I have subscribed to your website and am amazed at the amount of knowledge I have gained from you! Thanks. I currently own a small mobile dog wash in Australia which I run only on weekends, and since receiving your information I am seriously considering taking up dog training full time. I have put my 12 year old staffy through the obedience ring 9 years ago (breaking every club record) and have been in and out of obedience clubs since, as pupil and instructor.
Anyway, my problem is: my old dog loves being in my car, a security thing I guess, adn lately he has taken to scratching my drivers seat when he sleeps in it. Why do dogs scratch things up as it is not hot in the car at night? And why only one seat? I have corrected him on a number of occasions, with no success. I have to be careful with him though as he is very old.
Regards Frank Dear Frank: Thank you for the kind words. I don’t know why your dog scratches the seat. And without actually seeing it happen inperson, it would be impossible to tell you for sure what is going on. I would recommend that you keep your dog in a crate while traveling by car. Furthermore, your statement that, I have corrected him on a number of occasions, with no success, suggests and error in both the motivation of your corrections (if it was a meaningful correction, he simply wouldn’t continue doing this behavior) or that you’re not being consistent when correcting him for the behavior.