Breaking Bad Behavior in Dogs
No dog is born perfect, and they certainly do not arrive in our homes naturally knowing how to co-exist with us in a human world. Therefore, as pet parents, it is up to us to teach our dogs what is expected of them and to guide them into making good choices. Whether you have a brand-new puppy on your hands or have taken in a full-grown dog with bad behavior, the rules of dog training are the same. Read on to learn how to get the best out of your dog.
Providing Leadership
A dog without effective leadership is like a toddler who is lost in the mall. There are so many lights and sounds and strangers, and mom is nowhere to be found. They have no way of communicating with anyone around them or making sense of everything they see and hear, so they can do one of two things: They can either stand in the middle of the mall and scream and throw a temper tantrum, or they can go hide somewhere and cry. The same goes for your dog; without guidance and trust, your dog can either move towards the aggressive side of the spectrum or the fearful side. Now, imagine a police officer approaches the lost toddler and takes him by the hand and says “It’s okay, I’ve got you. Let’s go find your mom.” Now the world is less scary because there is someone here now who understands what is going on who can make sense of the world for them. You must step up and be your dog’s police officer, their leader, their mom or dad. There are many tools out there that can assist you in training and teaching your dog. Just as a child needs guidance to learn about the world they live in, so does your dog. When your dog can put their trust in you to protect them and show them what is expected of them, they will begin to let go of their anxiety and enjoy life.
Freedom is Earned
If you would not leave your toddler alone for the day in your home, then you shouldn’t leave your dog unsupervised either, at least not until they have learned the rules of the house and are following them reliably. If you are not supervising your dog when they are inside your house, then you lose out on the opportunity to correct them when they are getting into trouble, as well as the opportunity to reward them when they are doing something right. Set your dog up for success by limiting their freedom. Instead of leaving your dog alone with yummy (and dangerous!) power cords to chew on, an entire house to turn into their personal toilet, and furniture to destroy, eliminate free roaming around the house until your dog has earned your trust.
Once your dog has earned enough trust to be tested, try a product that allows you to spy check on your dog while you’re out. Products like Petcube allow you to check on your dog via an in-home camera and an app and even dole out treats when your dog does something reward-worthy!
Consistency
Everyone in your home needs to be on board with your dog’s house rules. If the dog is not allowed on the couch, then no one should be sneaking her on the couch when you are not home. If the dog is not allowed to eat scraps from the dinner table, then the dog should be put away during dinnertime to eliminate the temptation. If your rules lack consistent reinforcement, then your dog will become confused and bad behavior will continue.
Know What Behaviors You are Rewarding
Often, owners reinforce bad behavior without realizing it. To a dog, any form of touching them, talking to them, giving them eye contact, or giving them praise, treats and attention are all considered rewards. Therefore, if your dog is barking and lunging at another dog or person and you pick them up and pet them to calm them down, you have just reinforced their bad behavior. If your dog is outside barking and you shout at them to knock it off, you have just joined in the conversation and praised them for barking! Pay close attention to what behaviors you are rewarding because to a dog any attention is better than no attention. If you are having trouble identifying your behaviors or refraining from the actions mentioned above when trying to correct and train your dog, you may want to try clicker training.
Rewarding Good Behaviors
There is a saying in dog training: “Ignore the behaviors you don’t want, and reward the ones that you do.” If your dog is too high-energy and you want them to be calmer, give them praise, rewards and attention when they are laying calmly at your feet. If your dog jumps all over you when you walk through the door and you ignore it, praise your dog when all four paws are back on the ground. Dogs are very smart and they will not waste valuable energy continuing to do behaviors that earn them nothing, so use this knowledge to your advantage and reward the behaviors you want your dog to keep doing.
Correcting Bad Behavior
Dogs live in the moment, so bad behavior needs to be corrected within 1-2 seconds of the behavior in order to understand that what they did was bad. So in the event I catch my dog doing something bad, for example, getting into the trash can, I can firmly say “AH-AH!” to interrupt the behavior. Once the bad behavior has been interrupted, I can then praise them for stopping what they were doing.
Above all else, remember to be patient with your dog. They need love and understanding while they are learning how to be the dog you want them to be. Every dog needs a little work in the beginning, but I promise that if you take the time to work with your dog, you will reap the benefits of all of your hard work for the rest of your life, tenfold!
