10 common bad dog behaviors and how you can stop them

10 common problem dog behaviors and how you can stop them

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As dog owners, it is our responsibility to ensure the well-being of our pets and take measures to prevent harm to them. 

Here are ten of the most prevalent undesirable behaviours exhibited by dogs, along with some advice on how to put an end to them once and for all. 

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💡🐾 The 3 Most Common Dog Bad Behaviors as per Research

1. Aggression 🐕‍🦺: Biting, snapping, and growling.
2. Excessive Barking 🗣️: Unwanted, frequent noise.
3. Destructive Chewing 🦴: Damaging objects and furniture.

If your dog exhibits any of these behaviours, you may be at a loss for how to correct them. 

Dogs are highly social animals, so it is essential that we don’t ignore them or leave them home alone all day without any supervision. 

If we do either of these things, the dog is likely to develop some undesirable behaviours, such as begging to go outside when you want them to stay inside or chewing furniture when you don’t want them to do either.

Too Much Barking

Barking too much is a typical source of frustration for owners. Check to see if there’s a reason he’s barking, and if there is, address the issue by repairing whatever may be giving him concern. 

This is especially important if your dog barks excessively. Your dog may be barking as a method of expressing other emotions, such as tension or boredom. 

How to stop Excessive barking

If your dog is barking because he is Bored, in this case, you can try to engage his energies through play or exercise. You’ll have more control over how often he does it if you can teach him to bark when you tell him to. 

If your dog suffers from separation anxiety, consider giving him a toy that he can gnaw on for a long time before you leave the house.

Excessive Chewing

Chewing Everything 

If you want to keep order in your house, one of the behaviours your dog exhibits that you’ll need to correct is chewing. 

Other undesirable behaviours include barking and leaping. You could get lucky and be able to learn your puppy to stop chewing if you distract him with an appetising chew toy while you do it. 

How to stop Excessive Chewing

It is crucial that you keep these toys immediately available for your dog because if he goes for extended periods of time without them, he may go back to his old habits of chewing on shoes or other household things. 

It is important that you make these toys readily available for your dog. 

You can also get your dog habituated to these toys by placing them in his food bowl just before mealtime and gradually increasing the amount of time they spend there over the course of the day until they are permanently present. There is some Toy that you can find on Amazon that look like shoes .. here is the one I mostly use.

Anxiety when left alone

Most dogs suffer from some form of anxiety when left alone. 

Whether it’s separation anxiety, which causes distress as soon as you leave, or boredom, which means they destroy things when they get bored while you’re away, bad behaviour stemming from your absence can become quite troublesome. 

How to Deal with Separation Anxiety

Regardless of how long you are gone for (less than 5 hours, 10 hours etc.), there are ways to address and resolve both types of dog anxiety so that you don’t have to deal with destruction and distress when you return home. 

Here are a few tips on what you can do

• Ensure that your dog has at least 20-30 minutes to eat while you’re gone from home by filling Kong-type toys with food.
• Hide your dog’s food so they have to find it which can help to engage and preoccupy them.
• When dogs are left alone at home, a safe chew toy can keep them occupied.
• You and your dog may have a lot of fun playing activities like fetch and tug-of-war (before you leave them alone).
• play fetch and tug of war with your dog to keep the two of you active and entertained (before you leave them alone).

Attacking other animals

It may be due to fear or anxiety. Your dog may feel threatened when another animal gets too close and defensive, making him want to attack. 

Sometimes, dogs perceive other animals as threats regardless of whether they’re a threat or not. 

To stop your dog from attacking other animals: 

1) Make sure he’s up-to-date on all vaccinations and spayed/neutered; 

2) Spend lots of time with him so he isn’t lonely; 

3) Have plenty of stimulating toys available so he has things to do when he’s alone; 

4) Practice positive training methods and encourage good behavior instead of punishing bad behavior. I

f you are unable to control your aggressive dog, seek help from a qualified trainer before allowing him around other animals.

Not getting along with other dogs

The first thing you need to do is put yourself in your dog’s paws. 

Dogs live in a world of scents and sounds, not sight or language. 

If a dog doesn’t like something, he will try to remove himself from it by moving away or trying to make whatever he dislikes go away. 

This is called avoidance behaviour. 

With dogs who don’t get along with other dogs, their avoidance behaviour often looks aggressive to us because they try to bite or growl at dogs they dislike.

Aggression towards people

If your dog is acting aggressively towards you or other people, it’s best to get professional help right away. 

Dogs are social animals, and seeing them act aggressively towards their owner or a guest in your home can be very distressing. 

There are many reasons why dogs may act aggressively toward people, but if you recognise these 10 common bad dog behaviours and how you can stop them right away, hopefully, it will lead to a calmer relationship with your furry friend in no time.

Pulling on the leash when walking

We all love our dogs, but sometimes those four-legged friends can be a little difficult to handle. 

One of their most common bad behaviours is pulling on their leash when walking. 

In fact, over 80% of dog owners say that pulling is a major problem for them—however, it doesn’t have to be! Try using a training collar; many people say they are far more effective than treats or other training tools. 

It only takes a few weeks for your dog to get used to wearing it. Once they’re comfortable with it, you’ll start seeing better behaviour immediately.

Jumping up on people

If your dog’s tail is wagging, they’re probably happy to see you. That said, a wagging tail doesn’t mean it’s okay for them to jump up on you—that would be too much excitement for any one human or canine to handle. 

If you want your dog to stop jumping on people, ignoring them after they do it for a few days should make things go more smoothly. 

They will likely think their jumping behaviour wasn’t noticed and stop doing it because of that. It can take some time, but it will work if you stick with it. 

Remember: no one wants to be jumped on by an overexcited pup!

Toilet anxiety (peeing & poop inside the Home)

Fear of going outside to pee and poop is a common problem in young dogs. It’s also an incredibly messy one. 

Toilet anxiety can lead to house training accidents, or worse—your dog could end up peeing inside of your home because he’s scared to go outside. 

To stop toilet anxiety in its tracks,

keep a close eye on your dog when you take him out for walks or potty breaks (even if it’s just for a minute) so that you can make sure he relieves himself before he gets back inside. 

Your Pooch should be able to tell you when he needs to go by acting differently than his normal self—looking at his leash, sniffing around more, whining—so stay alert!

Digging up your garden

Dogs are natural diggers. There’s no other way to put it, and that means digging in your garden can get expensive. 

Luckily, there are a few techniques you can use to discourage your pup from turning your yard into an excavation site. 

First off, keep them occupied—take them for walks, play with toys, toss a ball around and make sure they’re well-exercised before letting them outside. 

If all else fails and you catch them in their act of rebellion (or even if you suspect something is about to happen), distract them with praise or treats before giving a firm no digging command and standing guard until they move along.

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