A naughty dog can be frustrating, destroying your furniture, chewing up shoes and rooting through the trash. Fortunately, just because your dog has bad manners now, there is no reason that he cannot learn to behave. With regular work, his behavior should quickly improve.
Step 1
Exercise your dog daily. You may be surprised at how much regular exercise will improve your dog's behavior. Access to a fenced back yard or a daily walk around the block won't be enough for many breeds. Take your dog for a jog or play fetch to really let your dog work off some steam.
Step 2
Teach him one command at a time. Give him a chance to master the recall, sit or down before moving to the next skill. Once you add additional commands, go back frequently and review the others he already knows.
Step 3
Reward often with treats and praise. Be calm when offering rewards, however. If you are too enthusiastic when praising a naughty dog, he may get overly-excited, making your job more challenging. A quick pat or small treat, along with a "good dog" is sufficient praise during the training session.
Step 4
Maintain consistency. Don't allow your dog to chew on anything except a few toys that you provide, never let him jump on you and always correct him for barking or howling. If you only correct him some of the time or allow him to make your old shoes his new chew toy, the training process will be much more difficult.
Step 5
Keep training sessions short and frequent. These short, frequent sessions will hold your dog's interest and keep frustration levels low, for both you and your pup. Ten minutes is plenty of time to teach and reinforce training commands.
References
- The Good Behavior Book For Dogs; Colleen Paige
- Veterinary Partner: Disobedient Dog?