Who doesn’t want their pet to be obedient and well-mannered?
It is the first thing we expect from our beloved dog. The bad behavior of our dog makes things hard for us. Therefore, it is essential to learn to control the bad behavior of your canine friend. You should recognise how you can manage your dog’s behaviour and make your doggy a good pet.
Various factors are responsible for bad behaviour in dogs. A few of them are:
- Breed: Most of the dog’s behaviour depends on their type of breed. Activities such as excessive barking and digging can vary in different dogs’ breeds.
- Age: Some unwelcoming behaviours are seen in puppies and elderly dogs.
- Training: Bad behavior is common in dogs who haven’t had behavioral training.
- Situation: Dogs do not always react in an aggressive or unwanted manner because of their habits. Sometimes, poor behavior can be a reaction to a certain situation. One of its examples is barking at intruders.
- Owner-based: A behavior that is bad for you may not be bad for another dog owner. It can depend on your personal choices, habits, and lifestyle patterns.
Generally, the behavior of a dog is bad if it is unwelcoming or excessive. It is problematic if it continues even after correction attempts. So, let's learn what behavior of the dog you should consider as bad behavior.
- Excessive barking
- Begging
- Leash pulling
- Biting dog collars
- Excessive digging
- Excessive jumping
- Urinating at the wrong place
- Chewing
- Whining
- Biting
- Nipping
Any of this behaviour is not harmful until it is excessive. Repeated and ongoing unwanted behaviour is a real challenge. Fortunately, there are some strategies to control bad behaviour in a dog. Keep reading to know them -
8 Ways to Control Unwanted Dog Behavior
1. Reward-Based Training
Sit, come, catch training may not seem related to barking, digging, jumping, and chewing problems, but it is.
Reward-based training helps eliminate bad behaviours too. It teaches your dog that good things will happen when they do what you ask them to do. Along with helping with the bad behaviour, it also makes them feel positive, stimulates their mental health, and strengthens their bond with you.
Try to train your dog in new commands every week and keep practising the older ones along with them.
Must Read: Top 5 Tips to Stop Dog from Biting
2. Time Out
It is a calm and firm punishment for your dog that shows that you are unhappy with their behaviour and want them to change.
For this, pick a spot where you socially isolate your dog. Keep in mind that the spot should not be too scary or loud. Also, the time out should be between 30 seconds to 1 and a half minutes only. Isolation in a crate can also be a great option.
Make sure to keep a clear connection between the time-out and bad behaviour. Dogs do not like to stay socially isolated, especially when someone makes them do so. So when they start connecting the time out with their bad behaviour, you will see the improvements.
3. Ignore Their Bad Behaviour
Sometimes, your dog indulges in bad behaviour to get your attention; they jump, bark, chase their tail, or dig the ground. When you shout or punish them, they do it even more. For them shouting and punishing is also a form of attention, so you should avoid doing that also. However, once you stop reacting to their actions, they don’t find their behaviour effective and thus stop doing it on their own.
Instead, give them attention when they are showing their good boy behaviour. This way, your attention-seeking dog will do it again and again to seek your attention, and it will keep you happy.
4. Exercise
Some dogs behave in a poor manner, such as digging, jumping, or barking, due to the held-back energy. Burning off extra energy through exercise can prevent your dog from not wasting their energy on bad behaviour. You can make them do both mental and physical exercise. Moreover, when you exercise and play with your dog, it strengthens the bond between you two. It makes them more likely to pay attention to your commands and obey them.
Young dogs between the age of 6 months to 2 years need lots of exercise and mind activity. Play games like fetch games, tug of war, and find the treat. You can also take them for a walk in the dog park nearby.
5. Socialise
With socialisation, you can correct various bad behaviors. The more your dog gets habitual of different scents and sounds, the less they overreact to them. With exposure, your dog gets accustomed to different surroundings, which minimises their bad habits.
6. Prevention From Learning Bad Habits
It is better to prevent bad habits than correct them once learned. For that, you need to puppy-proof your house. Put the toys and shoes away from the reach of your pup. Place the house plants up from the floor. Supervise the puppy while playing in the yard, even if it is fenced. With constant supervision, they will learn how to behave when they are home.
7. Be Consistent
If you do not feed your puppy from the table, but any of your house members do, he will learn the bad behaviour of begging. Or if you ignore them when they jump excessively, but any of your house members pet him for it, he will continue to do it.
To make your dog learn good manners and forget bad behaviour, all your house members need to maintain consistency. No training is going to work if your entire house is enforcing different rules. Everyone has to cooperate and follow the set standards for your dog’s behaviour.
8. Training
Training is essential and not just for making your dog learn new behaviour. With training, you will learn how to communicate with your dog. The training makes you understand the signals from your dog and how to send signals to your dog. With training, everything gets easier, including unlearning their bad behaviour.
Must Read: How to Train an Aggressive Puppy?
Follow our above-mentioned tips, and remove unwanted behaviour from your dog’s personality.
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