In the 1980s, spraying your dog with a spray bottle technique was a common practice and an effective way to eliminate unwanted behavior. As more research has come out, dog trainers everywhere have realized a spray of water is one of the less effective training techniques.
There are many other ways to curb unwanted behavior. Here are the reasons that using a spray bottle to train your dog is NOT as effective as you think, and here’s what to do instead.
Why should I not spray my dog with water?
It doesn’t teach them what to do instead
A big part of curbing unwanted behavior is communicating with your dog and getting them to understand what they are doing isn’t desirable and that they should be doing something else. There is no reason to use negative reinforcement if you can teach your dog to redirect to doing something else.
There are so many better ways! For example, suppose your dog learns that chewing on the couch will get them a short NO from you, and you will redirect them to their favorite toy to chew on.
In that case, they will quickly learn that chewing on toys is what they should do, and it will become their go-to instead of the couch. This is positive punishment There is no need to spray them for this unwanted behaviour. A NO will do just fine.
It only stops the behavior sometimes when the water spray bottle is nearby
Dogs are highly intelligent creatures and will start learning what they can get away with. Say you keep your spray water bottle on the kitchen counter because that’s where your dog usually barks, and you keep it on hand to spray them.
Next time you are in the living room without your spray bottle, they’ll probably yap. Even if you run to get the spray bottle, they’ll eventually learn where they can and can not be yapping because they do not understand that you don’t want them to yap. They just think they can’t yap when you have that spray bottle.
Dogs are living beings, and barking is how they communicate. The best thing to do with a barking situation is to address WHY they are barking and praise them for being quiet when those things happen. For best results, you can also teach them to bark on command so that they only exhibit that behavior when you want them to.
Your dog will associate you with fear and annoyance
When pet owners grab the spray bottle and spray it on a dog’s face, it can harm their relationship with them and their dogs. Building trust and engagement is key to having a dog that listens to you.
Instead, you will want to make your dog think that you are the most important thing in their environment so that when you redirect their behavior to something else, they will WANT to listen. Breeding fear and annoyance in your relationship with your dog will kill all other efforts to get your dog to listen.
They can get used to it
Your dog might be annoyed when they get sprayed, but it can get used to it over time. The problem is that you don’t want to use a negative reinforcement tool that is too strong for them, but if you use one that is too light, they can build a tolerance to it, and it won’t work. Some dogs also love spraying water, so this couldn’t be a negative reinforcement tool for them. Especially when they don’t have a fear of water.
It teaches them to do it when you are not there
When you only use a negative reinforcement tool when standing there as opposed to a beeping bark collar that corrects the dog EVERY time it barks, it can confuse the dog and teach them to only not do it when you are there.
When a dog doesn’t get a correction EVERY TIME it exhibits the behavior, it will get confused about why they are being corrected. They will think they are only supposed to NOT be doing this when you are physically standing there with a squirt bottle. This happens because the dog doesn’t know what is expected of them, so it is SO important to reward the correct behavior. We don’t believe in a shock collar at itseverythingdogs.com
Stops it temporarily
Using a squirt bottle on a dog will only temporarily stop the bad behavior because they are not learning. They are only learning that “when my owner has the squirt bottle, I must stop,” and they have no idea what to do instead. Use this training tool sporadically.
Adds other negative behaviors, such as hiding
You never want to make your dog scared of you. Training when it is fun and engaging goes a long way. When your dog shuts down and starts hiding or fearing you or the spray bottle in their own home, there is no real learning happening.
They will become scared of water in other situations
Suppose you use a spray bottle to annoy them and stop their behavior. In that case, you will want to consider how this will affect their relationship with squirting water. Say you have a kid’s birthday, and someone is using the hose. They may have an adverse reaction and become scared or show aggressive behaviors toward squirting water based on their experience with the squirt bottle. Bath times might even become an issue too. You never want your dog to fear something used in everyday situations.
What to do instead of spraying my dog with water
Several other training methods will not adversely affect your dog’s mental state. They will improve your relationship with your dog. The most important aspect of this is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement training means rewarding good behavior to encourage it and see more of it.
To curb unwanted behavior, you can use a short NO (which is more effective than a spray bottle), redirect their behavior to what you WANT them to be doing, and praise them for doing so. Dog training should be fun and engaging, not a horrible experience for you and your dog.
Barking
If your dog barks, you can reward them when they are calm and quiet with some love, treats, and a GOOD DOG! If your pup is chewing things they shouldn’t be, you can use a short NO and give them something of value (like a rawhide or their favorite toy) to chew on instead.
Jumping
A good way to curb jumping is to have your dog sit and reward them with lots of pets and attention for doing that instead. Jumping is an attention-seeking behavior, so giving them attention when not jumping is key. Sometimes your dog finds, any attention is better than no attention.
Leash Pulling
If your dog is pulling on the leash, completely STOP until they let up on the leash. When they do, praise them and walk forward. Your dog will learn that they only get to walk forward when not pulling.
There are several ways to use positive reinforcement to get your dog to do what you want them to do…without the adverse effects of spraying them in the face with water.
Is spraying a dog with water abuse?
No, but it can negatively affect their self-confidence and bond with you, their owner. For a dog to be well trained, they NEED to have a solid relationship with its human and feel that it can rely on and trust them. Breeding negativity and annoyance in your home is not the way to go. This is why redirection and positive reinforcement are key to curbing any behavior!
Can I spray dogs with water to stop fighting?
This is one of the effective ways to distract them. . If two dogs begin to fight, then using it to get them to let go or pause just long enough to break it up is completely fine. Never stick your hand into the middle of a dog fight. Instead, you can distract, redirect and separate them.
The devil’s advocate about the spray bottle
Spray bottles can be effective for dog owners when it comes to training a dog. By using them as part of your routine, you can create positive reinforcement and establish Milestone behaviors quickly and reliably. Simply take a few minutes before each session to train with the bottle in hand and make sure that you are using it effectively. Here are some tips:
– For smaller dogs, a different kind of bottle should be used, like an atomizer.
– Use a quick squirt of water for a single time. This will keep your dog’s attention focused on you instead of the spray nozzle, which is what we want most of all!
– Be consistent with your instructions – never change the nature or intensity of the signals while he’s drinking from the bottle. This will help him learn what “come” means consistently across different contexts.
– Aim for specific outcomes – for example, teach your pup to sit down when he receives a drink from his favorite human-provided container (instead of just any old pot or pan). You’ll find that this simple task leads to other satisfying moments throughout daily life as well such as getting petted or scratched upon returning home from playing outside!
Conclusion
Dogs are amazing creatures that have a great capacity to learn. You can have a well-rounded dog by teaching them what to do and what not to do. Unfortunately, many people are caught up trying to stop their dog’s behavior. While a spray bottle will stop the dog from exhibiting undesirable behavior immediately, it will not be a long-term solution.
To stop a behavior long-term, the dog needs to understand what they need to do instead. So put away your squirt bottle or squirt gun, build your bond with your dog, and begin to engage your best friend and enjoy some real training!
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