Dogs are magical creatures – but sometimes the magic can be a little wild and uncontrollable! One of the most important things about being a good dog owner is learning how to reduce unwanted behaviors that your dog might exhibit – for instance, with the advice in this guide https://petdt.com/dog-keeps-licking-lips-and-swallowing/!
You’ll find our tips for reducing unwanted dog behaviors here – as well as the things you should never, ever do!
Prevention
If your dog is exhibiting behavior that’s troublesome, then prevention is always better than cure. Learning to recognize the signs and manage them is the best thing that you can do. There are, of course, many ways that you’ll have to learn to help you do this.
It can range from things like closing curtains to prevent barking, or closing doors to prevent access to areas of your house that you need to keep your dog out of, to removing potentially troublesome objects out of the dog’s way – such as your personal items that they love to chew!
Remember, a dog can’t understand what you want them to do and not do just by being told – so they can hardly be at fault! Make sure to take preventative measures to make sure that problems don’t arise.
Reinforcement
Dogs learn from how the world responds to their actions. You, therefore, need to learn to reinforce the positives and ensure that reinforcement of negative actions isn’t enabled.
It’s normal to give a dog a treat, a stroke, and a “good boy/girl” for every little thing they do. Dog lovers can’t help themselves! And if we know our dog isn’t trying to be naughty or destructive, then it’s especially hard to try to train them out of these behaviors – even if they can lead to the dog not always being on their best behavior.
Setting And Teaching Boundaries
With that in mind, it’s important to firmly but politely demonstrate boundaries as early as possible. The earlier that difficult behavior is seen, the easier it can be to help your dog to stop doing it. Leaving things simply reinforces the idea that it’s ok to do the things you don’t want your dog to do!
Of course, you love your dog and find it hard to challenge their behavior. After all, they don’t know any better! But that is precisely the reason why you should set boundaries – they don’t know any better, and they need you to guide them.
This isn’t just about telling your dog they can’t do something, of course. Reinforcement is the key. Rewarding good behavior, and making a show of not rewarding naughtiness is a good way to start reducing unwanted behaviors from your dog.
Loving your dog means you want the best for them – and you want them to be the best dog they can be! So that means a mixture of both discipline and positive reinforcement, in order to make sure that your dog is always on their best behavior because they want to be, and not because they’re scared.
Distraction
Toys can be a really great way to solve problems with your dog sometimes! They can be a great way of distracting them – and, of course, they mean that you get to play with your dog too! It can be handy to have a few favorite toys nearby to help distract your dog – for example, if your dog is going to bark at strangers walking past your house, or delivery drivers!
However, you’re the real distraction. Your regular interaction with your dog will train them more than any dog training classes can. And you’ll be the person that they’re going to learn how to interact with the world from.
There’s another side to this, of course – your dog will of course want your attention. And if they find that negative behaviors are a way of getting it, then they’ll continue to act on it. Remember to give your dog attention and love when they’re being good of course – but make sure that they don’t feel rewarded for doing bad things.
What Not To Do
It should go without saying, that violence and shouting are not the answer. Outside of those tragic occasions when a dog attacks someone, there’s never any reason to strike a dog. Anyone who does shouldn’t be allowed to own a dog.
Likewise, you shouldn’t ever try to intimidate a dog by shouting at it, or acting as if you’re going to hit it. These are monstrous things to do to a dog. They deserve better.
Conclusion
It isn’t always easy to raise a pet family member. Dogs can be extremely boisterous, and often don’t know their own strength. Not just that, but they don’t even know they’re doing anything wrong!
Therefore, it’s your job to help them along the way. Hopefully, this article has helped you learn a little about how to do that!
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