If you are struggling with your puppy or dog there are steps you can take right now to promote better behaviour.
Start capturing times your dog is being good - even if they are just sitting doing nothing! Every time you give your dog a reward such as a tasty treat or a toy, you are reinforcing that behaviour to happen again. This is called positive reinforcement.
Provide your dog with mental stimulation through enrichment - A lot of common behaviour problems are solved in most dogs through simply providing appropriate outlets for natural dog behaviours. Examples are sniffing, chewing, digging, and licking. Playing scent games, puzzles, chews, a sand pit for digging, and lick mats are just a handful of good things you can give your dog. The Facebook group Canine Enrichment is a great place to find hundreds of ideas and products. You can even make so many different great things at home with everyday items for free. I love to make enrichment boxes out of cardboard and just scatter some of Shadow's dinner into them before they go into recycling.
Use management to prevent your dog from practicing bad behaviours - Set your dog up for success by preventing the unwanted behaviour occurring. Chances are if your dog is continuing to practice these things you are spending a lot of time yelling and punishing them. This is a really stressful way to live for both you and your dog, and it is rarely effective. It's much better to block off things you don't want them to get to, remove all "illegal" items out of reach, use crates, x pens, and tethering to manage your dog when you cannot watch them, and keeping distance from things that cause things like barking and lunging.
Redirect them to do things you want them to do more - If your dog is doing something you don't like, instead of punishing them and then walking away, redirect their attention into doing something else and use it as an opportunity to reinforce good behaviour!
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