It is tempting for us to interpret our dog’s behavior using human values. We may get angry because we think our dog is misbehaving out of meanness, spite, or vengeance. We may get sad or frustrated because we interpret bad behavior as a rejection of our love.
However, dogs do not think like us, and they have different social rituals and instincts. As a result, bad dog behavior commonly arises due to miscommunication and misunderstanding between human and dog.
The best way I have found to help stop my dog’s bad behavior is to learn how to “see” and “speak” dog. The more I observe and try to understand where my dog is coming from, the more effective I am at teaching him how to get along well with the people and animals around him.
Step 1 – Identify the source of the bad dog behavior
To do this, we must stay objective and focused, even though we may not always like the answers that we find. It helps to find a professional dog trainer or a dog expert at this stage.
A dog trainer has no emotional stake in the situation and has more experience with reading dogs.
This allows him to more quickly and accurately identify the problem source. Bad behaviors commonly get intensified when owners misdiagnose a problem, and subsequently try to address it in the wrong way.
Here are some important questions I ask while trouble-shooting my dog’s undesirable behaviors.
What?
What triggers the behavior?
Is it large dogs, small dogs, dogs with long hair, dogs with floppy ears, or all of the above?
Is it just dogs, or is it also cats, squirrels, children, old people, people wearing weird hats, people carrying umbrellas, bicycles, skate boards, or something else?
Why?
Why is my dog showing this behavior?
Is it due to fear of dogs, dislike of people, excitement, or dominance? I listen to my dog by carefully observing his body posture, and what causes changes in that body posture.
A fearful dog will try to make himself look small, and shrink away into a corner, or behind objects and other barriers. His tail or head may be down, and he may be showing signs of stress. In contrast, a dominant dog will usually have ears erect, tail up, chest out, and a forward looking posture.
It can be difficult to read a dog because the change in body language may be slight (twitch of the mouth, sway of the tail), and brief.
Some dogs may switch body language quickly, and others may ramp up to dog aggression before we can react.
Step 2 – Retrain the bad dog behavior
a) Do not reward bad behavior.
Some behaviors develop because we inadvertently reward our dogs for them.
For example, when a dog jumps on us, we usually push him back with our arms and hands. This rewards the jumping behavior by giving the dog what he wants, i.e. our attention and a fun game of arm wrestling.
Similarly, we may give our dog more attention when he barks, whines, or vocalizes. This rewards the vocalization, thereby making the dog more likely to repeat those behaviors.
When my dog is showing undesirable behaviors, I either redirect him, ignore him, or put him on a time-out (i.e., temporarily withdraw his freedom).
b) Stay calm and in control during bad dog behavior.
When dealing with a bad dog situation, it is difficult but necessary to stay calm and in control.
Dogs can easily sense our inner energy through scent and sound. When we get angry, frustrated, or otherwise unbalanced, our dog will detect that, and become even more frantic. The only way to calm him down, is to stay calm and in control of the situation ourselves.
c) Redirect the bad dog behavior.
When a dog does something bad, we want to communicate to him that this behavior is undesired by us. I use a consistent no-mark such as No or Ack-ack. However, do not make the mistake of just stopping there.
We should always try to follow up the no-mark with a positive behavior.
For example, after saying No,
- I ask my dog for a Sit or Spin,
- I encourage him to play with a toy, or
- I tell him to go to his bed.
Which redirection we use will depend on the temperament of the dog, what the dog knows, and the situation at hand.
I mark (Yes) and reward my dog well with treats and praise when he stops his bad behavior, and redirects onto the new activity. If we are consistent with our redirection and rewards, our dog will learn to perform the positive behavior on his own because it gets him good results.
For redirection to work, we must stop our dog before he escalates his bad behavior.
If we let him escalate his behavior, he may get too frantic or excited to listen to us. Once in this state, it is best to remove him from the problem stimulus. Sometimes, a stimulus may be so strong that a dog escalates very quickly, and it may not be possible to redirect him onto something else.
In these situations, I find that it is best to first practice controlled desensitization exercises with my dog.
d) Desensitize our dog to the problem stimulus.
Flooding
Instead of dog desensitization, some trainers may use flooding. With flooding, we expose the dog to large doses of the bad stimulus, and force him to endure it until he stops being frantic or afraid.
Flooding is a common technique used by Cesar Millan, in his Dog Whisperer program.
The advantage of flooding is that it can bring faster results. The danger of flooding, is that it can cause a dog to totally break down and become even more psychologically damaged than before.
Imagine locking a claustrophobic patient in a small room with his psychiatrist until he snaps out of it. Either he gets better really quickly, or he totally snaps. It is best NOT to use flooding techniques because it can be risky and dangerous.
Desensitize our dog to a stimulus, by first exposing him to very low levels of the stimulus, under supervision.
For example. if my dog is aggressive toward other dogs, I can start desensitizing him with a very calm dog, that is not moving (e.g. in a Sit position), that is not focused on my dog (no eye-contact), and from a far enough distance. If my dog is reactive to the sound of thunder, I can start desensitizing him with a very low volume recording of thunder.
I only practice desensitization exercises in a quiet area, where I am in control of the environment.
- I start with a low level stimulus that my dog is able to tolerate, i.e. he is able to stay calm and listen. For example, I may position him some distance away from the “other dog” stimulus, in order to weaken it.
- I get his attention by calling his name, then reward him for giving me his attention and for staying calm. I can also ask him for other simple commands such as Sit, Touch, or Watch.
- Once I am comfortable with this, I very slightly increase the strength of the stimulus. For example, I may move one step toward the other dog.
- Then, I stop and get my dog’s attention again.
If my dog starts to react, then I have moved forward too quickly. I move back a few steps and restart the exercise.
I keep sessions short and rewarding so that my dog will begin to build confidence with each successful session, and learn to associate positive rewards with the previously bad stimulus.
e) Set our dog up for success.
Remember to always set our dog up for success and keep him from repeating bad behaviors.
I properly manage my dog so that he is not constantly exposed to stressful stimulus that cause him to act badly. The more he practices the undesirable behavior, the harder it will be to stop that behavior.
I craft my retraining process to suit the temperament of my dog. In general, I focus on one or two bad behaviors at a time, so that neither me or my dog will become overwhelmed.
Step 3 – Prevent future bad dog behavior
One of the best ways to prevent future bad behavior, is to provide our dog with many interesting, sanctioned activities and toys.
Many dogs resort to undesirable behaviors because they are bored. If we do not provide acceptable activities for our dogs, they are left to devise their own activities, which rarely appeal to our human sensibilities.
A dog who is well-exercised, both mentally and physically, is happy to just lie around and turn over for belly-rubs. A dog who is cooped up all day, with no company, and no activity, will be very frustrated and destructive. He may chew up our house, bark, charge the fence, escape, or perform a variety act from the “bad dog greatest hits album”.
This will end up costing us a lot of time, money, and emotional stress.
If we are busy during the day, consider dog daycare or dog walking. This gives our dog something interesting to do, and helps him brush up on his social skills with a variety of people and dogs. The rewards we receive will more than outweigh the costs, because instead of coming home to a chewed up house, we will be greeted by a tired and happy dog that just wants to rest beside us.
Hi,
I live in Coimbatore in South India. We hardly have any good dog trainers here. If at all there are, they have no time for my 1 year old German spitz. My problem is that we are first time pet parents. So we worked from the heart more than the mind and now he’s quite spoilt. The concern now is that he’s become very aggressive. He bites even house members if we try to make him do anything he doesn’t want to. It’s now getting out of control. Also his peeing used to be in 1 place and in the recent few days he does it wherever he feels like. I’m just losing it. Please help me. I’m banking a lot on this.
Hi,
My fiance and I just got a 3-month old shiba (Oni). And he has been with us for 3 days. I am so happy I found this helpful website of yours.
The first 2 days, he was a very good pup to my surprise since I read a little bit about shiba and is aware how challenging shiba can be. He peed on his puppy pad, followed us and listened to our call even when we were at the park and he was on a dragging flat leash.
Starting on the 3rd day (yesterday), he got comfortable and started acting like a puppy, chewing things, running around, stealing fluffy rugs from our bedroom (we found it adorable and funny), barking playfully at our 9yr old doxie. So I guess he passed his honeymoon phase.
1 thing I found annoying is he pees every time he gets into a carpeted area (bed room and office rooms). He is very good peeing on puppy pad and outside when we take him. But right when he gets access to a carpeted area he starts peeing.
If he does not get access to the carpet, he will get up and go to the pee pad to pee.
Is there a good way to fix this behavior? I tried taking him out, spraying bitter water on the carpet, and cleaned the carpet with enzyme breaking solution. But he still finds the exact spot to pee on.
We are trying to house-train him so we can trust him around the house but right now I can’t trust him around carpet and rug.
Thank you so much for your help!
Bests,
Huong
I have a 2 month old rottie pup and she uses her per pads fine and really has no accidents. Recently she has been (I know dogs aren’t spiteful but it appears as such) peeing in her bed – which is very close to her pee pad after a bad action has been corrected.
Any thoughts how to correct that? We opted to put her in time out. Please help. Thanks
Hi. I need some help. I adopted a 2 yr old Cairn Terrier after having one for many years. This one is very different than I am used too. He is now 4yrs old. He sits and waits for his food dish to be placed on the floor. He waits and gives a small bark when he has to go outside to relieve himself. He waits for me to say “up” to sit by my side in my favorite chair. BUT He growls at us when: my daughter hugs him, when he is told to go to his bed for the night and when I try to cut his nails [the growling turns into full on biting] with the nails only. Not sure what to do about the growling at us. Plus, he has started to whine when he is in the backseat of the vehicle [doesn’t whine when sitting in the front seat]. Please help!
Hi Shiba Shake. I have a 7 month old, spayed shiba girl. I live in a mixed household of family members. I’ve taken Suki to training when she was old enough. She is very well socialized. My issue is she is starting to get aggressive to me. It started by biting my feet in a rapid biting action. I told her firmly no and ignored her. Then when I pet her (she initiated) she turned and snapped at me. This has happened on a few occassions. I work with her training and try to keep the sessions short. She has gotten defiant about the training although I keep it upbeat and try to finish on a positive note. The trainer said to tether her to me to control the atmosphere but did not go into details. She isn’t overly pushy about her food so it is hard to control her food. I was hand feeding her but on the about the fourth feeding, she snapped at me. I put her into a submissive down until she calmed down. I’ve talked to her vet and vet tech who has a pack of shibas. they both said they use the submissive down when their dogs get like this. I’m not sure what the right thing to do is. HELP!
Hello. Thank you for the above advice. My wife and I could really use some help right now with our dog. We have a 10 month old Shiba Inu. She has been a handful, but so far we have managed very well and love her very much. The past couple of weeks out of no where she has now been waking up at about 3am and barking non stop until we get up at 6 to feed her. We have tried telling her no, uh-uh, putting toys in her crate at night before bed, and just plain ignoring her and she wont stop. Also, it is not normal barking. It is barking we have never heard or seen before. It is aggressive and loud and she shakes her whole body and seems very angry and upset. There is intermittent growling as well. Also, in this time frame she has pooped in the house twice which she has never done. She had recently been to the vet and is all clear (except for her giardia, she has had that since we got her and the doctor said it was chronic for her, but that’s another issue.) We do not know what to do and what is causing it. We have two cats and the dog and them are separated because they do not get along. However, the cats do roam at night. But we haven’t had any problems till recently. Not sure if it is them or the fact that she can no longer go to doggy day care where she has multiple dogs to play with because the doctor said she has chronic giardia and cannot get rid of it. Likely passed down from her mom since we got her from a breeder and shes had it since we got her. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! Not sure if she needs more exercise, but it is hard to do when its freezing outside. Thank you!
I have the same issue with my 7 months old puppy, we were unable to take her to puppy class because of her giardia ever since we got her at 3 months old. I’m having a hard time to socialize her to the vet and other dogs, she would try to bite the vet and gets very excited and bad around other dogs. for exercising, I live in Canada, so the weather gets very cold by late October, but I still try to take her 2-3 time a per day, 45min-1hour each time so she can get her energy out and not get anxious/bad in the house.
Great post! Two months after we adopted our amstaff she started whining and being very vocal to get our attention. It was cute at first but then she started doing it all the time. We didn’t know we were rewarding her behavior by giving her attention. So, we learned that it was best just to ignore her.
Hello there! I am so frustrated with my dog and need help! We have a 2 yr old pug/American bulldog mix. We got him as a tiny puppy from a pet store. I was not working at the time and spent 4 months raising my little fur child until I found a job. I gave this little guy so much love, so much of my time. We’d play outside all the time and I covered him in kisses. He had so many toys. We also crate trained him right away. Because I was not working I took him out to potty EVERY 2-3 hours until he was potty trained. We had a great routine with him, structured environment. He had problems with biting, my hands were covered in puncture wounds/scabs. He was also very aggressive with play. We could never play with him for very long, he would begin to growl, lunge and bite. We would immediately walk away to discourage this behavior yet he still continues with aggressive play to this day. I remember the exact moment I knew deep down that he would be a handful. He had bit my ear so hard it bled down my neck. He would also bite my nose when I was snuggling him/trying to give him kisses. He became destructive with his toys. He wouldn’t play with them he would just tear them to shreds. He began tearing up the couch and the rugs. If we were present when he did this we’d put him in a crate for timeout. This was not successful, he still continued to destroy. One day he was in timeout 8 times, no lie. He dug a hole through the wall one day, we came home to a huge mess. My husband worked very hard teaching him commands and he learned very quickly. He knows his commands but when he doesn’t want to do what we ask, he doesn’t do it. He began bolting out the front door. He would approach neighbors/other dogs so quickly that they would get scared. He bullies dogs that are smaller than him. Is very rough with puppies. He knocks toddlers/small children to the ground. He rockets his entire body into people. He has knocked almost everybody down in my immediate family. When I picked my mom up from the airport he jumped out of my truck window, onto my mom knocking her on her back on pavement. We tried clicker, then your training. Unsuccessful. You tell him no biting, and he jumps up to nip your hand. Since we got him we exercise him as much as we can. Currently I run him for 45-60 minutes a day before work. This includes fetch, stick throwing and me chasing him because he loves that. When I’m working my husband is home so he is rarely home alone. We give him puzzles and he solves them then destroys them. He is not food driven or positive reinforcement driven. I honestly believe he is crazy. I have come to think of him as an emotional terrorist. He is manipulative and frankly a jerk. My husband gets up with him in the am and walks/feeds him. I get up about an hour later and he frantically gestures that he needs to go outside when he’s just been outside. He paces around until I have to ask him to lie down then stay. He lies down for a little bit then gets up, disregarding the stay command. We have trained him that “Ok!” means he can get up so he knows he’s defying my stay command. I have battles like that with him all day. Yesterday it took us 7 tries of me calmly telling him to sit before he actually sat. He just stares me down and blatantly refuses to do what I ask even if it’s to his advantage. I was only asking him to sit before he gets out of my truck (we have been doing this for a year) so he could play at the park. His behaviors have changed but not in a good way. Now when I take him to the park and try to play fetch he runs to the ball but won’t bring it back to me. If he sees something across the park (another dog/person) he only focuses on that to the point where he won’t play with me/run around he just sits and looks at it. What is also weird is that if I let him investigate a person/ other dog while he’s on the leash he turns into a monster jumping/smashing the other dog etc OR he puts his ears back, growls and slinks around OR he wants nothing to do with them. It’s the people that really want to pet him that he wants nothing to do with. We take him to doggy daycare twice a week. He is there for at least 9 hours. Some days he comes home as hyper as he left and we know he’s been in timeout… a lot. They tell us he plays too aggressively with other dogs and has to go to timeout. He doesn’t let me pet him. He just sits and stares at me a lot which is a little unnerving. If I’m on the couch I invite him up after he sits/shakes etc (he has to earn being on the couch) and he just stands on me like he’s trying to dominate me. I can’t do this for 10 more years, he is not an enjoyable dog. I have had 2 other dogs before him and my experiences with them were amazing. I’m also concerned because we are trying to get pregnant and I would not trust this dog with my baby/child.
Hi Shibashake!!
You and your Dad are fantastic!! I sure could use some of your wisdom! I got my new Shetland Sheepdog at 8wks, one week ago. I have had two other shelties, trained them myself and they were wonderful. I trained them with praise, and treats, using treats less than most people do. Shelties love to work and love to please so training was very easy. Housebroke both in one day, I had each one at different times in my life. One was a pet therapy dog. I did all the training myself. This new little guy I have now I found out was separated from his mother at 5/6 weeks and taken to a second breeder who is known for neglecting dogs. I think she kept he and his siblings in a dark room 24/7 no human contact, underfed them and lots of grabbing by the back of the neck. I did my research and breeder number one has a great reputation but due to an illness of a family member she gave the puppies to breeder number 2. The first night my little puppy came home he snarled, growled, and bit at me when I would not let him down from the bed. We had driven 5 hrs and he was fine. But I did not want to start crating training that night as I thought he might be stressed. He has done this many time since. Telling him no, can trigger this. For instance with my shoe laces, I say no, try to give him a toy, but he is set on the shoe lace and could care less about the toy. Sometimes I cannot walk to get a toy or treat to redirect because he has my shoe lace in his mouth. I have used a spray bottle of water, which does not work. If I have a treat in my hand he will let go but then go right back to the shoe lace. I then crate him for a time out, 5 minutes. Its hard to carry treats all the time. I tried the holding down technique which I was against but everyone said it would work. Well you know that didn’t. I fear he was badly damaged by this breeder and the lack of the mother. He is not a cuddler due to what has happened to him and he bites constantly. I have bought him a Kong but he was bored with it after a few minutes. I will try your suggestion of frozen food. He is such a completely different sheltie that I am not sure what to do other than use treats to train him for everything. I have cried every day since bringing him home as it has been so very hard to know what to do for him. I have tried finding a trainer but have not been able to yet. Any suggestions? I would happily pay you for your time. Thank you for listening. Alexandra
Hi there I have a two-and-a-half-year-old Jack Russell Chihuahua who is very loving and very sweet but lately he’s been getting extremely aggressive with me I can’t even put his harness on to walk him without him growling at me and coming at me to bite me and if I do get it on I can’t get it off of him when I’m done walking him I don’t know why he started doing this it wasn’t a problem before but it has bitten me twice now drawn blood and I’m very worried about him. He does have an older brother who’s four years old who is a deer chihuahua they get along very well they always go on walks together I just don’t understand why my younger puppy is being so aggressive with me now please help I’m in dire desperate need thank you Phoenix Arizona
Hi,
My dog is a 7 month old Mini Golden Doodle. We just recently got her… but my parents are already talking about giving her away due to some behavioral problems. For example, we just recently bought a new couch and 3 times she has already urinated on it… and she also has pooped once and peed once on the foot rest. Also, whenever she is in her crate, she never stops barking!
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you so much for your time!
I am trying to learn to understand my dog, and all dogs, better. I want to provide my dog the best possible life she can have. A Google search brought me to your site. I plan to read every page of your site because the information is invaluable. Thank you for all of the amazing information you provide on this site. It is truly a blessing to me.
My name is Jan. I have a 6 month old puppy. She has been doing to day camp almost daily. When she. When she goes into the camp, other than pulling so she can get there faster, she is fine. But when she comes out she is very aggressive toward any stranger. She pulls on the leash, like she is trying to attack. Yesterday she was in my car and saw a group of boys talking. She started lunging, barking, and then her whole body was shaking. I did get her away, pulled into my garage. She calmed down. What should I do?
You should take your dog out more to get socialized, I take my dog up to strangers a lot and ask them nicely to pet my dog and you can even hand them treats to give to your dog. This will start making your dog see strangers as something good.
Halo Shiba Shake and everyone!!
I am a from Hong Kong who owns a 4 months old male Shiba . I owned him since he was 2 months old. He used to hv no food protective behavior . We can tough all parts of his body . But he developed food protective behavior when he was 3.5 months old suddenly . He no longer let me touch him otherwise he will bark to me and then bite me . The most strange point is he will bite me once he finished all his dogfood.. The first time he bite my mouth suddenly when I sat down and play with him while he just finished his dogfood . And the second time was he jumped and bite my hand when I walked pass him as he finished his dogfood and lying on the ground quietly .
I really can’t figure out what is happening…
Do u all have any experience on it …? Thank you for answering !!
Hi ShibaShake,
Firstly this is a wonderful site! So many useful articles!
We have a 6 year old Shiba Inu and just now have an 8 weeks old Siberian Husky. We are struggling with our Shiba Inu floating between aggressive, depressed and overly focused. Even when the husky is not in the house, he will not eat because he is constantly looking around for her. Then when she is around he is constantly growling (or a low grumble). I have tried rewarding him for not growling when she is close, training them together, walking with both of them and even just sitting with one of them on either side of me – nothing seems to make him any more comfortable or responsive to me. Did you face any of these struggle with your Shiba Inu? Any tips on breaking the single focus? Any help is amazing!
Hello Shibashake,
A few weeks ago I responded on the post about a shiba getting stressed when getting a treat. My shiba Suzu (10 months) did the same and still does, haha! Even when I give the treat and put him in his cage. So now I say: that is his problem. But since a week or two Suzu causes a much bigger problem, for me!
When I (or another family member) wants to put on his harnas to take him for a walk, he gets aggressive. He knows when we go out when I put my muddy shoes on the door mat so he silently slips away under the dining table. When we call him, he will never come anyway so we go and get him, what he does not accept. Suzu is a very “lazy” dog. He loves to be at home and sleep or snooze in his dog bed. When he is outdoor finally he also likes that. I have to say that he is doing very well then. It is not that he listens perfect but I can let him from the lead. On training he is one of the best in his class and he got his puppy certificate this week.
So what to do about this. He gets really aggressive with biting and growling. I already noticed that the more “aggressive” I get, the more he gets. So I trie not to get angry but when he really bites I give him a little slap on his nose. Have to do something…. Luckily no one of us is very impressed or afraid but it is no fun. Also he can never go to sitter when necessary.
It is time for his last walk now (CET), there we go again…. And it gets worse each day…..
Hi there, what a fascinating site!
I have a 3.5 year old Golden Retriever who has never been able to see and is epileptic. His mum picked up a kennel virus when in pup and all puppies died at birth except Paddy but he never gained eyesight.
I could walk him no problem when he was younger and less strong. I trained him to accept a harness as well but as he gets older he get’s stronger and stronger and more fearful of meeting even hearing other dogs about. I have had very difficult situations as he really spooks and tries to run away and I can’t physically hold on.
His epilepsy doesn’t help because he seems to “shut down” and just panic. He can’t have medication because he has sooooo many allergies so all I can give him are Herbals.
Now all this sounds like a disaster but actually he is a very content dog and I am determined to treat him to a normal life, he is gorgeous very clever and funny, however I am now fearful to meet other dogs when we are out, he picks up on it and starts going crazy.
Any advise as to how I can break this circle and what to do would be most appreciated.
P:S: I have spent a fortune on a professional who didn’t make a difference just confused Paddy with clicker training and made it worse…..
I have a 2 + year old female siberian husky. She is well behaved and socialized with other dogs. I walk her off leash 2 to 3 hours each morning and 45 min at night in leash. She is fairly calm. However, when she turned 2 years, she started correcting young puppies. It sounds and looks agressive, but she doesn’t hurt them. Once they turn 6 to 7 months old she plays with them and everything’s fine, they’re best friends. Most people are fine with it and some are not. I have 99.9% recall with her and leash her when needed. She is an awesome dog, but why do you think she is doing this. Is this a natural instinct and should I train this out of her? She is absolutely fine with small dogs.
HI
I have a 9 month old white German shepherd puppy Kelle. I Have had the dog from 8 weeks old from a great breeder. She is fantastic with other dogs and people off the leash very friendly but once she is on the leash she is like anther dog. She pulls, barks, growls and lunges and nips and bites at my other German shepherd but as soon as the leash if off she brilliant and is well known for being friendly and playful . What can I do to stop this before it gets worse or it turns to something else ? She has had no bad experience while being on the leash she has just started this the last couple of weeks and the vet says she has no medical condition that could be causing her to be like this. I have tried making her sit and stay to calm her while people pass us as she barks and carry’s on this worked for a while but she wised up to this. I f you have any advice on what I can do to stop this I would be very grateful as my other German Shepherd I have never had a problem with.
We have a 14 week old siberian husky and we’ve had her since she was 9 weeks old. She’s been a fantastic dog so far. The issue I’m having now is she’s starting to growl at our elderly dog and our two year old daughter. She often play fights with our other dog and the elder dog has no issues with playing back most of the time. Our two year old daughter is learning how to behave around a puppy (she’s great with our elderly dog) so she can be a bit rough with the puppy sometimes but we always correct our daughter’s behavior when she does something we deem inappropriate. So..the issue comes to when both dogs are in our bedroom (both dogs sleep on the floor in our room at night)…a few nights ago our puppy started growling at our elderly dog when the elderly dog went to settle in on their bedtime blanket. As well a few night ago (seperate nights..seperate incidents) I was in my bedroom with our puppy and my two year old daughter came in to see what I was doing and my daughter seemed to have gotten too close to the puppy so the puppy ggrowled at her. Is my puppy starting to show aggression or is she telling us that she requires her own space in our bedroom? She’s never growled at us in our room..only the elderly dog and two year old. I’m just not sure what exactly I should be doing or what the puppy is trying to say!
Hello Shiba Shake,
Awesome site. Thank you for all the information.
I need your help. I have a 2 year old gorgeous female Shiba named Miss Shirley (MS) and an equally handsome 1 year old male Shiba named Mr Moose (MM). I got them both as pups. I have spent an enormous amount of time socializing them with both people and other dogs. I take them to work. I take them walking. We have the hidden fence and they get to frolic all day long in the yard. I love and love on them throughout the day. I make them sit and shake for treats. Sometimes sit, shake and lay down for treats. I work them in my opinion, very hard to be good dogs.
One of my friends has a little dog, Lola. Papion (incorrect spelling). This little dog was like a little sister to both of my dogs. The three of them have spent many hours together socializing, several nights a week and at least once if not more on the weekends.
Miss Shirley bullies Mr Moose. I figured this was normal as she tries to dominate him. This behavior continues however, is becoming less and less as he is now twice the size she is. However, Miss Shirley has attacked her best friend Lola twice now – both times drawing blood. The second time was more severe than the first. Both incidents I was within an arms reach of the dogs, MS was unprovoked, and I can think of NO reason why she would do this. All three of the dogs were frolicking in the yard, once in mine and once at Lola’s home. But now that MS can’t be trusted, we are no longer allowing the dogs together for no reason other than protection.
Just to sweeten the pot, MS snarls at MM all day and at night. Actually, even at night during sleep – MM moves around and MS will snarl at him. This will happen through out the day and several times a night. MS will snarl at me if I get in her way at night. If she were a human I swear she is a teenager and is just ugly.
I am perplexed. Sick actually. MS is a lovely dog. Loves people and up till now, loved all dogs she was around.
Why is she so very snarly and what can I do to help her?
Can you help me?
Are the dogs spayed and neutered? When did the bullying and snarling behavior start? Did this behavior develop gradually or did it appear suddenly? When did the dogs last visit the vet? Physical issues can cause a dog to feel more vulnerable, and this can lead to sudden aggressive behavior.
Studies (e.g. Polsky) show that hidden fences can encourage aggression in dogs. More on shock collars and hidden fences.
With my dogs, I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules, I supervise closely during times of interaction, and I make sure that everyone is following my rules. As soon as I see the *start* of any undesirable behaviors, I interrupt and redirect, before it escalates into something more. Prevention is best with my dogs. I set them up for success, manage their excitement level, and I do not allow any stealing or bullying. In this way, my dogs know exactly what to expect from each other, what to expect from me, and what I expect from them in return. This creates certainty and certainty helps to reduce stress and conflicts.
More on how I help my dogs get along.
More on dog socialization.
http://www.badrap.org/smart-socializing
http://www.badrap.org/dogdog-tolerance
However, dog behavior is very context dependent and there can be many reasons why conflicts arise between dogs. Given what you describe, I would get help from a good professional trainer as soon as possible. When I had problems with my Shiba, we did dog-to-dog desensitization training under the guidance of a good professional trainer, and with trainer chosen dogs. We found an experienced trainer who had a good understanding of the desensitization process, as well as operant and classical conditioning principles. Personally, I would stay away from aversive based trainers and aversive based techniques.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Pain and dominance based techniques (e.g. choke collars, shock collars, alpha rolls) did not work well on my Shiba. Such techniques made him lose trust in me, and worsened his behavior in the longer term.
http://shibashake.com/dog/my-shiba-inu-story
http://shibashake.com/dog/3-dog-training-techniques
What do you do when this happens? What is MS’s response? What type of training is she used to? Has she been to training classes? If so, what kind of classes?
Hello – I recently used your article to make a simple guide to reward training for young homeless people who are having trouble managing their dogs. The need for a guide arose pretty suddenly, so I did not have time to contact you for permission ahead of time.
Basically, I know a young man who sleeps outside near my apartment, and I saw him hitting his dog after she nipped at a jogger. The dog is a very sweet and good-natured animal, and has always been quiet and friendly when approached gently, but she’s probably pretty stressed out, and when she sees someone running toward her she takes it as a threat. He tells me the dog has been jumping at nearby joggers and he’s afraid she’s going to bite someone, and then get taken away and ‘put down’ by animal control. The owner is reacting out of his fear for her, and she’s probably reacting to the joggers because she’s trying to protect him. And life is pretty rough for both dog and owner.
I thought it might be helpful to talk with him about how to manage the dog’s behavior in a nonviolent way. I ran to my office, found your website, simplified the language in your article for a more basic reading level, and printed it to give to him.
I think it could benefit a lot of dogs/owners in the same situation, so I would like your permission to distribute more copies. I fully attributed you and included a link to your website, but I don’t know your actual name. I’m happy to send you a copy of the adaptation, and to keep in touch about how things go with implementation, if you like.
Thanks very much for your excellent articles, and your understanding for animals – and thanks for considering this request!
Warm regards,
Sarah
Hi Dear,
pls send me a copy of your compilation.
Thank you.
Hi! I love your blog and I’ve done my best to follow your techniques, but I have a pit bull mix rescue he’s 4 months old. He has what I think are intermittent episodes of aggression. Sometimes when I try to control him with time outs and reach for him he growls a low deep growl, this scares me because I don’t want him to be a mean dog. I’ve tried bite inhibition training, but he bites harder when I do the yelp technique. I feel like I’m always putting him in time out which works for a while, but then his bad behaviors return which includes biting ankles, hands, jumping up on people while we’re eating dinner or on the couch. Barking loudly and showing his top teeth when he doesn’t get his way or doesn’t like something going on. I try to remain calm and be consistent, but I feel like I’m losing the training battle. Any guidance especially with the aggression would be appreciated.
With Sephy, I put a drag-lead on him during his early days. In this way, I can effectively control him with the lead and quickly take him to timeout when necessary, without having to lay hands on him. Laying hands on him usually makes him more reactive, and worsens his behavior. I only use a drag-lead under supervision and only with a flat collar or harness. Absolutely no aversive collars.
Controlling my energy is also very important with Sephy. If I am frustrated, stressed, or afraid, Sephy will pick up on my energy, get stressed himself, and become even more reactive. After I learned how to control my own energy, Sephy’s behavior also improved.
More on my experiences with Sephy.
More on being afraid of my dog.
When training Sephy, timing, technique, management, and energy are all very important. In the beginning, I had a lot of troubles with Sephy because I was training him with stressful energy, my timing was off, and I wasn’t applying the techniques very effectively. In addition, I wasn’t managing his environment properly, so he kept getting into trouble, I kept having to correct him (not very well), and his behavior worsened.
After finding some good trainers, they coached me on all of these things. Management is very important, because I want to structure my dog’s routine and environment in such a way as to minimize bad behavior. It is always best to set my dog up for success and prevent bad behaviors before they occur, rather than punishing after the fact.
In addition, I always start small and give my dog many chances to change his behavior. I only escalate my responses if my dog escalates his behavior. One of the important things I learned when training Sephy is that the details are very very important. It is not just putting him in a timeout, but I need to use a timeout at the right time, with the right energy, and with the right technique. Sometimes, a timeout is not the right response and may make things worse.
More on what I do when my dog bites on me.
More on setting up structure and teaching my dog self-control.
Dog behavior is very context dependent, so the temperament of the dog, past experiences, routine, surrounding environment, and more will all play a very big role. For example, one technique that was suggested in class to calm my dog down, was to hold him until he calms down. This totally did not work with Sephy because he gets extremely stressed when restrained in this manner. Therefore, I always listen to my dog, first and foremost, and I adapt techniques to suit my dog, our routine, and our environment. Some dogs may get startled or more reactive with sharp loud noises and yelps, in which case I would calmly no-mark instead and then followup with something else. For example, when I do bite inhibition exercises with my dog, I stop hand-feeding him for a short while when he bites too hard. In this way, he learns that-
Soft-mouth = food keeps coming,
Hard-mouth = food stops.
I would *not* do bite inhibition exercises with a dog that has a bite history or has food aggression issues.
Based on what you describe, I would get help from a good professional trainer as soon as possible. The dog training field is not well regulated, so it can be a challenge to find someone who knows what they are doing and talking about. We went through a bunch of so-so and not very good trainers, before I learned enough to filter-out the inappropriate ones. These articles have more information on what to look out for when searching for a trainer-
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
More on where I get my dog training information.
I also use safety and management equipment as necessary, including baby gates, leashes, and a basket muzzle if necessary. I desensitize my dog to the muzzle first before using it. A trainer can help with management techniques and help to create a safe training environment.
Hi, I need some advice! I’m “babysitting” my friends lab x spanish pointer for a couple of weeks. She is 8 months old and is generally very good and obeys commands, apart from when we go walking!
She is an absolute nightmare to walk with… As soon as I let her off the lead she basically goes ballistic. She chases runners and cyclists, jumping up on them (not in an aggressive way, just in a playful but annoying way) ignores my calls and is basically the opposite dog she is at home. She is young and has a lot of energy and I want to be able to run her off her leash as she stays at home while at work.
I’m sticking to the routines her parents have taught her, along with the same commands that they use as well. Her life is basically the same as it is with her parents. I would love to know your thoughts and recommendations.
Thanks
Doing recall training is tough in a very high stimulus environment. With my dog, I start small and do training in my backyard first. Once she is really good with that, I very slowly increase the environmental challenge. For example, I take her to a quiet enclosed field during off-hours, and I may use a long-line during training. In this way, I set her up for success and she learns good recall habits.
This ASPCA article has some good pointers on recall training-
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-come-when-called
First of all, your blog is amazing! I love that you tell us about your own struggles as well as your successes!
I’ll start off by saying that our 13 year-old Lab, Elwood, died on March 1. He was happy and healthy until almost the day he died, and we gave him a wonderful life. He was my friend when my husband traveled. He was sweet and gentle, not the sharpest tack in the box, but was very sweet. When he died, I was heartbroken, but we also felt that we missed having a dog, so we adopted Tribble (as in Star Trek “Trouble with Tribbles”) a few weeks later. He has all the rowdiness that I expected from a puppy, but takes a lot more specific training than we ever had to do with Elwood. I’ve been able to learn a lot from this blog and other sites, and I’ve done pretty well, but there’s one behavior that I just can’t get a handle on, and that is biting my shoes. I’ve got it so that he won’t bite my bare feet, but if I have shoes on he attacks the laces and my pant legs. I can’t walk around the house, and this starts when we go on walks as well. I’ve heard the advice that when dogs start attacking your feet, you should just stand still, and they’ll get bored and let go, and then you should drop a treat. But when I stand still, he’s perfectly happy to just keep playing tug-of-war with my shoelaces or pant legs. He won’t let go long enough for me to drop a treat. If I try to pull him off, he growls (playfully) and lunges again. When this happens on our walks I grab his leash close to the collar and pretty much drag him home. And sometimes when I’m trying to get him home he will just plop down on the grass. He won’t come to me even though he knows I have cheese, and if I try to pull on him (which I know is totally wrong!) he just goes limp. I’ve tried just standing there with my back to him, ignoring him, but he’s perfectly happy just to hang out. So walks are starting to be really stressful for both of us. Can you give me any advice?
This is what I do when my dog bites-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-i-trained-my-husky-puppy#bite-training
I start small, and give my dog many chances to change his behavior. However, if my dog escalates his biting, then I also escalate my response. In the end, if my dog continues to jump and bite, I put him temporarily in a time-out area. In this way, he learns that if he does not behave with people, he temporarily loses his privilege to be with people and his freedom to roam the house.
More on how I do time-outs.
At the same time, I try to minimize time-out occurrences by setting my dog up for success. I do this by –
1. Redirecting his energy into structured and positive activities with me.
2. Doing bite inhibition training.
3. Setting up a fixed schedule and a consistent set of rules. In this way my dog knows exactly what to expect from me and what I expect from him in return. I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs.
4. Teaching him self-control.
5. Managing his level of excitement. Socialization and desensitization exercises also help. I start small, slowly build up my dog’s tolerance, and I do not expose him to situations that he is not ready for.
More on how I deal with puppy biting.
More on how I teach my dog self-control.
If my dog does biting during walks, then like you, I fast march him home. When I am doing this, I just go and I do not allow him to plop down on the ground. In the beginning, I would also do shorter but more frequent walks. In this way, we are closer to the house and I can get him back more quickly. I also try to do walks in a more quiet, low stimulus area, so that I set us both up for success.
More on what I do when my dog starts biting during walks.
I’m having a problem with my rescue dog who is aggressive to everyone if he is sleeping and we trip over him or the grandchildren accidentally step on him he will snap at them and that is not good. What can we do to stop this crazy behavior? He has bitten two people, luckily that weren’t bad but we don’t want to send him back, what about a shock collar or a muzzle?
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting/comment-page-3#comment-631225
We have a 5 yr old Shitzu mix that we rescued. She’s a good dog overall but tends to snap & even show teeth when we tell her to get down from the couch. We tell her to get down & she acts like she is going to bite us. How do we fix this behavior?
I have a 6 month old lab mix and he’s crazy…..he runs through the house and jumps on furniture. He is constantly bitting us and I don’t know what else to do. He gets really excited and when I go to get him of the couch he lunges at me showing teeth and growling. I’m afraid he’s not going to get any better and it’s only going to get harder as he gets bigger. Not sure what to do. I really can’t afford a trainer to come over. any other suggestions
How I deal with puppy biting.
How I trained my puppy.
How I provide structure and teach my puppy self-control.
When I had problems with my Shiba Inu, I read up a lot on dog training and dog behavior. I also got a lot of help from professional trainers, for things like timing, reading body language, and technique. If getting a trainer is absolutely not a possibility, then I would have to get the information through books and trustworthy websites.
http://shibashake.com/dog/where-to-get-dog-training-and-dog-behavior-information
Hello! I have a 1 1/2 year old Shiba Inu that I got as a puppy in October of 2013. She is a wonderful dog, very obedient and such a character. I had found your website while I was pondering if a Shiba Inu was the breed of dog for me, and I must say, your information and articles have been most helpful! I had ask you a question a while back, when I had first gotten her, about dog to dog aggression. (And I thank you for answering! It was most constructive.) From very early on I have found her to be extremely protective of me and this is where my problem still lies.
She does well with certain dogs, she is very picky in that manner, but does not like any other animals. I live on a homestead and have lots of livestock; goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and cats. I have tried to allow her to be around these animals but she only wants to attack and is persistent no matter how much I work with her. When I tend to my animals I tie my Shiba (Rory) to a run so that she can move about and be comfortable while I do my daily tasks. However, as soon as I leave her side she goes into a vicious fit, biting at her leash, tearing grass out of the lawn, and barking consistently. She even does this at times when I am by her side and she sees the animals running in their pen. It sends her into an uproar.
This greatly surprises me because the family I bought her from lived on a large farm with many animals. They let their Shibas run around the property, off leash, and never had any trouble with the livestock being harmed by them. I wonder if my Rory has developed this aggression towards the livestock because I did not allow her to be off leash on my property? I never felt comfortable allowing her to roam off leash because she still to this day does not respond to me calling her when she is on a mission (usually after squirrels in our woods).
Do you think there is hope for her to calm down and become a good farm dog? I have often wondered that maybe if I got a companion for her, one that would be a good example; such as an Australian cattle dog, or perhaps a Swiss Mountain dog, that she would take after it and want to guard the livestock instead of harm them.
If you have any advice for me it would be greatly appreciated. If not, I understand for I know that many people would not associate a Shiba Inu as a good farm dog because of their prey driven nature. Any response is appreciated and I thank you for your time!
What is her behavior like inside the house (when you are there and when she is alone)? What is her behavior like if you leave her in the house when you are busy with the other animals?
As you say, Shibas usually have high prey drive, and visually seeing a prey animal run around will likely put it into high gear.
These two articles have more on retraining prey chasing behavior.
http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/how-do-i-train-my-dog-to-stop-chasing-the-chickens-cat-rat
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/chase-this-not-that
Hi great post, I think that any so called, “bad behavior”, is cause by a dogs attraction to something,.. be it a person, dog, or squirrel,.. is blocked by their owners..for example if a dog barks and begins to pull hard trying to get to a squirrel that just ran across his path during a walk, his owner most likely will tell the dog to leave it and then proceed to pull them away,.. the dog is left with blocked energy,.. which then gets stored as stress, and the dog never achieves satisfaction. What in fact happens is the dog will use that stored stress as fuel for the fire, which the dog will draw from the next time he sees a squirrel, and be even more determined not to be pulled away. If you strive to be the most attractive thing in your dogs world he will turn to you in times of great intensity to resolve his feelings about that situation. A good way to make sure your dog gets to resolve his feelings about the squirrel,.. which by the way,.. the dog wants to chase and bite that squirrel, real hard.. is to bring a tug toy with you, and when your dog starts to react to the squirrel, pull out the tug, and engage your dogs prey drive in a hearty game of tug, but be sure to let your dog win, when you do it will help your dog achieve his goal of biting something, plus he will learn that he can give you his energy, and you will have the answer to the question that all “bad behaved” dogs want to know,…what do I do with my energy?
This isn’t really Bad Dog Behaviour but I’m getting a new puppy, she’s a 5 months old Japanese Spitz and she seems to be scared of people including me touching her or getting near her, she’s been with her mother since birth and is really clingy towards her, she never leaves her side, but even so I’d like to take her home, I think that since she’s always with her mom I should have play dates with the both of them after I get her. Basically I would like some advice as to her fear, will this gradually go away when she’s gotten to me at my house or is this fear of people always going to be there?
Congratulations on your new puppy! 😀
I desensitize my puppy to touches, people, other dogs, etc.
http://shibashake.com/dog/hug-dog-teach-your-dog-to-enjoy-hugging
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-to-calm-a-fearful-reactive-dog#people
Puppy socialization is also very important, especially for a fearful puppy.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/socializing-your-puppy
More on how dogs learn.
Thank you and also Thank you for the links your articles really helped.
Dear ShibaShake:
We have a 1 year old neutered male Siberian named Alexei. Very friendly. Very bright. Very stubborn.
We love our local dog park and visit every morning for about an hour: lots of play, running and tumbling with a wide range of other dogs. Owners are wise and I have learned a lot from them. A recent development is Alexei’s resistance to leaving. He won’t come when called, plays keep away when I reach for his collar and generally seems to have fun. Sometimes I can surprise him and once caught, he doesn’t resist the leash and trots out with me quite happily. I have tried using treats, but after the first 2-3 times, he won’t come for the treat or walk through the gate to get the treat.
He has not been to classes, though I have raised him with techniques learned with our first dog from a local trainer. Alexei is a lot more independent than our loving lab mix, Buster, and he is generally only reluctantly obedient. I feel like I am in a battle of wills with him and believe that he should not win.
What would you suggest?
Many thanks!
C
Sibes are very clever and they will quickly learn to associate “coming when called” to “end of fun park outing”.
With my Sibe, I usually call her over to me many times during a play session. We do some fun commands, she gets rewarded well, and then she goes back to play. In this way, “coming to me” means a brief break, good rewards, and affection. The break also gives her a chance to calm down, and then she goes back to having fun. However, my Sibe is very people and food focused.
My Shiba Inu is very dog focused. Therefore, this does not work on him because “other dogs” are a much much better reward for him than anything that I could offer. He does like following other dogs around though, so we used to go to the park with a neighbor who had a Golden. When she called her Golden back, my Shiba would follow along. However, it was still always risky because he may decide to go greet another dog instead. Ultimately, I found that he did much better in smaller and more structured play-groups, where I can quickly stop play when I need to.
This ASPCA article has some good information on recall training.
More on our dog park experiences.
Hello,
I have a 1 year old Lab/Golden Retriever Mix. He has grown up to be the most hyper dog I have ever met, which is not what I wanted or intended at all, but I refuse to give up on him. He is a very loving, friendly, and smart dog. But he is also very stubborn at the same time. When we are alone together, he is very calm and he responds to all of my commands and I can even take him off-leash.
But around other people he becomes impossible to control. He either becomes hesitant and backs away barking and growling uncontrollably, or he becomes over excited and tries to jump on you.
He is obsessed with my girlfriend, for example. She comes over about twice a week and he goes nuts every time. He always tries to jump all over her. We have tried ignoring him. And we have tried using food to encourage him to stay on all fours, but his obsession with jumping all over her somehow trumps fresh turkey or even cheese. I end up having to keep him on a leash every time someone comes over because he refuses to behave. I feel like he knows what good behavior is. He is just trying to impress people with his bad behavior for some reason. I just can seem to get him to understand that he should treat other people the same way he treats me and that they do not like to be jumped on.
I walk him frequently, play fetch, take him to the dog park every Saturday, and he goes to doggy day care 3 times a week. I am planning on doing an obedience class with him in the next few weeks, which I am praying will help. But your opinions or advice would be very welcome and appreciated.
Has he always shown these behaviors? What were his people socialization experiences when he was very young? Did he meet very many people? How was his behavior then? Does he jump on people in daycare? Does he jump on people at the dog park?
I do people desensitization exercises with my dog, and that has been helpful in teaching him how to behave around people and to be more calm around people. The key with desensitization training is to start very small, and then slowly build up my dog’s tolerance.
The more positive and calm experiences my dog has with people, the more confidence he builds and the more comfortable and relaxed he gets around people. Similarly, reactive or fearful experiences will undermine that confidence, significantly set back our training, and cause him to get more reactive in the future.
Therefore, I always try to set my dog up for success by managing his environment, and I make sure not to expose him to situations that he is not yet ready to handle.
More on why dogs jump and what I do.
Hi, I have the same problem with my adult dog adopted from a shelter. He is wonderful in all ways, very obedient, friendly with everyone, always calm, etc. (But does want to fight back if he is agressed or barked at, but not out of control.)
However…this is the problem. I have one friend who the dog just joves and get’s overly excited when that person is anywhere near by, even in another room! I can no longer get the dog to obey any command. that person seems to want the dog to misbehave by giving it commands differently, asking it to jump up on them, giving treats, etc. I’ve mentioned it, but that changed nothing. I’m about to drop the friend because it’s total chaos they they are around. hat do you think?
Hope I put this note in the right place!
If it is a good friend of mine, then I have a serious but positive talk with them, and try to recruit them into helping me train my dog. Of course, I make it clear that part of training requires that they do certain things, e.g. no eye-contact, etc. I try to explain to them what the training entails, so they understand what I am trying to achieve and feel more involved. I talk more about how I desensitize my dog to people here.
In cases where the person is totally unable/unwilling to listen or follow my instructions, then I no longer let my dog meet them. Doing so will only confuse my dog, worsen his behavior, and set back our training.
My pup is 14 weeks he barks all the time and bites all the time he drew blood
How I do bite training with my puppy.
How I trained my puppy.
With my mouthy Shiba Inu I also got help from several professional trainers-
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
Hi, I read your article on e collars. We have 3 weims. Great dogs. They have many personality traits we love them for. The 2 females have a nasty habit of eating off the counter and tables. Nothing I have tried has worked. We have the male trained to come on the e-collar using the tone and vibrate settings only. We have not shocked the dog. I am thinking to use the collar with shock only to correct the behavior of stealing food off counters. I would like to save the tome and vibrate for the “Come” command. I do not want to confuse the dogs as to what the tome and vibrate mean. Is my thinking wrong on this from a trainers perspective? I have tried many of the passive trainings to keep the dogs off the counter and had some success when I am in the room. As soon as I leave all food is fair game to these 2 females. Do you have any ideas?
As I understand it, stealing off counters is a self-reinforcing behavior. Every time a dog succeeds, she gets rewarded with something really awesome to eat, that she doesn’t get otherwise. Therefore, every success reinforces the behavior and encourages the dog to keep repeating it.
The only way that I know of to stop self-reinforcing behaviors is to make sure our dog does not get rewarded for the behavior, *very consistently*. Consistency is very important, because if a dog gets rewarded sometimes, then she will try even harder. After all, the next time she tries may be the time she hits the jackpot.
I prevent my dog from being rewarded by –
1. Being there and supervising. If they try to jump up the counter I no-mark and give an alternate command. I make sure to reward the alternate command well. In this way, they learn to Sit or Lie down to get more food, not jump on the counter.
2. If I cannot be there to supervise, then I do not leave any food or unintended rewards on the counters. Therefore they never get rewarded for going up on counters.
The third method, which I do not use is –
3. Set up an automatic aversive stimulus that gets triggered when our dog puts paws on the counter.
For example, some people may put soda cans up there so that when a dog jumps up and hits the cans, it makes an unpleasant sound that dogs do not like. Of course we need to make sure that the technique is safe, so that if the cans or whatever do fall off, they will not cause any physical harm to our dog. However, this is still an aversive technique, so it carries with it the usual risks of such methods.
Some people use a scat mat, which emits a loud sound when a dog steps on it. There is also a shock version, which is not something that I would ever use, for the reasons stated in my e-collar article. That can cause even more behavioral problems and can lead to stress and anxiety in the house.
Using a regular e-collar doesn’t really buy us anything here because we will still need to be there to supervise. Otherwise, our dog will simply learn that she can jump on counters when we are not around, and there will be no punishment. Therefore, consistent supervision is still necessary and if I am there to supervise, there are many better and safer methods to redirect my dog.
How can we contact u
Hello Kathy,
If you have a dog story or question please post it in the comments section, so that everyone can participate. 🙂 If you absolutely need to contact me, here is my contact form.
Hi there! Really hope you can help here! 🙂 also I’m all the way from Singapore 🙂 ok so I have 2 big dogs which I both adopted. They are really lovely but naughty so one is really extremely aggresive. She does not allow me to bath her i cant muzzle her and i cant bring her to the toilet, if not she will bite me and growl and bark. At night, she jumps on the bed when im asleep and if i wake up to see her on the bed i would ask her to go down and she would growl at me and soon bite me and then get down. Everyday without fail i get a bite from her every night. It started a month ago i kept trying to get her down. Also she is rather dominant. The other dog is not really an issue she has a very bad case of seperation anxiety (know any way to help? ) she cant sleep without any human and barks when we go out(disturbs our neighbours) . I need help pls! Im afraid someone would complain about them i fought for them over a year and i am not about to lose them over a complain.
Dog behavior is very context dependent. Therefore, in more serious cases of aggression, it is best to get help from a good professional trainer.
When I was having problems with my Shiba Inu, we visited with several trainers and it was helpful to have someone observe Sephy within his normal routine and environment. The trainer was also able to help me with timing, reading body language, and coming up with a good and safe plan for retraining Sephy.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
Sephy does well when he has structure and a fixed routine.
– I set up a consistent set of rules and a fixed schedule.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions
– I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program.
– I supervise him and use management equipment such as leashes, gates, or a basket muzzle as necessary, to make sure that everyone is safe, including Sephy. I first did desensitization exercises with the muzzle.
– I set up a consistent system of communication and I am consistent with my responses to my dog’s behavior.
More on how I became pack leader.
More on what I do when Sephy bites on me.
More on how dogs learn.
During Sephy’s difficult period, we visited with several professional trainers and I read up a lot on dog behavior so that I can better pick trainers, understand Sephy’s body language, and properly interpret his behaviors. Where I get my information on dog behavior.
In retraining Sephy, timing, reading his body language, and consistency are all very important. In addition, what is happening in the surrounding context is also very important. This is why in cases of aggression, it is better and safer to get help from a professional trainer who can observe my dog and help me with timing and training in a safe way.
As for separation anxiety, I did desensitization exercises with Sephy. I first start with extremely short periods of alone time (seconds) and then slowly build up from there.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/separation-anxiety
http://shibashake.com/dog/separation-anxiety-dog-why-how-reduce-dog-stress
Four weeks ago I brought home a “rescue” (1 1/2 yrs?) that played well with my 10 year old dog at the dog shelter. She’s getting much calmer on food aggression, only jumps maybe once a day and rarely catches my knuckle with a tooth. Week one was hell – very bitey and bouncy about everything the second I got her home. She’s a mixed breed – but could be a Shiba Inu in a black and white suit from your description. Here’s where I’m having trouble: while the new dog has become much better with me, she has begun playing so roughly with the other dog that he just stands and looks miserable. Inside or out, even after running, she’ll back him against a wall till I “time her out.” I’ve taken to exercising them separately. Any suggestions? When I first got her, they would chase and wrestle – pretty rough, occasional yipe – but not enough to stop them from inciting each other. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Some things that help with my dogs-
1. I set up a fixed schedule and routine for my new, younger dog. Part of that routine includes sleep time, so that others have a break from the new dog, including me. 😀
2. I make sure to supervise my new dog and stop her from bothering my other dogs when they just want to rest. When Husky Lara was young, she had a lot of energy and often wanted to play all the time. She was a bit too much for my adult dogs. So I provide my other dogs with a safe place to go to, when they want to be away from puppy’s energetic attentions. I try to engage Lara in structured activities with me to redirect her energy.
3. I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules. I supervise them and make sure that everyone is following those rules and having a positive experience.
4. I manage their excitement level during play by throwing in many short play-breaks.
5. I try to maximize positive experiences and minimize bad encounters.
More on what I do to help my dogs get along.
my puppy of 3 months bites very severely. i have followed many insturctions put of no use. she becomes veru aggressive sudenly and bites till we are injured severely. pls help
How long have you had your puppy? What do you do when your puppy bites? What do you mean by injured severely – is there skin penetration? Scratches, puncture wounds? What is puppy’s daily routine like?
More on how I trained my puppy.
More on how I discourage puppy biting.
Note however, that dog behavior is very context dependent. When I had difficulties with my Shiba Inu, I got help from several professional trainers who visited with us, so they could observe my dog, his temperament, environment, and other surrounding context.
http://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
dear shebasake
i have been dating a man for about 3 months. we like each other very much. we have a lot in common and there is that nice attraction between us.
i met his dog last week. our outing with his 2 year old female sheba inu proved to cause serious tension between us. when approaching the dog for the 1st time, she was at the end of her leash on her hind legs and would have jumped up on me if i hadn’t kept my distance. she settled down so i was able to pat her. on our walk to the park there was no evidence of heel. she was free to run ahead on a long leash. at times was reeled in due to tree entanglement or crossing streets.
we got to the park which was also a play ground. we were sitting at a table. a 5year old girl approached. she asked permission to pat the dog. my friend said ‘yes, take your time’. the child put her hand in front of shebas nose to let her sniff. then the child went to pat the top of the dogs head. sheba snarled and snapped at the little girl. there was no teeth to skin contact. my friend said that sheba ‘did not like the little girl’. sheba had not been around any other children other than the next door neighbors. i have expressed serious concern about future behavior with other children or animals. i am very anxious about this sheba behavior and my command of the dog by my friend!!! my friend says ‘you do not have a crystal ball. you can not predict the future’. i feel like my concern has been dismissed. that perturbs me greatly. sheba does not behave well with other dogs and has not been to bark parks. my friend also says sheba regularly nibbles on his arm or sleeve. sheba will communicate to my friend when it is time for him to go to bed at night.
would you please offer your opinion and advise? i would also value input from other sheba owners. this issue is a potential deal breaker with us!!
mb
Initially, my dogs also did not like getting petted on the head. It is not something they are familiar with in dog language, and it can be seen as a threatening gesture.
I set my dogs up for success by managing who they meet and slowly desensitizing them to human touch.
More on how to meet a dog.
How I desensitized my dog to human touch.
I have a very strong bond with all of my dogs. I would want anybody who shared my life to also share my love of dogs, and to get along with my dogs. In the beginning, it was difficult to form a positive relationship with my Shiba Inu (Sephy). Shibas can be aloof, especially to strangers. However, after I started reading up a lot more on dogs and dog behavior, I began to understand Sephy a lot better. After I learned to properly communicate with him, and understand things from his point of view, things improved significantly.
More on the Shiba Inu personality.
More on why Shibas can be difficult dogs to train.
Finally, expressing concerns about a person’s dog is always very tricky, because it is often taken as an insult on their dog parenting skills.
Hi there,
In late February my boyfriend and I rescued a 11 month old male husky named Helo. He turned 1 in March. When we first got him he was a bit mouthy and vocal, but we were quickly able to break those habits by having our hands go limp when he bit or crossing our arms to hide them, and by turning our backs when he was vocal. These seemed to work well since he was doing these things for attention.
Now he has begun to become mouthy again, and even more so than before. He isn’t as soft with his mouth anymore and he has even snapped at some people (never my boyfriend or I). He has never actually bit anyone, but I am getting worried. He snapped at the vet, a resident at the nursing home I work at and at a woman that he knows really well at the pet store we go to for his AKC Canine Good Citizen training. I am really hoping to train him to be a therapy dog, but really need advice on how to break the mouthy behavior!
He has become vocal again too, but I really want to focus on the mouthy bit first.
Please help me with some recommendations!
Thanks
Hello Erica,
My dogs mouth for a variety of reasons, so the first thing that I do is try to identify the source of their behavior. I try to observe my dog closely, and take note of the surrounding context during his mouthing behavior.
Is Helo snapping when people approach and try to handle/pet him? Where are they trying to pet him? Is it only particular types of people? Are those people calm?
Did this behavior start suddenly? Sudden changes in behavior can sometimes be caused by a physical issue, e.g. pain in certain parts of the body. Are there other changes in behavior?
What is his daily routine like? How does he respond to home grooming? Does he like affection when at home? Is it only away from home that he shows these behaviors? What are the common things in the surrounding context when he has showed this behavior?
What did his AKC trainer say about this change in behavior?
For a soft-mouth, I do bite inhibition training with my dog, mostly through hand feeding. I also follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs.
As for the vet, I think that is a special case because dogs have to go through a whole lot of poking and prodding while at the vet, and the handling involved is invasive, unpleasant, and mostly performed by strangers. With my dogs, I have noticed that they are more comfortable when the vet involved takes the time to get to know them, has good calm energy, tries to build trust, and does not hurry the examination. However, that almost never happens, as most vet offices are busy and try to get through as many clients as possible.
Both my Huskies have more submissive temperaments, so they usually just shut-down and endure at the vet. With Lara, if we prevent her from looking at what is happening, she seems to tolerate things better. However, my Shiba will fight back to defend himself, so he has to be sedated for vet exams. Alternatively, muzzling him before going to the vet also works, but he is totally miserable and just shuts down. He only does this at the vet because he does not want strangers sticking needles into him or taking his temperature.
Therefore, it really depends a lot on the situation, surrounding context, temperament of the dog, past experiences, etc. I also do handling exercises with all of my dogs to slowly get them used to human touch. However, that only goes so far, and no matter what I do, my dogs are never going to enjoy having needles stuck in them. I don’t like going to the doctor either. 😀
Just wanted to say thanks for all your fabulous advice! We’re considering adopting a senior husky from the local shelter in the very near future (final decision will be on Tuesday when he meets Large Husband Creature), and, not having much experience with the breed, it’s been excellent to hear a little about the challenges they present and how to steer clear of messy situations.
I’m so excited to bring this boy home – he’s 8 years old and has been at the shelter for a few months (heartworm positive, no willing fosters in the meantime), and as soon as I got to interact with him I was shocked that no one had snapped him up! We met in a fenced yard next to a puppy play group, and even with distractions on every side he was focused and sat, high-fived, went down, and walked at my side with no tension and no pulls. We’ll see how he feels in a few weeks when he’s through with his last treatment, but I couldn’t ask for a better first impression!
Anyway, thanks again! You’ve solidified my confidence in the breed, and I’ll keep reading and asking questions!
Hello Emily,
Four paws up to you for helping out a dog in need, especially a senior. Let us know how things go with his last treatment, and with the adoption process. Hope he gets to go home with you soon.
Give him a big hug from me! Would also love to see some pictures, so please post us some links when you get the chance. 😀
hi im just asking im getting a dog that is 5 yrs old would it be possible to bring it out of attacking other animals if so how is it possible
What kind of other animals? What type of dog is he? What is his history? Is he going to have a lot of unsupervised access to other animals?
I need help our 1yearold labradoodle is very aggresive with food. We have two other dogs who back down to her she doesn’t seem like she even likes to be loved on. We are in classes and she is fine. What do you recommend. We are at a loss. Help
Is she aggressive with food wrt. people, other dogs, or both? Is she aggressive with all types of food or just some? Did she just develop this behavior or has this been going on for some time? When did it start? What is her daily routine like?
A bit more on food aggression and how I prevent resource guarding with my dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/why-dogs-get-aggressive-over-food-toys
http://shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression-stop-resource-guarding
As for classes, I find that group classes are more useful for socialization skills and private lessons are more useful for troubleshooting particular problems.
I have a one year old Castillo Pit Bull Terrier. He is a wonderful companion and l love him dearly. He means the world to me. As with anything there are down sides. My dog is so hyper all the time and he doesn’t listen well. Any time we come home or someone visits us he goes crazy. He jumps on people and he mouths at their sleeves and hands. He tries to bite hands especially. When I try to get him down or to relax or sit he will for a second and then go crazy again. I’ve tried to teach him a stay command after sitting but he just won’t do it! He is also very vocal. He doesn’t growl he talks. It sounds like he’s howling. It sounds quite funny and strange at times. I try to exercise him a lot and buy toys like Kongs and whatnot for him but he still doesn’t respect me as his master/owner. I used to think I was good with dogs until i got him. My next step would be obedience schooling but he is also quite nervous and insecure around people. Large groups are not good for him. He tenses up and smells funny (anal glands releasing) and sometimes he’ll break out in hives if another dog scares him. I love him but he makes it hard to have people over or take him places. I do have him potty trained and kennel trained. He can sit well but refuses to learn other commands. I have many training books but nothing seems to work. It may be that I just need to devote MORE time to training sessions daily. I’ve also thought about a weighted back pack for when we go on walks. Any ideas or thoughts? I love your advice and blog. Help!
My Shiba Inu was also pretty reactive when he was young. I did a lot of desensitization/counter-conditioning exercises with him, and that was helpful in teaching him to stay more calm around people and other dogs. The good thing with these exercises is that I start small and in a very controlled environment, so that I can be sure that my Shiba has a good and positive experience, and is also calm enough that he can learn from the experience.
At the same time, I make sure not to expose him to high stimulus situations where I know he will lose control of himself. For example, for his dog reactivity issues, we did training at our local SPCA, but only with a single dog that the trainer chose to fit Sephy’s current level of training.
More on our people desensitization experiences.
More on dog jumping and how I deal with it.
I set up a fixed routine at home and have a consistent set of rules. I also follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs. It teaches my dogs that they have to work for the things that they want, that people are the source of good stuff, and it also helps to redirect their energy into positive structured activities.
When I was having troubles with Sephy, I found individual lessons to be a lot more helpful than group sessions. A group class is very high stimulus, as you pointed out. There are many dogs, many people, and often not much space. As a result, Sephy would sometimes get reactive right away, and he would just practice more of his bad behaviors rather than learn to be calm.
Does your dog get along well with other dogs? I was able to drain a lot of Sephy’s energy by doing supervised one-on-one play sessions with friendly dogs in my neighborhood. I had strict play rules, I supervised closely, and I make sure to only pick dogs that I know Sephy will be successful with.
More on how I drained some of Sephy’s hyper puppy energy.