Naughty Pup? Here's What YOU are Doing Wrong

Did you know that your puppy's behavior is a direct reflection of your teaching?If your puppy has been naughty, then you need to learn what you are doing wrong. It's nice to have a puppy in the home and integrated with the family, but if your puppy is displaying challenging behaviors, it's important that you understand that you could be a part of the problem.

When it comes to training your puppy, you need to make sure that you are speaking to an expert. Companies such as All Dogs Unleashed can help you with puppy training and help them to learn what's acceptable and what isn't. It may not be a nice pill to swallow that you could be the problem here, but with the tips below you can learn what you are doing wrong and how you could be attributing it to your puppy's behavior. So, what are you doing that could be problematic?

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You are not exercising your puppy enough. It's easy to forget to take your dog for a walk when you are gone for work everyday, but if your dog's walk is too fast and just consists of a quick dash into the backyard, you're not giving them enough opportunity to use up all of their energy. When this happens, your dog will end up chewing your shoes, scratching your floors, and stealing your food. This behavior should not be acceptable, so you should live by the motto that a tired dog is a good dog.

You haven't invested in their training. It sounds like a no-brainer, but if you haven't invested in proper training for your dog after they have learned to sit, lie down or go to the bathroom outside, then it's time to make that change. You can absolutely teach an older dog new tricks as well, so don't be fooled by that phrase. You can introduce new commands every week and practice the old ones while using a reward system with treats to help them to get it.

You keep reinforcing the bad behavior. When your dog is barking for your attention, how are you responding to that? Are you yelling at your dog to stop? If you're doing that, then you are the problem because you've just given them exactly what they wanted. You are letting him know that his bad behavior is working if you are yelling rather than positively reinforcing. You need to be able to give your dog the opportunity to succeed. For example, if a dog is begging for food, tell them to go and lay down in their quiet place and then give them a treat when they do. This shows that they can and will listen to you.

You haven't done enough research into their breed. There are some dogs that will terrorize your home more than others, but if you are walking your dog more than twice a day, you might help to get that energy out. Learning about their breed and ensuring that you understand their exercise requirements is important for them to succeed, and for you to have an intact home!