Three Dog Training Tips for Breaking Bad Habits
There are three things that dogs do that can simply drive their owners crazy.
Those three things are just natural doggy things to do; chewing, barking, and begging for food.
Chewing: First, let's talk about breaking your dog's destructive chewing habit.
We've all lost one of an expensive pair of shoes to puppy teeth.
The fact is you are not ever going to stop a puppy or even a grown dog from chewing on things.
You can, however, stop him from chewing on YOUR stuff.
Dogs chew for a variety of reasons.
First, puppies will chew on anything that might be handy when they are cutting teeth.
It helps the teeth to come through the gum.
But dogs continue to chew after the puppy teeth are cut.
The best way to stop a dog from chewing is first to provide him with toys that are acceptable for him to chew on.
Remove all of the unacceptable objects and put them out of reach.
When you catch him chewing on something that he shouldn't chew on (the dining room table for example), you say a firm "NO," remove him from the object (do not remove the object from him), and then give him an acceptable chew toy.
When he chews the acceptable toy, praise him.
Barking: Dogs bark.
There is some barking that you will never stop.
For example, if your dog barks at the postman, the postman goes away, the dog succeeded.
You will never break that habit, so just forget about it.
Other incessant and unnecessary barking can be corrected, however.
When our dog is barking unnecessarily, hold his mouth closed (gently, you don't need to hurt him) and say a firm "NO"! With the other hand, make a closing motion.
After you repeat this exercise a few times, simply showing him the "don't bark" sign (closing motion with your hand) will stop the barking.
Begging for food: Okay, pretty simple! Do not EVER feed the dog when YOU are eating.
You ALWAYS feed a dog after you have eaten.
If you never start this, you won't have to break the habit.
If the habit has already been formed, then just stop doing it.
When he begs, firmly say "NO," and don't weaken and feed him.
Those three things are just natural doggy things to do; chewing, barking, and begging for food.
Chewing: First, let's talk about breaking your dog's destructive chewing habit.
We've all lost one of an expensive pair of shoes to puppy teeth.
The fact is you are not ever going to stop a puppy or even a grown dog from chewing on things.
You can, however, stop him from chewing on YOUR stuff.
Dogs chew for a variety of reasons.
First, puppies will chew on anything that might be handy when they are cutting teeth.
It helps the teeth to come through the gum.
But dogs continue to chew after the puppy teeth are cut.
The best way to stop a dog from chewing is first to provide him with toys that are acceptable for him to chew on.
Remove all of the unacceptable objects and put them out of reach.
When you catch him chewing on something that he shouldn't chew on (the dining room table for example), you say a firm "NO," remove him from the object (do not remove the object from him), and then give him an acceptable chew toy.
When he chews the acceptable toy, praise him.
Barking: Dogs bark.
There is some barking that you will never stop.
For example, if your dog barks at the postman, the postman goes away, the dog succeeded.
You will never break that habit, so just forget about it.
Other incessant and unnecessary barking can be corrected, however.
When our dog is barking unnecessarily, hold his mouth closed (gently, you don't need to hurt him) and say a firm "NO"! With the other hand, make a closing motion.
After you repeat this exercise a few times, simply showing him the "don't bark" sign (closing motion with your hand) will stop the barking.
Begging for food: Okay, pretty simple! Do not EVER feed the dog when YOU are eating.
You ALWAYS feed a dog after you have eaten.
If you never start this, you won't have to break the habit.
If the habit has already been formed, then just stop doing it.
When he begs, firmly say "NO," and don't weaken and feed him.
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