09/16/2026
The first thing you need to do when you have a dog performing a behavior you don't want; is come up with an alternative behavior for the dog to engage in. This can be something as simple as a hand target, or a sit. But there has to be a behavior to direct the dogs towards, not just away from. 'No' is a complete sentence for humans, but not for dogs. For dogs it is incomplete information that can cause a lot of frustration, and sometimes even escalate undesired behaviors because an alternative path has not been presented for the dog to achieve success. That frustration can make learning difficult, but also cause the dog to double down on the behaviors you're looking to extinguish.
The path of "do this" is always a much simpler pathway for everyone. The brain is not capable of learning Not-Something, it can only learn to do. Provide the alternative behavior and watch as the undesired behavior loses appeal to the dog as conditioning takes place.
