Have you ever lived with or worked for someone who criticized you often for things that you did when you didn’t even know in advance that what you were doing was something unacceptable?
It can put you in a heightened sense of stress as you never know when that punishment is going to occur and what you need to do to avoid it.
That can happen with your pet also. And when you are constantly having to correct your pet, you are not helping either one of you. After all, your pet was just making a choice to fulfill a need or want. You just didn’t like that choice.
If your pet continues to do the behavior, then it is a behavior that is successful in getting your dog something of value – at least part of the time. Punishing your dog for making that choice, could potentially create avoidance behaviors including avoiding you at certain times or avoiding certain environments/people/circumstances.
Instead, whether you have just brought home a new companion or already have one, think about what rules and boundaries you would like to see for your lifestyle. Manage to prevent practice when necessary. Teach your dog acceptable behavior choices for those moments. And give your dog choices – that work for you too.
