A practical checklist to assess whether a dog or puppy has unpleasant personality traits, making them difficult to live with or interact with.
1. Annoying & Disruptive Behavior
- Barks excessively for no clear reason
- Whines constantly, even when needs are met
- Jumps on people persistently, even after correction
- Pesters for attention but never seems satisfied
- Interrupts human activities (e.g., pushing into food, blocking TV, demanding play)
2. Destructive & Messy Habits
- Chews on furniture, shoes, or household objects despite having toys
- Digs holes in the yard or destroys flooring/carpet indoors
- Knocks over objects and doesn’t care about making a mess
- Steals food from counters or plates aggressively
- Refuses to be housetrained, frequently peeing or pooping in the wrong place
3. Uncooperative & Difficult to Train
- Ignores commands even when motivated with food or toys
- Acts confused or disinterested in training sessions
- Purposely does the opposite of what’s asked
- Refuses to walk properly on a leash (pulls excessively, zigzags, stops randomly)
- Doesn’t learn from corrections and repeats the same bad behaviors
4. Obnoxious Social Behavior
- Jumps on or invades personal space of strangers
- Licks obsessively, even when pushed away
- Sniffs people in inappropriate places (e.g., crotch, armpits)
- Bumps into people constantly and doesn’t respect personal space
- Plays too rough with other dogs, ignoring their signals to stop
5. Manipulative & Sneaky
- Pretends to follow rules when watched but misbehaves when alone
- Steals objects and refuses to give them back
- Tricks other dogs or people to get what they want
- Tries to guilt-trip the owner by acting ‘sad’ after being corrected
- Figures out ways to escape from crates, yards, or playpens
6. Aggressively Annoying & Pushy
- Keeps bothering other dogs even when they clearly want to be left alone
- Nudges, paws, or jumps repeatedly when ignored
- Steals other dogs’ toys or food instead of playing with their own
- Constantly pushes into human or dog interactions to be the center of attention
- Can’t relax and must always be in motion, making downtime impossible
7. Disrespectful or Rude Behavior
- Tries to hump people, furniture, or other dogs persistently
- Growls or barks inappropriately when they don’t get their way
- Bursts through doors first instead of waiting
- Throws tantrums when not given attention (barking, spinning, destructive behavior)
- Purposely ignores people talking to them unless it benefits them
8. Overly Demanding & High Maintenance
- Cannot be left alone without whining, barking, or destroying things
- Requires constant stimulation or gets into trouble
- Never seems satisfied, no matter how much attention or exercise they get
- Has to be the center of attention at all times
- Forces the owner to adjust their entire lifestyle just to manage them
Unpleasantness Rating
- Mostly Checked: Extremely unpleasant – difficult to manage, highly disruptive.
- Moderately Checked: Annoying tendencies but manageable with patience.
- Few Checks: Occasionally unpleasant but generally tolerable.