Bust these doggy myths! Your pooch will appreciate it.

Although dog training has become more of a science than a craft in recent years, some persistent myths still mislead us when reading canine behavior. Don’t let a myth harm your relationship with your pooch.

1. Dogs are great judges of people, so if a dog doesn’t like someone, it must mean there is something wrong with that person.
False. In the majority of cases, dogs who react aggressively or fearfully to a person are not doing so out of a negative moral evaluation of the individual, but are responding out of their own self-preservation.

2. An old dog can’t learn new tricks.
False. Old dogs not only learn new tricks but they thrive when trained.

3. When your dog has a potty accident, it’s important to rub her nose in it to let her know what she did.
False. Instead, rubbing her nose in her accident teaches her that humans are dangerous and unpredictable, and she will likely begin to hide in safety by sneaking into another room to go to the bathroom, making housebreaking even more difficult.

4. You should let dogs just fight it out when they get into a scuffle.
False (well, at least partly false). It’s true that you should never get into the middle of a dog fight, because some of the most damaging dog bites occur when owners try to separate fighting dogs.

5. A dog shouldn’t sleep with you or be allowed on furniture, or she’ll think she’s the boss and will misbehave.
False. Just like humans, dogs simply want a comfortable place to lie down.

6. A dog can’t really be happy unless she can run off-leash.
False. They should be perceived as tools that keep your dog from running into oncoming traffic, going up to unknown dogs or people, and prevent them from running way.

7. It’s always the owner’s fault when a dog misbehaves.
False. Most owners are well-meaning, but are simply misinformed or lack knowledge on how to train their dogs effectively.

8. Shelter dogs have too much baggage. It’s better to adopt a puppy to start with a clean slate.
False. Many shelter dogs are well-behaved pooches who, for an endless list of possible reasons, could not be kept by their original owners.

Now that you know better, you'll understand your dog's behavior a lot better. Don't let these and other dog myths ruin the way you see pups.

For more information on dog myths, visit Vet Street.