In the book, "What All Good Dogs Should Know", by Jack Volhard and Melissa Bartlett I came across a belief that so many people hold true but is not. I will quote from page 91 and 92.

WHY DOES YOUR DOG DO IT

Many owners believe their dogs misbehave out of spite. They are indignant at what they perceive to be the dog’s lack of gratitude. After all, "I house you, I feed you, I take care of all your veterinary expenses, the least you can do is not chew up my shoes!" Unfortunately, dogs are not grateful and don’t know what the word means.

When your dog barks, chews, digs or whatever, the activity is rewarding in and of itself. Your dog does not lie awake at night thinking of ways to aggravate you, but acts to satisfy a need. For example, barking chewing and digging are associated with boredom and tension. The dog engages in the particular behavior because the activity relieves the boredom or tension. It can also be attention getting behavior. For a dog that wants attention almost anything, even being scolded, is better than no attention at all.

The easiest way to stop a behavior is by dealing with the need that brought it about in the first place, rather than trying to correct the behavior itself. Punitive approaches cause your dog to be afraid of you and undermine the very relationship you are trying to build.

So called behavior problems are often the effect of some cause and not a cause in and of itself. Find the cause, and you will have cured the problem. Lack of sufficient exercise, isolation and mental stagnation, health and nutrition problems and unintentional traing are the main causes for a variety of objectionable behaviors.

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