Will My Dog Grow Out Of Bad Behavior? (Spoiler – It Depends!)

Play biting

All puppies bite. And puppy biting tends to peak at around 3 months old, then decline. However, a different kind of biting, an ‘excitement nip’, can develop and persist in dogs during the second half of the first year.

Excitement nips can become very rough and they are usually triggered by rough, physical play. You can avoid, and cure them, by insisting that family members do not engage in physical play or ‘rough housing’ with your dog.

And by switching your dog’s focus from rough play to calm training, using short structured training games that can be played regularly throughout the day. You’ll find examples of these games on our website and in our courses.

Puddles

Toilet training can seem like a two steps forward and one step back journey at times, but with good supervision, most puppies improve rapidly as their bladder matures.

Even rescue dogs with poor toilet control will respond rapidly to a structured toilet training course.

Exceptions can occur in dogs that have lost that all important instinct for keeping their own bed clean.

That’s why we place such emphasis during Puppy Parenting on never forcing a puppy to wet their own bed by crating them with a very full bladder for example, or leaving a puppy too long in a crate.

Clumsiness

Clumsiness is very common in large friendly puppies. And it can be a problem in homes where a large breed puppy is sharing floor space with a toddler.

As they mature, most puppies do learn to step around babies rather than walking straight through them, and life gets easier!

In the meantime, baby gates and supervision are your friend.

Chewing

The bad news is that the chewing phase is long. In some breeds up to two years. The good news is that for most dogs it does end. Eventually!  

In the meantime, providing your dog a variety of chew toys, of different types, will help. And young dogs should not be left for long periods unsupervised until they have outgrown this phase. You might want to checkout this article If your dog is a persistent bed chewer. 

And I say ‘most dogs’ because adult dogs will sometimes chew and destroy furnishings, and even the fabric of buildings if distressed. Usually as a result of long periods of isolation.

Okay, so those are mostly good news. With time and patience, the behavior of young dogs may settle and improve. Though with your help and good management they are likely to improve much faster. 

But what about those behaviors that don’t simply resolve over time?

Dogs do not grow out of these

Here are some behaviors that don’t spontaneously improve as dogs mature. In fact they are likely to get worse unless someone intervenes.

• Running away
• Regularly peeing or soiling the crate
• Refusing to be caught
• Barking or whining in the crate
• Roaming
• Pulling on the leash
• Not listening

Running away

Running off during walks, sometimes for hours at a time, is a very common problem.  It starts when a young dog’s growing independence is not accompanied by a growing bond with, and interest in, their owner.

When training goes right, the owner becomes the centre of the dog’s world. The source of so much fun, that the dog never wants to be far from them, in case they miss the next good thing.

A good structured recall training system ensures that this happens.

When training goes wrong, the dog discovers they can have much more fun on their own. And the solution is usually a period of restricted freedom while the dog is retrained, and the bond with the owner is rebuilt.

Peeing or soiling the crate

Occasionally I hear from someone that has got themselves into a particularly difficult situation. They have a young dog that regularly pees and poops in its own bed.

This can be a difficult problem to fix but it is an easy one to avoid. All puppies have a powerful instinct to keep their bed clean and from being very small will move away from the ’nest’ area to empty themselves. Bed wetting in this situation is usually the result of the puppy being forced to stay in its bed, until it can no longer hold on. If this happens several times, the dog may lose their instinct to keep their bed clean. 

There are several strategies that can help with a cure. To break the habit you’ll almost certainly have to closely supervise the dog and take them outside more often. It may mean no lie-ins for a while as you’ll need to get up early before the dog needs to pee. Sometimes changing a dog’s sleeping quarters completely will stop the habit. You’ll probably have to experiment, but patience and persistence is the key. 

Refusing to be caught

If you’ve ever spent an unhappy half hour trying to catch your dog at the end of a walk you’ll know just how infuriating this can be!

It happens because the dog doesn’t want the walk to end. And it’s usually an easy one to fix. You need to make the return to the vehicle or being leashed, a cause for celebration.

TIP: Start at home with some very high value rewards. Warm roast chicken is usually a winner.  Leash your dog, feed, and unleash your dog. Repeat many times. Progress to the garden or yard. Then to open country with the dog on a long line. Put the leash on as well as the line. Feed, and take the leash off again.

Keep practicing and always, but always reinforce the end of a walk with some high value treats.

Barking or whining in the crate or kennel

Some dogs will give up making a noise in a crate or kennel if nobody ever responds to them. But not many. And those that do, may get worse before they get better.

It’s not unusual for a dog to bark throughout the working day if left alone at home.

And the way to avoid this un-neighborly problem, is to train your dog how to relax on their own. Starting with the games that we play with our puppies that reinforce them when we leave the room. And to break up their day with company from a dog walker, or friend. If the dog is kennelled outdoors, then providing the dog with a companion may help. 

Roaming

Occasionally dog owners write to me because they are concerned that their dog is straying from their unfenced property. This is more common in rural areas where people are hoping to give their dog more freedom.

Roaming tends to begin in the second half of the first year and although more common in intact male dogs, it does occur in neutered males, and in females too.  

It goes without saying that your dog is greatly at risk from this habit and unfortunately not only do dogs not grow out of it. It tends to get worse.  And sadly, there is no foolproof solution, other than a secure fence.

Pulling on the leash

If your dog pulls on the leash you’ll almost certainly be aware that this is a problem that is not going to go away on its own.

Check out my article: When Your Dog Will NOT Stop Pulling On The Leash for more information.

Not listening

Not listening tends to precede other problems, such as running away, and needs addressing promptly.

Being able to engage your dog in the space of just a few seconds is an important pre-requisite for teaching your dog anything. By engage your dog, I mean: make sure that they are fully focused on you and trying to figure out what you want them to do next.

Getting your dog’s attention is critical, and it’s something we focus on in all our entry level courses, from Puppy Games up.

TIP: You can make a start today, by practicing some simple short games with your dog – rewarding them for eye contact or a nose touch for example.  

Make sure you play those games throughout the day, so that your dog starts to realise you are not just a pretty face, you are actually worth listening to!

Have fun, and keep your dog engaged!