Dogs are indeed man’s best buddies, and it is also true that our buddies often behave in a way we don’t approve at all. Many new dogs’ owners wonder how to correct bad behavior in dogs.
In the end, their concern is trying to keep their dogs behavior in the best condition. Mostly, dog owners are troubled by the following behaviors: barking, biting, chewing, digging, and jumping up on people.
It is important to note that understanding the reason behind these bad behaviors in dogs is the first step to correct them. Besides, a dog’s owner must set basics training obedience with their pet, so correcting bad behaviors in the dog will be easier.
We surely don’t want you to live “a dog’s life” with your puppy. Therefore, in this article on how to correct bad behavior in dogs, we will help you better to understand the different reasons behind these bad behaviors and to be able to manage them.
Table of Contents
Barking
It is natural for dogs to bark; after all, it is how they communicate. Yet, barking can be annoying when it is constant and loud. When dealing with this behavior, some owners bark or yell at their dog’s barking. This reaction makes the dog believe that his owner wants to be louder. (And you sure don’t want that) . To correct this lousy behavior, you need to know the reasons behind it.
Dogs bark for many reasons like attention, excitement, anxiety, boredom, or want to warn you of something.
How to correct this bad behavior in dogs? Well, you should consider first the reason. If your dog wants attention, then you should probably ignore it. Because if you give him attention, your pet will understand that his barking worked, and he’ll surely do it again. If your dog is excited or bored, then you should consider teaching it the “Speak” command and the “Quiet” command. In this case, your dog will bark and stop barking only when you order it. If you are unable to teach these commands to your pet, then try anti-barking collars or Herbal spray collars to control this issue.
Biting And Chewing
Among the issues that bother owners and push them to seek an answer on how to correct bad behavior in dogs is the problem of chewing. For that, it is a basic need in dogs, and it is uncontrollable. Dogs chew due to many reasons: puppy teething, curiosity, anxiety, or boredom.
To control this behavior, you need to get your dog toys that it can chew on. If you find your pet chewing on the wrong item, quickly change it with the toy you bought. If you notice that your dog doesn’t like the toy, then keep replacing it until you find something it wants.
Biting, on the other hand, does not need a toy. You need to know that this specific behavior is derived from many factors, such as when it feels the need to protect its properties, when it feels threatened, or when it is on pain.
To correct this behavior, you need to show pain whenever he bites.
The technique here is to link this behavior with your feeling of pain. With time your dog will begin to know when and how to use his teeth.
Digging
Dogs love to dig and hide their things, such as toys, bones, food in gardens, parks, and even between sofa pillows. However, this behavior, when done, excessively can constitute an obstacle to the dog’s relationship with its owner. Dogs dig as a kind of mental and physical stimulus. I mean what to expect from a bored, isolated dog?
When your dog is digging too much, one of the options available is to redirect it! This means letting him dig in a specific area of the garden, leaving the other parts out of it. If you cannot provide this solution expert Susan Zutautas from Pethelpful provide us with these options:
- Exercise him daily and vigorously, so that he is too tired to dig.
- Chicken wire can be placed in the hole or holes, and covered with soil. When your dog starts to dig in this area, he will not like the feel of the chicken wire and should stop digging.
- Fill the holes with some of his feces, and cover with soil. Many dogs do not like the smell of their own feces, causing them to stop digging.
- If he is digging to bury bones, stop allowing him to have bones outside.
Jumping Up On People
Many dog owners are glad when they first get a dog because the dog jumps on them as soon as they enter the house. As a result, Dogs understand that this behavior is favorable to their owners, so they begin to repeat it all the time. After a while, this behavior may cause many troubles.
When the dog grows up in size, this welcoming method becomes unpleasant, especially if you have older people or babies in the house.
To correct this behavior, your dog should be discouraged from jumping on you from the beginning, but at the same time do not punish him (he is just showing you love) you should not react or show your joy no matter how it jumps. Your pet will understand that you do not favor this action.
Conclusion
Eventually, every “dog has his day,” and so will your dog; you just need to be patient and understand your dog’s reasons. Remember, your dog is just like a kid; it still needs to learn many things as well as right and wrong. Training your dog can be tiring, but it is worth it. Bad behaviors for dogs are many; it is for the best to correct them by taking their happiness and health into consideration.
It is also helpful to talk with other dog owners; you may find some solutions to your problems and some company to your dog. However, if you are still struggling with how to correct bad behavior in dogs, you can always seek professional help, to save yourself time and suffering.
So finally, I hope you found this article “How To Correct Bad Behavior In Dogs” useful and informative. Let me know your answer down below. What do you think about this topic? Do you have more information or tips about how to correct bad behavior in dogs? Write them down below.
If you have any other questions or different opinions about it, leave a comment below.
Today’s Quote:
“The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too!” — Samuel Butler
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Hello!
I was interested in reading this post. My dogs have been barking a lot lately, but it is not due to boredom. This is basically because workers have started construction of a house on a lot across from mine, and although my dogs do not usually bark at them, they start barking when the workers make unusual noises, for example, one of them has an annoying voice and he often shouts. Whenever the man shouts, my dogs get upset and bark in response. These workers also often bring their dogs and let them just walk on the street outside my property, so naturally, this upsets my dogs as well. It is a bit annoying because I need to focus on working on my websites and my books. I can’t tell the workers what to do, but whenever the barking was excessive, I tried to distract my dogs. I call the one who barks most aggressively and put her inside, she always comes right away. The other two, I distract them with a toy or anything else that comes to mind, and it works.
What I also do when new neighbors move in and my dogs bark at them because they consider them “intruders”, I introduce my dogs to them, so they know that these people are ok here. I also talk to the neighbors in front of my dogs, so that they can see that all is well and “mommy is safe”, lol.
One of my dogs is a jumper. I let him, because, as you mention in your article, he expresses his love this way. When I have visitors, however, he can’t do it, and he seems to understand that the jumping is just for mommy, but there have been jumping incidents with visitors 😉 Luckily they like dogs and they were ok with it, and after a while, he understands they do not want that attention from him 😉 (yeah, well anyone coming to my property has to like animals, I have several running around here) 😉
Many people have told me that I should teach him not to jump, but I don’t want to do that, and I am glad I read this post and your mention that it is an expression of love and you should not punish behavior that is done out of love. You can certainly teach him to control it, but since Mr. Freckles, my dog, not only jumps when I come home, but he also jumps when he is happy – seriously, and he jumps really high, much higher than my height, I can’t take that away from him. He is a Dalmatian – Argentinian Dogo mix, but I think that there is some kangaroo in him too, lol.
Very useful post! Thanks for sharing!