Here is an article on how I trained my Husky puppy. I talk about how I use “yes” and “no”, how I tie the words to consequences, and how I stop undesirable behaviors.

When I first got my Shiba Inu, I started with aversive methods. It did not go well with Sephy, and ultimately, made him very sensitive to handling, lose trust in me, and develop even more behavioral issues. Here is more on the risks of aversive training.

Here is what I do to potty train my dogs.

A bit more on how dogs learn.

I am a first-time shiba inu owner preparing for my puppy’s arrival in a few weeks. I’ve been researching a lot and am up to the obedience training part of my reading. I’ve read that not many people recommend using aversive training as it may develop some aggression problems in the future.

So now I am a bit confused at how I might teach my puppy “no”, and to not repeat his mistakes (without having to use a spray bottle or a collar tug). I’ve read that shiba inus are generally independent and am afraid that a simple “no gesture” and ignoring him for a few minutes may not work. Wouldn’t my puppy just shrug it off and go about his own way?

In the future case where I may catch him in the act of peeing where he is not supposed to, how can i make him realize that that is a mistake without getting physical? While reward training is great for a dog that does what you want it to, how would it work to reinforce the “no” command?

(Apologies for the loaded question!)

I think that there is a lot of confusion about canine dominance, something that dogs practice among themselves, and generally maintain with minimal violence – usually limited to gestures and vocalizations -unless people have intervened and/or reinforced aggression.

Though his basic premise is to first establish dominance, in reviewing Cesar Milans videos and books, I couldn’t find an example of him intentionally using physical violence, unless you consider restraining an already-aggressive dog until you have his attention/cooperation to be violence. I do think he is too casual in his TV show in using “reversed leashes” as improvised choke collars, something that is potentially dangerous and harmful to a dog, when a properly sized and fitted martingale collar would accomplish the same thing safely with no pain to the dog.

“positive is not permissive”

I definitely agree with that!

Thanks for the link. I read through several of her articles and definitely enjoyed them.

Not sure if you’ve ever heard of her or not, but Susan Garrett of “Say Yes” dog training is someone whose information I’ve found invaluable as I’ve trained my dog. She is on the rewards side of dog training, but reminds readers that “positive is not permissive”, meaning you can be positive (reward) average or better to get the response you want, and positive training isn’t about shoving so many treats/toys/rewards down a dogs throat that they stop listening and train their owners!

You may want to check out her blog (and video!) called “Transitioning to Do-Land” here http://susangarrettdogagility.com/2011/07/transitioning-to-do-land/

What do you mean when you refer to time outs? I don’t really want to put her in her kennel when this happens as this is where she sleeps when we are away.

Yeah I agree. In general it is best to do timeouts in an area that is different from the kennel or crate which, as you say, should be a safe and restful place for the dog.

I do my timeouts in the laundry room because it is boring, extremely low stimulus, and there is nothing in there to do, see, smell, or chew on. Shiba Sephy really likes his freedom so timeouts are very effective on him.

I start with really short timeouts maybe 30 seconds or so. I also get Sephy to Sit before I let him out. If he goes back to his biting right away, I calmly say timeout and put him back into timeout for a longer period of time (usually a couple of minutes), and so on.

With Sephy, he is always testing his boundaries. If he finds that he can get away with something, he will try to get away with it. It sounds like Stella may also be testing her boundaries. Shibas are such rebels.

changing the experience to positive by finding a toy and playing catch, getting down on the floor to spend some quality massage time with her etc.

If she is already jumping and biting, I would not give her a massage or play with her. This would reward and reinforce the jumping and biting behavior.

One way to redirect her, is to ask her for an alternative positive command, e.g. Sit or Down. When she is doing this alternative behavior, she is no longer jumping or biting. If she stays calm we can reward and reinforce that new good behavior with play and/or a massage.

Sephy started his biting phase with us really early. I did a lot of bite inhibition exercises with him when he was young. I still continue with bite inhibition training even today. It helps him control the force of his bites, and is really helpful for a mouthy breed like the Shiba.
http://shibashake.com/dog/bite-inhibition

Once Sephy learned that jumping and biting to get attention only got him a trip to the laundry room, he gave it up. Shibas are stubborn though, so it may take a fair number of repetitions. Consistency is also key. If Sephy senses any weakness, he will definitely exploit it.

Here are a few other things that may help with puppy biting.

Hugs to Stella. Let us know how it goes.

I think you are already way ahead of me because you stopped after one class with Kameron. It is also great that you are doing so much research. Haruki is a lucky Shiba to have an owner who cares so much. Making mistakes is natural, I think. What is important is realizing our mistakes and taking steps to fix them

Based on my experiences with Sephy, he really did not respond well to any physical techniques and became more aggressive. Alpha rolls especially, made him very sensitive to handling. After I switched to purely reward based training, his behavior improved significantly – not overnight – but over time.

If you are interested here is an article I wrote about dog psychology and dog behavior modification.

Are you starting a training program with this new trainer? Let me know more when you get the chance.