how to stop bad dog behavior : A Specialist’s Guide

Table Of Contents

Understanding the Cause of Bad Dog Behavior
What Can We Do?
Learning Dog Signals
The Impact of Small Actions
Speaking Their Language
Learn More About Dog Training

Look, I am a dog specialist, and I know how to stop bad dog behavior. You may not know how to do it. Maybe you’ve discussed this problem with many people—perhaps they’ve been raising dogs for a long time, or they are someone you know who has good knowledge about dogs.

Now the question is, have you found a solution to your problem? If you haven’t or are curious about a good solution, these words are for you. We all need to stop the mistreatment of dogs. Today we will learn how to stop bad behavior in dogs.

All the information provided here is from my own experience.

Understanding the Cause of Bad Dog Behavior

First, let’s identify the reason behind dogs’ bad behavior. Dogs usually do not understand which of their behaviors are problematic—those that make their owners unhappy—or even recognize their own behavioral problems.

So, can we say that the dog itself is responsible for its bad behavior? No, we cannot. The truth is that we, as the owners, are responsible for enabling such behavior. This bad behavior often stems from our own mistakes, which the dog internalizes as acceptable habits.

You might say, “How are we involved in this? We never wanted the dog to behave this way.”

You may not intend it, but your actions don’t always reflect that. Your behavior might inadvertently support the dog’s actions. While you may not communicate this directly to me, the dog certainly understands it.

What Can We Do?

First, we need to make it clear to the dog that we do not approve of certain behaviors. The question then becomes: how do we communicate this? Dogs do not understand our words or the meaning behind them.

In this case, we need to use various signs or signals to explain our disapproval.

Learning Dog Signals

How do we learn these signs or signals? To do this, we need to rely on a skilled pet trainer who can teach us these methods.

Several of our habits contribute to bad dog behavior, such as being overly enthusiastic.

For example, we often start by feeding the dog or giving unnecessary encouragement, which brings immense pleasure to the dog. This can make them fail to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.

The Impact of Small Actions

Imagine you’re playing with your dog in the field. After some time, you give them a treat to encourage them—this could be their favorite food or a new toy. While we all enjoy this activity, consider this scenario: you give them food, but they don’t eat it properly and scatter it around.

You might think, “Maybe they aren’t hungry,” or “They don’t like this food.” You consider many possibilities.

Now, if you take the food away, offer them a toy or treat instead, and then try giving the food later, you might think it’s a small matter. But it’s not.

To the dog, receiving a toy or treat after this behavior feels like a reward for what they just did. They interpret it as a sign of approval. From then on, they may become eager to repeat this behavior.

Speaking Their Language

We must remember that dogs are non-verbal animals. They won’t understand if we speak to them in our language. Instead, we need to communicate with them in ways they can comprehend.

Now, you might wonder, “What is dog language?”

Dog language doesn’t mean speaking like them. It refers to specific signals that they can recognize and learn from.