Can Puppies Grow Out Of Bad Behavior? Here's What A Trainer Thinks

Puppies get up to all sorts of mischief. Many dog owners brush this sort of thing off, believing that this is something a puppy will grow out of – but that’s not how it works!

Dogs don’t outgrow bad behavior. If they’re allowed to get away with something as a puppy, they’re going to continue doing that until someone untrained the behavior.

Even teething behavior has to be directed at the right channels (like chew toys or treats), or else you’ll wind up with a die-hard chewer. Chewing is very satisfying for dogs, so teething is no excuse for allowing destruction.

Worse still, all these behaviors you’ve allowed can get much, much worse. Imagine a big, fully grown dog doing the things your puppy does! For example:

• A puppy who barks at things they are afraid of may become aggressive or bite when they are older because they’ve learned aggression works.
• A puppy who loves to jump on people to greet them and seek attention now completely bowls over people because of their large size, leading to potential injury.
• A puppy who chews up shoes while teething learns that destruction is an acceptable outlet for boredom and, as a full-grown dog, will chew through furniture.
• A puppy who growls when you take their food or toys away learns resource guarding behavior and now becomes uncontrollable and aggressive as a big adult dog when you try to take their things.

These behaviors can become unmanageable, and many dogs are placed in shelters because of them. Correct bad behaviors young to prevent them being a problem when it’s too difficult to correct them.

Feature Image Source: Pixabay