How to stop bad behaviour

Bad behaviour can be very stressful, so how can we improve it?

Below are the two main methods that are commonly used.

Training method 1: I’m going to punish* my dog for doing the wrong thing!

Training method 2: How do I prevent my dog from making a mistake, and how should I reward her for doing the right thing?

There’s a big difference between those two mindsets.

The first method is reactive. We wait for the dog to do something we don’t like, then we punish him. And then we tell ourselves “He knows it’s wrong, I’ve told him before.” The dog often continues to make the same mistake, and continues to be punished.

The second method is proactive. We know dogs like to chew things, pee on things, do zoomies, bark, etc. So we teach him what to chew, where to pee, when/where to do his zoomies, when to bark and when to be quiet. Bad behaviours are reduced because we are setting the dog up for success. We make the wrong thing hard, and the right thing easy. We communicate effectively and reward appropriately. When needed, we use punishments that are not scary or painful.

*In this article, punishment is used to describe punitive methods such as yelling, hitting, ‘rubbing their nose in it’, etc. There are kinder forms of punishment which are more effective. For the Applied Behaviour Analysis nerds, these are known as positive punishment and negative punishment, respectively.

And English Spinger Spaniel is lying down on the grass, looking up at her owner.

Let’s take a look at the difference between those two mindsets. It is by understanding those differences that you will build the foundation of good dog training.

“I’m going to punish my dog for doing the wrong thing!” is a mindset many of us fall into. I have done it myself, so I am just as much in the naughty corner as you might be. We all have bad days.

Many of us were raised in this way by our own parents, and so it’s our automatic way of teaching others.

Punishment-based methods of training are known to cause anxiety, aggression, and unpredictable behaviour. Who wants to live with an anxious, aggressive, and unpredictable dog??

A long haired Chihuahua is looking into the camera nervously.

Change your mindset.

Change your own behaviour.

Your dog’s behaviour will improve when you lead by example.

Let’s move away from punishing our dog’s failures.

And let’s be honest, a lot of the time our dog’s failures are actually our own failure to provide for our dogs’ needs.

Dogs need an education.

When our dogs chew on the furniture, it is because we have failed to provide proper supervision and chew toy training.

When our dogs have accidents inside the house, it’s because we have failed to properly teach our dogs where to go, and then to reward them every time they go in the right place.

When our dogs are doing zoomies all over the house and knocking things over, it is because we have failed to teach our dogs that zoomies need to happen outside.

Inside is for quiet cuddle time. And maybe we are failing to give our dogs an appropriate amount of off-leash exercise where they can properly stretch out their legs and play with other dogs.

A couple trips on-leash around the block are great for sniffing or a pee break, but on-leash walks are not a substitute for off-leash exercise. Even if the walk is an hour long, they never get to strengthen their joints or play properly while on leash. (This includes Flexi leads and long-lines!)

Two cockapoo puppies are running in the grass playing with a ball.

Think about a boss or a manager you’ve had in the past. This manager would yell and criticise you any time you made the tiniest mistake.

When you make a really big effort and do a great job of something, they completely ignore you. Or they say “Well you should have done it yesterday,” even when you did your absolute best under all that pressure.

It’s pretty unfair and discouraging. If anything, it only causes you to resent them and ignore them.

That lack of gratitude will eventually kill off any enthusiasm you once had for your job.

And I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.

Our dogs are the same.

A shepherd is lying down in the grass chewing on a bone.

When your dog is lying down, chewing a toy like a good boy, and you completely ignore him, you’ve missed a great opportunity to reward him for chewing on the correct object.

It’s not fair to punish him for chewing on the sofa, when you failed to reward him for chewing on a toy.

A Malamute is playing with a Labrador puppy in the snow.

When you walk past another dog and your dog calmly greets the other dog, and you don’t even notice because you’re staring at your phone, you’ve missed a wonderful opportunity to encourage friendliness in your dog.

It’s not fair to punish her for becoming reactive, because you failed to take an interest in her social skills. You failed to encourage that friendliness.

Admitting our shortcomings is never an easy process. However, it does make the future a little bit brighter. Taking personal responsibility is the first step.

Because now we know that we are not just helpless owners of a badly behaved dog.

We are the ones with the power to change our own behaviour and do something to fix the problem.

A brown dog is lying calmly on a grey sofa.

If you want a well behaved, calm dog - you must never take any good behaviour for granted.

When your dog is lying down quietly, you should walk past, smile at your dog, and say “Wow, what a good boy!”

And yes, smiling really does make a difference. Dogs have spent the last 10,000-100,000 years evolving to understand our facial expressions. They’re pretty good at it by now.

When your dog greets another dog in a calm and friendly manner - let them know how happy you are!

Give them a belly rub, a treat, and a kind word.

It makes a world of difference.

It builds your dog's confidence that they are capable of pleasing you, and this encourages them to make an even bigger effort.

When your dog goes to the toilet outside, give them 3 treats in rapid succession. Add in a tonne of excited praise! (Even if they did a poop on your new carpet 3 hours ago! Holding a grudge will not help you train your dog.)

A pug is pulling against the leash while a little girl tries to walk him.

And this leads us onto the next point: what if my dog was behaving badly 5 minutes ago?

It doesn’t matter.

Praise them when they are being good. Even if it’s just for 3 seconds of good behaviour.

If you refuse to praise your dog just because they were doing something wrong earlier today (or 2 minutes ago), you are holding a grudge. That grudge will get in the way of you improving your training skills.

And you will end up convincing yourself that you just got stuck with a bad dog.

Praising your dog because they are being good right now will not reinforce the bad behaviour from 30 seconds ago.

Rewards will only reinforce behaviours that occurred within the last 3 seconds. So if your dog was barking like a maniac for 30 seconds, and then they stopped 3 seconds ago - you need to reward them for stopping!

This is where many people get confused. They worry about rewarding the dog for barking, but this is not reflected in scientific studies.

If you reward your dog for 3 seconds of quiet time after a barking episode, they will be more likely to stop barking sooner next time.

If you reward & reinforce quiet time, you will get more quiet time.

For this same reason, you should never punish a dog for something they did minutes ago or hours ago. If you come home and your dog has chewed furniture and peed on the floor, you need a better training plan.

If you have adopted a new dog or puppy recently, and you'd like to get them starting out on the right paw - get in touch today for a prevention plan!

In-home sessions are available in Aberdeen city.