Punishing your dog
Your dog learns nothing through fear
If you hit your dog or shout at him, you frighten him, you don't teach him the right behaviour. A 2009 study of 140 dogs with behaviour problems measured it: scruff-shaking a dog, pinning him on his back or staring him straight in the eye to “dominate” him triggered an aggressive response in at least one dog in four. Another study, run in 2004 with 364 owners, points the same way: the more a dog is trained with punishment, the more problem behaviours he shows, not fewer, and dogs trained with rewards alone are reported as the most obedient. A 2017 review, pulling together 17 studies on the subject, reaches the same conclusion: methods that hurt or frighten weigh on a dog's physical and mental health, without ever proving more effective than rewards.
Interrupt, redirect, praise
You run through these four moves in a few seconds, always in the same order.
Interrupt with a crisp “no”, without shouting
Say it in a firm, brief tone, carrying on moving normally: the tone is enough, no need to raise your voice or stare him down. If he keeps going, don't repeat it louder: calmly move him away from the situation, taking him gently by the collar or the lead, or shutting a door if there's one to hand. Never by yanking him.
Show him plan B straight away
Offer him what is allowed instead: a chew toy, his bed, the right place for what he was trying to do. The “no”, on its own, doesn't show him what to do: it's this immediate redirection that teaches him.
Praise him the moment he picks the right option
Reward him with an enthusiastic voice, a stroke or a treat, exactly as he gets started: that's the moment he remembers, not the “no” before it.
Go straight back to calm
Once the sequence is over, everything goes back to normal immediately: no sulking, no lingering tension. What you interrupt is a precise moment, never the mood of the whole day.
Don't expect it to click first time: a dog learns by repeating, dozens of times, over days and weeks. That's normal, it isn't you doing it wrong. And it's exactly that patience that stops you losing your temper and hitting harder, which would only frighten him without teaching him anything.
He chews your shoes
- A calm “no”, then hand him a chew toy straight away.
- Praise him as soon as he chews the toy rather than the shoe.
- Put your shoes away to spare him the temptation: less temptation, fewer “no”s to say.
He gets on the sofa when you don't want him to
- Act the moment he puts a paw up, not once he's settled in: guide him gently down with a treat, or send him to his mat and reward him there.
- Give him a comfortable spot of his own where he is allowed: it's easier to refuse him the sofa when you're offering a good alternative.
- While he's learning, block access when you're not there to supervise: a chair on the sofa, or the door of the room shut.
- Stay consistent across the whole family: if it's no for you, it has to be no for everyone.
He barks at passers-by from the garden
- In the moment: call him over to you, away from the fence, and reward him as soon as he comes; bring him inside to cut off what he can see.
- Don't shout: many dogs experience it as if you were barking along with them, so as a green light.
- Get ahead of him: offer a game or something to chew before he dashes off to the fence.
- Barking to raise the alarm is normal behaviour: you channel it, you don't punish a dog for giving warning.
He jumps up at your guests
- Get ahead of him: keep him on the lead or busy on his mat while your guests come in.
- In the moment, don't push him away with your hands, for him that's a game: step back, don't look at him, and wait until all four paws are on the floor.
- Reward him exactly when he puts his paws down or sits; ask your guests to stroke him only at that moment.
He's had a wee in the house
- If he's in the middle of doing it: a cheerful “outside!”, dash out with him, and praise him for the wee he finishes outdoors.
- If it happened a while ago: clean it up in silence, out of his sight.
- Telling him off after the fact teaches him nothing: he doesn't make the connection, and it can even make him anxious.
The electric collar is no exception: a study of 63 dogs compared it with rewards for obedience and recall. The dogs trained with rewards responded better to the first cue, and those wearing the collar yawned more often and stayed more tense during the sessions.
A “no” followed by a redirection makes sense when
- It's happening in front of you, right now.
- You can show him straight away what to do instead.
- It's a one-off, and in proportion to what he's just done.
It isn't a matter of punishment when
- Wee in the house, barking, chewed furniture: these are almost always symptoms of an unmet need, boredom or too few walks, not mischief to punish.
- Fear, growling, a new or sudden behaviour: start by ruling out pain, and above all don't punish.
- The problem has been going on a long time: a trainer who works with rewards will get there faster than ten “no”s.
Established aggression, bites, panic when you leave, strong reactivity on walks: at that point it's no longer about punishing, or muddling through on your own. That's the job of a veterinary behaviourist or a trainer, someone able to look for the cause behind the behaviour.
- American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) — Position Statement on Humane Dog Training (2021)
- Herron, Shofer & Reisner — Survey of the use and outcome of confrontational and non-confrontational training methods (Applied Animal Behaviour Science) (2009)
- Ziv — The effects of using aversive training methods in dogs: a review (Journal of Veterinary Behavior) (2017)
- China, Mills & Cooper — Efficacy of dog training with and without remote electronic collars (Frontiers in Veterinary Science) (2020)
- Hiby, Rooney & Bradshaw — Dog training methods: their use, effectiveness and interaction with behaviour and welfare (2004)
Going further
Frequently asked questions
How do you punish a dog who doesn't obey?
A dog who doesn't obey is almost never defying you: most often he hasn't understood, he's too excited, or the word has lost its meaning from being repeated for nothing. Punishing him will fix none of that. Go back to the exercise where he was already succeeding, somewhere calm and in a shorter, simpler version, reward the right choice, and save the calm “no” for real emergencies.
How do you punish a dog?
If you must punish, do it well: interrupt with a crisp “no” in the moment, show the right behaviour straight away, then praise with a marker word (“yes!”). Let the “no” last only a second, and spend all the rest of the time on the “yes”, never after the fact.
How do you punish a dog who wees in the house?
You don't punish him: telling him off, or worse rubbing his nose in it, only teaches him to hide somewhere else to do it again. If he's in the middle of doing it, a cheerful “outside!” then a celebration outdoors is enough. If it's already done, clean up in silence with an enzymatic cleaner (sold in pet shops), the only one that truly destroys the smell: a spot that still smells of urine simply makes him want to go again in the same place. And if a house-trained dog suddenly starts again, see the vet.
How do you punish a dog who barks?
Barking is a way of talking: if you shout, you're answering him, so you're validating it. You don't punish him, and never an anti-bark collar. Look instead for the cause (boredom, not enough walks, a bid for attention) and redirect him before he starts, rewarding the calm.
Should you punish your dog when he does something wrong?
Not the way you probably imagine. If it's happening in front of you, a calm “no” followed by the right behaviour instead is enough. But a lot of mischief, chewed furniture, wee, barking, comes from an unmet need: punishing the symptom will fix nothing, better to tackle the cause.
Can you punish a dog after the fact?
No, and it's a common mistake. A few seconds later, your dog makes no connection between your anger and what he did: he only learns to dread your return, which can make him anxious. If you didn't catch him in the act, better to say nothing.
How do you say no to your dog without frightening him?
An effective “no” is calm, brief and clear, not a shout: it only carries real weight if the rest of his day is settled and happy, so teach him the “yes” first. And a “no” with no solution doesn't tell him what to do: always follow it with the right behaviour, then reward.
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