What is the best way to stop a behavior when it is happening?

To change a habit, you simple change the behaviors that collectively form the habit. Without knowing what causes you or your pet to behave in a certain way, you would not be able to directly attract the problem and eliminate it. After finding out the causes of the behavior, change the environment so to eliminate the pressure that cause the behavior to arise. Even after you change the environment, some behaviors can still persist, and when they do, move on with the next tip. Punishment should be painful so that the brain associates it with negative rewards. Constant punishment will force the brain to think of ways of avoiding it, and that is really helpful for behavior change. Always be optimistic and the attitude will rub off to everything that you do. Give rewards whenever something positive happens, rewards help to rewire the brain so that it is always anticipating more, and this leads to an eventual change of behavior. It is easy to revert to the unwanted behavior when there is nothing else to do on its part, and the best way to guard against this tendency is to come up with alternative behaviors. As you encourage the stoppage of a behavior, so should you promote the adoption of a more positive one.

If you can recognise the early warning signs, you may be able to prevent behavioural outbursts. Some people find a distraction can focus a person's energies elsewhere and prevent them displaying challenging behaviour. The person you care for might behave in a challenging way to get your attention. If this is the case, consider not responding directly to their behaviour – although you should not ignore them completely. But if their behaviour puts them or someone else at risk, you'll need to intervene as calmly as possible. Distract their attention, rather than getting confrontational. Stay calm. Treat the situation with humour, rather than getting angry.