How do I get my 6-month-old puppy to stop showing undesirable behaviors?

It sounds like he has separation anxiety (the chewing of the furniture, and incessant barking/whining when left alone), and is also very submissive (hence the peeing after you yell).

Honestly this behavior sounds fairly normal for a young puppy.

I suggest a couple things (I have lived with 6 dogs over the course of my life thus far); don’t punish negative behavior, instead, reward his good behavior – it works much better (If you don’t correct bad behavior in the moment, the dogs tend to not know what they did wrong and get very confused if you yell at them). For example, he sits when you ask him to? Reward him. He comes to you when you ask him to? Reward him. He lays down when you ask him to? Reward him. Etc, etc, etc.

Correcting undesirable behavior in the moment is a different story. If he growls at something on walks, or pulls, whatever, try to refocus his attention. Touch him on the back or adjust the leash without hurting him. Move him away from the furniture if he’s chewing. Do NOT keep him in a crate when you are gone, instead try to block off a room for him or something. Being in the crate will make him nutty.

Puppy’s need attention, especially if he is left alone all day and since he is clearly suffering with separation anxiety. Play with him, exercise him, tire him out.

Pretty much everything said above.

With a puppy your best bet is to put things he might potentially chew on out of reach until he can be trusted.

With pulling I do the following: every time the dog starts to pull in one direction, I calmly but abruptly change direction. So pulling never lets the dog go where he wanted to go. Granted, this can look a little odd if you’re changing directions on the sidewalk every 20 steps, but who cares.

I do believe in rewarding good, ignoring bad. So a bid foe my attention rarely works. I don’t pet if Radar pushes at my hand, for instance. But the moment he’s quiet or sits, I reward him by petting him.

Nothing is free at my house – he must sit for treats (or even petting), for his food bowl to be put down, to go thru a door to go outside, etc. Trust me this doesn’t happen overnight. We’re still working on him not trying to bound out of the car the moment I open the door. He’s on a leash, so it’s not a safety issue so much as it’s just behavior I don’t want.

I agree with everything stated above. You didn’t mention the breed (which can offer some behavioral clues) nor the dog’s breeding (which can offer insight into some psychological issues).

One of the things I found great luck with was clicker training. It is very much rewarding the good behavior and you can use it to shape your pup’s behavior. The notion of the clicker is that you click as SOON as you see the desired behavior (or something approximating what you want). The dog quickly learns that the treat is forthcoming, so it makes up for us being slow in delivering the treat at exactly the correct moment.

For example, if I want to teach my dog to sit. I will say the command one time and watch. If he does nothing, I will physically put him in the position I want and will click when he is in a sit, then I give him the reward (very, very small treat). I have been able to teach each of my puppies to sit in less than 5 minutes using this technique. As soon as I say sit and they start to drop their butt, I click. Then as they begin to associate the command with the behavior, I wait until they get a little closer to a full sit before I click. In this way, the dog is really in control and they thing they are training you.

You can use this to teach the dog to turn lights on and off, etc. For my older dog, I used clicker training to teach him all of his search commands when looking for human remains. I set up stations (think five cinder blocks with two holes in each and the tube with human remains in one of the holes). I walk him on a leash past the blocks giving the “look” command and he sticks his nose in each of the holes. When he hits the right hole and shows enthusiasm, I click and reward him. I then walk back the other direction with the “look” command and do the same thing. In no time flat, he knows exactly what I want him to do. Then I can add elements, like I want him to sit after he finds the right hole.

As soon as any of my dogs see the clicker they get very excited as they know they get to use their brains and it redirects some of that crazy energy in a way that pleases both of us!

www.mysmartpuppy.com

This is Brian Kilcommons site.

You mentioned looking for another trainer. If you click on the links section, there is a small list of trainers in various parts of the country. Perhaps there may be one near to you.

If they are recommended on Brian’s site, you can have confidence in that.

He is a skilled dog trainer with a longstanding reputation of excellence. He trained with Barbara Woodhouse, the British lady remembered for her call of “walkies”.

Altho there are his books and tapes sold, there’s also lots of good solid info for free as well as a discussion board.

1. The barking, whining, peeing are not spiteful behaviours… they are learned behaviours. He performs these behaviours because he knows that if he does them long enough he will get attention (which is what he craves). So, first step: stop running over to him and picking him up whenever he starts barking. Supervise him when you’re expecting noises (or set up a training scenario where someone creates noise outside) and when he starts running towards the door, quickly redirect his attention… this will probably entail you acting stupid, squeaking a toy, calling his name in a high-pitched voice, waving your arms, etc. Praise him for coming to you.

2. He doesn’t chew those things because he doesn’t have enough toys… he chews on those things because they smell like you… or maybe because you swoop down on him when he’s chewing them and initiate a game of tug/chase? In any case, be really diligent about what he has chewing access to. Don’t let him get to laundry, pillows, etc. Whenever you see him chewing one of his toys, praise like crazy and maybe play a quick game with that toy. Hard toys are fine for destructive chewers.

3. @netgrrl‘s solution for leash walking is the same one I would recommend.

4. Obviously I can’t detail training steps here, but some tips for puppy training classes… positive reinforcement classes are usually very successful. Make sure you are comfortable with your trainer’s style before you commit to the full program – some trainers can be too rough, too negative or simply too annoying. I can’t say enough good things about clicker training, so if you’re willing to look into that, there are training classes based on clicker training as well. I could paste about fifty separation anxiety, clicker training (and misc dog training) links and book titles here but I won’t… let me know if you want any more information.

In the meantime, here are some great puppy training resources:
– Dr. Ian Dunbar’s training site – Dunbar is a very accomplished dog trainer, and he’s provided his book “After You Get Your Puppy” online for free
– Diamonds in the Ruff: Behaviour FAQs
– Pat Miller’s “The Power of Positive Dog Training” is a good resource for guides to teaching different cues, from basic obedience to advanced tricks
– Stanley Coren’s “How Dogs Think” is less a training guide and more a book on canine psychology; learning how dogs see the world can be surprisingly helpful with solving training problems
– The Association of Pet Dog Trainers website can be a good first step to looking for a trainer if you’re not sure where to start

As I said, there’s more where that came from, but this has gone on for long enough… PM me if you want any other recommended reading.

The pet owner needs to learn to reinforce appropriate behaviours, redirect the puppy from engaging in undesirable behaviours. The owner must learn how to teach new behaviours that allow the puppy to do things that earn them the owner’s praise and approval. Dogs will work hard to please their owners. Many undesirable behaviours stem from fear or from the puppy’s misdirected attempts to protect the owner’s home.

They need a job to do and a great deal of attention and reward from their owners. Puppies are immature animals with more energy than good judgment. Owners must curb their expressions of frustration and put a great deal of time and energy into socializing their puppies. If you are new at doing these things then you must get the training you need while you train your puppy under the supervision of an experienced and qualified instructor.