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.
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. š If you absolutely need to contact me, here is my contact form.
Hi there! Really hope you can help here! š also I’m all the way from Singapore š 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. š
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. š
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. š
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.