3 Common Dog Training Tips That Sound Right—but Make Behavior Worse

Most dog owners are trying to do the right thing—but some of the most common advice out there is actually making behavior worse. In this episode, Scott breaks down three widely accepted dog training tips that sound logical but often lead to escalation, confusion, or long-term behavioral problems.

If you’ve ever been told to “just correct it,” “ignore it,” or “they’ll grow out of it,” this episode will challenge those ideas and give you a clearer understanding of what’s really driving your dog’s behavior—and what to focus on instead.

You can visit USADogBehavior.com for lots of dog behavior resources—almost all of them are free—including videos, blog articles, and past podcast episodes to help you understand your dog.

Scott Sheaffer provides customized behavioral seminars for shelters, rescues, and veterinary teams—available online or on-site—focused on real-world strategies, with discounted or complimentary options available. Learn more about Scott Sheaffer’s behavioral seminars.

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Disclaimer
This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. If your dog is displaying aggression toward humans, consult an experienced and knowledgeable canine behavior professional who uses humane, non-aversive methods, and always take precautions to keep others safe.

Scott Sheaffer and USA Dog Behavior, LLC, are not responsible for any outcomes resulting from the use or interpretation of the information shared in this podcast.

Transcript

Welcome back to the USA Dog Behavior Podcast. I’m Scott Sheaffer; today’s episode is titled: 3 Common Dog Training Tips That Sound Right—but Make Behavior Worse. Today I want to talk about something that I see all the time.

Good people… trying to do the right thing…following advice, that actually makes their dog worse.

And the frustrating part?

Most of this advice sounds completely reasonable.

So today, I’m going to walk you through three of the most common pieces of dog advice I see—and why they backfire.

Let’s start with probably the most common one:

“Just correct the behavior.” And by “correction” we mean punish. Punishment can include things like, yelling at the dog, hitting it, leash pops, prong collars, shock collars, bark collars, spraying water in the dog’s face, etc.

And look—I understand why people go there.

The dog does something wrong → apply a correction → behavior stops, for a little while. Seems like it always returns doesn’t it?

Makes sense, right?

But here’s the problem…

You’re dealing with the surface issue, not the cause. In the behavior world we call these surface issues the “presenting behavior.” Treating just the presenting behavior frequently makes the real problem, worse.

If a dog is reacting out of fear, anxiety, frustration, or even confusion…and you apply pressure on top of that…

you’re not resolving anything.

You’re stacking stress. You’re making things worse for the dog.

And that’s where escalation comes from.

This is especially true in aggression cases.

You might suppress it for a moment—but underneath, it’s building.

And eventually, it comes out harder. This is why some behavior issues, like aggression, get worse over time.

Second one:

“Just ignore it.”

Now—to be fair—this can work in very specific situations.

But people overapply it like crazy.

It works primarily for attention getting behaviors like dogs jumping on people. But, Not everything is attention-seeking behavior.

Some behaviors are rooted in:

• anxiety 
• learned patterns 
• fear
• over arousal
• frustration

If your dog is dealing with separation anxiety for example…ignoring it definitely doesn’t help.

If your dog is confused about what you expect…ignoring it doesn’t help.

In fact, in a lot of cases, ignoring behavior actually allows the behavior to get stronger.

Because nothing is interrupting or redirecting it.

Let me take a second to tell you about a service I offer—I’ll be right back.

Alright—let's get back to it.

And now the third piece of advice I see commonly dispensed that isn’t always true. In fact, it’s rarely true. This one is a bit sneaky.

“They’ll grow out of it.”

Sometimes that’s true. Especially when it comes to puppies.

But here’s what I see all the time…

Early signs of:

• reactivity 
• fear
• anxiety 
• even aggression 

…get brushed off as “just a phase.”

And then six months later, a year later…

now we’ve got a serious problem.

Because behavior that gets repeated gets reinforced.

And reinforced behavior becomes reliable behavior.

So no—time doesn’t fix behavior problems. It perfects and increases them.

Time strengthens whatever is already happening.

All three of these share the same issue.

They oversimplify canine behavior.

And when you oversimplify something that’s actually complex…

you end up making wrong and uninformed decisions for your dog. But, That doesn’t mean behavior change has to be complicated.

But it does mean it has to be accurate and focused.

Let’s tie this all together. Here’s the takeaway:

The next time you hear advice that sounds right—pause.

Ask yourself:

Is this actually addressing what’s driving the behavior in my dog?

Or am I just reacting to what’s on the surface, the symptoms, but not addressing the underlying root cause?

Because when you start focusing on what’s really going on with your dog…that’s when things actually start to change.

If you dog has a challenging behavior issue that isn’t being resolved over time, check with a qualified and experienced dog behaviorist to help you tease out the real issue so it can be properly addressed.

Now, you understand the real story behind your dog’s behavior.