What is a dominant dog?
Some people attribute all problem behaviors to “dominance“, while others do not want to use the “dominant dog” label at all. The truth, as always, is somewhere in-between.
It is useful to recognize dominant behaviors in our dog, so that we can better manage him, keep him safe, and set him up for success. Refusing to use the word dominance, or denying its existence in dogs, is unhelpful.
Any pack animal including humans and dogs, have to deal with dominance issues, because it is part of pack dynamics.
Similarly, trying to explain everything away by using the dominant dog label or excuse, is also unhelpful. To really fix a problem behavior, we want to fully understand it, and correctly identify its source. For example, a dog may show aggression because of dominance. However, dog aggression can also be the result of fear, stress, play, curiosity, boredom, or something else.
Dog Dominance
Dominance is a fluid concept.
Dogs are not dominant all of the time.
For example, many dogs will show greater dominance when they are on home turf, or when their owners are around. Under different circumstances, these same dogs may become less assertive, or may even become submissive.
Observe our dog carefully, and identify when he is more likely to show dominance, and why.
Dominance is a relative concept.
My Shiba Inu, for example, is more dominant than most dogs I have owned. He challenges me more frequently, and is constantly testing his boundaries. He has a dominant body posture, and he will not back down when challenged by other dogs.
My Siberian Husky, is a more submissive dog. She usually stops whatever she is doing, when I tell her to. She very quickly backs down, and uses submissive body language, when confronted by other dogs.
However, this does not mean that my Husky will always back down, or never show any dominance behavior. She simply prefers to avoid conflict, and has learned that she usually gets more, by seeking a peaceful resolution. I make sure to encourage this behavior, by rewarding calmness and conflict avoidance very well.
What is a Dominant Dog?
- A dominant dog will likely respond with aggression when he is frustrated, or when he feels threatened. He may also redirect that aggression onto us, if we try to physically engage him.
- A dominant dog is more forceful when it comes to fulfilling his own needs and goals. He is not afraid to challenge those around him, and to continually test his boundaries. My Shiba Inu is always testing to see if particular rules, such as the no getting on furniture rule, still hold true.
- A dominant dog is more likely to fight, and less likely to submit or run away. My Shiba Inu likes playing with other dogs, but he generally does not get along with dogs who try to dominate him. If challenged, he will not back down, and this can result in a dog fight.
Dealing with a Dominant Dog
1. Calm and decisive pack leader
Being angry and shouting at our dog, will only worsen his behavior. Fear and uncertainty will increase his level of stress, and cause him to behave in a more erratic fashion.
The best way to deal with a dominant dog is to remain calm, and firmly remove him from the environment or object, that is causing him to act out.
2. Avoid physical corrections
Contrary to common belief, physical force or physical corrections is NOT a good way to deal with dominant dogs. If not perfectly executed (with perfect timing, force, and technique), a physical correction may further frustrate our dog, and cause him to get more aggressive.
Instead, stay calm, keep physical interactions to a minimum, and quickly leave the stressful situation. In addition, using physical force against a dog, may end up teaching him the wrong lesson; in particular, use violence against violence.
True alpha dogs lead by controlling the pack’s resources. We can control our dog’s resources by following the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program, and using reward obedience training.
3. Management and supervision
We want to step in and stop any aggressive behaviors, before our dog escalates and loses control. Prevention is key when dealing with a dominant dog. It stops him from practicing aggressive behaviors, and it enforces the important lesson that we are calm and in charge.
4. Consistent rules
To become a good pack leader, it is important to develop a set of house rules and some structure, for our dog to follow. Always be consistent with enforcing all of those rules.
My Shiba Inu’s most important house rules include –
- No getting on furniture,
- No biting on people,
- No leash biting, and
- No food aggression or resource guarding.
5. Frequent obedience training sessions
Schedule at least two or more short (10 – 15 minutes) obedience training sessions with our dog, every day. It is a good idea to keep up with obedience exercises, throughout a dog’s life. This keeps him mentally sharp, and makes it clear that we are in charge.
6. Use proper equipment to control our dog
When dealing with aggression, safety should always be a primary concern.
Use whatever equipment is necessary, to keep all the people around our dominant dog safe. A drag lead may also be useful because it gives us good control of our dog, without having to lay hands on him or his collar, and without resorting to chasing games.
If our dog has a bite history, it may be necessary to use a muzzle. I like the basket muzzle because it does not overly constrain a dog’s mouth, and is more comfortable. A basket muzzle will still allow a dog to eat and pant.
Be careful not to aggravate our dog’s aggressive behavior by overly constraining him, and causing barrier frustration. When in doubt, consult a professional trainer.
7. Set our dog up for success
Try to minimize the number of dominant displays. Identify objects (e.g. other dogs, cats) and environmental conditions (e.g. loud noise) that trigger dominant behaviors, and avoid those triggers.
Then, gradually desensitize our dog to those events, in a controlled fashion.
Many dog behavioral issues, including resource guarding, biting people, dog-to-dog aggression, sensitivity to handling, growling at humans, and general disobedience, are often attributed to “the dominant dog”.
However, each of these problems are unique, and complex. They are usually the result of many factors, one of which may be dominance. In fact, many behavioral issues are the result of stress and fear, and have nothing whatsoever to do with dominance.
When dealing with dog behavioral issues, it is best to keep an open mind.
Observe our dog and his environment carefully. Identify the triggers for his aggressive behavior, and try to understand why he is responding in this way. If his aggression is extreme (e.g. he is breaking skin, and/or causing puncture wounds), hire a professional trainer to help us carefully trouble-shoot the problems.
Hi, I really enjoyed this article and hope you can offer some advice for me.
My dog is a 2.5 year old border collie-lab mix. She’s about 50lbs. She was socialized as a puppy, but around the time she was a year to 18 months she started having troubles at the dog park. She had been bullied by an adult female boxer, and after that started showing aggression when new dogs invaded her space. Anytime she showed aggression we would immediately leave the park. When she was 18 months old she got in a fight with a female boxer mix, and unfortunately broke skin on the other dog’s ear before I got to her to break it up (the other dog’s owner didn’t assist in breaking it up at all). For anyone concerned, I paid the other dog’s vet bill and did everything I could to help. After that incident we didn’t go to the park anymore and limited play dates to one-on-ones with dogs she already knew.
We attended a special training class for reactive dogs and learned some valuable techniques for handling her in different situations. We take regular walks and have frequent playdates with certain puppy friends, but don’t go to the park anymore.
I’m keeping my friend’s black lab right now, which we do very often. My dog and the black lab are best friends and get along very well all the time. Today I had another friend who needed to bring her dogs over while her house was worked on. She has a male rat terrier who played with my dog as puppies and they get along. She also has a female golden retriever who my dog doesn’t know very well. When they came over, I had my dog in the backyard and the black lab in another room. We put the rat terrier outside with my dog while we introduced the black lab and the golden retriever inside. Then we put all the dogs outside. They did just fine. They all sniffed each other and walked around the yard peeing and pooping and, other than the black lab occasionally trying to hump one of the new dogs, all was fine.
After about a half hour of peaceful interaction, my friend and I went outside. The dogs crowded around us, and almost immediately my dog became aggressive toward the golden retriever, growling and snarling. I grabbed her and held her apart while my friend put the other dogs inside, and then since they had an appointment I helped her take her dogs out to her car.
My dog is often boarded at a kennel with frequent playtimes, and she has never had a problem. The common denominator seems to be me. Could my presence be triggering her aggression somehow? Is she being protective of me?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Were you giving attention to the Golden? Was the Golden blocking your dog from getting to you? Was it an exciting greeting when you and your friend went outside? Did the dogs get really excited?
Many things can trigger a reactive reaction from my dogs, especially when there are new dogs or guests around. For example-
1. During play, my dogs may get over-excited, and this may sometimes cause them to lose control and become reactive. I have clear play rules, I supervise during play, and I manage their excitement level.
2. After they have been alone for awhile, for example in the backyard, they may also get excited when I go out to them. This can sometimes also cause them to lose control. I try to make greetings low key, and I get them to do obedience commands right away if I notice the start of over-excitement.
3. Dogs get affection, food, and other good stuff from us. Therefore, we are a very valuable resource to our dogs. As a result, a dog may try to “guard” their people resource, especially from a new dog. A dog may also guard other resources, e.g. their personal space.
4. A dog may show aggressive behavior when feeling threatened or vulnerable.
5. ASPCA article on the many different types of aggression.
Also, each of my dogs has different tolerances to other dogs based on temperament and past experiences. My Shiba Inu is the most picky, so I am always very careful when introducing him to new dogs, especially on home-turf. Dogs may become more protective of their home area, and may show more guarding behavior. I always supervise my Shiba closely when there are new dogs around, and it usually takes him a while (could be multiple sessions over multiple days) to get comfortable with a new dog. He does not trust easily, so with Sephy, it takes some extra time and supervision.
http://www.badrap.org/dogdog-tolerance
http://www.badrap.org/smart-socializing
I also did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with my Shiba to raise his tolerance threshold.
More on how I help my dogs get along.
Dog behavior is very context dependent, and there can be many reasons for reactive behavior between two dogs. Therefore, when in doubt, I always consult with a good professional trainer who can observe the dogs’ behavior within the context of their regular environment and routine.
Hello there, my dog, 8 years old, always acts his mates. He will be trying to mount them and ends up growling at them. He was never like this with my other dog but since she died hes been acting this way. Hes also become aggressive towards other male dogs. In walks he’ll be perfectly fine, ignoring every dog though.
Is he neutered? Was he socialized with other dogs when he was young? What was his behavior like with other dogs before?
http://www.badrap.org/dogdog-tolerance
http://www.badrap.org/smart-socializing
With my dogs, I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules during play-time (e.g. no humping). I supervise closely to make sure that everyone is following the rules. As soon as I see the *start* of any anti-social behavior, I redirect my dogs so that their behavior does not escalate into something more serious. I manage my dog’s excitement level by throwing in many play breaks. I set my dog up for success by picking appropriate play-mates, as well as setting rules and structure.
More on what I do during play-time.
However, dog behavior is very context dependent. Things become even more complex when there are multiple dogs involved. Therefore, especially in cases of aggression, it is best and safest to get help from a good professional trainer.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
Hi – I have a 1 y/o lab mix named Black and a 1 y/o lab/pit mix named Blu – both (fixed) males and both adopted at 12 weeks old one week apart – Black was adopted first. They have always gotten along wonderfully and recently have gotten into a few hardcore fights. I am not sure what is causing this or what to do about it – are they possibly fighting over position “in the pack” – I do not know which of them is the dominant or leader between the 2. Blu usually takes toys from Black but the both take each others beds, Blu usually goes on the walk first because he is calmer and sits patiently for his leash etc where as Black is hyper excited, if I had to guess I would say Blu may be the leader but I am really not 100% sure – can I be causing this drama by treating them equally? Thanks for any input.
What were the dogs doing right before the fights? Were there important resources around (e.g. food, toys, bed)? What were the people doing? What was the surrounding context of the fights? What type of training are the dogs used to? What is their daily routine like? When did the behavior change occur? Were there any changes or unusual events during that time?
Dog behavior is very context dependent and there are many different types of dog aggression. This article from the ASPCA has more.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/aggression-dogs
Given that the fights are hardcore, I would get help from a good professional trainer who can observe the dogs, understand their history and temperaments, read their body language, and evaluate their behavior within the context of their regular routine and environment. Stopping a hardcore dog fight can also be very dangerous for the people involved. While in the throes of a fight, the dog(s) may redirect on anyone who tries to restrain or stop them.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
With my dogs, I find that management is key. I set up structure and a consistent set of dog-to-dog interaction rules (e.g. no stealing, no humping, no bullying). When I get a new dog, I make sure to supervise closely (especially in the beginning) to teach my new dog the rules, and ensure that everyone is interacting well. 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. Rules and supervision help to create certainty and certainty helps to reduce stress and conflicts.
Even now, I still supervise very well during play-time and meal-times, because that is when conflicts may arise over resources. I *do not* leave my dogs together without supervision until I am very very sure that they will be calm and relaxed together.
I try to set my dogs up for success by redirecting my dog’s behavior before it escalates into anything serious. I manage their excitement levels by throwing in play breaks, and I try to create positive and calm experiences together.
More on how I help my dogs get along.
However, for hardcore fights and aggression, it is best and safest to get help from a good professional trainer.
WE have 2 dogs, a lab-pit mixed (almost 2yo) and a cavalier mixed (older, age unknown)… Each time, we take both dogs for walks, the cavalier starts barking and the lab starts growling and being aggressive. I believe that the lab/pit is a dominant dog and the cavalier is the instigator.. We are not taking them to walks together any longer, but the pit is still aggressive…. He hasn’t had a lot of socialization and he is almost 2 years old, we adopted him from a shelter. How can we stop this aggression towards other dogs? Help is very much needed… Stephanie.
I did dog-to-dog desensitization exercises to help my dog be more comfortable around other dogs. We did the exercises at our local SPCA, in a structured environment, under the direction of a trainer, and with trainer chosen dogs.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize
The key with helping my dog is careful management. The more calm, positive, and successful experiences he has in the presence of another dog, the more he associates them with good things, the more confidence he gains, and the better his behavior becomes. Similarly, reactive experiences will undermine his trust, significantly set back training, and worsen his behavior. Therefore, I need to start small, go at a pace that my dog is comfortable with, and carefully manage his environment so that I do not expose him to situations that he is not ready for.
We did training with several professional trainers that had dogs that they could use to help out in our sessions. For desensitization and counter-conditioning to be effective, it has to be done in a structured and specific way, so it was very helpful for me to have guidance from a good trainer, especially in the beginning.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
More on dog socialization.
More on desensitization and counter-conditioning.
I have a 2 1/2 year old American Bulldog/ lab. He is very aggressive towards other dogs when we go out to the dog parks or in public. I have a 4 year old boxer that he will sometimes attack if he gets mad. I have a baby on the way and I’m not sure what to do. I’m also a veteran and I’m going to be getting a service dog for my PTSD. I don’t want to have to get rid of him but I don’t know what or how to stop his aggressiveness. Can u help.
Congratulations on your upcoming baby! š
I helped my dog to be more comfortable around other dogs by doing dog-to-dog desensitization exercises. I did desensitization training at my local SPCA, with a trainer, and with trainer chosen dogs.
One of the key things with helping my dog, is to manage his environment, so that he is not exposed to reactive events with other dogs. The more successful, calm, and rewarding experiences he has with other dogs, the more he associates other dogs with positive outcomes. Similarly, reactive events will undermine his trust, significantly set back our training, and worsen his behavior.
Given that you have a baby coming, it is probably best and safest to get help from a good professional trainer. Dog behavior is very context dependent, so each dog and situation are different. A multiple dog household, with an upcoming baby, would further increase the complexity of the surrounding context.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
I have this dog, Rupert who is a cross with a shih-tzu and a jack russel, he is just over a year old.
He is a lovely dog but the problem is he bites. As a puppy he gave us a few nips here and there but we assumed it was him adjusting and that he was puppy, so never properly corrected him (with regret.)
I believe he is dominant, he has grown up with a cat and as a puppy she had attacked him, mainly due to the fact she had given birth a few weeks later (we wasn’t aware she was pregnant and kept them in a separate room) not sure if all this is relevant but im giving his life story.
When it comes to food, he shoots to his bowl, scoffs her food down and then eats hers.
He is a loving dog when he isn’t being a brat, enjoys being groomed and pampered. He is happy to see us and is sad when nobody’s home. (I know this because my family leave me laying in bed and I hear him sometimes howl for them, he then realizes I’m home and will not ;ave my side.)
We know that what causes him to bite is taking away something such as a toy or a bone. However on occasion he gets hold of my underwear and I am to frightened to get it from him because he can puncture flesh. He also takes the youngest toys and teddy, humps them and growls if we go near them, but this is for every toy.
He has nicked food from my hand only once, and being a female and that time of month was in no mood so I took it back. He bit me, I hit him unable to control my rage of being constantly frightened by the dog, he bit me back. That I understand for.
My father is the dominant male who will tell him to go out that back. However he has bit all of us, and recently attacked my sister for moving the blanket over my other sister. He was on the bed and didn’t like it. However we can’t physically pick him up because he bites and it hurts.
I’ve tried dominating him with my stare, I win. I keep calm and try to reduce a stressful tone and it is very hard when a dog angers you, especially when he attacks family members. I show him that its wrong and he tucks his tail behind his legs and is all apologetic.
The thing is 99% of the time he’s lovely and even allows the cat to attack him. I don’t know the word he is territorial? He barks at nothing, sometimes he alerts us he needs to go toilet however the majority of the time I’m pretty sure it’s to P**** us off. We try toys, treats etc.
Is there anything to stop our boy from bullying our cat and biting his owners.
Obviously I don’t allow her to attack him but sometimes he just looks at her and she’s playful but painful. It seems we have the cat trained better than him She tells us whens she hungry, playful, moody and needs the toilet but he Is just an all around prat.
I love him but I fear my family will sell him on.
What you describe sounds like food and object guarding behavior.
More on why dogs get aggressive over food and toys.
Since there are children about, it is best to get help from a good professional trainer.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
http://www.apdt.co.uk/dog-owners/local-dog-trainers
More on dominance and aggression.
More on dominance and bad dog behavior.
i have a pit / bulldog mix. she is the sweetest dog and loves playing with other dogs. But twice now she has attacked my little old chihuahua who is also female. This last time she almost killed her. my dog does not seem to do it out of stress or anger, it is like she is showing off for me. She doesn’t even mess with my chihuahua unless I am standing there with them. She seems to not have a mean bone in her body but she attacks so happily when it comes to the other dog. She herself was attacked by a dog when she was younger and I feel like it may have something to do with her behavior. She minds well and recognizes me as the pack leader but for some reason she needs to get excited and attack to impress me. I do training with her and try to keep her from getting over excited. For example one time I was running back and forth across the yard with her and when I jogged back up to the porch and she immediately hopped on my little chihuahua. this last time was so awful and makes me very sad. I walked into the door and the dogs got excited to see me. my pitmix and all her excitement turned and pounced old my little chihuahua again. This time she gave her the death shake and flung her all around and wouldn’t let go. My 11 year old chihuahua was in shock and now her arm is possibly broken. She is going to the vet first thing in the morning. what do I do about this hyper energy aggression and get her to understand that this type of showing off is very bad?
My dogs usually get very excited when I come home. I make sure to keep greetings low key and to keep their excitement in-check. I do this by getting them to focus on me and I get them to do commands. I need to redirect them onto me *before* they lose control of themselves. If they get over-excited, they may sometimes redirect their excited energy onto each other, and that is what I want to avoid.
I also do desensitization and counter-conditioning exercises to raise their reactivity threshold. This is something that is better done under the direction of a good professional trainer.
I separate my dogs until I am very very sure that they won’t hurt each other. I use leashes and other management equipment, to keep everyone safe. Management is very important because it allows me to set my dogs up for success and not put them in situations where they will lose control. For example, if a guest is coming, I keep my Shiba Inu on-leash because he is the most reactive. In this way, I can easily stop him from running around and amping up my other dogs.
During play, I make sure to throw in many play-breaks. For example, running with my Shiba always gets him very excited, so I have breaks in-between, where we do commands and he gets a chance to calm down. Once he is calm, I can resume play and then break and so on. When play ends, I make sure he is totally calm before bringing him back inside with my other dogs. In this way, he doesn’t come in over-excited and get reactive on my other dogs.
I also set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules. When I got a new puppy, there was a big difference in age and size, therefore I keep puppy close to me, or separated from my other dogs. During play, I use leashes to make sure that I am always in control and my puppy does not get accidentally hurt by my much larger adult dogs.
However, dog behavior is very context dependent so each dog and situation are different. Given the big size and age difference of your dogs, I would get help from a good professional trainer who can observe the dogs within the context of their regular routine and environment, and provide guidance on management and retraining techniques to keep everyone safe.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/
Hello
I am in need of some advice. We have a 3 year old mutt who is very friendly and
loves other dogs, children, and people. We take her everywhere and 98% of the time
she is very friendly to everyone. Our neighbor has a lab puppy who has been playing with
her since she is very little but now that she is much larger and a bit of a “bull in a china shop” Stella (my dog) growls and snaps at her for about the first 10 minutes every time they play. The dog is very submissive to Stella so eventually Stella calms down but obviously the behavior is upsetting and sounds very nasty. Yesterday we were at a dog walk that Stella loves and a dog (another lab) that she knows and likes ran up to her and got in her face and Stella attacked him. Twice – we think she even bit him but it happened so quickly. We separate them and she was fine with all the other dogs during the walk and then had no issues with the lab the rest of the day and we spent hours with them afterwards but just made sure he didn’t jump on her again.
I would like to be able to eradicate this behavior and I know that Stella is probably feeling intimated as they are much bigger than her (doesn’t happen with smaller dogs) and stressed. How do I make sure this stops happening? I don’t want to have to worry about taking Stella out with us
Thank you
How do I stop my husky puppy from dominating another dog in our household? She will not leave our corgi mix alone. How do I go about correcting this behavior. The husky is 3 months old and we have a 12 year old husky mix and a corgi poodle mix thatās 4. She is signed up of obedience training and starts a week from Friday.
Some things that I did when introducing my new Husky puppy-
1. I set up a consistent set of rules including dog-to-dog interaction rules. I slowly teach my puppy what these rules are. In this way, each dog knows 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 and conflicts.
2. I set up a fixed routine for my puppy, which includes the ever important nap time, training time, play time with me, and interaction time with my other dogs. I set things up so that they fit well with the current schedule of my existing dogs. In this way, my other dogs have a bunch of time where they know that the puppy is napping or doing stuff with me.
3. During interaction time, I put a light-lead on my puppy so that I can keep her close to me and have better control. If she plays too rough or if she tries to bother a dog that does not want to be bothered, I no-mark, and redirect her attention back onto me by doing something interesting, e.g. starting a fun game, rewards, etc. If she ignores me and continues, then I use the leash to get her away and engage her in doing something else.
4. I start doing simple obedience commands with my puppy as early as possible, e.g. Look, Sit. This is useful because it allows me to redirect her focus back onto me, and gives her a chance to calm down. During play/interaction I throw in many obedience breaks, which helps to manage her level of excitement, so that play does not get out of control and escalate into something else.
5. I try to set my dogs up for success by scheduling interaction time when everybody is most receptive. I make sure there are safe areas where if a dog goes in there, it means they want a break. I supervise interaction time very closely so that I can do play-breaks, redirect unwanted behavior, make sure safe areas are safe, and stop things before they escalate.
More on what I do when introducing a new dog.
Hi,
We have an eight month old Jack Russel. He is such a loving family pet however his behaviour has been getting steadily worse. We have contacted a dog trainer and we are lead training him at the moment, so walking him correctly when out on a walk and making him wear the lead in the house to control his behaviour. He is fine with other dogs, he just wishes to play, he has never ran off and is relatively well behaved in the park. In the house however he is aggressive and loud and will not do as he is told unless he is on the lead. He is more aggressive towards my partner and he bites his feet and runs off in order to get a reaction. He then has to be put in his cage so that he settles down, however, shortly on being let out again the behaviour continues. We have stopped him getting on the settee and began to change the way in which we feed him, so guarding it and making him wait for it. I have also tried teaching him patience on the lead so waiting thirty seconds at door ways and walking out before him not vice versa. Is there something I can do to limit the aggressive behaviour, it is most prominent when we are sitting on the settee watching the television, so a peaceful evening without stress is impossible at the moment! It really is heart breaking to see him like this as the imbalance is obviously making him an unhappy dog and I just want what’s best for him. Please help us. Nelly.
Yeah, I had similar issues with my Shiba Inu when he was young. He behaved badly in the house and started doing leash biting when we went out on walks. It was not a good time.
More on my difficult beginning with Sephy.
Some things that I learned from Sephy-
1. He is very sensitive to the energy of the people around him. If I am fearful, frustrated, worried, angry, or otherwise stressed, he will pick up on that, get stressed himself, and act event more crazy. After I controlled my own energy, things improved significantly with Sephy.
2. He likes to get a reaction from people and start a chasing game. If I chase him, it is more fun than ever, he gets rewarded for his bad behavior, and he keeps repeating it. During the early days, I put a drag-lead on Sephy (only with a flat collar or harness, and only under supervision. Absolutely no aversive collars). The drag lead allowed me to easily stop all chasing games, and quickly take him to timeout. I do *not* use his crate for timeouts.
3. I set up a fixed schedule and a consistent set of rules for all of my dogs. I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program so my dogs work for all of their food, and for other resources that they want. This is a great way to get them to follow house rules and to establish leadership.
4. I make sure to exercise Sephy well and give him many positive and structured outlets for his energy. The more energy he spends on positive activities, the less energy he has for his Shiba hi-jinks. š
5. Dog behavior is very context dependent, so when in doubt, I consult with a professional trainer. However, the dog training field is not well regulated so it can be a challenge to find a good trainer.
The best trainers for Sephy were those who understood the science behind dog training (e.g. operant conditioning principles), are properly certified, and have good experience with reactive dogs. Be careful of trainers who try to explain everything with so called “dominance theory” and who primarily use dominance and aversive techniques. We unfortunately got one of those trainers early on, and it made things a lot worse for everyone, especially Sephy.
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
More on how I went about finding a trainer.
More on where I get dog training and dog behavior information.