It is especially difficult to become pack leader to an aggressive dog because we will naturally fear our dog’s aggression.
My Shiba Inu used to have the worst bouts of aggressive leash biting. He would jump up on me, grab my jacket sleeve, and shake his head very rigorously, in what I call the kill-move (the shaking, head tossing motion that animals make to kill prey).
The more fearful I got of my dog, the more aggressive he became. He started humping my leg, and attacked the leash whenever I held it. Thankfully, he never broke skin, because of bite inhibition training. Nevertheless, I dreaded walking my dog, or even just being with him.
Here are some techniques that helped me conquer my fear, and become pack leader to my aggressive dog.
1. Practice calm energy
Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer always emphasizes the importance of projecting calm energy, especially when interacting with an aggressive dog. If we interact with a dog using nervous, submissive, fearful, or otherwise unbalanced energy, the dog may pick up on that, get stressed himself, and behave badly or start showing aggression.
Some techniques that helped me remain calm include:
- Taking deep breaths and focusing on breathing to remain calm.
- Actively thinking of something else, whenever I start to get stressed about what my dog might do.
- Using the “tsch” from Cesar Millan. No, it is not a magical sound for calming dogs, but it helps to remind me to stay calm.
- Walking with an assertive posture (shoulders back, head up).
In addition, make sure that we are not putting undue tension on the leash.
The thing that helped me most was to imagine the worst that my dog could do. In the leash biting case, it was a bite to my hand or arm. I decided that for my Shiba Inu, I could deal with some bites. If he did that, I would hold firm, get him home as quickly as possible, and thus end the fun walk. If he continued to bite at me or the leash once we are home, I can put him directly in a time-out area. In this way, he learns that –
Biting on leash = End of walk or temporary loss of freedom,
No biting on leash = Fun walk and exploration continues.
Once I had a plan for dealing with the worst, I became less fearful.
Once my energy improved, my dog’s bad behavior also improved significantly.
2. Have a drag-lead on our dog and keep him on a schedule
When our dog does something undesirable, it is always our reflex to chase after him. However, we will quickly realize that our dog can run much faster than we can!
To get better control of my dog and avoid chasing games, I usually put a drag-lead on him. Initially, I use a longer leash so that I can control him without being close to his mouth.
Only use a flat collar with the drag lead and NOT an aversive collar. Some example aversive collars include the prong collar and choke chain.
Also remember that while dealing with an aggressive dog, safety is of the utmost importance. If necessary, I muzzle my dog with a basket muzzle. A dog can still chew with a basket muzzle, and it is less restraining. To make the muzzling process less stressful, we may want to desensitize our dog to the muzzle, by pairing it with food and fun.
3. Have clear and consistent rules for our dog at all times
In the beginning, we want to be more strict with our dog. Institute more rules so that we have many opportunities to show our dog, that we are the boss.
If my dog does not follow the rules, then he does not get his most desired resources, for example, access of the backyard, walks, yummy dog treats, fun dog toys, play time, and access to pack members.
One of the best ways to become pack leader is to control his resources by following the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program.
This just means that our dog does not get anything, until he does something for us first.
I do not give my dog all of his food on a silver platter. Instead, I use it for dog training, grooming, and other activities. I don’t leave food or high priority resources (e.g. food toys) out for him to use whenever he wants. Being the boss means that I control the key resources, and I decide when, where, and for how long he gets access to those resources. Of course, I also make sure that my dog has many opportunities to work for all the things that he wants.
Some useful rules to establish and maintain pack leadership include:
- No getting on furniture.
- Sit calmly before going through doorways, and only go through on command.
- No jumping on people.
- No leash biting.
- No food aggression. Must release resource (food, toys, or other items) on command.
- Absolutely no growling, barring of teeth, mouthing, or biting of people.
Once we gain some confidence and our dog is behaving better, we may relax some of these rules.
4. More walks of shorter duration
Most aggressive behaviors occur on neighborhood walks because that is when our dog is exposed to the most interesting stimuli (e.g. other dogs, cats, squirrels, people). On walks, we also have less control over the environment, and may not easily and quickly get our dog under control.
When I had troubles with my Shiba Inu, I shortened our walks but increased their frequency.
First, I would walk him in a heel position inside the house. Doing the heel exercise helps to put me in a pack leader mindset, and enforces my leadership status. In addition, if my dog starts any aggressive behaviors, I can more effectively stop him.
Once we are ready to go, we practice manners at the door. This helps to further secure my leadership role. My dog has to sit calmly while I open and close the door. If he remains calm, we can leave and start the walk.
Initially, I walked my dog close to the house, so that I can quickly end the walk, get him home, and put him on a time-out if he shows any aggression. As we started to have more and more successful short walks, I was able to gain more confidence, and control my fear. When things started improving, I slowly increased the distance and duration of the walk.
5. Address aggressive behaviors as soon as possible
A good pack leader is a vigilant pack leader. Watch our dog closely, especially when he is young (< 1 year old). Stop any aggressive behaviors as soon as we see them.
If we do not address aggression issues early, our dog will likely escalate his behavior, and start practicing aggression in a broader range of contexts. Once this occurs, it will be harder to break him of the habit.
I do not let my dog leash bite, show teeth, growl, or mouth at me. Any of these offenses will get him a warning (ack ack). If he continues, he gets a time-out. I carefully manage the everyday details of our time together, so that I set both of us up for success.
Proper management can significantly increase the number of successes, reduce the number of aggressive episodes, and help us become a good pack leader.
For aggression issues between two family dogs, please refer to Introducing a Second Dog into the Home.
You posted in comment on here that you taught your Shiba to be “Quiet”….How on earth did you accomplish this? Reptar doesn’t scream (that has only happened once at the vet), thank goodness!! But man, he sure is a vocal little thing especially if we’re not giving him what he wants when he wants it. We ignore him and eventually he stops, but it would be wonderful to understand how to teach him “Quiet”.
Hi Colleen,
So good to see you.
LOL – yeah Sephy can be very vocal too although he has quietened down a lot now that he is older.
In terms of Quiet – it is just like any other command and Shiba will decide whether he wants to follow it or not. To first teach the Quiet command – do something that you know will trigger a vocalization but that will not trigger too extreme a reaction. For example – ringing the doorbell works for a lot of people. Let Shiba vocalize a bit then say Quiet and wait for him to stop. As soon as he stops mark the behavior and reward very well – then keep repeating until Shiba knows what the command means.
After that it is just a matter of rewards and consequences in terms of whether Shiba will listen or not. There are also several different scenarios in which Sephy vocalizes – e.g. guard mode, whine mode, excited mode, etc.
When in guard mode he will usually stop once I come to check out what he is barking at. Once he has alerted us, he has done his job so he stops.
In whine mode – he will stop if he knows I really mean it. Another thing that helps here is to give him something else to do – e.g. go to your mat and stay. If he stays properly for long enough, he gets a good reward. Nowadays, he just goes to the mat on his own when I ignore him. I make sure to reward him when he does that 🙂
Excited mode is the hardest so I usually just remove him from the stimulus.
Strength of stimulus also really matters. When the stimulus is too strong – it is best to leave and that will usually help to quiet things down.
How is Reptar? How are things going with finding him a girl? 😉
First off, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading your article. But I was curious if your Shiba has ever had a problem with aggression towards other dogs? My boyfriend recently adopted a female Shiba Inu (about 2 years) and she is very sweet and great to take to the park and has never shown aggression towards either of us. The only problem is that I too have a dog, a female lab who is generally never aggressive (though fairly dominant). They walk side by side with absolutely no problem at parks or around the neighborhood, but with my dog off the leash the Shiba Inu turns into a completely different dog (growling, snarling, lunging at her). We are trying to deal with this behavior but we are having some difficulties. Please let me know if you have any advice for this- I feel as though we’re never going to be able to have our dogs off leash together.
Hi Alecia,
Yeah – Shiba Sephy can be particular about his dog friends. In general, Shibas do not get along with other dominant dogs. There are also certain things that Shiba Sephy does not like – for example other dogs sniffing his butt. I later learned that especially for dogs that do not know each other well, this can be seen as a dominance move.
One thing I noticed with Sephy is that he will not try to dominate other dogs, but if other dogs try to dominate him – he will not back-down and will not surrender.
Some things to look out for –
1. When both dogs are off leash who is the first to initiate interaction?
2. Are there particular triggers/behaviors that Shiba dislikes? Sometimes it could just be an invasion of personal space. Shibas are pretty good guard dogs, and like other guard dogs (e.g. German Shepherd) they may not like other dogs crowding their personal space unless invited.
When I meet outside dogs with Sephy I make sure to only greet more submissive playful dogs. I try to greet often but keep each greeting short. I also watch out for butt sniffing behavior and body block the other dog from doing it.
For at home, I make sure that there is no bullying, and I interrupt play if it looks like things are becoming too high energy. House rules are that they must play nice and according to my rules. If they don’t, play stops and the one that went overboard gets to go to timeout. I also do not allow humping.
One thing that may help is to leave drag leads on both dogs (only with a flat collar – *not* aversive collars). In this way you have more control and they may also act differently. It seems like they understand that when the leash is on, there is more structure and they know what the rules are. Similarly, it will be helpful to set up similar rules and structure for off-leash time.
Here are some of Shiba Sephy’s experiences with other dogs –
Socializing a Shiba Inu to Other Dogs
Dog to Dog Aggression
Getting a Second Dog
The important part of keeping the peace at home is to carefully observe the situation and correctly identify which behaviors are causing friction. Often it can also be helpful to get a trained professional to come and observe the dogs interact. A good trainer knows how to read body language and can help accurately identify key stressors.
Hi Phillip,
It may be best to stop it now before it becomes a habit.
If she screams and you open the door for her after she has screamed for a certain duration, then she learns that – if I keep screaming long enough I get to go out. This encourages her to keep screaming and for longer periods of time. Your other Shiba may also observe this, and start following that behavior.
What worked for me is to let my Shiba only vocalize once, then I tell him to Quiet (you may need to teach her the command first in a separate session). As soon as he quiets down, I ask him to sit, then I open the door for him. Then you can slowly increase the time that she has to stay quiet.
If she continues to scream then just ignore her. It is best not to give her anything (even your attention) when she is displaying undesirable behaviors. If she escalates and starts jumping on people or biting people then calmly put her in timeout.
In this way she learns the if she stays quiet she gets to go out, and if not, she doesn’t get anything.
We have two Shiba Inus, and one of them will scream to get outside and to get back inside. We think it is fine that she makes a loud noise when she wants in because that is probably the best way for us to know that they are ready to come back in, but do you think it is something we should stop within the house. She only does it to get out, and the other Shiba never does it for anything that she wants. She’ll just prance around and look up at everyone in the room. She easily makes it clear that she wants to go outside without any noise. She also will wait for someone to walk by the door, then run to it to alert us that she is ready.
Should we try to do something about the first dog’s screaming?
Thanks a lot for all you help! I’ll let you know how it goes!
I guess in the end, I want to have him follow my rules without making him fear me. It sounds like too much to ask but I think it is possible. I just need footing to gain some momentum. Just to let you know this behavior really shows it’s face when he is extremely hyper or when a friend of mine plays with him. For some reason he just goes crazy around her!
Hi, I love your site, it is extrememly helpful!
I just got a 10 week old Shiba pup and I’ve had him for a few days now and I want to train him right. Now, he doesn’t do this to me except when I let him out of his crate every now and then, but how do you correct for a puppy jumping on a person even if it is in joy? Also, when he does this he sometimes becomes quite mouthy, what should I do? Also, from what I’ve noticed, when I tell him no, like when he chews on my hand or something he isn’t supposed to chew on, he responds negatively and summons the dreaded Shiba scream. Is this him challenging my authority as pack leader? If so, how should I respond to this beavior? And I really don’t have a room that I can use as time out, what method would you recommend for correction?
There is a lot here – so please let me know if you have more questions.
Oh yeah, energy is extremely important with a Shiba. Shibas are very sensitive to the energy of the people around them. Calm is the best energy for a Shiba when they are acting out – anything else will make them go even more nuts. 🙂
Hello Derik,
Congratulations on your new Shiba pup 🙂 As you have noticed, they are small in size, but large in personality.
1. “how do you correct for a puppy jumping on a person even if it is in joy?”
When your puppy jumps, simply tell the person to ignore him and turn away from him. It is important to practice no talk, no touch, and no eye-contact (no eye-contact is very important because that can be seen as attention). Just fold up your arms and turn away. It is also important not to step back because that will encourage the puppy to keep jumping forward. Just stand in place and turn away. As soon as he displays good behavior – i.e. non jumping behavior, mark him (Yes), and reward him with affection. As soon as he jumps again – go back to ignoring. This will teach the puppy that jumping gets him ignored but not jumping gets him attention.
2. Mouthiness
Shibas are a very mouthy breed. This article deals with puppy biting –
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting
3. Time-out
If you don’t have a good room to put him in on time-out you can also try putting him on a tie-down. Just have a tie down in a boring place in a house where he can’t get to anything. I used to have a tie-down in my kitchen. So whenever I had to do a time-out, I would just clip his collar to the tie-down.
4. Shiba scream –
Shibas can also be somewhat vocal. Firstly, try to understand why Shiba is vocalizing. Sometimes Shibas will vocalize to alert you to strange noises or to something else being wrong.
Sometimes however, Shibas use the screaming and whining to get what they want and to get attention. My Shiba has used it on dog walkers, dog trainers, etc to good effect. Don’t give in to the attention-seeking Shiba scream. Just ignore it, and Shiba will stop after he gets no response.
I don’t think that the screaming is a challenge. The Shiba puppy is just trying out different behaviors to see which ones get him the best results. Many people give in to the Shiba scream, which will make Shiba practice that behavior more and more. If Shiba does not get a response, he will move on to something else.
Here is an article on my training experiences with my Shiba –
http://shibashake.com/dog/shiba-inu-training-secrets
5. Shiba play
It is best not to do any rough-play with a Shiba Inu, especially in the beginning. I don’t do any rough-play with my Shiba. I also do not play tug-of-war with him.
Here are some ideas for Shiba play –
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-play-fun-games-to-play-with-your-dog-or-puppy
My Shiba likes playing the flirt-pole and the water-hose game. Make sure you have strict game rules though, and make sure to stop very often and ask him for obedience commands so that he doesn’t get over-excited. The obedience commands will also teach him that play is contingent on doing what you want first.
Lots of important points! Well done!
This ties in very nicely with your other HUB on not treating your pets like people – As much as we love our dogs they are not people and they require a lot of time and training to make their lives (and ours) more enjoyable.