Does Ignoring Your Dog’s Bad Behavior Really Work?

Here’s how to tell if you address or ignore an undesirable behavior to change it.

by Karen B. London, PhD, CAAB, CPDT-KA, | August 14, 2026

Does Ignoring Your Dog’s Bad Behavior Really Work?

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Our dogs are perfect. Obviously. OK, mostly perfect. If we’re honest, there’s at least one behavior we’d change immediately if we had a magic wand. Maybe your dog throws full-blown trash parties, barks at every soul who dares walk past your windows, or somehow always knows which Zoom call is actually the most important for our work — and chooses then to paw at you relentlessly as if to say, “Hey bestie, let’s play.” Yes, we’d rather play, but somebody has to pay for all those dog toys and treats.

One frequent suggestion for making bad behavior stop is to ignore it, but does that really work? The answer is, “yes and no,” as is so often the case with dog training. (I know, it’s so annoying.) Ignoring unwanted behavior can be incredibly effective, but it doesn’t always work. The trick is knowing when this approach makes sense and when it’s basically useless.

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What drives canine behavior

Here’s the key idea: Dogs keep exhibiting behavior that works for them. If a behavior leads to something good, they will keep doing it. Dog trainers often sum this up with the phrase, “Reinforcement drives behavior.” We often think of positive reinforcement in very simple terms: Your dog sits, you give them a treat — and boom — behavior reinforced.

But in real life, reinforcement doesn’t always involve treats…or even you. Say your dog charges at the cat, and the cat bolts. Now it’s a chase game, and super fun for the dog. (For the cat, not so much.) That charging behavior just paid off in a big way, so your dog will probably try it again. The same goes for chasing squirrels. The thrill of it is plenty reinforcing without any input or treats from you.

That’s why deciding whether to ignore a behavior you don’t like means figuring out what your dog is getting out of it. If ignoring the behavior removes the benefit, the behavior will likely fade. If the reinforcement has nothing to do with you, ignoring it won’t change a thing.

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Behaviors you should not ignore

Let’s look at some examples.

Chewing up sofa cushions, your favorite leather shoes, or the yoga mat you just bought? Deeply satisfying for your dog. They’re having the time of their life. Ignoring these behaviors won’t make them stop, because your dog is having a fantastic time that has nothing to do with you. They are fully self-entertaining while they act like a freelance interior designer with scissors.

The same goes for barking at anyone who walks by. From your dog’s perspective, it works every time. They bark, and those dogs, those kids, those people walking by hand-in-hand, and of course the delivery people, hear the mighty bark and leave.

Many dogs probably believe their barking is what makes the people go away, and that is incredibly reinforcing for them. In their worldview, barking is effective at getting everyone to move along, which is what many dogs want. Very main-character energy. Ignoring this behavior won’t make a difference because the reinforcement (the mail carrier goes away every day — oh, the power) happens whether you react or not.

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Behaviors you should ignore

Now, here’s where ignoring unwanted behavior does shine: attention-seeking behaviors. If your dog paws at you during that Zoom call, demands your engagement with barking, begs for food, or jumps on you when you come in the door and you give them the loving and attention they want, your dog learns, “Ah yes, this works.” They will continue that behavior because they get what they want out of it.

However, if you ignore those behaviors completely, the payoff disappears. Behaviors that are not reinforced happen less and less over time, and sometimes stop completely. That’s why ignoring such behaviors is a good strategy if you don’t like them and want them to stop.

Ignoring unwanted behavior only works if it removes what the dog is getting out of it. Attention-seeking behaviors are prime candidates for ignoring. If your dog is attempting to get your attention or otherwise socially engage with you, but that approach stops working, they’ll eventually try something else. For ignoring behavior to work as a strategy, it has to eliminate what the dog is getting out of it.

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However, if the behavior is being reinforced by something totally independent of you, as is the case with chewing, chasing, and barking at people outside, ignoring it will have no effect. The behavior is still paying off, and dogs don’t quit a strategy that’s working for them.

In short, if you want to see less of a behavior in your (otherwise perfect) dog, ignore strategically, not mindlessly. Your dog is just following the way of the world because reinforcement drives behavior.

Karen B. London, PhD, CAAB, CPDT-KA

Karen B. London, Ph.D., is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and Certified Professional Dog Trainer who specializes in working with dogs with serious behavioral issues, including aggression, and has also trained other animals including cats, birds, snakes, and insects. She writes the animal column for the Arizona Daily Sun and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University. She is the author of six books about training and behavior, including her most recent, Treat Everyone Like a Dog: How a Dog Trainer’s World View Can Improve Your Life.