Transforming your dog’s unwanted behavior through positive reinforcement may initially sound counterintuitive, but it is a powerful method. Not only is it possible to eliminate issues, but it’s also a fantastic way to shape preferable behaviors while deepening the bond with your pup.
It is human nature to want to reprimand unwanted behavior with a sharp “no!” However there are a few reasons this can backfire:
- It doesn't tell the dog what to do, and there are so many other bad choices the dog can make. So, it is much more direct to teach them what to do.
- Our dogs associate us with the reprimand, which can shake their trust in us. It also teaches dogs that it is safer to sneak out of sight the next time they want to practice the behaviors we have reprimanded. For instance, dogs that are scolded for peeing in the house often become "sneaky pee-ers"—going out of sight to urinate.
This can create side effects that will take additional training (and patience) to fix.
Of course, stopping the behaviors we don’t like is important, not just for our dog’s safety but also so we can have a harmonious relationship with our dogs. There is no doubt that a dog’s behavior can affect the pet-owner relationship.
Stopping unwanted dog behaviors is simple, if we break it down into three basic steps
- Prevent
- Provide an outlet
- Replace
Let’s dig deeper into how this works.
Preventing Unwanted Dog Behavior
Prevention is the key to changing unwanted behavior habits in dogs. If your dog repeats a behavior, they find it reinforcing. Reinforcement builds behavior, so breaking this cycle is essential to changing the behavior.
How to stop the unwanted behavior depends on the context. Here are the tools that will be key to your plan for prevention
Management Tools
These are tools that prevent your dog from accessing areas or things where it is exhibiting unwanted behaviors. These tools include crates, exercise pens, and baby gates.
So, if your dog is chewing or peeing in the living room, use one of these tools to keep them out unless you supervise them.
If your dog jumps up on guests as they come in, babygate them in a different area. This prevents jumping from being reinforced while you are training your preferred greeting behavior.
If you use a crate, be cautious that the dog is not in it for too long. That can create other behavior issues. Training them to be content in an exercise pen is a great alternative. You can still prevent access to things they are chewing or destroying while making sure there are a variety of safe dog toys and chews available for them to access. This will create healthy chewing habits that are safe for your dogs and your home!
Environmental Management
If your dog is barking when they see or hear things outside, there are environmental management tools that can help reduce this.
Music For Dogs
Does your dog seem concerned when they hear noises outside? Sometimes, that can lead to barking, or even chewing, and pacing. You can help mask the effect of these sounds by placing a speaker between the dog and the origin of the noise.
While white noise can help mask sounds, consider playing music with slow beats, such as classical, reggae, or soft rock. Several studies indicate that this type of music has a therapeutic effect on dogs.
Visual Barriers
If your dog gets worked up when seeing other dogs or people outside, consider putting up a visual barrier.
If your dog is sitting in the window when someone walks by the house and starts to bark, and then the person leaves, your dog will think, “My bark chased them away! Win!” We will see the behavior grow.
Here are your best management tools:
- Privacy film for your windows will block your dog’s view outside while still allowing light in.
- A privacy fence or fence screening will help block the visual stimuli found outside that may be triggering annoying behaviors from your dog.
Identifying Your Dog’s Triggers
A trigger is anything that predicts your dog’s unwanted behavior.
For instance, if Aunt Joan always invites your dog to jump up on her when you are trying to teach your dog to keep four feet on the floor, Auntie is a trigger.
If your dog likes to bark at other dogs, other dogs are a trigger.
Once we understand what triggers our dogs, we can avoid these things while we work on the rest of our training plan.
That means Aunt Joan doesn’t get to interact with our dog, and we turn and walk the other way when we spot another dog on walks.
Supplying An Outlet
A big part of preventing unwanted behavior is supplying an outlet for excess energy and preventing boredom. You want a good mix of mental and physical options to meet your dog’s biological needs.
Physical Exercise
Burning off your dog’s excess energy will make management easier. Excess energy makes it hard for anyone to stay calm, so plan some great exercise outlets for your dog. Time alone in the backyard is not enough!
Hiking
Most people take their dogs on walks for exercise. But taking them into the woods and letting your dog sniff and explore will help you get further physical and mental stimulation. So you don’t need to speed up to make the most of your walk. Slow down, and let your dogs sniff whatever they want!
Swimming
If your dog likes water and you have access to a pool or lake, Swimming is a great physical outlet that is aerobic but also low-impact.
Playtime
If your dog is social, this could mean setting up a play date with a dog your dog enjoys. If your dog does not love interacting with other dogs, please don’t try this without speaking with a trainer. The wrong play environment can make this worse.
But your dog also likely loves playing with you! One of my favorite toys for getting my dogs to exercise is a flirt pole. Here is a video that will show you how you can use it for fun and exercise, while building impulse control.
Mental Exercise
Many of the exercises listed above under physical exercise will also supply mental enrichment. But here are some additional enrichment activities that will offer a great outlet for your dog.
Food Search
There are many benefits to getting a dog sniffing. It gives them a mental outlet, which is just as important as encouraging physical exercise. In addition, sniffing reduces stress and lowers heart rate.
A food search can be as simple as scatter feeding! But you can also change it up with some of the games found in this video.
Replace Unwanted Dog Behaviors
Once you have prevented the unwanted behavior, it is time to teach a more human-approved, incompatible behavior.
Here are some examples to give you ideas:
While this may look oversimplified, training appropriate behaviors while preventing unwanted behaviors will work with patience and consistency.
Here is a real-life example:
I have personally had two dogs that loved digging. While there are a few reasons why dogs might dig (which is important to figure out before creating a training plan), I knew it was a way for both of my digging dogs to burn excess energy.
In both cases, I prevented the digging by going outside with them and calling them away when I noticed their "pre-digging" behaviors (for them, it was nosing and light pawing at the ground).
I gave them alternative energy outlets by starting games with toys or playtime with one of my other dogs. This greatly reduced the amount of times I needed to prevent potential digging.
I replaced the unwanted digging by creating a digging pit. My current dig pit has a visual perimeter (I used my kids’ retired sandbox). When training my dog to use it, I loosened up the dirt to attract digging. I also buried toys and bones in the dirt to make the dig pit even more attractive to my dog.
I continued to prevent unwanted digging unless it was inside the dig pit. My dog quickly learned that digging uninterrupted for buried treasure in the pit was more fun. She has been consistently digging there for 5 years.
Conclusion
Write down the behavior you want to change. Then, think about the tools you need to implement to prevent it. If you are using baby gates or ex-pens, be sure to train your dog to be comfortable with them.
Try a variety of outlets for your dog to see which they prefer and which are the most realistic for you to implement.
Lastly, think about what the ideal alternative behavior looks like. This can sometimes take some creativity and thought. You can always contact us, and we can cover the behavior you are experiencing in a future article.
If your dog is over-excited or worried by their triggers, training becomes trickier. I recommend getting a qualified dog trainer to help you create a training plan. When dealing with highly emotional behaviors, the right trainer will save you time and stress.
You can change those nuisance behaviors with time and patience while building a stronger bond with your dog.
