Why??

Why does my dog DO that?
Why does he act that way?
Why is she afraid of men?




Why does he chase squirrels?

Why does she lick all the time?
Why Why Why???

Sometimes when asked 'why' I really and truly try to answer. I have some dog behavior studies in my background and sometimes I Can answer the 'why'.
Sometimes I can't. I don't know everything - a case of the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know.
And sometimes there is no why. Or at least no why that we will ever know. We will never really know the 'why' of a five year old rescue dog. Most generally previous owners are not forthcoming about the real 'why' of turn ins. MOST people take the family pet with them when they move. All those dogs are not the result of people moving and not taking their dog with.
Most are there for a reason the owners don't wish to share.

Unable to housebreak.
Bit the teasing neighbor kid.
Jumped up and knocked over grandma.
Sometimes the answer really and truly is 'because that is what dog's DO' and while that seems to be an unacceptable answer for many people who want 'human dogs' i.e. dogs that act people, or want dogs that are just like 'old Shep' who was the perfect dog and never did anything wrong, most dogs are simply dogs.

We can often, most, many times, change a behavior, teach them another thing to do instead, but often we won't know the Why of the behavior we didn't like.
Learn to deal with it, with pleasure, great humor and much love.