What is a dominant dog?
Some people attribute all problem behaviors to “dominance“, while others do not want to use the “dominant dog” label at all. The truth, as always, is somewhere in-between.
It is useful to recognize dominant behaviors in our dog, so that we can better manage him, keep him safe, and set him up for success. Refusing to use the word dominance, or denying its existence in dogs, is unhelpful.
Any pack animal including humans and dogs, have to deal with dominance issues, because it is part of pack dynamics.
Similarly, trying to explain everything away by using the dominant dog label or excuse, is also unhelpful. To really fix a problem behavior, we want to fully understand it, and correctly identify its source. For example, a dog may show aggression because of dominance. However, dog aggression can also be the result of fear, stress, play, curiosity, boredom, or something else.
Dog Dominance
Dominance is a fluid concept.
Dogs are not dominant all of the time.
For example, many dogs will show greater dominance when they are on home turf, or when their owners are around. Under different circumstances, these same dogs may become less assertive, or may even become submissive.
Observe our dog carefully, and identify when he is more likely to show dominance, and why.
Dominance is a relative concept.
My Shiba Inu, for example, is more dominant than most dogs I have owned. He challenges me more frequently, and is constantly testing his boundaries. He has a dominant body posture, and he will not back down when challenged by other dogs.
My Siberian Husky, is a more submissive dog. She usually stops whatever she is doing, when I tell her to. She very quickly backs down, and uses submissive body language, when confronted by other dogs.
However, this does not mean that my Husky will always back down, or never show any dominance behavior. She simply prefers to avoid conflict, and has learned that she usually gets more, by seeking a peaceful resolution. I make sure to encourage this behavior, by rewarding calmness and conflict avoidance very well.
What is a Dominant Dog?
- A dominant dog will likely respond with aggression when he is frustrated, or when he feels threatened. He may also redirect that aggression onto us, if we try to physically engage him.
- A dominant dog is more forceful when it comes to fulfilling his own needs and goals. He is not afraid to challenge those around him, and to continually test his boundaries. My Shiba Inu is always testing to see if particular rules, such as the no getting on furniture rule, still hold true.
- A dominant dog is more likely to fight, and less likely to submit or run away. My Shiba Inu likes playing with other dogs, but he generally does not get along with dogs who try to dominate him. If challenged, he will not back down, and this can result in a dog fight.
Dealing with a Dominant Dog
1. A dominant dog needs a calm and assertive pack leader.
Being angry and shouting at our dog, will only worsen his behavior. Fear and uncertainty will increase his level of stress, and cause him to behave in a more erratic fashion.
The best way to deal with a dominant dog is to remain calm, and firmly remove him from the environment or object, that is causing him to act out.
2. Contrary to common belief, physical force or physical corrections is NOT a good way to deal with dominant dogs.
If not perfectly executed (with perfect timing, force, and technique), a physical correction may further frustrate our dog, and cause him to get more aggressive.
Instead, stay calm, keep physical interactions to a minimum, and quickly leave the stressful situation. In addition, using physical force against a dog, may end up teaching him the wrong lesson; in particular, use violence against violence.
True alpha dogs lead by controlling the pack’s resources. We can control our dog’s resources by following the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program, and using reward obedience training.
3. A dominant dog should be carefully managed and supervised.
We want to step in and stop any aggressive behaviors, before our dog escalates and loses control. Prevention is key when dealing with a dominant dog. It stops him from practicing aggressive behaviors, and it enforces the important lesson that we are calm, and in charge.
4. A dominant dog should have more rules.
To become a good pack leader, it is important to develop a set of house rules and some structure, for our dog to follow. Always be consistent with enforcing all of those rules.
My Shiba Inu’s most important house rules include –
- No getting on furniture,
- No biting on people,
- No leash biting, and
- No food aggression or resource guarding.
5. A dominant dog should have frequent obedience training sessions.
Schedule at least two or more short (10 – 15 minutes) obedience training sessions with our dog, every day. It is a good idea to keep up with obedience exercises, throughout a dog’s life. This keeps him mentally sharp, and makes it clear that we are in charge.
6. Use proper equipment to control a dominant dog.
When dealing with aggression, safety should always be a primary concern.
Use whatever equipment is necessary, to keep all the people around our dominant dog safe. A drag lead may also be useful because it gives us good control of our dog, without having to lay hands on him or his collar, and without resorting to chasing games.
If our dog has a bite history, it may be necessary to use a muzzle. I like the basket muzzle because it does not overly constrain a dog’s mouth, and is more comfortable. A basket muzzle will still allow a dog to eat and pant.
Be careful not to aggravate our dog’s aggressive behavior by overly constraining him, and causing barrier frustration. When in doubt, consult a professional trainer.
7. Always set our dominant dog up for success.
Try to minimize the number of dominant displays. Identify objects (e.g. other dogs, cats) and environmental conditions (e.g. loud noise) that trigger dominant behaviors, and avoid those triggers.
Then, gradually desensitize our dog to those events, in a controlled fashion.
Many dog behavioral issues, including resource guarding, biting people, dog-to-dog aggression, sensitivity to handling, growling at humans, and general disobedience, are often attributed to “the dominant dog“.
However, each of these problems are unique, and complex. They are usually the result of many factors, one of which may be dominance. In fact, many behavioral issues are the result of stress and fear, and have nothing whatsoever to do with dominance.
When dealing with dog behavioral issues, it is best to keep an open mind.
Observe our dog and his environment carefully. Identify the triggers for his aggressive behavior, and try to understand why he is responding in this way. If his aggression is extreme (e.g. he is breaking skin, and/or causing puncture wounds), hire a professional trainer to help us carefully trouble-shoot the problems.
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Hi, I have a border collie/mix with something I’m not sure of. He was a stray that showed up a about a year and a half ago. Well, I’ve been dating my bf since right after I got my dog and there have never really been any problems. My dog was abandoned and so now, he has abandonment issues. My boyfriend gets up and goes to work at 6 every morning and i usually sleep in until 10 before work. A couple of days ago my boyfriend was looking for his clothes in the dark, using the light of his phone, and my dog suddenly got up to attack him. Backed him up into a corner and everything. And I didn’t think anything of it except maybe my boyfriend startled my dog and my dog was just being protective of me. But I thought, my dog has snapped once or twice and I blamed that before on rough housing with him too hard. So decided to call the vet and have him neutered, which will take place tomorrow, hoping that would calm him down. But this morning, my boyfriend went to give me a hug and a kiss and my dog suddenly attacked him again. Didn’t bite him. But had him backed up into a corner again until I got to my dog. He is a little bit aggressive towards strangers, and I usually blame that on being protective of me since I ‘rescued’ him. And usually when my dog does something he’s not supposed to, I put him in his place by grabbing him and putting him down on the ground and holding him there with my knee on his neck until he calms down and submits. If he does it again, I’m worried that it might be worse and my dog will actually bite my boyfriendeven though my boyfriend backs up. Could this be a result of maybe the way the previous owners treated him? Or is he just being protective or showing dominance? I don’t want to have to put my dog down because he’s too aggressive and can’t be controlled. He’s really a sweet dog when he’s not feeling threatened.
Hello Hillary,
Here are a couple of articles on dominance and aggression-
1. Aggression and Dominance in Dogs (UC Davis).
2. Dominance and bad dog behavior.
Re Helping my dogs get along with people:
Two key things that help with my dogs-
1. Creating a bond – My partner walks a dog in the morning, and also walks them during the weekends. He feeds them in the morning, and I do the feeding in the evening. He also plays with them, grooms them, and we do the training together. We agree on the house rules, and make sure we use consistent techniques to train them. In this way, our dogs create a bond with the both of us, and sees us both as part of their family.
2. People desensitization exercises – I also do people desensitization exercises with my dogs so that they learn to view other people in a positive way, and also learn what to do when they meet people. Dogs do not know our human greeting rules, they do not know that we have thin skins, and they do not know our language. Therefore, it is up to us to teach them these things. Desensitization helps my dogs to be comfortable around people, and to use alternative behaviors for coping with stress when they feel threatened.
The most important part with desensitization is to *always* start with a very weakened version of the stimulus, weak enough that our dog can tolerate it without losing control. With people, I can weaken the stimulus by using distance and making sure that the person is calm and totally ignoring my dog (no talking and no eye-contact). In this way, I can start to teach my dog new behaviors to use when in the proximity of people, and also to reassociate people with positive outcomes.
Re Pinning a dog down until he submits:
This is also called an alpha roll. It was something that I did with my Shiba Inu (Sephy) when he was younger and unfortunately, we did not have good results. Sephy became very sensitive to handling, he grew distrustful of people, he felt more threatened, and used aggression even more to protect himself. Here is a bit more on our experiences with the alpha roll.
Later on, I discovered that this technique is very risky and can cause increased aggression in dogs.
Professional help:
Given what you describe, it sounds like it may be best to get some help from a professional trainer. Dog training is very context dependent, and a dog’s behavior depends a lot on his temperament, routine, environment, past experience, and more. To come up with an effective retraining plan, we want to identify the source or triggers of a dog’s aggression, and this is best done by a trainer who can meet with and observe our dog.
http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/
We have a 4 year old (1/2 Catahoula & 1/2 Plott Hound). She’s (Clyde) very dominant! And we are thinking about taking in our neighbors dog – who has been left behind twice. She (Ginger) is the sweetest craziest dog (we think part Jack Russell & who know’s what else). But she is dominant as well. Clyde will rip Ginger apart & we want them to get along. Clyde is very protective of our home & land. She really doesn’t get along with any other dogs – so far. Any other suggestions?
For more serious types of aggression, it is best and safest to get help from a professional trainer.
http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/
In general, systematic desensitization exercises can be used to raise a dog’s instinct threshold, and teach him new and alternative ways for dealing with the stress of meeting other dogs. This is best done under the direction of a good trainer.
I would retrain my existing dog first, and *not* introduce any big changes into his routine (e.g. a new dog) until I have the aggression under control.
Hi! I was wondering if you could help me with some advice on my female siberian. She will be a year on May 17th. We don’t have any problems with aggression whatsoever, thankfully. However, I am afraid my girl is an alpha and I am worried it may be too late to break her. She will hump on me and other dogs frequently and I will tell her firmly to step, yet she still continues. She also will go in the garbage and I will catch her in the act and tell her to step, but she will stare at me and run away quickly with the garbage. She also will “punch” with her paws and demand play time and attention. She jumps up on everyone and the biggest problem is the house breaking! She was house broken completely at 10 weeks with no accident. Then she got a urinary tract infection and began going in the house. The urinary infection was treated immediately, yet she still continues to poop/urinate in the house multiple times a day even though she is let out constantly and I watch her go to the bathroom. I have her in an obedience class, but it isn’t helping the alpha behaviors. My girl is very smart and can sit, shake both paws, stay, down, and crawl; which is what the trainer in the class focuses on. I feel like I have spent endless amounts of money and time and nothing is working. I love my husky very much but it is very taxing on me until this problem is corrected.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE,
Lindsey
*stop not step sorry about typo. Also: The urinating in the house began in March.
Re Saying ‘Stop’:
In the beginning, the word “Stop” will mean very little to our dog. For it to have meaning, we will need to associate it with a consequence that means something to our puppy. Here is a bit more on “Stop” words and how I communicate with my Husky puppy.
Re Punching and demanding attention:
Dogs will repeat behaviors that get them good results and stop behaviors that get them undesirable results. Dogs often jump and punch because when they do that, we usually give them our attention. We may try to push them away, shout at them, move around, and more. All this moving around will likely get our dog more excited, and think that it is a fun game.
What has worked well with my dogs is to withdraw my attention when they jump or bite.
Here is a bit more on how I train my dogs not to jump on people.
Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.
Re Potty training:
I would go back to potty training basics. Here are some things that I did to potty train my Husky puppy.
Re Dog dominance:
A bit more on dominance and bad dog behavior.
HI
I wonder if you can help me.
I have a 3 year old german spitz called Poppy, and I think she sees herself as alpha over my two youngest children – they are 4 and 8. She will let them walk her if I am not with them (if I am, she will bark constantly and keep looking to me) – we have a park next to the house that they go to. My main concern is that she growls and sometimes snaps at them. She is nervous about some things – she will outright attack the vacuum cleaner- I generally prompt her to leave the room when using it now. But the kids cant bring toys through on the floor, she will attack the toys. If she has a treat, they cannot go anywhere near her – even if she is in her crate with it ( where her bed is) she will growl. What can I do to get across that she is not alpha? Or what can I get the kids to do? I am worried that she will at some point go too far.
Hello Colette,
Given that young kids are involved, I would get help from a professional trainer. Dog behavior is very context dependent. To properly diagnose and retrain a behavior, it is often necessary to see the dog, read her body language, get to know her temperament, as well as understand her routine and environment.
Just based on what you describe, it sounds like the aggression behavior comes from fear and anxiety. Here is a useful article from UC Davis on aggression and dominance.
In terms of guarding food and toys, here are a couple of articles on my experiences with my dogs-
Why dogs get aggressive over food and toys.
How I trained my dogs not to guard their food and toys.
Here is another article on dog dominance and bad behaviors.
Hugs to Poppy!
Thanks for your advice, I will certainly have a look thru the links you have given me and look into a professional trainer.
Can you help me ? I have a 12st Newfoundland Dog who is 3 years old. He has overtime (6 months or so) decided that he wont walk with me or some other family members.He uses his weight (hits the floor and wont move) until I head for home. How can I overcome this behavior ?
thanks
John
Hello John,
A common reason why a dog may want to stay home instead of going on walk is because of anxiety. Did something happen during his walks when the change in behavior started? Previously, did he enjoy going on walks? Does he have the same walk routine? Is there a particular place where he always sits and won’t move?
When my dog has an issue with anxiety, I first try to locate the source of his stress. I look at commonalities in the environment, time-line, and more to identify what triggers his unexpected behavior. Once I identify the triggers for his behavior, then I can desensitize him to those triggers in a controlled and structured way. This teaches him new ways to cope with his stress, helps to build confidence, and also retrains him to associate a previously “bad trigger” with positive outcomes.
Here is a bit more on dog anxiety problems.
There are other reasons why a dog may stop and not want to move during walks, e.g. they want to watch people or other dogs, they want to sniff at something in a particular spot, they want to go in a different direction, etc. I always try observe my dog carefully so that I know where the change in behavior comes from. Once I know the source, I can come up with an appropriate plan to target the root of the problem, and change it for the long-term.
Hi,
I have a 15 month old Labrador/Rottweiler dog. I am very confused as to what behaviour he is displaying. I do not know if it is dominance or fear. He is a lovely boy in the house he never leaves my side but when we go out for walks he seems to be a different dog. He becomes stressed at walking around corners and has on one occasion growled at someone coming around a corner in the opposite direction. He jumps at leaves moving and gets very stressed on a windy day! He Isin’t interested in being stroked by people outside and if someone attempts to stroke him or talk to him he will growl at them. I have spoke to a dog behaviour specialist and he seems to think that he is fiercely protective over me. Please help!
Hmmm, how does he respond when people try to give him affection while in the house? How does he respond to house guests? Does he show similar behavior when he is walked by somebody else? Did this behavior just start or has he been this way from the beginning? Did anything change when the behavior first started?
Dogs can get fearful or uncertain about new objects, new people, or new environments. New things are unknown, and may turn out to be dangerous. Socializing a dog to new objects, people, and experiences in a positive, structured, and supervised way, can help to build confidence and reduce stress.
My youngest Husky was a bit fearful of people and new objects when she was young. She was especially wary of people on bicycles and skateboards. We were able to help her with her stress through desensitization exercises.
Here is a bit more on dog anxiety and fears.
Hello, I have been reading some of your posts and I can see you’re very knowledgeable on the subject of dog dominance, so I would like to ask for your advice.
My neighbor’s dog (a Border Terrier mix) has always been very aggressive and territorial, getting help from said neighbor has never been possible. His dogs pee, sleep and mark (with their paws) places on various blocks away from their house, including our house and lawn.
Months ago the dog began to follow me barking and growling, at first I wasn’t afraid, but seeing he was increasingly aggressive made me more and more scared, as soon as I saw he was there I moved to the other side of the street but he always followed me barking, then last week he ran towards me barking, he kept circling around me, almost about to jump, and even if I said his name he didn’t calm down, I simply couldn’t approach my house.
I was absolutely terrified, the neighbors stood there staring and finally when he backed a bit I went to my house, I grabbed a small pot with water and threw it at him, he ran away very quickly and it didn’t even touch him, but he kept barking from a distance.
I even got ill from the shock, I know I shouldn’t have been scared, but I’ve always been afraid of dogs and this was a trigger.
So now I’m wondering, what am I going to do next week when I have to return from school?
A long time ago my mother told him “no” when he was about to follow my brother, that seemed to make him go mad, because he didn’t stop barking for some good 15 minutes, so I don’t know if saying “no” would be a good option, also, I’m thinking about carrying a bottle of water in case he becomes aggressive again, Do you think that would be a bad idea?, or should I just keep walking and stand still if things escalate?
Thanks for reading this.
It sounds like it may be best to get help from your parents or relatives. Perhaps they can have a talk with the neighbors, or failing that, get help from the local animal care and control agency.
Thank you for replying.
Well, talking to the neighbors is out of the question because it has been done before and they kind of feel proud that their dog is that way.
There’s a German Shepard across the street, he’s behind a gate, the Terrier goes there EVERY SINGLE MORNING to bark at that other dog, the owner just stands there laughing, he thinks it’s hilarious that his tiny dog is not scared of the other one.
About 4 months ago the German Shepard killed one of said neighbor’s dog, and he still thinks it’s funny! He has seen his dog run towards me and just carries on with whatever he is doing, if I ask for help, he giggles!
As for an animal care place, there’s no such a thing in this country. When the German Shepard killed yet another dog (about two years ago) we tried to get the police involved because the owner said he couldn’t do anything about it because his dog knew how to open the gate.
This has been going on for years as you can see, everybody lets their dogs do whatever they want, and nobody cares what happens to them.
I don’t want to turn this into some emo letter, but really, my mom’s response was “Oh, yeah, I heard the dog barking like a maniac, and because of the time it was I knew it was you who was outside” and yet she couldn’t be bothered to go out to try to help me…
So yes, I’m in trouble.
Hello Lilly,
It sounds like a difficult situation. Does your mom know that the dog is charging at you and not just barking? It may help to explain that the dog is escalating his behavior, since your mom may not know the whole situation. Is there a relative, such as an aunt or an uncle, or a teacher, that can also help with this?
In general, I do not try to confront or engage with off-leash neighborhood dogs. I also do not give them eye-contact, which can be seen as an invitation to interact, or as a threatening gesture, similar to when a stranger stares at us.
I have also been charged by off-leash dogs before, but luckily, there are usually people around who help to secure the dog. Off-leash dogs are really a people issue. A good long-term solution will likely require getting people involved.
HELLO AGAIN. I HAVE ADDITIONAL INFO. REGARDS MY MASTIFF’S BEHAVIOR AT THE ENCLOSED DOG PARK. 30 MIN. PRIOR TO HIS OUTBURST BEHAVIOR A DOBERMAN PINCHER WAS AGGRESSIVE TOWARDS HIM AND SNAPPED AT MY DOG. MY DOG JUST TRIED TO BRUSH HIM OFF AS USUAL WITH OTHER DOGS THAT WANT TO FIGHT WITH HIM. BUT IF THEY DO THAT TWICE OR MORE HE WILL QUICKLY STAND HIS GROUND. WELL, HE DID IT TWICE BUT MY DOG IGNORED HIM AGAIN AND WALK CALMLY AWAY. IT TAKES 2 OR 3 TIMES FOR MY DOG TO GET AGITATED. SORRY FOR HOLDING THIS INFO. I DIDN’T THINK HIS EARLIER ENCOUNTER AFFECTED HIM. WHAT DO YOU THINK? THANK YOU.
Hello Joel,
Since I was not there to see things as they unfolded, it is difficult for me to say what actually contributed to the behavior.
However, most of the enclosed dog parks that I have been to, are unstructured and have very little supervision. Many of the visitors are focused on chatting, and are less interested in managing their dogs. As a result, a dog may pick up bad habits from observing other dogs, may get overwhelmed during play, and may get into altercations with other dogs.
In the end, we decided that Sephy (our Shiba Inu) would do much better in smaller and more structured play groups, where there is much more human supervision. In this situation, I am in control and can use his desire to play with other dogs, as a way to teach him good behaviors.
Hi, Thanks for the great advice. I’m hoping I can further pick your brain. We have a male pit who has some issues. He came from a home where they may have tried to teach him to fight, is dog aggressive with other dogs except ours (a female pit and a female chihuahua mix), is pushy, rambunctious and, growls at my daughter at times (she’s 23 yrs old and was his previous co-owner). I have spent so much money on trainers and although he has improved somewhat, I’m still struggling with him – especially when out on walks (he gets riled up really easy when he sees other dogs and even remembers some of the houses where dogs have barked when we’ve walked by) and I don’t like that he growls at my daughter. I would soooooooooo appreciate any tips you could provide. Thanks so much. Laura
What type of training have you tried wrt. his dog-to-dog aggression? What was his response?
I do not have experience with retraining a fighting dog, and can only speak to my experiences with my own dogs.
In terms of dog-to-dog reactivity, what has helped with my own dogs are-
1. Structured and well-managed desensitization exercises.
2. Creating neutral experiences with other dogs.
3. Setting them up for success. For example, I only expose them to situations and environments that I know they can handle. We first leash train in the backyard where there are no distractions. Then, we start walking in very quiet parts of the neighborhood. We drive to a quiet place if necessary.
I find that it is best to keep my dogs below their reactivity threshold, by managing their environment. The more a dog practices aggressive behaviors in the presence of other dogs, the more likely he will repeat the behavior in the future.
Therefore, I am careful about managing their surroundings, so that they only have positive or neutral experiences with other dogs. This helps them to build confidence, and to reassociate other dogs with something positive.
However, my dogs do not have to get over a difficult past. Given what you describe, I would only do training under the direction of a good, positive-based professional trainer; preferably one who has extensive prior experience with rehabilitating dogs that have been taught to fight.
I have a pitbull male at about 11months old.we got him a friend,female pitbull/lab mix at 8 weeks old, we put them together and all went well , its been a week and everything was fine , then the little one got out the gate for maybe 2 second, I picked her up and put her back in the yard as soon as I put her down our male just snapped at her, and ever since he has not allowed her near him! What to do?? Plz help
What is puppy’s routine? How did she act with the male during the first week? What is the male’s routine like, and how did his routine change? Did they play all of the time? How were their play sessions? Puppies usually don’t know what their boundaries are, so they may overly pester our existing dog.
When I get a new puppy, I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules. In this way, puppy knows what is expected of her, the other dogs know what to expect from my new puppy, and vice versa. Conflicts usually arise out of uncertainty – so I set up clear boundaries on what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Then, I supervise closely, and if there are any issues, I step in and resolve them in a consistent way.
Here are some things that I did while introducing a new puppy to my existing dogs.
Note though, that dog behavior is very context dependent. Each dog and each situation is different, so some things may apply and some may not. Getting a good professional trainer can be helpful, because he can observe the dogs together, read their body language, and properly identify the source of the behavior.
HELLO, CAN SOMEONE HELP ME(S.O.S.) IDENTIFYING IF MY 18 MTH. OLD NEAPOLITAN MASTIFF IF HE IS BEING STRONGLY PLAYFUL OR DOMINANT? WHILE BEING AT THE DOG PARK WITH MY DOG EVERYTHING SEEMED NORMAL AS USUAL. AS I WAS SITTING ON THE BENCH SUDDENLY MY DOG STARTED PUSHING ON ME OR FORCING ON ME AND WHEN I GOT UP HIS BEHAVIOR ESCALATED FOR A LONG TIME. I JUST COULDN’T CONTROL HIM. HE THEN STARTED SNAPPING AT ME THEN BITING MY ARM ENOUGH TO BREAK MY SKIN. THAT GOT ME WORRIED SO I STRUGGLED WITH HIM BUT I FINALLY PINNED HIM. WE WERE BOTH TIRED AND HE CALMED DOWN. WHEN HE RECOVERED(TIREDNESS) HE START UP AGAIN. SO WE(MY WIFE & DAUGHTER) DECIDED TO LEAVE THE PARK. HE DIDN’T LET ME WALK AND STARTED ROUGHING ME UP AGAIN AND BITING A LITTLE MORE HARDER. THAT SCARED ME MORE. FINALLY MY WIFE CALLED THE DOG TO DISTRACT HIM AND IT WORKED. WE THEN LEFT THE DOG PARK. WE ALSO HAVE A FEMALE NEO (1YR.) IN HEAT WHICH WE LEFT BACK HOME. WE ARE SKIPPING HER SECOND HEAT AND ARE KEPT APART. MY ARM IS ALL BRUCE UP AND SCRATCH UP FROM HIS FANGS. I WORRY FOR MY FAMILY. HOW DO I CORRECT THIS BEHAVIOR. IF ANYONE CAN HELP I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.
Hello Joel,
The best way to identify the source of aggression for a dog, is to hire a professional to come over and observe the dog, read his body language, as well as look at his routine and environment. Dog behavior is very context dependent, therefore to properly diagnose an issue, a trainer would need to see the dog, get to know his temperament, and interpret the behavior based on what is happening in the surrounding context.
For example, what kind of dog park is it? It is a fully enclosed dog park? What other dogs were around then? What was your dog doing before the incident occurred? Was he doing excited playing? Were many other dogs chasing him and he was feeling overwhelmed?
Enclosed dog park environments are often chaotic, with few rules, and very little supervision. My Shiba Inu picked up a lot of bad habits at the dog park.
Re: Alpha roll or pinning a dog down
I used alpha rolls on my Shiba Inu when he was young, and unfortunately, it made his behavior even worse. He also became very sensitize to handling, and started to lose trust in me. I later found out that alpha rolls can also encourage aggression.
Here is more on my experiences with alpha rolls.
Here is a short but good article from UC Davis about dominance and dog aggression.
I do bite inhibition training with my dogs to teach them to control the force of their bites. I also set up a consistent set of rules for them, including rules on how to interact with people. I use the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free program) to achieve and maintain pack leadership. They have a lot of structure and a fixed routine, so that they know what to expect from me, and what I expect from them in return.
Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.
Each dog is different, and each situation is different. Based on what you describe, it is best to get help from a good professional trainer.
Hi Joel,
Camilla.
I have had similar experiences with my dog and fortunately found a way to stop this behaviour. First, did you do a structured walk with your dog before taking him to the dog park? Dog parks should be considered ‘treats’ not a main meal – his walk is where he will drain his energy, giving you more control of him while in a dog park. Secondly if your dog has a lot of energy to burn, do your structured walk with him with a dog packpack on, with a waterbottle in each side filled with water.
I think what’s probably happened is your dog a) doesn’t consider you his pack leader and b) he’s gone to the dog park with too much energy and without another dog to release it with, he’s directing it at you.
Does he behave this way with you at home? if so, that will be perfect as it’s an opportunity to give him time out. Put him in a boring room with nothing to do, like a bathroom and leave him there for 5 mins. IF he comes out and repeats the behaviour he goes back in for 10mins. Again, if he repeats, 15-20. My Husky learnt VERY quickly wiht this who he could mess with and who he couldn’t. As a simple, easy and non agressive method, it’s my favourite for getting rid of unwanted behaviour. When he misbehaves at home, say Time Out! so he associates the words with being put away from the pack in a boring room (don’t let him out in the yard, it needs to be a place where he’s alone with nothing to do). Once he understands time out, you can use that whne you’re out and about. I only need to say it to my dog if we’re out now and he immediately quits what he’s doing. Also, you could benefit form really working on being the pack leader. There are lots of great tips on this site, but for exxample, give him rules of what he can and can’t do, just giving a rule and enforcing it shows him you’re the pack leader. Don’t let him go through doors ahead of you, eat first, enforce rules with time out and make sure you’re taking him on a sturctured walk every day to drain his energy.
My dog used to break the skin all the time, now he’s great. Good luck and hope this helps.
Hi I found this article because my partner and I are getting a dog from a rescue centre. She is about 3 years old and is a Labrador and Rottweiler mix. She came in as a stray and since has had dominance issues. She was rehomed initially but came back when she became dominant in her new home. Also she is dominant over women – I have seen this already as when I visit her (we haven’t picked her up yet) she will sit on my feet to mark my rank lower than her. When visiting I have now made sure that if she tries to do this that I make her sit between my legs or beside me so she cannot rank me lower. Finally she can be food aggressive – think this could be to do with stray history.
Sorry for the novel! Just wondered if there was any advice you could give to help me with asserting my rank over her and ensure that she learns to listen to me? I believe she can be a wonderful animal with some time and training, just want to get off on the right foot from the start
Thank you.
Hello Kai,
Congratulations on your new furry family member!
Here is a more recent article I wrote about dog dominance.
In terms of being pack leader, I find that following the Nothing in Life is Free program works well with my dogs.
As for food aggression issues, here are a couple of articles on my experiences with my dogs -
http://shibashake.com/dog/why-dogs-get-aggressive-over-food-toys
http://shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression-stop-resource-guarding
When I first got Sephy, I got a lot of conflicting advice from my neighbors, online boards, etc. Finally, what worked best for my dogs is to -
1. Get information from several different trusted sources. The ASPCA has some good articles on dog behavior. I also read articles and studies from animal behavior schools. UPenn, Cornell, and UCDavis has some good articles on dog behavior. Dr Sophia Yin also has an interesting blog on dog training and dog behavior.
2. Observe my dogs closely and let them tell me what works well and what does not. My dogs communicate a lot with me, but in the beginning, I missed most of their communication cues or misinterpreted them. With practice, I am getting better at reading their body language.
3. I also did some training classes and visited with several professional trainers during my difficult period with Sephy. There are a lot of not-so-good and so-so trainers out there though, so it is not always easy to find a good one. This is what I did to find a trainer for Sephy.
Big hugs to your girl! Have you brought her home? How are things going?
Thanks for the fast reply. Haven’t picked Bonnie up yet, just waiting for a home check to approve us but should be sometime in next week.
I will have a read up on the articles that you’ve given, I’m sure they will be helpful
I went to visit Bonnie on my own the other day as I had only been with my partner and found she was different with just me. After spending some time with her alone though it seems that she has definitely bonded with me and has began to listen to me. I went to visit her again today with my partner and she was as good as gold, completely over the top excited to see me and listened to me on our walk. I hope it doesn’t change when we bring her home!
Any things you can suggest that I can try at home once she comes home?
That is awesome! She will be a very happy girl next week.
Moving to a new home can be stressful for some dogs because everything is so new and they do not know what to expect from the new environment. When we moved to a new house, I set up a fixed routine, consistent house rules, and a consistent way of communication. In this way, Sephy knows exactly what to expect from me and also what I expect from him.
Routine and consistency helps to increase certainty and reduce stress.
Other than that, enjoy your new furry friend and take lots of pictures!
I have a 1 year old rescue dog from the ASPCA. We think he’s some type of terrier and pit bull mix… He’s very sweet and loveable unless he’s laying down in his bed or one of our beds. If some members of the family (all but me) go up to hug or kiss him, he growls. At times he will then crawl over to them like he’s sorry and if they respond, he growls again. His aggression is getting stronger at times towards my 4 year old grandson just coming in the room to give me a hug. I love this dog and want to keep him, but people safety is first. I no longer allow him on my bed and barely in my room at all.
Does this seem like a dominance issue? And how can I fix it?
thank you,
Becky
Hello Becky,
Does he show this behavior when you are not around?
Does he show this behavior around other items – e.g. food or toys?
How does he act towards strangers during outside walks?
Does he show this behavior when someone comes towards him while he is sleeping on the floor?
Dogs are more vulnerable when they are sleeping/resting, and a person (especially a new person) invading their space (especially their sleeping space) can often be seen as a threat. If I woke up and suddenly saw someone looming over my bed, I would feel threatened as well.
Here is an article on why dogs may not always like hugging.
Based on what you describe, it may also be a guarding issue. He *may* be protecting his space (the bed), you, or both.
Dogs often guard objects, people, etc. because they fear that those things will be taken away from them when other people (or other dogs) come close. For example, they may associate a person’s approach with “losing their sleeping area” (getting kicked off the bed), “losing their special person’s affection” (getting pushed to the side), etc.
A dog may sometimes also guard his people to protect them from what *he* sees as a threat.
Here is an article on why dogs get aggressive over food or toys. The article is targeted at food aggression, but much of it also applies to other types of guarding behavior.
This handout from UC Davis gives a quick but good overview of dog aggression and dominance.
Note though that I do not know your dog, do not know the surrounding context, and other related factors. Therefore, I can only give my best guess as to the source of the behavior. For an accurate evaluation, it may be best to get a professional trainer to meet the dog, observe his behavior, and identify what triggers the aggression. Then, a good trainer can also come up with a plan to retrain and redirect the behavior.
Love this website
I have an 8 year old shiba who is perfect. We don’t crate her, she has perfect manners and has 100% recall but when she was a puppy she was bit by another dog. Now whenever another dog comes towards her she growls and shows her teeth. Usually the dog backs off and then they are the best of friends. The odd occassion the dog growls back and its a full on dog fight. How would you correct this behaviour?? She is always offleash when it happens (she is worse onleash) and its always the bigger breds that growl back so my shiba always loses which doesn’t help the problem. We can always reach down and pick her up as she focuses her aggression on the dog but we would really like to show her that she doesn’t have to show her teeth at every dog that comes near her. She loves cats and other animals its just dogs. She also has zero interst in treats. We have tried numerous trainers who all advise that there is nothing really wrong with her, she is just a dominant dog who is not dog aggressive, she is just protecting her own space and telling other dogs she doesn’t want them in her space but we would prefer if she didn’t do this behaviour. Its embarassing and we have become the joke of the park – every morning the people are like “I guess she hasn’t had her coffee yet” or “your dog woke up on the wrong side of the bed as always”. At least they are used to her and have no problem but new people always have that moment when they think my dog is nuts 
Any tips would be appriciated 
What a sweetie! Are you sure she is a Shiba?
Sephy was also pretty reactive to other dogs when he was young. Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises helped him to stay more calm in the presence of other dogs. The nice thing about desensitization is that it starts-off with a very weak version of the stimulus. With other dogs, distance is often a great way to weaken the stimulus. In this case, I had Sephy on-leash a far distance away from another dog who was also on-leash and focused on his handler. I am far away enough that Sephy is calm and able to listen to commands.
I get Sephy’s attention, we do some simple commands, and I reward him for staying calm in the presence of another dog. If everything is well, then we take one step toward the other dog and repeat the exercise.
We used to practice a lot at a nearby SPCA with one of their trainers. They had a really nice enclosed space where we did our training, and a variety of friendly dogs that we could do train with.
Big hugs to your Shiba girl!
Hi I was just wanting some advice I am hoping to get my Siberian Husky Puppy in Feb 2013 this will be my second dog but not of the same breed, I had my last dog was before I had children my youngest is now 2. I do know the breed need lots of exercise an shed around the year I’ve done a lot of research on the breed an I am willing to put the time into taking care an training this dog well
I was wanting some tips on how to get my children to approach the puppy an basically teach them how to be around the dog. I know the basics no smacking or bieng cruel to the dog an I will never be leaving the dog alone with the children any advice would be great, thanks in advance.
Hello,
This is not something I have much first-hand experience on, so I may not be the best person to answer your question. Some things that help with my dogs -
1. Stay calm and no quick movements.
Kids tend to move around a lot and have excited energy. This often gets Sephy excited as well, which is when he starts to jump and mouth. Calm energy with slower movements will help keep a dog more calm.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dogs-children-prevent-dog-attacks
2. Bite inhibition training.
This trains the dog to have a soft mouth.
3. Start training right away.
It helps to institute rules right away, and start teaching those rules to puppy while she is still small. They grow up very quickly, and then cute puppy behaviors like jumping or mouthing can become dangerous even if it is only in play. I find that having a drag-lead on an in-training puppy helps a lot, because I have better and quicker control of puppy when I need it.
I establish very clear house rules for both dogs and people. In this way, my dogs know exactly what to expect from me and other members of the household, and vice versa. Rules and routine really helps a lot with a new puppy.
Congratulations on your soon-to-be new family member! Happy Holidays!
Hello,
I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I have 3 dogs. Mickey, whippet-is a fussy eater he doesnt like dry food but only wants tinned food, i have tried leaving it down all day i have tried only putting it down fot 10 mins, this is the only thing he is fussy about he will happyly eat anything else at all. He is a year and a half old. The other probelm he has is toliet training. He will happly do it anywhere on our walks (concret, grass, pebbles, plants) but he will not do it in my garden. My garden is concret and very very small. I tried doggy nappies (which he takes off) and briught a crate, but he does it anyway normally in his bed.
My other dog bella is a sheppard cross with hunterhound female rescued her so dont know age. She seems to display dominance by mounting, her body language when meeting other dogs, she also gets jealous if i do anything with someone else and gets talkative about it, she chases the other 2 when off lead that seems slightly agessive. Due to pulling she now wears a head coller lead which does work.
Can you give mw any tips to sort out these problems? I would love to be able to enjoy the walks rather than dread them. I am still trying to train my dogs to the basic commands with treats and clicker training
Please help
leanne
Yeah, my Shiba Inu is a fussy eater as well. At first, he didn’t want to eat his puppy kibble. Then we got him a better kibble that was more to his liking. He ate that for a while, then he only wanted wet food. After that, he didn’t even want wet food anymore, but would hold out only for cheese and other special treats.
What helped with Sephy is switching to a fixed feeding routine and schedule. I gave him his food at fixed times and for a fixed duration. I also measured out the amount of food I gave him. He skipped a couple of meals, but then he realized that he wasn’t going to get dessert until after he ate his dinner, so he started eating his kibble.
Another thing that helped with Sephy is to follow the Nothing in Life is free program. With NILIF, Sephy has to work for all of his food – no more freebies in a bowl. This makes him value food a lot more, and is also a great way to motivate him to follow house rules and commands.
Re potty training:
With potty training what has worked well with my Sibes is a lot of supervision during the training period. I watch them like a hawk, and as soon as it looks like they have to go, I quickly take them out to do their business. Since they have to go anyway, they go outside as soon as I take them to their potty spot. When that happens, I praise them very well and reward them with high priority treats (that they only get for pottying in the backyard), a lot of attention, and also a fun game.
In this way, they learn that pottying outside = lots of rewards, attention, and games, while pottying inside = get interrupted and taken outside.
Supervision is probably the single most important aspect of potty training. If we can catch our dog before he makes a mistake in the house, then it becomes a useful learning opportunity; one which ends with a positive reward at the end for doing the right thing.
Here is more on my potty training experiences.
Also, some dogs may not like going in the backyard, or in confined spaces. My Shiba is very picky about his potty spots. For him, I usually take him out to the front-yard, and he is happy to go there.
Re jealous for affection:
One thing that has really helped with my dogs is to have very consistent house rules. I have rules of interaction with people, and rules of interaction with other dogs.
If I am giving affection to one of my dogs and another tries to rudely butt-in, then I no-mark (Ack-ack) to let her know that it is unacceptable behavior. Then I tell her what do to instead, e.g. Down.
If she follows the pre-trained command and is calm, then I give affection to both dogs. If she continues with her bad behavior and harasses my other dog, then she goes to timeout. In this way, she learns that bullying = no affection and loss of freedom. However, lying down calmly = lots of attention and affection.
Here is a bit more on what has helped with training my Sibes.
Hopefully you can be of some help in this strange situation we have going on in our household. Our 4 year old pit was spayed about 5 months ago. Since then, she has started to hump people and our poor chihuahua, who is a male(p.s. they get along on a regular basis). I’ve never seen a female do this, ever. Also at times, very rarely, she has snapped at a few of us. Usually because we try and move her (off the bed or couch ect). Before all this, we always were able to brag about how she has never been aggressive towards anyone. Now, I have to take a squirt bottle on walks to ensure she doesn’t attack any other female dogs. Its sad that things have changed like this. Any advice would be great. Thank you.
Hello Amanda,
Many apologies for the late reply. I have been doing a lot of site updates, and as a result, things are a bit up in the air.
In terms of the behavior that you describe, it is not something I have encountered before, so I don’t have any firsthand knowledge.
One possibility is that she may still be feeling pain/discomfort from the spay procedure. Is she showing any other signs of pain/discomfort while walking? How has her activity level been? Is she jumping or running around in a normal way?
As for humping, yeah, female dogs do that as well. In addition, humping is not always a sign of dominant behavior. One of my female Sibes, Lara, does that sometimes during play. Even though she does it in play, it is not a behavior that I want to encourage, so I always supervise and stop her.
For getting off couches, I teach my dogs the “Off” command. They get rewarded very well for doing it, so they are happy to work with me. Then after “Off”, I give them the “Down” command, and give them some nice affection for lying close to me on the floor.
Instead of giving my dogs their food for free in a bowl, I make them work for their food throughout the day by doing commands, grooming, being calm, lying nicely on the carpet, etc. This is also called the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program and it works very well for us.
Let us know how it goes for your girl.
I like this article a lot. I am the owner of two dogs, both who are related by the same mother (but different fathers.)
One is sweet and overly submissive. She is not the problem. Our problem is out male who is a chow/border collie mix. He is now 10 years old. He is extremely intelligent but also extremely dominant. Lately it has gotten worse. He tends to respond to me more than my mother, but I have instances where he will suddenly snap at me. (EX: if I am petting him and I touch his paws, he hates that.) ..I usually can make him roll on his back just by staring him down, but he is very stubborn and growls while doing it.
He has continuous attitude. Even when he listens, like when I order him off my bed, he does it but all the while growling. When I am not around he is even worse. He had bitten my mother and broke skin when I was away working in China. This was a result of him stealing human food and her trying to take it away. .. We try to be strict with him. feeding time especially. He has to sit and lay down and wait until we say he can eat. He dont let him force himself on us to be petted. We make him lay down and wait to be called.. and other little things. But he is still a time bomb.
Is there anything else I can do? He is very good at tricks, but is not interested in fetch or other games.
With touching and petting, what has worked well for Sephy is help him associate those actions with positive outcomes and events-
http://shibashake.com/dog/hug-dog-teach-your-dog-to-enjoy-hugging
Here are some of my experiences with food guarding-
http://shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression-stop-resource-guarding
As for getting off the couch or furniture, I teach my dogs the “Off” command and reward them well for following my commands. I follow the NILIF program and maintain leadership through the control of resources and not through physical force.
i have 2 pitbulls they got along great till a few months ago my female who is 8 attacks the male who is almost 1 over food or him smelling the carpet or getting attention its gettin pretty bad and i dont know how to stop it does anyone have any ideas how i can get this to stop i think she does it to show him this is her house and not his
Hello Aimee,
Conflicts between family dogs usually arise out of disagreement over resources – e.g. food, toys, access to people, or space. Some things that help with my dogs-
1. Clear rules of interaction.
I establish clear interaction rules with my dogs. In this way, they know what is a good and positive way to interact with each other, and what is not. I teach them these rules and reward them well for working with me.
2. Set my dogs up for success.
I supervise and manage them carefully so that interactions are positive or at worst neutral. I do not expose them to situations that I know they cannot handle. During eating time, I supervise and prevent stealing. They each work on their own interactive toy and I body block them away when they get too close to another dog. In this way, I can prevent conflicts before anything starts.
This also teaches my dogs that I will handle and resolve conflicts. Whenever there are disagreements, they alert me and I quickly come and take care of things. In this way, they do not need to do it themselves with aggression.
3. Link Other Dogs to Positive Experiences.
I also do group obedience training and show them that they get the most resources by working together rather than through competition and aggression. Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises can also be helpful in creating positive experiences, and teaching the dog alternate ways to deal with stress and conflict.
Here is more of what I do to keep the peace at home-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
Getting help from a professional trainer can also be very helpful. A good trainer can accurately identify our dog’s aggression triggers, come up with an effective and safe plan for desensitization, as well as help us with timing, consistency, and execution of the techniques. Given that the Pitbull is such a powerful breed, getting professional help becomes even more crucial for the safety of everyone involved.
Hi there,
What a great article. Thanks very much for posting it.
I have an almost 2-year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Ditmars who had never shown any aggression (and was also very submissive) toward other dogs up until about 2 months ago. He was socialized with many dogs at an early age and now we have moved to a remote island in the Caribbean where he has only about 2 consistent dog-friends to play with.
It happened almost overnight – our neighbor got a 6-month old German Shepard puppy, and after we walked them together, we let them off leash to play with eachother, and my Staffy went for him – no one was hurt, but every time we bring those two together, I can just see that Ditmars feels very dominant towards him. I am very good at predicting when he is feeling dominant and he responds very well to my “touches” – sort of Cesar Millan style – and always submits to me when I give him a correction, which is great, but I don’t know how to take it a step further to get these 2 dogs to the point where they can be together unsupervised. Is it possible he is going through an adolescent ‘stage’?
My dog leads a very disciplined life with us, gets plenty of exercise, walks well on the leash, no food aggression, etc. His only downfall before this was that he got overly excited sometimes.
You seem to know what you’re talking about, so any light you could shed on this would be great! Thank you so much.
Sounds exciting! I always enjoyed my trips to the Caribbean.
When we moved to a new house a few years ago, Sephy’s behavior also changed initially. Because there were so many changes to his environment and routine, Sephy was no sure what the new rules were, and how to respond to all the uncertainty. As a result, he would just try out things to see what was ok and what was not.
Some things that helped with Sephy-
1. I quickly reestablished a fixed routine for him.
2. I supervised him more closely in the beginning. If he was uncertain how to act, I tell him what to do and reward him well for it. I also let him know which behaviors are undesirable.
3. I continue to follow the NILIF program and reestablished old house rules in the new place.
During walks we usually ignore other dogs, and create neutral experiences. After he got used to his new environment, we started to greet dogs who are calm and friendly.
Hello,
I have a 2 year old male German Shepherd who grew up playing with many dogs (always loved it, always behaved and had a good experience). When he got older we restricted him to only a few playmates and then moved. Now he only has my in-laws 2 dogs that he grew up near to play with on occasion. We wanted to get him a friend but when we took him to meet dogs, he fought or growled at all of them except one (who didn’t like him). I gave up on getting him a friend for a while but seeing how happy he is playing with my in-laws dogs makes me want to get a companion! He did great when we brought home a new cat so I am on the fence about introducing a new dog. Part of me thinks if we bring the dog home and have him meet her slowly with positive reinforcement he will accept it properly. Any opinions?
Thank you!
With my Shiba (Sephy) I have found that getting a puppy is easier. Puppies are usually more submissive, and older dogs are generally more willing to tolerate puppy mistakes. However, I still make sure to always supervise and prevent puppy from bothering my older dogs when they do not want to be bothered.
Sephy was also more willing to accept our Sibe puppy (Lara) after he observed her getting along with our other dog, Shania. I suppose he figures that Lara is “ok”, because Shania (whom he already trusts) thinks that she is an awesome friend and playmate.
I think it also helped that we specifically picked a more submissive female puppy (Sephy is a male Shiba Inu).
http://shibashake.com/dog/getting-a-second-dog
Hi!
I got a husky/border collie cross 4 weeks ago from a shelter. He was only 7 weeks at the time. I have been taking him to many pet stores and to a weekly puppy socialization class. We have had some issues with him mouthing to hard both on arms and legs. Recently become overly aggressive, we will be playing and he will go for my hand rather then the toy, I will move the toy in front of him to show which I want him to chew on. He will then almost make a feral sound and continue to attack my hand.
Is this just because we played to much and he is now done for a while or is it the start of something worse?
Hello Melissa,
With my dogs, 2 things help during game play-
1. Many game rules
Having game rules allows me to control the game. For example, they are not allowed to mouth on me or jump on me. If they do so, I no-mark (Ack-ack) and stop the game briefly. If they continue to jump and mouth on me, they go to timeout.
2. Lots of play breaks
I have many breaks during the game so that they do not get over-excited. During the breaks, they do commands for me. This gets them to refocus on me and to calm down a bit. After a short break, I resume playing with them
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-play-fun-games-to-play-with-your-dog-or-puppy
As for socialization, how does he act when at the pet store and puppy socialization class? Is he relaxed? tentative? fearful? bold? Does he play? What is his play style like?
Hey, there. I have a pup, she’s about six months old, She’s 1/2 Springer 1/4 Lab 1/4 Rottie… I am an experience dog owner… Save for dealing with food aggression. I don’t understand what triggered the aggression, and I have tried everything I have seen online… It seems like over the last week she is slowly getting worse… I am at my wits end… I am good about the dominance part… I have her sit and wait until I say ok for her food, I enter the house first, she must sit and wait til I say ok to go outside, sit to be petted etc.. But it seems like out of nowhere she got this food guarding/aggression… I set the bowl down and she came after me…. I stood my ground and she challenged me, I had to make her sit and kennel her… It’s to the point lately that I can’t even go into my kitchen without her coming after me… I tried setting the food bowl between my feet and petting her, but the body stance was stiff and as soon as my hand went near her she started snarling and then when I petted her she snapped… Last night she caught my finger. It took three hours to regain feeling… Thankfully she didn’t break the skin….. What do I do? I have never had this issue with my 150# Rottie, or any of my other dogs…. I am running out of options. Please help! Thank you!
Here are some of my experiences with food aggression-
http://shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression-stop-resource-guarding
http://shibashake.com/dog/resource-guarding-shiba-inu
Hello, I’m 13 years old. I got my golden retriever as a pup from a friend of ours when I was 9 as a show dog. I’ve done considerably well training her in showmanship, obedience, agility, and rally. We are members of our local kennel club. However lately I think she’s noticed how much larger and stronger I am. When I was little I think she saw me as her child, above me, and now that I am strong enough to correct and control everything she does, I think she’s trying to challenge me. When I’m practicing agility in our backyard, every so often she will run away, and flip over on her back and flip around like a fool with her teeth bared. When she first started this I just grabbed her collar, pulled her up and flipped her back upright. For a few months this worked and I didn’t think it was any sort of dominant behaviour. But then she started snapping when I went to pull her up. I decided to stop pulling away one day, and just grabbed her. She ended up snapping at my hand and put three mild puncture in my right hand. When she does stuff like that, I sometimes bop her on the nose even though I know I shouldn’t. It just hurts because I see her as my friend, my little baby, and I’ve always tended to let out hurt feelings and frustration through anger. Since I’ve worked on controling my anger, but I still don’t know how to handle it! I was clipping her nails and got close to her kwick (didn’t cut into it though) and she turned around and snapped! I always clip her nails and have even cut into the kwick and she’s always tolerated it. I’ve tried getting my parents involved, but she doesn’t challenge them and NEVER challenges me in front of them. They said when she does stuff like that too tell her NO and leave. Today she flipped on her back again, and when she got up I “backed her down” (walk towards them). She flipped back over, and I reached down to her collar very slowly as she bared her teeth. I said NO firmly, put her on the leash, walked her inside, then brought her back out fifteen minutes later and worked on targetting (which she likes) to end it on a positive note. I know I’ve done a BUNCH wrong, which is whre I’m getting at here. I’ve messed up dealing with it, how do I reverse what I’ve done and fix the issue? I don’t want to be her pup, I need to be her alpha!
Hello Syd,
In terms of leadership, what works well with my dogs is the NILIF program. With NILIF, I am able to get them to do what I want, by controlling what they want.
As for collar grabs, dogs often learn to associate it with punishment or the end of fun. Often, we grab our dog’s collars to stop them from doing something. The more we do this, the more it conditions the dog to associate the grab with pain or the end of play. This encourages a dog to either run away from a collar grab or to respond with aggression to prevent a collar grab. It may also later cause the dog to become sensitive to putting on a collar.
With my Shiba Inu, I slowly desensitized him to collar grabs by reassociating the event with something positive. I also did a lot of handling exercises with him because he is naturally sensitive to people touching him.
http://shibashake.com/dog/hug-dog-teach-your-dog-to-enjoy-hugging
As for nail clipping, I have switched to using a nail grinder for my Shiba. It allows me to properly shape the nail and best of all it takes the nail down slowly so I am not in danger to cutting too close to the quick. He also gets his favorite fish dish while grinding his nails, so he is happy to let us do it. Otherwise, from his point of view, nail clipping is an uncomfortable, possibly painful event, where he is in a vulnerable position and people are handling his sensitive paws. There is a lot of trust involved when dogs let us handle them so.
http://shibashake.com/dog/operant-conditioning-and-dog-training
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-dogs-learn-how-dogs-think
I have a 6 year old rotator called Honey. She has always been a good dog generally but in March she snapped at me and bit my face. I have a small scar to the side of my eye as a result and had 2 stitches in it.
Last month she snapped at my uncle and last night she snapped at me again.
We have had a dog behaviourist round and taken on board everything she said to us. Problem is, while Honey is a good girl most of the time, this unpredictable streak is getting worse and I no longer trust her. What if next time it is worse? I just don’t know what to do
Hello Jo,
From observing my dogs, it seems that there is usually a trigger to their reactive behaviors. This is good news because it makes the aggressive behavior more predictable. Once I identify what is triggering their reactivity, I can manage it, and then slowly desensitize them to the trigger in a structured environment.
Is there something that triggers Honey’s aggression? What does the behaviorist say? What exercises are the behaviorist suggesting?
What type of training do you usually do with Honey (before the snapping incidents)? Were there commonalities between the two incidents? Sometimes, dogs may also show sudden aggression when there is a physical issue that is causing them pain. Is Honey showing any signs of physical discomfort?
Hi,
This article really helped me with an assignment about dog behaviour at college as I was struggling to find information anywhere else that’s in this amount of detail, It’s balanced and well written.
Thankyou
Hi, we have a 2 yr old Shiba Inu and a 6 yr old Boston Terrier. Both girls. Throughout the day they get along and play fight but then randomly out of nowhere the Shiba attacks the Terrier. She’ll be snarling loud and biting on her and Punkin (terrier) yelps. There’s no food around, Punkin can be just walking by and she flips out. Is it possible to get her to stop? She also does it to the other Boston Terrier my sister has who she grew up. He won’t even go in the same room with her.
Hello Sandy,
Shibas can be protective over their personal space. Sephy, for example, does not like new dogs invading his space and he especially does not like new dogs sniffing his butt. He is ok with dogs that are in his circle of trust. Also, if he is startled awake, he may air snap out of instinct.
When I got a new Sibe puppy last year, Sephy did not really want puppy near him. Some things that helped-
1. I clearly established interaction rules between the dogs. For example, there is no stealing, no bullying, and no invading of space (especially when Sephy is resting or asleep).
2. I did a lot of group obedience training sessions and taught them that they get rewarded most by being calm and working together cooperatively with me.
3. I supervised all play sessions. I usually have many play breaks so that nobody gets over-excited and “play” escalates into something else.
4. I make sure that all interactions between puppy and my other dogs are always positive or at worst neutral. There is no bullying allowed and they are not allowed to physically “correct” each other. If there are conflicts, they know that I am the one who will resolve it.
Here is more on what I do to keep the peace at home-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
I have a 8week old pitbull puppy who ive had for two weeks now. She is very loving and playful.She comes to me, is excited to see me when i come home. There is one problem thats troubling me and my family I cant stop her from jumping and biting on my pug(7yrs).It looks playful but my pug is very lazy and doesnt enjoy. My pug isnt aggressive and does nothing but cuddle and eat. , but I cant stop my pitbull from biting her.My pug just runs away or ignores the jumping It seems innocent until my pug cant take it no more and snaps once nothing serious which settles things down as my puppy backs off. But 15 mins later my pups back at jumping and biting my pug. I seperate them when it starts and feed seperate. I dont think its too serious because they will sleep together at nighttime but i dont want this to continue where my pug gets my pit now or my pit gets bigger and does damage to my pug. Please i dont want anything to happen plz help. My pitbull is named atheena my pug is belle
Hello Codeman,
I got a new puppy early last year and she is a super ball of energy. She wanted to play all of the time and kept pestering my other two dogs. Some things that helped with my puppy-
- I set up a very fixed routine for puppy, which includes play time, eating time, training time, and the ever important rest time.
- I make sure that she does not bug my other dogs when they want to rest.
- I also have safe zones where puppy is not allowed to play. For example, each of my dogs have their own bed area and when they go there, it is a safe zone where they can rest in peace. I make sure puppy leaves them alone when they are there. If she goes near, I no-mark and just body block her away.
- I supervise them during play to keep things safe and have many play-breaks so that puppy does not become over-excited.
- I exercise puppy with games, training and interactive toys so that she redirects her energy onto positive, people-friendly, and dog-friendly activities.
When I do not have the time to supervise puppy, she goes in her crate, enclosure, or stays tethered in the kitchen with me.
Here are more of my experiences on introducing a second dog.
Here are some other things that helped with my puppy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
I have an almost 9 month old Husky-lab mix named Bailey, and she was so sweet and affectionate (though hyper active and excitable like huskies and labs tend to be) until her first heat a few weeks ago. Right before we knew she was in heat (before the period), there was an incident at home where my husband and I were sitting on the couch, and Bailey was laying between our sets of feet. I looked down at her at some point and thought she looked especially cute, and decided to pet her. Seemingly out of nowhere, she snapped at me and darted away. She never did this before, and I also got no growl or curled lip in warning. My husband and I were shocked. The only thing I can think of that could have set her off was that she had a bone nearby that she was being possessive over, even though I made no motions towards the bone.
Things only escalated from there. We have noticed that she never growls at my husband, only me. At first we thought it was because I am pregnant, and might be avoiding me because she senses or smells me differently. Now we think it is just a dominance issue, that she probably sees me as competition for top female in the house.
We moved her crate (used for bedtime, occasional feedings and travel) into our room so she might feel like we’re more of a “pack”. She does not sleep on the bed with us, though we do let her on the bed at times. When we go in our room, she follows and immediately goes into her crate, even though we don’t tell her. We try to call her out, but she won’t come. If we were sending her there for the night, we would say “bedtime” and she’d go right in, but though we don’t say it, she goes anyway and growls if I approach. Other times, she will lay down on the floor near her crate, and growl if I come near her. When she is in her crate and acting territorial/dominant like this, if I look at her she growls. If I so much as say her name, she growls. If my husband can coax her out, she’ll let him pet her and love on her, but if I gently move my hand towards her non-threateningly to pet her, she’ll then growl at me, and only me. Then she’ll try to go away into her crate.
She gets growly with me at random times of the day, also. Sometimes she’ll come over to me and lean on my leg for attention, and say I decide to give it to her and pet her, she’ll be fine for a minute and then suddenly she’ll start growling. I don’t get it.
She is possessive over toys if she is playing with them, unless she brings them to us for Fetch. Again, she only growls and snaps at me, and has only ever been this way with my husband once or twice. She still acts like this, even now that her heat has ended. I am worried about what will happen when our baby is born; I don’t want her unpredictable behavior to mean possible injury to our child.
We have tried establishing that she is not dominant in the house by having her sit before feeding, by not letting her pull on the leash and walk ahead during walks.. well that one we try on, but we have trouble with… she sleeps in her crate below us, when we play tug of war, we don’t let her “win”, and when we go up/down stairs and through doors, we make her sit and go through last. Please do your best to help me! How can I further establish dominance with her?
Hello Ashley,
I went through a similar experience with my Shiba Inu Sephy. It is difficult to say how similar my situation was, so I will just tell my story.
Sephy is a very stubborn dog and in the beginning, I was not very sure how to handle him. He was also very mouthy and would often mouth all over my hands and arms. Since my husband worked, I was home with Sephy most of the day dealing with his Shiba hijinks. I spent the whole day walking him, feeding him, and trying to give him affection. However, when my husband returned, Sephy seemed to prefer his company. Also, Sephy would reserve his worst behaviors for me – including humping my leg, jumping on me, crazy leash biting, and mouthing all over me.
Because of all this, I got even more uncertain of him, and was also somewhat fearful. I also felt somewhat betrayed that he would avoid my company, especially when I was the one feeding and taking care of him. However, the more uncertain and fearful I felt, the worse his behavior became. It was not a good time for either of us.
I later realized that Sephy is a very sensitive dog. Therefore, he picked up on my uncertain and fearful energy, and became somewhat stressed himself. Fear can often be contagious. As a result of this, he started acting erratically because he was stressed, and did not know what to expect from me. On the other hand, my husband was a lot more calm and sure with him. This was something Sephy could count on, and as a result he was a lot more calm around my husband and preferred his calm company.
House rules are important, but I realized that calm energy and confidence are also very important.
I started by taking very small steps.
-First, I stopped giving him too much attention and affection. I spent more time on my own tasks, and ignored him more.
-I put Sephy on a very fixed schedule. In this way, I was sure what to expect from him and he was sure what to expect from me. I had a schedule for the entire day planned out, to the minute.
-I established very clear rules and a very clear plan of what I would do for each of his bad behaviors. I also had many contingency plans. Having a plan really helped me build my own confidence and become less fearful of what *might* happen.
-I put a drag-lead on Sephy (only with a flat collar and only when I am home to supervise). This helped me to control him better, and to easily put him in timeout whenever he tried to mouth me or hump me.
All of these things helped me to regain control of the house, and become a lot more calm and confident. Once I became more calm, Sephy also calmed down and his behavior improved significantly.
Here are some things that helped me when Sephy was young-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
http://shibashake.com/dog/afraid-of-your-dog
http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggressive-dog
Getting private lessons from a professional trainer can also be very helpful. I met with many professional trainers when Sephy was young. It was not easy to find a good positive trainer that could handle Sephy, but we found a couple and they were quite helpful. I also did a lot of research on the web and read a lot of dog books. On the web, I found the breed-specific forums and meetup groups to be most helpful because there were a lot of veterans there that post regularly.
Hi! My male shiba is almost 4 months and he has bad food and toy aggression. We started to work on some food aggression techniques so we’ll have to see if that will fix anything. But he will growl at us if we got near him and even after he was done with his food, he’ll growl and be mad for the next 15-30 min. When he’s mad and growling, should we just ignore that or what do we do? He’s protective over his toys if we let him sit with it for a little bit and he’ll start growling if we got near him. This morning, he was being protective over his toy, so I drew his attention away by giving him a couple of treats and I put the toy away. Maybe about 10-15 later, I was laying on the floor, on my computer, my shiba was near him and I was just smiling at him saying hi and he just started growling and just came at me. Jumping and bite my thigh and gave me a small bruise. He has been very mouthy and I’m getting bite marks everywhere. I have no idea why he came at me like that. Maybe cause he didn’t have a toy anymore? and how can I stop my shiba from just biting? I tell him no, stop, or tell him sit, sometimes he’ll sit but goes back to biting. He has been biting a little bit around my leg and ankle lately too. There was also a time when I was training him how to sit and lay down, I gave him a treat after he did a command, and he came at me and then started to protect the bag of treats and growling at us and he started to pee. I need help! I know he’s only 4 months old but I feel like his behavior shouldn’t be this bad at his age. I want to fix this before he gets bigger or we can seriously get hurt.
Hello Hana Jang,
My Shiba was also very mouthy as a puppy. Here is what I did when he starts to bite on me-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
Bite inhibition exercises were also very useful for my Shiba Sephy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/bite-inhibition
Because Sephy was so mouthy when he was young, I got somewhat fearful of him. However, the more fearful and frustrated I got, the worse his behavior became. Sephy is very sensitive to what I am feeling, and he picks it up and becomes stressed himself.
http://shibashake.com/dog/afraid-of-your-dog
Sephy does best when I am calm, when I establish a very fixed routine for him, and when I have very consistent rules. Here are some things that helped with Sephy when he was young-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
Here are some of my experiences with food aggression and resource guarding-
http://shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression-stop-resource-guarding
Hi there, this has helped me learn so much that I didn’t think of! I have a new puppy Staffordshire ball terroir. He’s my baby I love him to pieces but he can reduce me to tears. He bites me( hasn’t drawn blood) pounces at me, grabs my hair try’s pulling it, follows me around growling at me. With my partner he’s as good as gold occasionally he may pounce around and growl but never to the extent he shows to me. Other than this he is brilliant I can take him for walks off his lead he doesn’t run far if he is running far he turns to check I’m there and comes running back to me before setting off again. He sits, comes here, gives paw, lays down and has been weeing and pooing on his matts since He was 10weeks.I’ve never been to classes he’s 15weeks now and I’m thinking maybe because of his behaviour to take him to classes what do u think? We currently live In a bedsit and will be moving into a house In 7weeks so I’m definitely going to start doing time out. I usually do that by putting him in his Crete. Is there any personal advice you could forward. Would really help! Thankyou in advance. A very desperate girlie xxx
Hello Katie,
I had a similar experience with my Shiba Inu Sephy. When he was a puppy, he would bite all over me, hump my leg, and do crazy leash biting. Here are some things that helped me with Sephy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggressive-dog
As for classes, my experience is that group classes are mostly for socialization. I really did not learn much there, but the socialization experience was useful for Sephy. I learned most from doing private lessons with a good professional trainer. Since dog training is not well regulated, there are many sub-par trainers out there. I always call them up, ask them many questions about my dog’s behavior issues, and push them for detailed answers. In general, I look for trainers who are well versed in operant conditioning techniques, have good experience with difficult dogs, and have calm dogs of their own that they can use in training.
http://shibashake.com/dog/finding-a-dog-trainer
In terms of time-out, it is best not to use the crate. My dogs go into their crate for eating and sleeping at night, so I want it to be a positive place for them. An alternative to using a time-out room, is to put the dog on a tie-down in a quiet, low stimulus area. Only use a flat collar or harness and not a training collar. Do not leave a dog on tie-down if we are not home.
Let us know how it goes. Hugs to your little boy!
i have huge issues with eddies domination of me. he is never dominating toward me when the hubby is around and he also isnt dominant toward my daughter. but as soon as the hubby isnt around its horrible if iam eating he will hop right on the table wont listen to me at all and will eat my food and if i try to take it from him he bears his teeth. he has also humped me and when i push him off he comes right back, and the most embaressing of all hes actually peed on me. if i take him for a walk i can never take him off the leash he wont listen to me like he does to the hubby, and i have to use the pinch collar the hubby doesnt need it he uses the harness, i dont know if its a gender thing or if he just sees me as weak. also if a male friend that he does not know comes up to me while iam walking him he growls and gets like this hulk stance going on and he like puffs up his chest its humiliating because people think hes vicious and hes far from it
I have a male and female pitbull mixes. The male shows dominance to the female, and before she was ok with it. But now she has started fights. In the past month it has happened 4 times. Any advice on what to do?
Hello Toni,
I have a no-bullying rule with my dogs, and that seems to have worked well. In general, when one dog is becoming a pest to another I will step in and handle the situation. Usually it is the new puppy that is trying something that the other dogs do not like, e.g. humping.
I supervise the dogs while they are playing so that as soon as I see puppy getting into position to hump, I non-mark her (No or Ack-ack) and lead her away by her drag lead. Then, we take a short break to do some obedience commands. After a bit, she gets to go back and play.
If she keeps trying to hump and ignores my warnings, then play stops and she has to go for a short timeout.
This teaches my dogs that they don’t have to correct each other, I will handle it. I also try to be very consistent with them in terms of the rules, i.e. no dog gets to hump, and all of them get the same consequences for the same actions. The key here is to step in early and stop things before they escalate into aggression. In this way, it can be a learning experience. Once things have escalated too much, it becomes dangerous to step in, the dogs have likely gone rear-brained, and they are no longer able to learn.
In general, the more a dog practices a certain behavior (including aggression) the more likely he/she will repeat that behavior. Therefore, I also try to supervise and manage things so that there is no need for aggression. For example, I prevent my dogs from stealing each others stuff. Very occasionally, a small theft occurs, but I will hand out the consequences to the thief, and I also replace the stuff. In this way, there is no need for the dogs to use aggression and things don’t escalate. I also make sure they are separated when working on really high priority items, e.g. bully sticks.
Here are more of my experiences with supervising my dogs -
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
Hello, Thank you for writing this article as I have learnt a lot about dominance. We have recently adopted a border collie puppy who has serious mouthing and nipping problems, we understand that it is a puppy thing but it is getting hard to live with as we are finding it hard to control, do you know of any effective methods we could use? Also, she seems to be claiming part of the garden because if we walk round the side she bites your feet, legs or trousers and growls. I am worried that this will progress into aggression, is there anything we can do to claim the garden back?
Hello Sophie,
Congratulations on your new puppy!
In terms of mouthing, here are a few things that really helped with my dogs -
1. Bite inhibition training – This teaches a dog to control the force of his bites. A dog with a soft mouth is a real joy to have.
http://shibashake.com/dog/bite-inhibition
2. Drag-lead – I put a drag-lead on puppies while they are still in training. The drag-lead is nice because it gives me more control of my dogs without having to lay hands on them. Only use a drag-lead under supervision and with a regular flat collar (not a training collar).
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training#draglead
3. NILIF program (Nothing in Life is Free) – This simply means that my dogs have to do something for me before they get anything in return. This teaches them that the best way to get what they want is to first do what I want.
4. Time-outs – Time-outs worked very well for my Shiba Inu’s biting issues. Most dogs like their freedom and like being with people, so having that taken away is a big deterrent.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
Sounds like she is trying to herd people. Border Collies are very high energy and they can be very intense about doing a job. There are two Border Collies in the area where I live and it is amazing watching them herd goats. Border Collies really love to herd.
Two things that may help –
1. Give her many positive and human approved outlets for her energy.
http://shibashake.com/dog/hyperactive-dogs-how-to-calm-a-hyper-dog-or-hyper-puppy
2. When my dogs nip on feet or hands, I non-mark them and try to get them to do something else. If they ignore that and keep biting, then I calmly say timeout and remove them to a timeout area using their drag lead.
A brilliantly written article. I found this because I have a Doberman who like yours won’t back down if challenged. Unfortunately it means he’s getting less predictable on walks and I don’t want to have to take away his liberties.
He is otherwise very well trained, he doesn’t bolt through doors, sleep on furniture and is very obedient. With most other dogs he’s fine and will play, if they get too playful he will try to get away or give a growl or snap. Nothing abnormal or wrong with this. But if any dog tries to stare him down, he’ll switch in an instant! I know he doesn’t want to fight, I can often step between them before it escalates and keep them from making eye contact and he will keep his distance and let me deal with it even without being told.
Now I know in the dog world, he’s not doing very much wrong, he’s sticking up for himself, he’s not going to allow a dog to bully him into submission which in some ways is great… if it were a child, I would be proud. Unfortunately a dog in the human world, this is unacceptable and potentially dangers. With new dog control laws going through UK parliament, this could be seen as my dog being ‘dangerously out of control’ and liable for a fine.
These occurrences are rare now, is there anything else you would advise to stop it before it becomes a genuine problem? My little dog is very submissive so never gets into fights…. and I want an element of that in him. I sometimes make him lie down if a dog a little further away is staring too intently, but I’m not sure if it’s the best thing to do.
Hello Simon,
Yeah Shiba Inu Sephy has a similar personality. He absolutely does not get along with other dominant dogs, and he will not back down even though he is a pretty small dog. He also does not like new dogs sniffing his butt, which may be because of dominance, trust, or both.
I keep him away from dominant dogs because it will not go well.
He plays with more submissive or playful dogs, larger dogs, and usually in small supervised groups. When we meet dominant dogs during walks, we ignore them. I do not let Sephy stop and stare back, we just move along at a normal pace. This creates a neutral experience rather than a negative experience. It also ensures that he does not practice any dominance behaviors with other dogs.
Now, Sephy has learned that we usually ignore new dogs. Sometimes, we will stop and greet friendly dogs that are under very good control of their handler and that we often see in the neighborhood. Still, I keep dogs away from his butt area.
I also have a lot of play breaks so that Sephy does not get over-excited when interacting with other dogs. When he gets over-excited things can get a bit too intense and play may turn into something more serious.
Here are more of my experiences with Sephy and other dogs -
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression
Hope this helps. Thank you very much for your comment.
Thanks again, it’s refreshing to hear from someone who can provide a more balanced and objective solutions while the famous ‘professionals’ are teaching all sorts of bad and/or ineffective habits. The ‘Neutral’ experience is a good tip, I’ve always gone for Positive to avoid negative but actually neutral is a more balanced approach in cases such as these. (two dominant dogs with positive reinforcement food?… bad idea…)
Will now digest the entire blog as you have some amazing stuff on here!