Bad dogs tend to die young with aggression, excessive barking and disobedience among the main behaviours that doom canine pets to an early demise.
One in three deaths in dogs younger than three in the UK were from "undesirable behaviours" with euthanasia accounting for 75 per cent of how those dogs were put down, the British study found.
Traffic accidents involving disobedient dogs was also a common cause of death.
The study involved data on 264,000 British dogs with the results underscoring the value of dog training and owner education.
The number of dogs euthanised due to bad behaviour also showed a need for vets to be better skilled at helping owners deal with dog behavioural issues, it found.
Males, mixed-breed dogs, and small dogs weighing less than 10kgs were more prone to early deaths from misbehaviour than females, larger dogs and purebreds, the researchers found.
Compared with Labrador retrievers, a common breed in the UK and the US that is often well-tempered, certain breeds faced higher risks of behaviour-related deaths including cocker spaniels and Staffordshire bull terriers, similar to American pit bulls.
The study was published on Tuesday in the British publication Animal Welfare.
Raising awareness about breed traits and emphasising the need for young dogs to be socialised from an early age is important "to ensure that the lives of dogs and their owners are fulfilling for all parties involved" study supervisor Dan O'Neill, a senior lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College, said.
A US non-profit group Partnership for Animal Welfare says socialisation - involving introducing pets to new experiences including people, places, objects and other animals - is most effective when puppies are four to 12 weeks old.
Researchers analysed records spanning from 2009 to 2014 from 127 UK vet clinics to determine the number of early deaths that were linked to undesirable behaviour.
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