Changing a dog's behavior with just time (barking, training, kids)
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I'm curious, is there a philosophy in dog training where A dog just learns what's expected of it over time? My dog came from a shelter over a year ago, and she had a lot of behavior issues. Nothing bad or dangerous, but mostly annoying. I think that's why she was at the shelter in the first place. I've tried a lot of things including dog trainers, training programs, and training tools. I watch these videos and dog seem to be trained and most instantly. Not my dog ! She would turn things like a squirt bottle that was supposed to correct bad behavior into a game.
So in a way, I kind of gave up and just start living my life with my dog. But I've noticed over time she starting to act the way I want her to act. She's not jumping up as much, not barking as much, and she's completely stopped mouthing people,etc. It's almost like just living with me she's learned what I expect of her. Granted I do reward her with a lot of attention and affection when she's doing what I want her too. And I kind of stopped all the formal training stuff that I kept reading about watching because it was getting me nowhere just frustrating me.
She's not 100% perfect dog by any means. The first couple of minutes when someone comes over she's a complete spaz. She goes more bananas when my boyfriend comes over! She loves him so much she can't even contain herself. But she used to be a spaz much longer, even up to an hour. Once in a while she'll act like her old self, but all it takes is a grunt from me and she stops and comes to me for a belly rub. Friends and family have also noted that she seems a bit better behaved. When I think back to what she used to be like, she is just so much better it's like she's a different dog with just hints of her old self every now and then. I'm starting to think if I just keep living like we do with this " untraining" that eventually she might lose all of her bad habits or most of them. Or maybe she's just maturing. They told me when I got her she was about two years old but then I was also told she's was probably actually closer to one-year-old. So she's about 2 to 3 years old now.
Anyway, I'm just curious if others experienced this with dogs. A loss of bad habits with time more so than direct training.
Last edited by BellaLind; 07-27-2017 at 07:02 AM..
Reason: Fixed weird autocorrect typos
What you've experienced is not unusual PROVIDED the bad habit in question isn't one that's self re-enforcing (such as getting into the trash). In your dog's case, I wonder if it isn't simply that the dog is growing up and losing annoying puppy traits. Many dogs are mentally still puppies for quite a while after they've physically stopped growing.
What you've experienced is not unusual PROVIDED the bad habit in question isn't one that's self re-enforcing (such as getting into the trash). In your dog's case, I wonder if it isn't simply that the dog is growing up and losing annoying puppy traits. Many dogs are mentally still puppies for quite a while after they've physically stopped growing.
Most of her bad habits are around wanting attention. I ignore her she acts like that as do most other people including my boyfriend. Are they still service once in a while. And new people she meets are just too exciting still. But she's getting better. It's funny to see her when he comes over she acts like a spaz and jumps up-and-down on my boyfriend and we both ignore her and then she "realizes things" and sits down and tries to act really calm but frantically wags her tail at the same time. She knows he'll only pet her if she sitting first. She used to mouth people too. Whenever she would mouth me I would've stop petting her and walk away. Now she doesn't a whole lot less but she still does it once in a while. It's funny when she catches yourself doing it and she stops and looks instead it's almost like she forgot that she's not supposed to do it and then remembered.
Last edited by BellaLind; 07-27-2017 at 07:59 AM..
Reason: I hate my phone and it's weird auto correct
Sounds like my shelter dog. He was very rough around the edges, definitely not a dog most families with kids would want. He's a survivor dog, would probably do well as a stray. Over the years I've given him some formal training but not much. Yet he has learned so much and aside from whining when he wants something, he has few bad traits. Kind of like a cat, he's always been really tuned in to me and learns and tries to please and acclimate (such a good boy).
He needed about a year to lose his insecurity and realize he didn't have to scrap for his life, next meal, next drink or next walk even. Once he passed that threshold, he really started learning and adapting to his new life. It was more him than me in terms of behavior change.
It depends on what's causing the behavior and how long you've had the dog.
As I said in an different post, it usually takes three months before a dog is completely acclimated to your home. So some behaviors may diminish with time to the extent they are caused by the dog's uncertainty in its new surroundings.
If the behavior is due to age (i.e., in a young dog) some things may get better as the dog matures.
Other things may be ingrained in the dog or are due to a bad experience or never having been taught the proper way to act, those things will need training.
In your case it may be a combination of she's getting older and you have been teaching her what's acceptable.
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