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.
Hi, I don’t know why my dog always bites me whenever I correct her, my shiba inu is now 8 months old and she also likes to bite her bed if she is bored, and she will do the killer shake (the head movement) and then keep on biting it and I can’t stop her, to add on, sometimes at night I need to put her back to her cage and the problem is SHE DISLIKE HERR CAGEEE, when we go close it, she will jump and bite me really hard, and sometimes she will run around the house very fast in circles. PLEASE HELP ME… thank you
Hello King,
Hmmm, how do you correct her?
In terms of biting, this is what I did with my Shiba when he was a pup.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
In terms of crate training, I try to teach my dogs to associate the crate with positive experiences. I start with really brief crate times, and pair it with many positive rewards. Then, I very slowly lengthen the duration.
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-to-calm-a-fearful-reactive-dog#crate
Here are some other things that helped with my Shiba when he was a puppy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
My Shiba Inu will bite my clothes and bite me and my shiba inu is now 8 months old, whenever I correct my Shiba Inu, she will bite my clothes, and does that mean that Im not the alpha and she does not trust/respect me, if no then what can i do????? Also, I think she is pretty bad tempered, sometimes when she wants to go play some toys but Im still training her or when she is still in the Timeout section, I wont let her play her toy, but then she starts biting my clothes aggressively, so im wondering how do i make my shiba inu trust me and accept me as a pack leader???????… Thanks for your tips I really appreciate that. :DD
Hello Steven,
One of the things that helped with Shiba Sephy when he was young is a drag-lead. The drag-lead gives me better control of Sephy, and also prevents him from starting a chase game. Make sure to only use it with a flat collar and only under supervision.
In terms of time-out, I use a very low stimulus, and safe area. I make sure beforehand, that there is nothing in the timeout area that Sephy can chew on or play with. No one is allowed to interact with Sephy while he is in timeout.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
hello i really enjoy your wedpage thats why im applaing to you because i see you got plenty of experience with dogs.
i got a shiba inu puppy of 3 and a half months she is really iperactive and im a bit worried because she bites too often than normal and she is making sounds like she is was about to bite i know she is just a puppy but like we had some probblems with a west white terrier when he was in the teenage “period” with bitting im afreid she could do the same may be im doing something rong i am realy esigent because i read that shibas are realy difficult to train so maibe im over expetting her. thank you
ps: i lov your dogs they are so cute
Hello Kia,
Congratulations on your Shiba puppy!
Yeah, my Shiba Sephy, was also very mouthy when he was young. I had a lot of problems with him during his puppy days, and it was not a good time for either of us. I had to put in a lot of work, but I also learned a lot from Sephy. Now, we are actually at a pretty good place. š
In terms of biting, this was what I did with Sephy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
Bite inhibition training exercises are also very useful.
http://shibashake.com/dog/bite-inhibition
Here are some other things that helped me when Sephy was an energetic, crazy puppy š
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
Big hugs to your Shiba girl!
Hi, i recently got a maltese shih tzu at 6 weeks.the most adorable thing.i can’t put her on aleash because she ‘s s just too small.i admit before i knew about pack leading iwas playing chase games where she would begin to growl and bark at me and then she would bite(has little teeth)..ignores me sometimes when I give her a command.she is really jumpy .I have decided to just ignore her for a few days feed her on time but ignore her .will it work?
Hello Molly,
With my dogs, it is most effective to correct the behavior as soon as I catch them doing it. Here is what I do with biting-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
Here are some of my experiences with training my Sibe puppy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-i-trained-my-husky-puppy
Hello,
I was doing some research online on how to deal with a Shiba situation in my home and was wondering if you can help me? My male Shiba Hiru is 5 years old and we just bought a new Shiba female Keiko 9 weeks old, and just wanted some advice from someone who is familiar with the breed specifically instead of some of the local educators who are more accustomed to Golden Retriever/lab type dogs. I’ll be happy to provide more details if we can get an email conversation going. I hope you can help me!
Thank you,
MM
Hello MM,
Congratulations on your new Shiba puppy Keiko.
Please feel free to post your questions on this page. It is usually better to post questions and comments on-site because there may be others who have better answers who can chime in, and there may be others who have similar questions who can benefit from the exchange of information.
Here is an article on my experiences in introducing a new dog to my Shiba Inu-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
Hugs to Keiko and Hiru!
Thank you for your reply! I was concerned about my post/questions being too long. The question I have is, Hiru was always a very good Shiba, up until 2 possibly 3 year ago – he became dog aggressive. He does great with people, no food aggression, and hasn’t ever bitten me. But he becomes a completely different dog when another dog is introduced (ferocious sounding guttural growls). How can I differentiate whether his reaction is aggression…or fearful, or possibly even something else? I feel that once I can differentiate, I can then handle the situation accurately. We have Keiko in an exercise pen so they meet through that, but then he does his growl (but tail wagging). I’m quite confused – and because I am confused am not able to deploy the right correction necessary and just end up observing.
Hello MM,
As I understand it, tail movement could indicate a variety of things. I like this article on canine body language from the ASPCA-
http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/50/Canine-Body-Language.aspx
Turid Rugaas is also well-known for her writings on dog communication-
On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals
In general, I try to look at the entire body of my dog, including the surrounding context, to try and read what he is trying to say.
With Sephy I make sure he never gets over-excited. When that happens, he can lose control and things can get out of hand. I make sure to have a lot of breaks during play so that Sephy has a lot of chances to calm down, and refocus on something else.
When Sephy is feeling uncomfortable, he usually has a very stiff posture. For example when dogs try to sniff his butt, he stands very still, and if I do not intervene, he will start with a lip curl. Now I make sure that new dogs don’t even come near to his rear-end. I try to nip things in the bud so that Sephy does not feel the need to use aggression.
Another possibility is to get a professional trainer to come over for a couple of sessions. I had a fair number of problems with Sephy when he was young and visiting a good professional trainer can be helpful. The good trainers I met were able to spot things that I missed, and suggest new ways for dealing with some of Sephy’s behaviors.
Hugs to Hiru and Keiko. Let us know how it goes.
Thank you ShibaShake!
I’ve already purchased the book you recommended and read the other article in the link above. I will also find a professional trainer to help us to work on this issue and will update you as soon as possible. You have a wonderful website, and I feel so blessed to have stumbled upon it.
Sincerely, MM
Hello Shibashake,
Just wanted to update that with the new puppy situation Hiru is doing fine with Keiko. I would love to say it was me, but after I finished doing all my research and reading – it looks like they figured it out on their own through their own doggie language.
LOL! That is good to hear. In any case, researching doggie language is always fun, and will help with many other things down the road. š
Hugs to Hiru and Keiko!
What should I do if my dog bites?
Do I physically stop it, or do the tscht thing like Cesar, but it only works for a short period of time(few seconds). If I physically stop her, then how do I do it? What should I do, my Shiba inu sometimes bites and always pull/bite her leash so what should I do, thanks for giving tips, I appreciate it…
Hello Steven,
When my puppy bites, I non-mark her (Ack-ack or tscht). Then I redirect her to bite on something acceptable, e.g. a toy. If she ignores that, I withdraw my attention by getting up, folding my arms, and giving her an alternate command, e.g. Sit. If she does the command, I praise her and reward her with treats and attention.
If she ignores me and keeps biting, I turn away from her and totally ignore her.
If she jumps and keeps trying to bite at me or my clothes, then I say Timeout and remove her to a Timeout area.
Here is more on my experiences with puppy biting-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions
I also do bite inhibition training which teaches a dog to have a soft mouth.
Here are my experiences with leash biting.
What a wonderful questions and answers web-site. I have a 9 month old castrated male whippet : I have a problem with his on leash walking as he will suddenly turn on the leash and me and start biting along the leash, up to my arm and bite at anything which seems to include me. Apart from this he is a sweetheart of dog for his age.I am getting worried as these tantrums seem to start for no reason. I could not print off your pages that dealt with this : can you assist me in downloading these . I will pay any admin costs as I found them so helpful and would like to refer to them on paper.
Many thanks
Rose
Hello Rose,
Would you like to print this Pack Leader article? Or the article that is on Leash Biting?
One thing that usually works for me is to save the page as a HTML file. In Internet Explorer I just click on the “Page” menu on the toolbar at the top of the browser and choose “Save As”. Then I either select a Web Page (HTML file) or Text file (If I just want text) . This saves the page onto my local computer. Then I open the file using Microsoft Word, and print the document from there.
Hope this helps.
Have to comment on the first two pictures you used for ‘aggressive’ dogs… the body language in those pictures is not of aggression… the second is most definitely play. The dog in the first one may be slightly annoyed, but I get the feeling this smiling is something he does in some situations. It may be a calming signal if he’s in a position he doesn’t like… It’s hard to tell from one picture. Perhaps you could use a picture of truly aggressive body language so that people don’t get freaked out by normal play behavior.
Hello Judy,
Thanks for your very interesting comment.
Dog aggression is an overloaded term. Likely, my definition of aggression will be different from everyone else’s.
1. Normal dog behavior.
Almost all of the aggression we see today with our companion dogs is a result of normal dog behavior. Food aggression, for example, is a dog telling the perceived “food thief” to back off. Over excited play can also quickly turn into something more intense.
As you say, context is very important and it is simply not possible to tell from a single picture if a dog is being “truly aggressive” assuming that we mean the same thing when we say “truly aggressive”. Much of what we use to read dog body language is missing. Faces may not be visible, parts of the body may not be visible, and there are no motion or verbal cues.
Even with multiple pictures it can be difficult to tell. This is why it is dangerous to follow techniques that we see on television because it is difficult to tell what circumstances are appropriate for which techniques.
2. Truly aggressive dog.
I am not sure what a truly aggressive dog is. If a dog growls to warn somebody away from what he perceives as his food, is that truly aggressive? If a dog bites based on the command of his owner, is that truly aggressive? If a dog bites because he is redirecting his over-excited energy, is that truly aggressive?
A truly aggressive dog, or a dog whose intent is to do extreme harm or kill a human target, is very rare. Indeed domestication is all about breeding out these tendencies, and we have been very successful at that with our dogs.
3. A bite is a bite.
Whether a dog is truly aggressive or not, his bite will still hurt and may cause damage. For this reason, we all do our best to observe, train, and manage our dogs so that they do not find themselves in a bite-situation or really in any situation where they may inadvertently hurt others. Often a jump or a strong body bump can cause significant damage as well especially to the really young or elderly.
One time I was knocked down by a young pit bull that was playing with my dog. I was standing still and a strong body bump knocked me off my feet. That hurt a lot and would have been worse if I were much younger or much older.
Most of the time bites or other dog related injuries do not occur because of true aggression, but simply because of insufficient control or management.
To me, the important issue is to make sure we are in control and that we do not expose our dogs to situations where they may accidentally cause harm to others and to themselves.
Hello,
I just go my shiba inu puppy 4 days ago and so far its going pretty well except that he started humping me! When he does I put him in a time-out but it really bothers me and I don’t understand why he has started doing it all of the sudden. So far he has only done it to me and one random guest I had, but not my spouse. Also, he will sometimes bark right in my face when I’m holding him or even make a nasty growling noise. This last time he started humping me it was right after he barked in my face and it startled me. Is there anything else I can do besides putting him in time-out that will prevent him from humping? What did you do? And is there anyway I can stop him from barking or growling in my face? And when he does, how should I react?
Hello Georgia,
I went through a very similar thing with Shiba Sephy. In our case, it started because he started mouthing on my hands and arms, and biting on my jacket when we were out on walks. I became quite afraid from him because of this, and the fear caused him to become even more crazy. I was able to manage him in the house because I would just calmly put him in timeout but when we were outside, I started to feel stressed, and Sephy would become a crazy wild thing.
For us, the most important and hardest part was to control my own fear and stay calm when Sephy was misbehaving. When Sephy started humping my leg, I would non-mark him – Ack, ack. If he does not stop right away, I calmly take him by his drag lead to timeout. The drag lead (only on a regular flat collar, not an aversive collar) is very helpful because it allows me to control him without him mouthing on my hand. Then I always ask him to do a simple command for me before letting him out of timeout.
I remember that I felt lousy and somewhat betrayed when Sephy did his biting and humping on me. He didn’t do it to my partner. I thought to some degree that Sephy did not love or even like me and that was very hurtful. But later on, I realized that these behaviors have little to do with like or love and more to do with my own feelings of fear and uncertainty. Sephy is a very sensitive dog and he picked up on my stressed out energy. This caused him to get stressed as well, so he starts to act in an erratic fashion. This in turn made me even more fearful and so on. It was a pretty bad cycle.
Other things that helped –
1. Having a very fixed routine and a lot of house rules.
2. Following the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program. This just means that Shiba has to do something for me first before I give him anything in return (even affection, opening doors, etc.).
3. Bite inhibition training.
Here are some of the things that helped with Sephy when he was a puppy –
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
Here are some of the trials and tribulations (mostly trials) that I went through with Sephy in the first 6 months.
http://shibashake.com/dog/my-shiba-inu-story
Also check out the Shiba Inu forum. There are many Shiba Inu owners there with a lot of good information.
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/
The initial first few weeks are the worst with a new puppy. Things will get better once a routine is established and Shiba starts to understand the rules and boundaries in the house.
I really enjoyed your blog about Shibas i have a 13 week shiba male and I am finding it very hard to discipline him when it comes to his agression. I feel like whatever method I use, he becomes more nippy in the moment. Can you give me some advice on what to do, to make sure he know we’re in charge not him.
Thank you so much!!!!!
Hello Scarlett,
With Shiba Sephy, timeouts worked best for him. Trying to physically engage him only made him more crazy and mouthy.
This article outlines some of the things that helped with Sephy. Some other things that helped –
Here are more things I did with Sephy when he was a puppy –
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training