To stop your dog's bad behaviors you need to influence all of their choices

Too often people are running behind their dogs "putting out fires" for their behavior. Apologizing for their dog jumping on people, barking, or even biting them. Possibly they are cleaning up messes after the dog has gotten in the garbage, chewed up things, slobbered all of the window barking at neighbors. Maybe they are applying compresses to their own shoulders after being drug down the street by their dog or their throat is horse from trying to get their dog to come back.

Improving all of those behaviors start with the little things you do with your dog. Do you represent authority and someone of value to listen to, or just a buddy? Can your dog look at you and say "she seems to have things under control" or are they always taking the lead and impulsively choosing what to do. 

Setting clear expectations, boundaries, and rules are vital to a healthy relationship with a dog. Much like a balanced meal includes some substance (and not just dessert!), your relationship with your dog (especially if they have bad behaviors) can not be just lovey, buddy stuff. You must be a provider, share important information about what is or isn't ok, and take some proactive action in their choices.

Would you leave a toddler unsupervised in a yard, or let them do whatever they want all day without being involved? No way! To have our dog's behavior change, we must change too. It's important that we love them by leading them, and correct nonsense, look for small moments of pushy behavior and set daily boundaries with obedience work, polite threshold behavior, structured walks (and subsequent consequence for not following through) in our lives with our dogs. Loving them is not the hard part--leading them in a way that they make better chocies and we become proactive and relevant in those things is. Without a guide on how to navigate and behave, our dogs will be lost and anxious emotionally and mentally, while giving bad behavior that can get people hurt, and dogs killed. (Seriously! Jumping up could cause a kid to fall back and hit their head, biting a person could get your dog euthanized and you sued, counter surfing could cost your dog a serious surgical operation or toxicity, not coming when called could get them hit by a car, charging and barking at dog could get them attacked, etc etc). We've got to love them enough to show them how to live in our human world. It's time to say "no" to bad behavior and add structure, boundaries, and consequences to your relationship with your dog so we can say "yes" to an awesome life with a well behaved pet.