You’re at the football and your team scores; what do you do?

a) Sit there with your hands on your thighs.

b) Clap delicately while smiling.

c) Jump up, throw your hands in the air while yelling "Yesss….", and then clap wildly.

I behave like the last listing and I understand that all dog breeds get excited too. They may show their excitement in many different ways, and it can depend on the dog breed.

Dogs can show excitement by:

• Barking

• Pulling on the lead

• Jumping up

• Chasing their tails

• Nipping clothes, body parts gently

• Peeing

Active exercise and good basic training can help prevent over-excited behavior. Planning also helps. If you know your dog may pee himself then make sure you greet the dog outside and have a ball ready to throw. The dog will play, have a pee and then settle down.

Would you like to be sitting around the house and locked in a yard 24 hours a day? If a dog sees a lead come out, then it WILL get excited because it will be free for a little while at least to investigate the smells, sights and sounds of the wide, wide world.

Some possible solutions are:

• If your dog barks when you get home, give a toy; or a ball to takes its mind off things until it settles down.

• If your dog pulls on the lead, don’t try to match it for strength, the dog will win. If you don’t like the pulling, you will need to train the dog in basic heeling obedience until they walk quietly by your side.

• If your dog jumps up, some people recommend that you simply turn away and let the dog slide off. Another way is to simply ignore the dog for a while each time you come home, then when the dog has settled, give the command "SIT" and then reward it with a quiet "Hello" and a few pats, while giving praise for the calm obedience.

Terriers are terrors for nipping when excited. Overcome this unpleasant habit by training your dog to carry a toy. If the dog is busy with they toy, they will find it very difficult to nip.

Remember:

• Dogs are simple creatures and they have needs that arise from the fact that they are DOGS, not people.

• Dogs need rewarding mental, physical, and social activity to be content.

• Dogs can quickly develop undesirable habits, so its best to be prepared to recognize and correct them early on.

Seek professional guidance if matters are getting out of hand.

Bored dogs cause more problems than active, engaged, stimulated ones. Bored dogs are prone to excessive licking of their forelegs.

Remember to keep your dog entertained. Bored dogs are capable of the following anti-social behaviors:

• Chewing – anything really – doors, wallpaper, rugs, clothing, linen, cars, even themselves. Labrador Retrievers and Doberman Pinschers are particularly prone to excessively licking their forelegs when they are bored, leading to skin problems that need veterinary attention.

• Digging – it could be the carpet or it could be the dirt.

• Howling and barking – when it is left alone not just when it hears a noise. Barking for no reason.

• Fence Jumping – the big escape to see what is out there past their fence.

To help prevent boredom, try the following:

1 Before leaving home, make sure your dog has had physical, mental, and social activity. That is, try to go for a walk or play ball. Tired dogs are less likely to bark, dig, or destroy.

2 Feed your dog before your leave. Dogs, like people like a rest when their stomachs are full.

3 Give a favorite toy, give it a good rub so that your scent is left all over it and leave it on the dog’s favorite resting place so that your smell lingers.

4 Leave quietly. You could leave the TV/radio on to mask the sounds of your leaving. The dog will know you have left but the human sounds will give some solace.

5 For fence jumpers try to create obstacles such as tin cans strung on a rope a foot (30 cm) from the fence and about a yard (1metre) off the ground. You could also try chicken wire on the ground at about take off distance but make sure the chicken wire is of small enough gauge to not let the dog’s paws through.

6 Digging is also managed by chicken wire, or you could build a sandpit and train the dog to only dig in that area.

7 Chewing can be managed by giving the dogs chewing toys. Kongs work well and you can add tasty treats to the kongs to be even more attractive to the dog. Some dogs go through a chewing phase as puppies that may last until they are 9 months old or sometimes longer.

8 Try not to leave your dog home alone all day. It’s true that it is very hard if you work but the perfect owner would get a friend to drop in and say hello, or get a professional dog walker or petsitter.

Ask a vet: Your veterinary clinic should be the first port of call if you have any questions about your dog’s behavior. Be sure to ask your vet if he or she has any experience in dealing with canine behavior problems.

The quality of veterinary advice has improved enormously in the past few years. In the 1980s the best veterinary schools introduced compulsory core curriculum course in the management of canine behavior problems. By the mid 1990s, pharmaceutical companies were providing veterinary surgeons with medications to use in conjunction with retraining programmes for dogs suffering from conditions such as separation anxiety.

As with humans however, drugs should be the last port of call.

Unfortunately many thousands of dogs are surrendered to animal shelters or pounds each day because they have behavior problems. In many cases, the problem could have been successfully addressed by giving the dog basic obedience training, more exercise, and spending more time interacting with them.

Please don’t give up on your dog just because it acts like a dog.