When I was growing up in rural Connecticut, we rarely had to deal with problems such as incessant barking or difficult leash walking. Our family dog, a Golden Retriever mix who just wandered into our lives one day (and who I named Cindy as a tribute to Cyndi Lauper, whose style I shamelessly emulated), lived what most dogs would consider a “normal” lifestyle. She chose to stay outside from morning until evening, wandering around the property and interacting with other dogs and livestock while we humans were at school or work. Cindy had the autonomy to walk, poop, and sleep when she liked, and, as with most of the other dogs in our area, she developed good social skills on her own. That’s not to say she was friendly to everyone, but if she didn’t like certain people or other dogs, she had the freedom to simply avoid them or give them ample warning that they should stay away. Because of this, confrontations were infrequent.

      Please Note

      For consistency and clarity, I have generally designated humans as she and dogs as he in the following chapters. I have chosen the term owner to identify the person living with a dog because it is a widely understood term; nevertheless, the word falls painfully short of describing described in the text, are rescues. This in no way implies that adopted dogs need more training than other dogs. Rather I aim to show that a rescue dog, weather adopted at eight weeks or eight yearrs, is just as trainable, polite and adored by his family as any other.

      Of course, there were certain risks to leaving dogs unsupervised, and Cindy’s playmates were occasionally involved in accidents with cars or other animals. (Were I to live that lifestyle again, I would take more precautions than we did back then.) But, in general, these dogs lived happy, easygoing lives. The only time we ever used a leash on Cindy was to go to the vet. I’m sure her leash skills were horrific, but in the context of a rural lifestyle, it really didn’t matter. Did she bark at the doorbell? Well, I don’t think we even had a doorbell, and she was outside anyway, ready to size up whoever walked over.

      In my early twenties, I moved to a cramped Boston apartment after college, and I immediately adopted a three-legged sato (Puerto Rican stray dog) who, despite the indignity of my naming her Three, became my doggie soul mate. In the city, I saw dogs put into a very different lifestyle. Three’s routine was the polar opposite of Cindy’s. My Boston life was busy, structured, and stressful, and somehow I expected this scrappy little street dog to adapt to a confined lifestyle. Though she did adjust remarkably well, I certainly went through my fair share of replacing chewed furniture, scrubbing pee stains, and regularly extracting dead animals from Three’s jaws. I also learned what happens when, due to the restraint of the leash, dogs are forced to face what scares them and aren’t able to engage in the normal reaction of fight or flight. Three, unable to practice flight by walking away from triggers like moving cars or children, turned to fight.

      She felt she had to defend herself with the only tool she had: her teeth. Seeing my dog so stressed by living in a world that never gave her space or freedom, it became clear how much pressure we put on our urban dogs: they are expected to walk calmly on short leashes and ignore everything out of reach, to remain quiet when left home alone for long periods, and to tolerate frequent interruptions by doorbells, sirens, and delivery people. We’re asking a lot of our dogs to live by our crazy human rules.

      The good news is that both you and your dog can live together peacefully amid the chaos of a city, and it doesn’t take as much effort as you might think. You don’t need to quit your job to train your dog full-time (but wouldn’t that be nice!), and your dog doesn’t need to be able to balance an upright broom on his snout or jump through hoops of fire. In reality, by building clear communication with your dog and teaching him a handful of useful, straightforward behaviors, you can show your dog how to behave in ways that are polite to humans as well as rewarding for him. At the very least, this will require you to make some minor adjustments to your routine; at most, it will involve practicing and perfecting a few key training behaviors and learning how to apply these behaviors to various indoor and outdoor situations, all of which are outlined in the chapters that follow.

      I know you’re busy, so in true Brooklyn style, this book gets right to the point. It will address the most common dog behavior problems that urban owners face and provide practical solutions to getting a polite dog both indoors and out. Chapters 1 and 2 lay the foundation for training. Starting with Chapter 3, you can read the chapters in any order, depending on what your most urgent need is. Rather than give you a broad list of tricks and commands that you might never use, BKLN Manners™ focuses on fully developing a few polite behaviors and giving clear instructions for applying these behaviors to a variety of real-life situations. Nevertheless, if you’d like to learn additional city-friendly behaviors, such as Heel through intersections, Sit-Stays at crosswalks, Recalls at the park, or Drop Its for garbage on the sidewalk, you’ll find the steps for these cues outlined in Chapter 7.

      While all training takes time, commitment, and consistency, I will provide you with training solutions that can be smoothly integrated into your regular routine. In many cases, it doesn’t take any extra time at all because you can train while you’re already walking or spending time with your pup. The book is organized so that you can identify the problem you’re having and then read through the different strategies to help. You’ll notice that each chapter has multiple management and training strategies to modify your dog’s behavior issue. See which strategies fit your lifestyle best. It is more effective to practice one strategy thoroughly than to superficially try many different ones. Dog training is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor; it is a unique experience based on your needs. If I see three clients in a row who all need help with leash walking, it’s possible I will use a different strategy for each, depending on the dog’s temperament, the owner’s patience and interest in training, the external environment, and other factors.

      This book covers four main areas of dog behavior that we consider problematic, with one chapter devoted to each: