Why is my dog so annoying?

If you have been getting annoyed constantly by your dog, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it.

This post will show you a number of reasons why your dog might be so annoying and what you can do about it.

Possible reasons why your dog is so annoying are that it needs more exercise, attention or training. It could also be that you have been inadvertently rewarding the behavior or that you get emotional around it and it gets reactive.

There are a number of things that you can consider when trying to figure out why your dog might be annoying you. Depending on the cause, there are also a number of things that you can do about it.

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Why your dog is so annoying

Each of the different reasons that your dog annoys you will likely come with a number of clues in the way that it does it.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons why your dog might be so annoying and what would make them more likely.

A lack of exercise

The reason that your dog might be annoying you could be that it is not getting enough exercise. This would be more likely if it tends to annoy you more at around the same time that you would normally walk it.

Depending on the breed, a dog will normally require around an hour of exercise per day. If your dog is not getting much exercise then it would help to make sure that it does.

Related: why does my dog walk behind me?

A lack of attention

The reason that it bothers you might be that it is not getting enough attention. This would be more likely if it does it more when you haven’t been giving it much attention.

It could also be the case that it has some separation anxiety. This is where your dog does not like being left alone and it gets anxious when it does get left alone. This would be more likely to be the reason if your dog annoys you more when you are about to leave it.

In this case, it would help to desensitize it to being left without you by gradually leaving it for longer and longer periods rewarding it for not being anxious each time.

You can watch the video below for more tips on how you can reduce the separation anxiety in your dog.

A lack of training

If you have not trained your dog to behave the way that you want it to then it won’t know how it should behave. If it doesn’t know then it will likely act the way that it wants to which is unlikely to be the way that you would like.

If you have not trained it much then it would help to start doing so. I would recommend that you start out by training it to do basic things such as to sit and then build up from there.

You have been reinforcing the behavior

The reason that it annoys you could be that you have been inadvertently rewarding the behavior. This would be more likely if your method of getting it to stop being annoying is to give it things that it wants such as toys or treats.

Instead, it would help to avoid rewarding the behavior and to use positive reinforcement training to get it to behave the way that you want.

You get reactive around it

Dogs will normally be highly in-tune with their owners emotions. If you tend to get quite emotional around your dog, it could be causing it to become emotional as well which could be why it has been annoying you.

Instead, it would help to try to stay calm around your dog and to train it to follow your command.

Diet

It might be the case that you have been feeding it the wrong foods. This would be more likely if it suddenly started to act differently when you started feeding it differently.

You can look here to see what foods you should and should not be feeding your dog.

Things to consider

Below, I will mention some particularly helpful things to consider when trying to figure out why your dog has been being so annoying. Once you have a better idea of the cause it will become much easier to get it to stop.

If it changed its behavior suddenly

When trying to figure out why your dog has been annoying you it would help to consider when it started doing it.

If it started being annoying suddenly, then it would make it more likely to be due to things such as you inadvertently rewarding it, a change in its schedule causing it to become anxious or less exercise.

If it has always been doing it then it would make it more likely that it does it due to not having been trained to behave the way that you want it to.

When it becomes annoying

The timing of when it becomes annoying would also be something to consider.

If you notice that it becomes annoying shortly after feeding it then it would suggest that there is something wrong with its diet. Whereas, if it becomes annoying when you are about to leave then it would suggest that it has some separation anxiety.

How you can stop your dog from being so annoying

There are a number of things that you can do about your dog from annoying you. The best option for your dog will depend on the cause but a combination of the below will likely help a lot.

Positive reinforcement training

The first thing that you can try is positive reinforcement training. This is where you reward your dog with things that it likes when it does things that you want it to.

To use positive reinforcement training to get your dog to stop being annoying it would be necessary to reward it before it starts annoying you, to stop when it starts acting the way that you do not want it to and then to reward it when it begins acting how you want it to again.

Train it to listen to commands

It would also help to train your dog to listen to your command so that you can get it to do what you want when you want it to.

It would be recommended that you start out by training it to do simple things such as to sit and then to build up to training it to do more complicated things.

Avoid negative reinforcement

Negative reinforcement is where you reinforce bad behaviors by giving your dog things that it wants when it misbehaves.

Instead, of giving your dog things that it wants when it annoys you it would help to train it to behave how you want and to reward it when it behaves well.

Be calm around it

Since your dog will likely react to your own emotions it is important to be calm around your dog. By doing so you will be able to reduce how likely it will be to become highly emotional around you.

Give it lots of exercise

As mentioned above, it is important to make sure that your dog is getting enough exercise since not getting enough can cause them to display behavioral issues. You might find that just walking yours isn’t enough. In that case, you could add in other things such as fetch so that it wears itself out even more.

Give it things to be distracted with

In addition to doing the things mentioned above, you can also give it things such as toys or other things to be distracted with so that it is less likely to seek attention from you.