when I bring him to their homes. As soon as we walk in, he leaves a trail of urine. Are there some measures I can take to avoid the embarrassment and damage to the floors, shoes and pants? —BL in Napa Answer: Never

Local news reports, “A Mountain Ranch man was mauled to death by two pit bulls late Sunday afternoon. The dogs belonged to a friend of the victim who was staying on his property. According to one newscast, the dogs were known to be territorial. They barked, growled and lunged at people from within their confined area. However the person interviewed stated that no one expected this. On the other hand, the opinion of some readers is that the outcome was obvious and the clear consequence is that pit bulls should be banned. Whether you love pit bulls or wish they

Reader Question: We have two male Shih Tzus. One is 5 years (Kili), the other 4 years (Buddy).  Buddy will pee in the house even if we have just witnessed him peeing outside.  He appears to do it because he’s mad or lazy.  Every carpet in my house has been ruined and some of the antiques, also which he has peed on.  He is very sneaky about doing it within minutes after we’ve left a room.  He has access to the outdoors at all times through a doggy door.  I am at my wits end and ready to send him

The problem with speaking English instead of using made-up words is that we assume our pets know what we mean. We say, “Sit” and expect Fido to drop his derrier, but the command Fido’s learned is “sit, sit, sit, SIT!” Then once he’s done the deed, we praise with “Goodsit,” when just “Good” would do, thinking that Fido understands that “good” modifies the word “sit.” Do we think “Gooddown,” or “Goodstay” would cause him to walk away confused, or that “Goodgirl” would cause a boy bowser to develop a gender identity problem? These minor language misconceptions probably seem moot, however,

I just finished teaching a two-day workshop at the Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS) of Wisconsin. It was 1.5 days of lecture on topics ranging from training animals across species, to the pitfalls of punishment, to the importance of body language and unconscious visual cues that affect a dog’s ability to learn the behaviors you want. This was followed by a 3 hour Circus School for Dogs. The dogs arrive for a fun workshop to learn tricks ranging from touch a target with your nose or foot, to somersault. People worked in groups of 3 and, on average, started the

Free-shaping, meaning capturing a behavior you like by clicking to mark the correct behavior and following with a reward and then systematically rewarding behaviors closer and closer to your goal behavior, is always a good exercise whether you’re a beginner or have been doing it for many years.