Plain-English summary
Owners of young dogs often assume that everyone else's dog is fine and theirs is the difficult one. This study of 985 UK dogs followed to 21 months of age suggests otherwise: 96.7% of owners reported at least one problem behaviour, with a median of five.
It also found something less comfortable. More than four in five of these owners had used aversive training techniques, including physical punishment — a figure the authors describe as notably high compared with previous work. Owners reporting more problem behaviours were more likely to have used more of them.
One thing stood out as protective against that: attending puppy classes online.
What the study found
This was an online longitudinal cohort study of 985 dogs, recruited from an original cohort of 4,369 puppies surveyed in November and December 2020. That original survey had captured how and why each puppy was acquired, and its socialisation and habituation experiences before 16 weeks of age. The follow-up examined those early-life and provenance factors, plus owner management and training methods into early adulthood, against behaviour at 21 months.
Nearly all owners — 96.7% — reported that their dog had exhibited at least one problem behaviour up to 21 months, with a median of 5 (IQR 3–7).
Almost a third of dogs, 30.9%, were reported to have displayed separation-related behaviours.
Multivariable linear regression showed that owners reporting more problem behaviours were more likely to use multiple aversive training techniques, such as physical punishment. Use of such techniques was notably high in this population at 82.3%, compared with previous studies.
Attendance at online puppy classes was the sole protective factor identified against owner use of aversive training methods.
Almost a third of owners had underestimated how hard training their dog would be, a view more likely among first-time owners.
The authors conclude that urgent efforts are required to support this population of dogs, including owner education on humane training, to improve canine emotional health and avoid future relinquishment or behavioural euthanasia.
What this study cannot tell you
The association between problem behaviours and aversive training methods is measured at a single point, from a single reporter, about both variables at once. It is entirely compatible with difficult dogs prompting harsher handling, with harsher handling producing difficult dogs, or with both feeding each other. The study establishes that they travel together, and no more. It should never be cited as evidence that punishment causes problem behaviour, however plausible that reading may be.
The same applies to online puppy classes. Owners who seek out classes differ from owners who do not — in engagement, in resources, in prior expectations — and this design cannot separate the class from the kind of person who attends one.
Everything is owner-reported, including what counts as a "problem behaviour". That definition is subjective and shaped by expectation, so a figure of 96.7% partly measures what owners are willing to call a problem.
The cohort is specific in a way that limits transfer. These dogs were acquired during the 2020 UK pandemic period, a population the authors' own earlier work showed was more exposed to risk factors than puppies acquired in 2019. Restricted socialisation, unusual purchasing routes and a surge of first-time owners all apply. Their 21-month behaviour is not a baseline for dogs in general.
Attrition is substantial: 985 responses at follow-up from an original 4,369. Owners who stayed engaged with a research project about their dog are unlikely to be a random subset of those who started.
What pet owners should track
If you are raising a young dog, a record is most useful for the things that change slowly and for the things you will be asked about later:
- Socialisation and habituation experiences in the first 16 weeks — what your puppy met, and how it responded, not just that it happened
- Any behaviour you find difficult, with the date it started and what was happening around it
- Whether a behaviour is getting better, worse, or staying the same across weeks
- Specifically note behaviour when your dog is left alone, since separation-related behaviour affected nearly a third of this cohort and is largely invisible without deliberate observation
- What training approaches you are using, and what is actually working
- Classes attended and by whom, since consistency between household members matters
If you are struggling, that is the common experience in this data, not the exception. Speak to your veterinarian, who can rule out pain and medical causes — behaviour change often has one — and refer you to a qualified, welfare-focused behaviourist.
What PAWai can help organize
Behavioural development is gradual and easily lost to memory, and the questions asked later — what did you socialise, when, how did the dog react — are exactly the ones nobody records at the time. PAWai holds those notes with their dates. PAWai does not assess behaviour, does not provide training advice, and does not diagnose behavioural conditions. Training method is a welfare-sensitive area where this study itself shows the picture is unresolved, and it belongs with a qualified professional, not an app. What PAWai contributes is an honest developmental history for the veterinarian or behaviourist you take it to.
Disclaimer
PAWai organizes information and educates pet owners. PAWai does not diagnose conditions or recommend treatment. Always consult a licensed veterinarian for medical decisions about your pet.
Citation
Brand, C. L., O'Neill, D. G., Belshaw, Z., Dale, F. C., Merritt, B. L., Clover, K. N., et al. (2024). Impacts of puppy early life experiences, puppy-purchasing practices, and owner characteristics on owner-reported problem behaviours in a UK Pandemic Puppies cohort at 21 months of age. Animals, 14(2), 336. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14020336