It is always something of a challenge to integrate a completely foreign species into a human household successfully. Because dogs have been living with us in our homes for so long — at least tens of thousands of years — it's almost as though we expect them to become human, forgetting that they are a complicated and complete species on their own, with a markedly different perception of what is normal or acceptable behavior. Living with dogs successfully includes understanding, accepting, and relating to them for what they are, and not just for what we want them to be.