Owning a dog is not a walk in the park. The affection that you get from your furry friend comes with a huge responsibility and that includes finding ways on how to discipline a dog. 

Dog discipline plays an important part in keeping your life and your home in order. A misbehaved dog could mean a major headache. A well-trained one could mean less mess to clean up. 

How to discipline a puppy? It is important that pet parents know the basic dos and don'ts of dog discipline while their pets are still young. Make sure to arm yourself with plenty of patience and some dog treats when you are going to discipline your puppy. Training a puppy could mean days to months of hard work, patience and persistence. 

Use Positive Reinforcement

This means that your pet gets to be praised whenever a good deed is made. You may want to give them a treat whenever a positive action is made. Dogs are highly sensitive when it comes to the tone of your voice. They would know sense if you are genuinely praising them. You can use positive reinforcement when you are potty training your pet. 

• Observe your dog from a distance, and wait until your dog relieves itself on the spot where you wanted it to 

• Approach the puppy and praise it for the good deed. Give your furry friend some treats as a reward for the good deed. You can also give your puppy a belly rub or an ear massage whenever it pees inside the bathroom rather than in your living room. 

Take note that consistency is important when it comes to correcting your dog’s behavior. Praising and rewarding it every time an act is done is helpful for having a potty-trained pet. Timing is also important. You don’t wait for an hour or more before giving your dog a reward. It is more likely that your pet won’t understand that the treatment received is peeing in the right spot. Praise your dog right away or give them treats at least within seconds after the good deed was made. 

Avoid Physical Punishment 

Pets are like a family and hitting family members is unacceptable. Puppies can be like naughty kids; too excited at times, loud, and throwing tantrums. But, there are no reasons to hurt them. 

• Use your preferred command such as ‘No’ or ‘Stop’ when your puppy keeps on chewing on something or acting mischievously. Make sure that your voice is loud enough, with conviction and sternness. 

• Hitting your dog could mean being fearful or aggressive towards you or instantly hiding from you when you are around. Your dogs may also lose their trust and confidence in you which you don’t want to happen. Remember that screaming at your dog for misbehaving won’t do any good. According to Petcube, harming your dog means that it is being conditioned to feel scared and expect pain. 

• Instead of physical punishment, discipline your dog by taking away their favorite toys, using time-outs, refraining from showing affection towards it, and withholding any rewards 

Consistency is again a key ingredient. Be consistent if punishing your dog for misbehaving to help it understand what is good and what is bad. 

Use the clicker to redirect your dog’s behavior 

When your dog keeps on biting on things it shouldn’t, you can redirect its attention by using a clicker. 

• There are plenty of ways you can use a clicker such as reminding your dog to tone down when it is barking excessively; not to get too excited when seeing other dogs or peeing everywhere. The important thing to remember is to use the clicker consistently on a certain command to redirect the dog’s attention. 

Be specific on what is an acceptable play

• Puppies tend to play a lot. It is important that he understands which things he could play with and which ones are restricted. Consistency is again vital. If you discipline a dog for chewing your shoes but get away when it chews your slippers, it won’t understand the difference between acceptable play. 

• During accidents, show the dog the mess they made but do not rub their noses into it. If they chew on your remote control or that favorite shoes of yours, take them outside instead but do not yell and force their nose into the mess they made. 

As Pawtracks mentioned in their article, the two important things to keep in mind when it comes to dog discipline are consistency in your chosen method of training the dog to behave properly. The second major takeaway is to make sure that positive and negative reinforcement are kept in balance. 

Helpful Tips on Dog Discipline: 

• Remind your pet that you are the boss and you are in control. You have the right to take away their favorite toys, that leisurely walk, or that tasty treat if they misbehave. They have to understand that the things they love can be withheld from them as a punishment for behaving negatively.

• Rewards don’t always mean treats. It could be in the form of simple petting, some minutes of fur brushing and grooming, or words of praise. 

• When using commands, make sure that your words are loud enough, clear, and simple to understand. 

• Check your dog’s health. Your pet may be having some health issues thus it has a hard time following your commands. Any changes in their behavior such as frequent urination on different spots of the house when they are potty-trained already may mean health problems. 

• Ask your vet or another dog expert when you are unsure about your discipline methods. Getting some guidance from an expert and experienced dog owners wouldn’t hurt. 

Take time to observe your dog’s actions and be patient in training it. Do not force your pet to learn things on the timeline you’ve set. Some pups take longer discipline sessions before it gets to be well-trained. Treat your pup like a young kid who’s just learning his ways in life. The more time you put into training your pet the better, it will not only discipline your pup but will surely create beautiful memories of the two of you together. There are plenty of other ways to discipline a dog, if your method is not mentioned above, feel free to share it in our comment section. We would love to learn and expand our methods too!