If he uses bad behavior to get your attention, do the best you can not to enable the behavior. Ignoring a behavior may not always work (especially when he finds another reward other than your attention), but it can serve as a trick to keep in your back pocket for when you're dealing with a challenging dog.
If an owner rewards the behavior, purposely or accidentally, the undesirable behavior will continue to linger. Even if the owner ignores her dogs 10 times, but screams “no” once, the behavior won't go away. To truly extinguish a behavior, it must be ignored each and every time.
Time-outs should last for no more than 2 minutes maximum but always start with 30 seconds. If the dog is ignored for too lengthy a period of time, he will simply forget what behavior caused this consequence and you will have taught him nothing. Your timing is VERY important when doing a time-out.
First, stop your dog in the act of whatever he's doing, then give him a different, pet parent-approved option. For example, if you walk into a room and notice him chewing your shoes or hairbrush, swiftly tell him "No!" and take the item out of his mouth. Once your dog is calm, present him with an actual chew toy.
Dogs can absolutely sense when their owners are too busy to pay attention to them when they are around. They are aware of your actions and behavior as their owner, and as a result, their mental and physical health can suffer if their owner or trainer does not pay enough attention to them.
You will most likely see an extinction burst with dogs who have previously been reinforced for barking or jumping when you begin ignoring the behavior correctly. They're working through the process of unlearning the association that barking/jumping = attention.
Research suggests that dogs with a guilty look do not show evidence that they are aware of having engaged in misbehavior. One would not experience guilt if one were unaware that a crime had been committed.
Methods such as alpha rolls and physical corrections (via the leash and a choke chain or by smacking the dog on the nose or by shaking their scruffs) were often recommended as a way for humans to establish dominance over their dogs.
If you want your dog to know that you're mad, they're probably going know without any training, because of your facial expressions and tone of voice. However, if you want to do more, you can try to give your dog a treat every time you're laughing or smiling.
Consider why your dog is misbehaving.
The dog may not understand the cue given; they may not have had enough practice to do it reliably; they may be too distracted, stressed, or afraid.
While you're working to determine the cause of the growling, don't ignore it or it's likely to get worse. Be careful around your dog until you figure out why it's growling. Additionally, you may want to help your dog modify its behavior until the situation is under control.
Only use your dog's name for positive situations. Never correct them after a bad incident has happened. Many of us have walked into our home only to find that the dog has torn apart your sofa cushions or had a toileting 'accident'. Your first thought is to yell and correct the "bad dog".
If you constantly yell, your dog doesn't understand what is important. Dogs hear better than humans and both yelling and repeating yourself actually work against you. After a while, your dog will start to ignore your commands.
Dogs don't understand English, so going on a tirade might make you feel like you're getting your point across, but your dog won't have a clue what you're barking about. Dogs respond best to short, precise cues that you have trained to have meaning.
While a one-off hit might be forgiven, dogs will find it hard to move on from repeated harsh discipline and it could negatively affect your bond. You should work on positive training techniques and seek the help of a dog behaviorist if you are struggling.
This move of throwing dogs to the ground and holding them down is very pervasive on television. The act of holding a dog down forcibly as a correction is generally called the "dominance down." It is inappropriate, ethologically absurd, and completely counterproductive when interacting with dogs.
When it comes to long-term memory, researchers believe that dogs will remember events that were strongly positive or negative and have a major impact on the animal's ability to survive.
Like humans, dogs go through a rebellious “teenager” phase (around 5 months to 18 months).
Unlike humans, dogs do not always understand why they're being punished or the consequence of their actions. So depending on how you punish, it could cause a lot of problems such as fear, aggression and sadness in your dog.
In fact, not only is it likely to make them naughtier, it can even lead to even stress and depression. Research conducted by the University of Porto demonstrated that shouting at your dog and using 'punishment-based training' could make them depressed in the long-term.
Don't Bark Back at Your Dog
But always resist the urge—your dog might think you're joining in on the barking, and that might cause him to bark more. Instead, speak in a low, calm voice.
Essentially, your dog wants your approval. So, rather than yelling or constantly saying “No”, quicker progress can be made by teaching your dog a 'no' signal – one that tells him to stop whatever he is doing whenever he hears it. A suitable command can be “Leave”.