When you adopt a dog from an animal shelter, you’re doing a great thing, but you’re also taking a bit of a risk, especially if the dog hasn’t been in the shelter long enough for the staff and volunteers to assess him. You won’t know what kind of behavior is normal for the dog; nor will you know what you’re getting until you’ve had your pet for at least a few days.

Not all dogs are perfect, especially shelter dogs who have been turned in by owners for a variety of relatively minor behavioral problems, almost all of which can be fixed with proper training and care. Of course, some dogs were perfectly fine before their incarcerations but acquired bad behaviors while in the shelter.

Regardless, you can expect that a shelter dog will have a few foibles. After all, he’s been through hell.

Fortunately, most of these common shelter dog behavior problems are easy to clear up.

Anxiety & Fearfulness

You would think that your pup would be so happy to be out of the shelter that he’d be dancing around the room, so why is he cowering under a chair? He’s scared! His world has been turned upside down because of his shelter experience — and whatever may have come before it — and he doesn’t know if his new home is good or bad. He’s stressed out, and he needs a place of safety.

Although it’s possible this dog anxiety won’t clear up without medication, in most cases time and patience are the cures. Don’t force your pet to come to you. Set up a crate covered with a blanket and leave it in the area in which the dog is hiding. He may crawl inside, where it’s safe.

Ignore him for a while. I know you’re probably itching to cuddle with your new pooch, but if you move too quickly, you could stress him out more. Instead, let him come to you, even if it takes a couple of days.

Food Aggression

In the shelter, your new pet may have had to fight to get a bite to eat. In his new home, he may not understand that his food is his own, and you won’t let anyone else have it. In this case, he may react with snarling, barking, lunging and even biting when you or another dog gets too close to him during mealtime.

This one is so easy to solve! Feed your dog in a crate or bathroom, and don’t disturb him until he’s done. In time, he’ll come to realize that he has no need to guard his food.

Resource Guarding

Like food aggression, resource guarding — a dog acting protective about “his” things, including food, toys and people — is very common for dogs who have had to share everything in the shelter, sometimes having nothing of their own until they get out, including the love of a good person.

When your dog gets home, he may try to guard you from another dog, family member or guest. You belong to him now, and he’s not going to let anyone near you. Or perhaps he claims a favorite toy and become aggressive when anyone nears him and his toy.

This behavioral issue is also relatively easy to fix. Whenever your dog shows signs of resource guarding, remove his access to the resource. This includes food, toys, beds, blanket, chewies and people. For example, if your new dog is cuddled on your lap but then turns into a raptor when your spouse approaches, the dog goes on the floor.

Once your pup realizes that acting like a jerk isn’t going to get him anywhere, he should stop. If not, you may want to consult a dog trainer.

Leg-Lifting

When your new dog gets home, he’ll want to sniff every corner of your home and yard. There’s a good chance he’ll also mark everywhere, especially if you have or have recently had another canine. Don’t confuse this behavior with being un-housetrained. Dogs with perfect potty manners can still mark.

The easiest way to eliminate this behavior is to squirt the dog in the face with water when you catch him marking. It won’t hurt him, but he sure won’t like it. He’ll stop in the act and probably sprint away. When this happens enough times, he’ll hopefully catch on that he should knock it off.

Be sure to use Nature’s Miracle or some other enzymatic cleaner made for cleaning up pet stains. When you remove the scent, your dog won’t need to mark over it.

Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety in dogs is a behavioral condition in which the dog is so traumatized by being left alone that he barks, eliminates inappropriately or destroys the house when left alone. Unfortunately, SA is a pain in the butt to fix, and you may need to ask a veterinarian, trainer or behaviorist for help.

Shelter dogs are notorious for having SA, whether it’s mild or severe. Mild cases of canine anxiety are usually resolved with a regular schedule and crate training. When a dog knows he has a safe place to go until you come back, he’s less likely to act out. Once he truly trusts and believes you’re coming back, he should calm down and be more comfortable spending time alone.

The important thing to remember about SA is that it isn’t automatically cured by adopting another dog to keep him company. Dogs with SA want to be with you, not another dog. It’s possible that another dog will help, but don’t count on it. You’re better off extinguishing the SA before you adopt a second dog.

For severe cases, consult a professional about your pet behavior problems, and follow every bit of advice he or she gives you. Try not to get too frustrated — your pup may not have had this fear of abandonment before his animal shelter stay; it may have been triggered by his former people abandoning him there.

I don’t want to put you off the idea of adopting from a shelter. At least 80 percent of the time you’ll be getting a wonderful pet with no permanent shelter dog behavior problems. Just be patient and focus on what’s important: sharing your life with a wonderful companion you saved from euthanization.

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