There is another aspect of the self, one that in many ways owns the heart of our emotional connection to our dogs. Like us, your dog is ultimately a one-in-a-million individual creature filled with likes and dislikes that make her unique and special. She likes the peanut butter treats and hates the cheese bites. She curls up in the nook behind your knees when you sleep. She always spins twice before she poops. She loves the spot on the back of the couch by the window. She licks your tears when you cry. She is your dog.

Dog L.E.G.S.® in Action

Understanding the four pillars of L.E.G.S.®, and how each one affects your dog, will help you arrive at the root cause of behavior problems and allow you to make an informed decision about what your dog truly needs. Consider Adam’s story as it illustrates the four aspects of L.E.G.S.®. The lettered annotations within his story represent each pillar of L.E.G.S.® as events unfolded for him and his dog.

Adam was a second-year college student (E) I met at my behavior center a few years ago. Adam didn’t realize what he would be facing when he adopted Donut, a two-year-old female (S) Plott Hound (G). He’d been told that Donut was housebroken (L), knew the “sit” command (L), and had a fear of bicycles (L). He had no idea that she would have a hard time living in his small apartment in an urban neighborhood in Asheville’s historic district (E). He didn’t know she had a voice that echoed for miles (G), or that she would sing all day (G) while his two neighbors who worked nights tried to sleep (E). Adam did not realize that Donut needed five miles a day of running exercise (G) to keep her from eating the furniture, and that once he started working on his thesis, walks longer than twenty minutes would be impossible (E).