"If she's my best friend, why does she act like that??"
Are you frustrated with your dog -- the one who is supposed to be your best friend and yet continues to embarrass you with barking, chewing, uncontrolled pulling on the leash? Having a well-behaved dog is not that different from having well behaved children, they simply need to be taught how to act. The tricky part is that dogs don't naturally speak our language and we don't take time to learn theirs! Most dogs want to please their owners, they just don't know what it is that their owners expect. It's not necessary to use compulsion to force a dog to obey -- dogs do what works for them and it's our job as kind, benevolent leaders to discover what that is! In order for them to follow the rules, we have to let them in on what the rules are!
"I'm only doing what you taught me..."
Good communication goes both ways. Owners need to learn to "read" what their dog is trying to tell them and we also need to realize what we are telling them with our body language. We can be very confusing creatures! Do you know why Fido won't come to you when he escapes out the front door? You've taught him NOT to come! How? Either he has been disciplined when you finally did get a hold of him or he thinks he instituted a game of chase that you both enjoy because you went running after him. Either way you've reinforced that not coming to you works!
"I don't get what you mean!"
We also need to teach our dogs our language. Do you say "down" when you mean get "off" the couch? Do you find yourself using words that you have never consistently taught the meaning of? ("Fido, I've told you a million times not to eat Mom's shoes!") Or lecturing poor Fido for something he did hours ago while you were at work? ("Do you think I want to come home and clean up a mess like this?") For those who think their dogs look "guilty", sorry to disappoint you. They are just reading your body language and have learned that when you posture like that, nothing good comes next! Correcting a confused dog will not make him any smarter!