Shiba Shake

Dog Tips, Care & Training

The Dominant Dog – Dealing with Dominance in Dogs

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.

Dealing with Dominance in Dogs.
Dealing with Dominance in Dogs.

Dog Dominance

Dominance is a fluid concept.

Dog Dominance - Dominance, is a fluid concept.
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.

Dogs are not dominant all of the time.
Dogs are not dominant all of the time.

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.

Dominance is a relative concept.
Dominance is a relative concept.

What is a Dominant Dog?

What is a Dominant Dog?
What is a Dominant Dog?

My Shiba Inu challenges me more frequently, and is constantly testing his boundaries.
My Shiba Inu challenges me more frequently, and is constantly testing his boundaries.
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
More likely to fight when challenged.
More likely to fight when challenged.

Dealing with a Dominant Dog

Calm and decisive pack leader.
Calm and decisive pack leader.

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.

Calm and decisive pack leader.

Dominant Dog - A dominant dog should have more rules.
Consistent rules.

A dominant dog should have frequent obedience training sessions.
Frequent obedience training sessions.

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 –

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.

Always set our dominant dog up for success.
Always set our dominant dog up for success.

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.

When dealing with dog behavioral issues, it is best to keep an open mind.
When dealing with dog behavioral issues, it is best to keep an open mind.

Comments

  1. Hello, I have been reading some of your posts and I can see you’re very knowledgeable on the subject of dog dominance, so I would like to ask for your advice.

    My neighbor’s dog (a Border Terrier mix) has always been very aggressive and territorial, getting help from said neighbor has never been possible. His dogs pee, sleep and mark (with their paws) places on various blocks away from their house, including our house and lawn.

    Months ago the dog began to follow me barking and growling, at first I wasn’t afraid, but seeing he was increasingly aggressive made me more and more scared, as soon as I saw he was there I moved to the other side of the street but he always followed me barking, then last week he ran towards me barking, he kept circling around me, almost about to jump, and even if I said his name he didn’t calm down, I simply couldn’t approach my house.
    I was absolutely terrified, the neighbors stood there staring and finally when he backed a bit I went to my house, I grabbed a small pot with water and threw it at him, he ran away very quickly and it didn’t even touch him, but he kept barking from a distance.

    I even got ill from the shock, I know I shouldn’t have been scared, but I’ve always been afraid of dogs and this was a trigger.

    So now I’m wondering, what am I going to do next week when I have to return from school?
    A long time ago my mother told him “no” when he was about to follow my brother, that seemed to make him go mad, because he didn’t stop barking for some good 15 minutes, so I don’t know if saying “no” would be a good option, also, I’m thinking about carrying a bottle of water in case he becomes aggressive again, Do you think that would be a bad idea?, or should I just keep walking and stand still if things escalate?

    Thanks for reading this.

    Reply

    • It sounds like it may be best to get help from your parents or relatives. Perhaps they can have a talk with the neighbors, or failing that, get help from the local animal care and control agency.

    • Thank you for replying.
      Well, talking to the neighbors is out of the question because it has been done before and they kind of feel proud that their dog is that way.
      There’s a German Shepard across the street, he’s behind a gate, the Terrier goes there EVERY SINGLE MORNING to bark at that other dog, the owner just stands there laughing, he thinks it’s hilarious that his tiny dog is not scared of the other one.
      About 4 months ago the German Shepard killed one of said neighbor’s dog, and he still thinks it’s funny! He has seen his dog run towards me and just carries on with whatever he is doing, if I ask for help, he giggles!
      As for an animal care place, there’s no such a thing in this country. When the German Shepard killed yet another dog (about two years ago) we tried to get the police involved because the owner said he couldn’t do anything about it because his dog knew how to open the gate.
      This has been going on for years as you can see, everybody lets their dogs do whatever they want, and nobody cares what happens to them.
      I don’t want to turn this into some emo letter, but really, my mom’s response was “Oh, yeah, I heard the dog barking like a maniac, and because of the time it was I knew it was you who was outside” and yet she couldn’t be bothered to go out to try to help me…
      So yes, I’m in trouble.

    • Hello Lilly,

      It sounds like a difficult situation. Does your mom know that the dog is charging at you and not just barking? It may help to explain that the dog is escalating his behavior, since your mom may not know the whole situation. Is there a relative, such as an aunt or an uncle, or a teacher, that can also help with this?

      In general, I do not try to confront or engage with off-leash neighborhood dogs. I also do not give them eye-contact, which can be seen as an invitation to interact, or as a threatening gesture, similar to when a stranger stares at us.

      I have also been charged by off-leash dogs before, but luckily, there are usually people around who help to secure the dog. Off-leash dogs are really a people issue. A good long-term solution will likely require getting people involved.

  2. HELLO AGAIN. I HAVE ADDITIONAL INFO. REGARDS MY MASTIFF’S BEHAVIOR AT THE ENCLOSED DOG PARK. 30 MIN. PRIOR TO HIS OUTBURST BEHAVIOR A DOBERMAN PINCHER WAS AGGRESSIVE TOWARDS HIM AND SNAPPED AT MY DOG. MY DOG JUST TRIED TO BRUSH HIM OFF AS USUAL WITH OTHER DOGS THAT WANT TO FIGHT WITH HIM. BUT IF THEY DO THAT TWICE OR MORE HE WILL QUICKLY STAND HIS GROUND. WELL, HE DID IT TWICE BUT MY DOG IGNORED HIM AGAIN AND WALK CALMLY AWAY. IT TAKES 2 OR 3 TIMES FOR MY DOG TO GET AGITATED. SORRY FOR HOLDING THIS INFO. I DIDN’T THINK HIS EARLIER ENCOUNTER AFFECTED HIM. WHAT DO YOU THINK? THANK YOU.

    Reply

    • Hello Joel,

      Since I was not there to see things as they unfolded, it is difficult for me to say what actually contributed to the behavior.

      However, most of the enclosed dog parks that I have been to, are unstructured and have very little supervision. Many of the visitors are focused on chatting, and are less interested in managing their dogs. As a result, a dog may pick up bad habits from observing other dogs, may get overwhelmed during play, and may get into altercations with other dogs.

      In the end, we decided that Sephy (our Shiba Inu) would do much better in smaller and more structured play groups, where there is much more human supervision. In this situation, I am in control and can use his desire to play with other dogs, as a way to teach him good behaviors.

    • i have 2 male dogs. 1 is retriever/pitbull mix and the other poodle mix. They use to play all day everyday together. One day the poodle mix started growling at the younger, bigger and gentle dog whenever he seen him. I’m not sure, but i think it was because our female started her heat cycle, even though the bigger dog was still to young to be interested. Well this went on for a few weeks and the bigger dog just ignored him. But then one day he got tired of it and they got into it. Now they fight the second they see each other. I have grandkids who i worry about getting hurt, not to mention the little go dying. What can i do? Will getting them fixed work? Keeping them in separate rooms is making things worse.

  3. Hi, Thanks for the great advice. I’m hoping I can further pick your brain. We have a male pit who has some issues. He came from a home where they may have tried to teach him to fight, is dog aggressive with other dogs except ours (a female pit and a female chihuahua mix), is pushy, rambunctious and, growls at my daughter at times (she’s 23 yrs old and was his previous co-owner). I have spent so much money on trainers and although he has improved somewhat, I’m still struggling with him – especially when out on walks (he gets riled up really easy when he sees other dogs and even remembers some of the houses where dogs have barked when we’ve walked by) and I don’t like that he growls at my daughter. I would soooooooooo appreciate any tips you could provide. Thanks so much. Laura

    Reply

    • I have spent so much money on trainers and although he has improved somewhat, I’m still struggling with him

      What type of training have you tried wrt. his dog-to-dog aggression? What was his response?

      I do not have experience with retraining a fighting dog, and can only speak to my experiences with my own dogs.

      In terms of dog reactivity issues, what has helped with my own dogs are-
      1. Structured and well-managed desensitization exercises.

      2. Creating neutral experiences with other dogs.

      3. Setting them up for success. For example, I only expose them to situations and environments that I know they can handle. We first leash train in the backyard where there are no distractions. Then, we start walking in very quiet parts of the neighborhood. We drive to a quiet place if necessary.

      I find that it is best to keep my dogs below their reactivity threshold, by managing their environment. The more a dog practices aggressive behaviors in the presence of other dogs, the more likely he will repeat the behavior in the future.

      Therefore, I am careful about managing their surroundings, so that they only have positive or neutral experiences with other dogs. This helps them to build confidence, and to reassociate other dogs with something positive.

      However, my dogs do not have to get over a difficult past. Given what you describe, I would only do training under the direction of a good, positive-based professional trainer; preferably one who has extensive prior experience with rehabilitating dogs that have been taught to fight.

  4. I have a pitbull male at about 11months old.we got him a friend,female pitbull/lab mix at 8 weeks old, we put them together and all went well , its been a week and everything was fine , then the little one got out the gate for maybe 2 second, I picked her up and put her back in the yard as soon as I put her down our male just snapped at her, and ever since he has not allowed her near him! What to do?? Plz help

    Reply

    • What is puppy’s routine? How did she act with the male during the first week? What is the male’s routine like, and how did his routine change? Did they play all of the time? How were their play sessions? Puppies usually don’t know what their boundaries are, so they may overly pester our existing dog.

      When I get a new puppy, I set up clear dog-to-dog interaction rules. In this way, puppy knows what is expected of her, the other dogs know what to expect from my new puppy, and vice versa. Conflicts usually arise out of uncertainty – so I set up clear boundaries on what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Then, I supervise closely, and if there are any issues, I step in and resolve them in a consistent way.

      Here are some things that I did while introducing a new puppy to my existing dogs.

      Note though, that dog behavior is very context dependent. Each dog and each situation is different, so some things may apply and some may not. Getting a good professional trainer can be helpful, because he can observe the dogs together, read their body language, and properly identify the source of the behavior.

  5. HELLO, CAN SOMEONE HELP ME(S.O.S.) IDENTIFYING IF MY 18 MTH. OLD NEAPOLITAN MASTIFF IF HE IS BEING STRONGLY PLAYFUL OR DOMINANT? WHILE BEING AT THE DOG PARK WITH MY DOG EVERYTHING SEEMED NORMAL AS USUAL. AS I WAS SITTING ON THE BENCH SUDDENLY MY DOG STARTED PUSHING ON ME OR FORCING ON ME AND WHEN I GOT UP HIS BEHAVIOR ESCALATED FOR A LONG TIME. I JUST COULDN’T CONTROL HIM. HE THEN STARTED SNAPPING AT ME THEN BITING MY ARM ENOUGH TO BREAK MY SKIN. THAT GOT ME WORRIED SO I STRUGGLED WITH HIM BUT I FINALLY PINNED HIM. WE WERE BOTH TIRED AND HE CALMED DOWN. WHEN HE RECOVERED(TIREDNESS) HE START UP AGAIN. SO WE(MY WIFE & DAUGHTER) DECIDED TO LEAVE THE PARK. HE DIDN’T LET ME WALK AND STARTED ROUGHING ME UP AGAIN AND BITING A LITTLE MORE HARDER. THAT SCARED ME MORE. FINALLY MY WIFE CALLED THE DOG TO DISTRACT HIM AND IT WORKED. WE THEN LEFT THE DOG PARK. WE ALSO HAVE A FEMALE NEO (1YR.) IN HEAT WHICH WE LEFT BACK HOME. WE ARE SKIPPING HER SECOND HEAT AND ARE KEPT APART. MY ARM IS ALL BRUCE UP AND SCRATCH UP FROM HIS FANGS. I WORRY FOR MY FAMILY. HOW DO I CORRECT THIS BEHAVIOR. IF ANYONE CAN HELP I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.

    Reply

    • Hello Joel,

      The best way to identify the source of aggression for a dog, is to hire a professional to come over and observe the dog, read his body language, as well as look at his routine and environment. Dog behavior is very context dependent, therefore to properly diagnose an issue, a trainer would need to see the dog, get to know his temperament, and interpret the behavior based on what is happening in the surrounding context.

      For example, what kind of dog park is it? It is a fully enclosed dog park? What other dogs were around then? What was your dog doing before the incident occurred? Was he doing excited playing? Were many other dogs chasing him and he was feeling overwhelmed?

      Enclosed dog park environments are often chaotic, with few rules, and very little supervision. My Shiba Inu picked up a lot of bad habits at the dog park.

      Re: Alpha roll or pinning a dog down

      I used alpha rolls on my Shiba Inu when he was young, and unfortunately, it made his behavior even worse. He also became very sensitize to handling, and started to lose trust in me. I later found out that alpha rolls can also encourage aggression.

      Here is more on my experiences with alpha rolls.

      Here is a short but good article from UC Davis about dominance and dog aggression.

      I do bite inhibition training with my dogs to teach them to control the force of their bites. I also set up a consistent set of rules for them, including rules on how to interact with people. I use the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free program) to achieve and maintain pack leadership. They have a lot of structure and a fixed routine, so that they know what to expect from me, and what I expect from them in return.

      Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.

      Each dog is different, and each situation is different. Based on what you describe, it is best to get help from a good professional trainer.

    • Hi Joel,
      I have had similar experiences with my dog and fortunately found a way to stop this behaviour. First, did you do a structured walk with your dog before taking him to the dog park? Dog parks should be considered ‘treats’ not a main meal – his walk is where he will drain his energy, giving you more control of him while in a dog park. Secondly if your dog has a lot of energy to burn, do your structured walk with him with a dog packpack on, with a waterbottle in each side filled with water.
      I think what’s probably happened is your dog a) doesn’t consider you his pack leader and b) he’s gone to the dog park with too much energy and without another dog to release it with, he’s directing it at you.
      Does he behave this way with you at home? if so, that will be perfect as it’s an opportunity to give him time out. Put him in a boring room with nothing to do, like a bathroom and leave him there for 5 mins. IF he comes out and repeats the behaviour he goes back in for 10mins. Again, if he repeats, 15-20. My Husky learnt VERY quickly wiht this who he could mess with and who he couldn’t. As a simple, easy and non agressive method, it’s my favourite for getting rid of unwanted behaviour. When he misbehaves at home, say Time Out! so he associates the words with being put away from the pack in a boring room (don’t let him out in the yard, it needs to be a place where he’s alone with nothing to do). Once he understands time out, you can use that whne you’re out and about. I only need to say it to my dog if we’re out now and he immediately quits what he’s doing. Also, you could benefit form really working on being the pack leader. There are lots of great tips on this site, but for exxample, give him rules of what he can and can’t do, just giving a rule and enforcing it shows him you’re the pack leader. Don’t let him go through doors ahead of you, eat first, enforce rules with time out and make sure you’re taking him on a sturctured walk every day to drain his energy.
      My dog used to break the skin all the time, now he’s great. Good luck and hope this helps. 🙂 Camilla.

  6. Hi I found this article because my partner and I are getting a dog from a rescue centre. She is about 3 years old and is a Labrador and Rottweiler mix. She came in as a stray and since has had dominance issues. She was rehomed initially but came back when she became dominant in her new home. Also she is dominant over women – I have seen this already as when I visit her (we haven’t picked her up yet) she will sit on my feet to mark my rank lower than her. When visiting I have now made sure that if she tries to do this that I make her sit between my legs or beside me so she cannot rank me lower. Finally she can be food aggressive – think this could be to do with stray history.

    Sorry for the novel! Just wondered if there was any advice you could give to help me with asserting my rank over her and ensure that she learns to listen to me? I believe she can be a wonderful animal with some time and training, just want to get off on the right foot from the start 🙂

    Thank you.

    Reply

    • Hello Kai,

      Congratulations on your new furry family member!

      Here is a more recent article I wrote about dog dominance.

      In terms of being pack leader, I find that following the Nothing in Life is Free program works well with my dogs.

      As for food aggression issues, here are a couple of articles on my experiences with my dogs –
      http://shibashake.com/dog/why-dogs-get-aggressive-over-food-toys
      http://shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression-stop-resource-guarding

      When I first got Sephy, I got a lot of conflicting advice from my neighbors, online boards, etc. Finally, what worked best for my dogs is to –
      1. Get information from several different trusted sources. The ASPCA has some good articles on dog behavior. I also read articles and studies from animal behavior schools. UPenn, Cornell, and UCDavis has some good articles on dog behavior. Dr Sophia Yin also has an interesting blog on dog training and dog behavior.

      2. Observe my dogs closely and let them tell me what works well and what does not. My dogs communicate a lot with me, but in the beginning, I missed most of their communication cues or misinterpreted them. With practice, I am getting better at reading their body language.

      3. I also did some training classes and visited with several professional trainers during my difficult period with Sephy. There are a lot of not-so-good and so-so trainers out there though, so it is not always easy to find a good one. This is what I did to find a trainer for Sephy.

      Big hugs to your girl! Have you brought her home? How are things going?

    • Thanks for the fast reply. Haven’t picked Bonnie up yet, just waiting for a home check to approve us but should be sometime in next week.

      I will have a read up on the articles that you’ve given, I’m sure they will be helpful 🙂 I went to visit Bonnie on my own the other day as I had only been with my partner and found she was different with just me. After spending some time with her alone though it seems that she has definitely bonded with me and has began to listen to me. I went to visit her again today with my partner and she was as good as gold, completely over the top excited to see me and listened to me on our walk. I hope it doesn’t change when we bring her home!

      Any things you can suggest that I can try at home once she comes home?

    • After spending some time with her alone though it seems that she has definitely bonded with me and has began to listen to me.

      That is awesome! She will be a very happy girl next week.

      Any things you can suggest that I can try at home once she comes home?

      Moving to a new home can be stressful for some dogs because everything is so new and they do not know what to expect from the new environment. When we moved to a new house, I set up a fixed routine, consistent house rules, and a consistent way of communication. In this way, Sephy knows exactly what to expect from me and also what I expect from him.

      Routine and consistency helps to increase certainty and reduce stress.

      Other than that, enjoy your new furry friend and take lots of pictures! 😀

  7. I have a 1 year old rescue dog from the ASPCA. We think he’s some type of terrier and pit bull mix… He’s very sweet and loveable unless he’s laying down in his bed or one of our beds. If some members of the family (all but me) go up to hug or kiss him, he growls. At times he will then crawl over to them like he’s sorry and if they respond, he growls again. His aggression is getting stronger at times towards my 4 year old grandson just coming in the room to give me a hug. I love this dog and want to keep him, but people safety is first. I no longer allow him on my bed and barely in my room at all.
    Does this seem like a dominance issue? And how can I fix it?

    thank you,
    Becky

    Reply

    • Hello Becky,

      Does he show this behavior when you are not around?
      Does he show this behavior around other items – e.g. food or toys?
      How does he act towards strangers during outside walks?
      Does he show this behavior when someone comes towards him while he is sleeping on the floor?

      Dogs are more vulnerable when they are sleeping/resting, and a person (especially a new person) invading their space (especially their sleeping space) can often be seen as a threat. If I woke up and suddenly saw someone looming over my bed, I would feel threatened as well. 😀

      Here is an article on why dogs may not always like hugging.

      Based on what you describe, it may also be a guarding issue. He *may* be protecting his space (the bed), you, or both.

      Dogs often guard objects, people, etc. because they fear that those things will be taken away from them when other people (or other dogs) come close. For example, they may associate a person’s approach with “losing their sleeping area” (getting kicked off the bed), “losing their special person’s affection” (getting pushed to the side), etc.

      A dog may sometimes also guard his people to protect them from what *he* sees as a threat.

      Here is an article on why dogs get aggressive over food or toys. The article is targeted at food aggression, but much of it also applies to other types of guarding behavior.

      This handout from UC Davis gives a quick but good overview of dog aggression and dominance.

      Note though that I do not know your dog, do not know the surrounding context, and other related factors. Therefore, I can only give my best guess as to the source of the behavior. For an accurate evaluation, it may be best to get a professional trainer to meet the dog, observe his behavior, and identify what triggers the aggression. Then, a good trainer can also come up with a plan to retrain and redirect the behavior.

  8. Love this website 🙂 I have an 8 year old shiba who is perfect. We don’t crate her, she has perfect manners and has 100% recall but when she was a puppy she was bit by another dog. Now whenever another dog comes towards her she growls and shows her teeth. Usually the dog backs off and then they are the best of friends. The odd occassion the dog growls back and its a full on dog fight. How would you correct this behaviour?? She is always offleash when it happens (she is worse onleash) and its always the bigger breds that growl back so my shiba always loses which doesn’t help the problem. We can always reach down and pick her up as she focuses her aggression on the dog but we would really like to show her that she doesn’t have to show her teeth at every dog that comes near her. She loves cats and other animals its just dogs. She also has zero interst in treats. We have tried numerous trainers who all advise that there is nothing really wrong with her, she is just a dominant dog who is not dog aggressive, she is just protecting her own space and telling other dogs she doesn’t want them in her space but we would prefer if she didn’t do this behaviour. Its embarassing and we have become the joke of the park – every morning the people are like “I guess she hasn’t had her coffee yet” or “your dog woke up on the wrong side of the bed as always”. At least they are used to her and have no problem but new people always have that moment when they think my dog is nuts 🙁 Any tips would be appriciated 🙂

    Reply

    • We don’t crate her, she has perfect manners and has 100% recall

      What a sweetie! Are you sure she is a Shiba? 😉

      Sephy was also pretty reactive to other dogs when he was young. Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises helped him to stay more calm in the presence of other dogs. The nice thing about desensitization is that it starts-off with a very weak version of the stimulus. With other dogs, distance is often a great way to weaken the stimulus. In this case, I had Sephy on-leash a far distance away from another dog who was also on-leash and focused on his handler. I am far away enough that Sephy is calm and able to listen to commands.

      I get Sephy’s attention, we do some simple commands, and I reward him for staying calm in the presence of another dog. If everything is well, then we take one step toward the other dog and repeat the exercise.

      We used to practice a lot at a nearby SPCA with one of their trainers. They had a really nice enclosed space where we did our training, and a variety of friendly dogs that we could do train with.

      Big hugs to your Shiba girl!

  9. Hi I was just wanting some advice I am hoping to get my Siberian Husky Puppy in Feb 2013 this will be my second dog but not of the same breed, I had my last dog was before I had children my youngest is now 2. I do know the breed need lots of exercise an shed around the year I’ve done a lot of research on the breed an I am willing to put the time into taking care an training this dog well 🙂 I was wanting some tips on how to get my children to approach the puppy an basically teach them how to be around the dog. I know the basics no smacking or bieng cruel to the dog an I will never be leaving the dog alone with the children any advice would be great, thanks in advance.

    Reply

    • Hello,

      This is not something I have much first-hand experience on, so I may not be the best person to answer your question. Some things that help with my dogs –

      1. Stay calm and no quick movements.
      Kids tend to move around a lot and have excited energy. This often gets Sephy excited as well, which is when he starts to jump and mouth. Calm energy with slower movements will help keep a dog more calm.

      http://shibashake.com/dog/dogs-children-prevent-dog-attacks

      2. Bite inhibition training.
      This trains the dog to have a soft mouth.

      3. Start training right away.
      It helps to institute rules right away, and start teaching those rules to puppy while she is still small. They grow up very quickly, and then cute puppy behaviors like jumping or mouthing can become dangerous even if it is only in play. I find that having a drag-lead on an in-training puppy helps a lot, because I have better and quicker control of puppy when I need it.

      I establish very clear house rules for both dogs and people. In this way, my dogs know exactly what to expect from me and other members of the household, and vice versa. Rules and routine really helps a lot with a new puppy.

      Congratulations on your soon-to-be new family member! Happy Holidays! 😀

  10. Hello,

    I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I have 3 dogs. Mickey, whippet-is a fussy eater he doesnt like dry food but only wants tinned food, i have tried leaving it down all day i have tried only putting it down fot 10 mins, this is the only thing he is fussy about he will happyly eat anything else at all. He is a year and a half old. The other probelm he has is toliet training. He will happly do it anywhere on our walks (concret, grass, pebbles, plants) but he will not do it in my garden. My garden is concret and very very small. I tried doggy nappies (which he takes off) and briught a crate, but he does it anyway normally in his bed.

    My other dog bella is a sheppard cross with hunterhound female rescued her so dont know age. She seems to display dominance by mounting, her body language when meeting other dogs, she also gets jealous if i do anything with someone else and gets talkative about it, she chases the other 2 when off lead that seems slightly agessive. Due to pulling she now wears a head coller lead which does work.
    Can you give mw any tips to sort out these problems? I would love to be able to enjoy the walks rather than dread them. I am still trying to train my dogs to the basic commands with treats and clicker training

    Please help
    leanne

    Reply

    • Yeah, my Shiba Inu is a fussy eater as well. At first, he didn’t want to eat his puppy kibble. Then we got him a better kibble that was more to his liking. He ate that for a while, then he only wanted wet food. After that, he didn’t even want wet food anymore, but would hold out only for cheese and other special treats.

      What helped with Sephy is switching to a fixed feeding routine and schedule. I gave him his food at fixed times and for a fixed duration. I also measured out the amount of food I gave him. He skipped a couple of meals, but then he realized that he wasn’t going to get dessert until after he ate his dinner, so he started eating his kibble.

      Another thing that helped with Sephy is to follow the Nothing in Life is free program. With NILIF, Sephy has to work for all of his food – no more freebies in a bowl. This makes him value food a lot more, and is also a great way to motivate him to follow house rules and commands.

      Re potty training:
      With potty training what has worked well with my Sibes is a lot of supervision during the training period. I watch them like a hawk, and as soon as it looks like they have to go, I quickly take them out to do their business. Since they have to go anyway, they go outside as soon as I take them to their potty spot. When that happens, I praise them very well and reward them with high priority treats (that they only get for pottying in the backyard), a lot of attention, and also a fun game.

      In this way, they learn that pottying outside = lots of rewards, attention, and games, while pottying inside = get interrupted and taken outside.

      Supervision is probably the single most important aspect of potty training. If we can catch our dog before he makes a mistake in the house, then it becomes a useful learning opportunity; one which ends with a positive reward at the end for doing the right thing.

      Here is more on my potty training experiences.

      Also, some dogs may not like going in the backyard, or in confined spaces. My Shiba is very picky about his potty spots. For him, I usually take him out to the front-yard, and he is happy to go there.

      Re jealous for affection:
      One thing that has really helped with my dogs is to have very consistent house rules. I have rules of interaction with people, and rules of interaction with other dogs.

      If I am giving affection to one of my dogs and another tries to rudely butt-in, then I no-mark (Ack-ack) to let her know that it is unacceptable behavior. Then I tell her what do to instead, e.g. Down.

      If she follows the pre-trained command and is calm, then I give affection to both dogs. If she continues with her bad behavior and harasses my other dog, then she goes to timeout. In this way, she learns that bullying = no affection and loss of freedom. However, lying down calmly = lots of attention and affection.

      Here is a bit more on what has helped with training my Sibes.

  11. Hopefully you can be of some help in this strange situation we have going on in our household. Our 4 year old pit was spayed about 5 months ago. Since then, she has started to hump people and our poor chihuahua, who is a male(p.s. they get along on a regular basis). I’ve never seen a female do this, ever. Also at times, very rarely, she has snapped at a few of us. Usually because we try and move her (off the bed or couch ect). Before all this, we always were able to brag about how she has never been aggressive towards anyone. Now, I have to take a squirt bottle on walks to ensure she doesn’t attack any other female dogs. Its sad that things have changed like this. Any advice would be great. Thank you.

    Reply

    • Hello Amanda,

      Many apologies for the late reply. I have been doing a lot of site updates, and as a result, things are a bit up in the air. 😀

      In terms of the behavior that you describe, it is not something I have encountered before, so I don’t have any firsthand knowledge.

      One possibility is that she may still be feeling pain/discomfort from the spay procedure. Is she showing any other signs of pain/discomfort while walking? How has her activity level been? Is she jumping or running around in a normal way?

      As for humping, yeah, female dogs do that as well. In addition, humping is not always a sign of dominant behavior. One of my female Sibes, Lara, does that sometimes during play. Even though she does it in play, it is not a behavior that I want to encourage, so I always supervise and stop her.

      For getting off couches, I teach my dogs the “Off” command. They get rewarded very well for doing it, so they are happy to work with me. Then after “Off”, I give them the “Down” command, and give them some nice affection for lying close to me on the floor.

      Instead of giving my dogs their food for free in a bowl, I make them work for their food throughout the day by doing commands, grooming, being calm, lying nicely on the carpet, etc. This is also called the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program and it works very well for us.

      Let us know how it goes for your girl.

  12. I like this article a lot. I am the owner of two dogs, both who are related by the same mother (but different fathers.)

    One is sweet and overly submissive. She is not the problem. Our problem is out male who is a chow/border collie mix. He is now 10 years old. He is extremely intelligent but also extremely dominant. Lately it has gotten worse. He tends to respond to me more than my mother, but I have instances where he will suddenly snap at me. (EX: if I am petting him and I touch his paws, he hates that.) ..I usually can make him roll on his back just by staring him down, but he is very stubborn and growls while doing it.

    He has continuous attitude. Even when he listens, like when I order him off my bed, he does it but all the while growling. When I am not around he is even worse. He had bitten my mother and broke skin when I was away working in China. This was a result of him stealing human food and her trying to take it away. .. We try to be strict with him. feeding time especially. He has to sit and lay down and wait until we say he can eat. He dont let him force himself on us to be petted. We make him lay down and wait to be called.. and other little things. But he is still a time bomb.

    Is there anything else I can do? He is very good at tricks, but is not interested in fetch or other games.

    Reply

  13. i have 2 pitbulls they got along great till a few months ago my female who is 8 attacks the male who is almost 1 over food or him smelling the carpet or getting attention its gettin pretty bad and i dont know how to stop it does anyone have any ideas how i can get this to stop i think she does it to show him this is her house and not his

    Reply

    • Hello Aimee,

      Conflicts between family dogs usually arise out of disagreement over resources – e.g. food, toys, access to people, or space. Some things that help with my dogs-
      1. Clear rules of interaction.
      I establish clear interaction rules with my dogs. In this way, they know what is a good and positive way to interact with each other, and what is not. I teach them these rules and reward them well for working with me.

      2. Set my dogs up for success.
      I supervise and manage them carefully so that interactions are positive or at worst neutral. I do not expose them to situations that I know they cannot handle. During eating time, I supervise and prevent stealing. They each work on their own interactive toy and I body block them away when they get too close to another dog. In this way, I can prevent conflicts before anything starts.

      This also teaches my dogs that I will handle and resolve conflicts. Whenever there are disagreements, they alert me and I quickly come and take care of things. In this way, they do not need to do it themselves with aggression.

      3. Link Other Dogs to Positive Experiences.

      I also do group obedience training and show them that they get the most resources by working together rather than through competition and aggression. Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises can also be helpful in creating positive experiences, and teaching the dog alternate ways to deal with stress and conflict.

      Here is more of what I do to keep the peace at home-
      http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog

      Getting help from a professional trainer can also be very helpful. A good trainer can accurately identify our dog’s aggression triggers, come up with an effective and safe plan for desensitization, as well as help us with timing, consistency, and execution of the techniques. Given that the Pitbull is such a powerful breed, getting professional help becomes even more crucial for the safety of everyone involved.

  14. Hi there,

    What a great article. Thanks very much for posting it.

    I have an almost 2-year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Ditmars who had never shown any aggression (and was also very submissive) toward other dogs up until about 2 months ago. He was socialized with many dogs at an early age and now we have moved to a remote island in the Caribbean where he has only about 2 consistent dog-friends to play with.

    It happened almost overnight – our neighbor got a 6-month old German Shepard puppy, and after we walked them together, we let them off leash to play with eachother, and my Staffy went for him – no one was hurt, but every time we bring those two together, I can just see that Ditmars feels very dominant towards him. I am very good at predicting when he is feeling dominant and he responds very well to my “touches” – sort of Cesar Millan style – and always submits to me when I give him a correction, which is great, but I don’t know how to take it a step further to get these 2 dogs to the point where they can be together unsupervised. Is it possible he is going through an adolescent ‘stage’?

    My dog leads a very disciplined life with us, gets plenty of exercise, walks well on the leash, no food aggression, etc. His only downfall before this was that he got overly excited sometimes.

    You seem to know what you’re talking about, so any light you could shed on this would be great! Thank you so much.

    Reply

    • we have moved to a remote island in the Caribbean

      Sounds exciting! I always enjoyed my trips to the Caribbean.

      When we moved to a new house a few years ago, Sephy’s behavior also changed initially. Because there were so many changes to his environment and routine, Sephy was no sure what the new rules were, and how to respond to all the uncertainty. As a result, he would just try out things to see what was ok and what was not.

      Some things that helped with Sephy-
      1. I quickly reestablished a fixed routine for him.
      2. I supervised him more closely in the beginning. If he was uncertain how to act, I tell him what to do and reward him well for it. I also let him know which behaviors are undesirable.
      3. I continue to follow the NILIF program and reestablished old house rules in the new place.

      During walks we usually ignore other dogs, and create neutral experiences. After he got used to his new environment, we started to greet dogs who are calm and friendly.

  15. Hello,
    I have a 2 year old male German Shepherd who grew up playing with many dogs (always loved it, always behaved and had a good experience). When he got older we restricted him to only a few playmates and then moved. Now he only has my in-laws 2 dogs that he grew up near to play with on occasion. We wanted to get him a friend but when we took him to meet dogs, he fought or growled at all of them except one (who didn’t like him). I gave up on getting him a friend for a while but seeing how happy he is playing with my in-laws dogs makes me want to get a companion! He did great when we brought home a new cat so I am on the fence about introducing a new dog. Part of me thinks if we bring the dog home and have him meet her slowly with positive reinforcement he will accept it properly. Any opinions?

    Thank you!

    Reply

    • With my Shiba (Sephy) I have found that getting a puppy is easier. Puppies are usually more submissive, and older dogs are generally more willing to tolerate puppy mistakes. However, I still make sure to always supervise and prevent puppy from bothering my older dogs when they do not want to be bothered.

      Sephy was also more willing to accept our Sibe puppy (Lara) after he observed her getting along with our other dog, Shania. I suppose he figures that Lara is “ok”, because Shania (whom he already trusts) thinks that she is an awesome friend and playmate.

      I think it also helped that we specifically picked a more submissive female puppy (Sephy is a male Shiba Inu).

      http://shibashake.com/dog/getting-a-second-dog

  16. Hi!
    I got a husky/border collie cross 4 weeks ago from a shelter. He was only 7 weeks at the time. I have been taking him to many pet stores and to a weekly puppy socialization class. We have had some issues with him mouthing to hard both on arms and legs. Recently become overly aggressive, we will be playing and he will go for my hand rather then the toy, I will move the toy in front of him to show which I want him to chew on. He will then almost make a feral sound and continue to attack my hand.
    Is this just because we played to much and he is now done for a while or is it the start of something worse?

    Reply

    • Hello Melissa,

      With my dogs, 2 things help during game play-
      1. Many game rules
      Having game rules allows me to control the game. For example, they are not allowed to mouth on me or jump on me. If they do so, I no-mark (Ack-ack) and stop the game briefly. If they continue to jump and mouth on me, they go to timeout.

      2. Lots of play breaks
      I have many breaks during the game so that they do not get over-excited. During the breaks, they do commands for me. This gets them to refocus on me and to calm down a bit. After a short break, I resume playing with them
      http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-play-fun-games-to-play-with-your-dog-or-puppy

      As for socialization, how does he act when at the pet store and puppy socialization class? Is he relaxed? tentative? fearful? bold? Does he play? What is his play style like?

  17. Hey, there. I have a pup, she’s about six months old, She’s 1/2 Springer 1/4 Lab 1/4 Rottie… I am an experience dog owner… Save for dealing with food aggression. I don’t understand what triggered the aggression, and I have tried everything I have seen online… It seems like over the last week she is slowly getting worse… I am at my wits end… I am good about the dominance part… I have her sit and wait until I say ok for her food, I enter the house first, she must sit and wait til I say ok to go outside, sit to be petted etc.. But it seems like out of nowhere she got this food guarding/aggression… I set the bowl down and she came after me…. I stood my ground and she challenged me, I had to make her sit and kennel her… It’s to the point lately that I can’t even go into my kitchen without her coming after me… I tried setting the food bowl between my feet and petting her, but the body stance was stiff and as soon as my hand went near her she started snarling and then when I petted her she snapped… Last night she caught my finger. It took three hours to regain feeling… Thankfully she didn’t break the skin….. What do I do? I have never had this issue with my 150# Rottie, or any of my other dogs…. I am running out of options. Please help! Thank you!

    Reply

  18. Hello, I’m 13 years old. I got my golden retriever as a pup from a friend of ours when I was 9 as a show dog. I’ve done considerably well training her in showmanship, obedience, agility, and rally. We are members of our local kennel club. However lately I think she’s noticed how much larger and stronger I am. When I was little I think she saw me as her child, above me, and now that I am strong enough to correct and control everything she does, I think she’s trying to challenge me. When I’m practicing agility in our backyard, every so often she will run away, and flip over on her back and flip around like a fool with her teeth bared. When she first started this I just grabbed her collar, pulled her up and flipped her back upright. For a few months this worked and I didn’t think it was any sort of dominant behaviour. But then she started snapping when I went to pull her up. I decided to stop pulling away one day, and just grabbed her. She ended up snapping at my hand and put three mild puncture in my right hand. When she does stuff like that, I sometimes bop her on the nose even though I know I shouldn’t. It just hurts because I see her as my friend, my little baby, and I’ve always tended to let out hurt feelings and frustration through anger. Since I’ve worked on controling my anger, but I still don’t know how to handle it! I was clipping her nails and got close to her kwick (didn’t cut into it though) and she turned around and snapped! I always clip her nails and have even cut into the kwick and she’s always tolerated it. I’ve tried getting my parents involved, but she doesn’t challenge them and NEVER challenges me in front of them. They said when she does stuff like that too tell her NO and leave. Today she flipped on her back again, and when she got up I “backed her down” (walk towards them). She flipped back over, and I reached down to her collar very slowly as she bared her teeth. I said NO firmly, put her on the leash, walked her inside, then brought her back out fifteen minutes later and worked on targetting (which she likes) to end it on a positive note. I know I’ve done a BUNCH wrong, which is whre I’m getting at here. I’ve messed up dealing with it, how do I reverse what I’ve done and fix the issue? I don’t want to be her pup, I need to be her alpha!

    Reply

    • Hello Syd,

      In terms of leadership, what works well with my dogs is the NILIF program. With NILIF, I am able to get them to do what I want, by controlling what they want.

      As for collar grabs, dogs often learn to associate it with punishment or the end of fun. Often, we grab our dog’s collars to stop them from doing something. The more we do this, the more it conditions the dog to associate the grab with pain or the end of play. This encourages a dog to either run away from a collar grab or to respond with aggression to prevent a collar grab. It may also later cause the dog to become sensitive to putting on a collar.

      With my Shiba Inu, I slowly desensitized him to collar grabs by reassociating the event with something positive. I also did a lot of handling exercises with him because he is naturally sensitive to people touching him.
      http://shibashake.com/dog/hug-dog-teach-your-dog-to-enjoy-hugging

      As for nail clipping, I have switched to using a nail grinder for my Shiba. It allows me to properly shape the nail and best of all it takes the nail down slowly so I am not in danger to cutting too close to the quick. He also gets his favorite fish dish while grinding his nails, so he is happy to let us do it. Otherwise, from his point of view, nail clipping is an uncomfortable, possibly painful event, where he is in a vulnerable position and people are handling his sensitive paws. There is a lot of trust involved when dogs let us handle them so.

      http://shibashake.com/dog/operant-conditioning-and-dog-training
      http://shibashake.com/dog/how-dogs-learn-how-dogs-think

  19. I have a 6 year old rotator called Honey. She has always been a good dog generally but in March she snapped at me and bit my face. I have a small scar to the side of my eye as a result and had 2 stitches in it.
    Last month she snapped at my uncle and last night she snapped at me again.
    We have had a dog behaviourist round and taken on board everything she said to us. Problem is, while Honey is a good girl most of the time, this unpredictable streak is getting worse and I no longer trust her. What if next time it is worse? I just don’t know what to do

    Reply

    • Hello Jo,

      From observing my dogs, it seems that there is usually a trigger to their reactive behaviors. This is good news because it makes the aggressive behavior more predictable. Once I identify what is triggering their reactivity, I can manage it, and then slowly desensitize them to the trigger in a structured environment.

      Is there something that triggers Honey’s aggression? What does the behaviorist say? What exercises are the behaviorist suggesting?

      What type of training do you usually do with Honey (before the snapping incidents)? Were there commonalities between the two incidents? Sometimes, dogs may also show sudden aggression when there is a physical issue that is causing them pain. Is Honey showing any signs of physical discomfort?

  20. Hi,

    This article really helped me with an assignment about dog behaviour at college as I was struggling to find information anywhere else that’s in this amount of detail, It’s balanced and well written.
    Thankyou

    Reply

  21. Hi, we have a 2 yr old Shiba Inu and a 6 yr old Boston Terrier. Both girls. Throughout the day they get along and play fight but then randomly out of nowhere the Shiba attacks the Terrier. She’ll be snarling loud and biting on her and Punkin (terrier) yelps. There’s no food around, Punkin can be just walking by and she flips out. Is it possible to get her to stop? She also does it to the other Boston Terrier my sister has who she grew up. He won’t even go in the same room with her.

    Reply

    • Hello Sandy,

      Shibas can be protective over their personal space. Sephy, for example, does not like new dogs invading his space and he especially does not like new dogs sniffing his butt. He is ok with dogs that are in his circle of trust. Also, if he is startled awake, he may air snap out of instinct.

      When I got a new Sibe puppy last year, Sephy did not really want puppy near him. Some things that helped-
      1. I clearly established interaction rules between the dogs. For example, there is no stealing, no bullying, and no invading of space (especially when Sephy is resting or asleep).
      2. I did a lot of group obedience training sessions and taught them that they get rewarded most by being calm and working together cooperatively with me.
      3. I supervised all play sessions. I usually have many play breaks so that nobody gets over-excited and “play” escalates into something else.
      4. I make sure that all interactions between puppy and my other dogs are always positive or at worst neutral. There is no bullying allowed and they are not allowed to physically “correct” each other. If there are conflicts, they know that I am the one who will resolve it.

      Here is more on what I do to keep the peace at home-
      http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog

  22. I have a 8week old pitbull puppy who ive had for two weeks now. She is very loving and playful.She comes to me, is excited to see me when i come home. There is one problem thats troubling me and my family I cant stop her from jumping and biting on my pug(7yrs).It looks playful but my pug is very lazy and doesnt enjoy. My pug isnt aggressive and does nothing but cuddle and eat. , but I cant stop my pitbull from biting her.My pug just runs away or ignores the jumping It seems innocent until my pug cant take it no more and snaps once nothing serious which settles things down as my puppy backs off. But 15 mins later my pups back at jumping and biting my pug. I seperate them when it starts and feed seperate. I dont think its too serious because they will sleep together at nighttime but i dont want this to continue where my pug gets my pit now or my pit gets bigger and does damage to my pug. Please i dont want anything to happen plz help. My pitbull is named atheena my pug is belle

    Reply

    • Hello Codeman,

      I got a new puppy early last year and she is a super ball of energy. She wanted to play all of the time and kept pestering my other two dogs. Some things that helped with my puppy-
      – I set up a very fixed routine for puppy, which includes play time, eating time, training time, and the ever important rest time.
      – I make sure that she does not bug my other dogs when they want to rest.
      – I also have safe zones where puppy is not allowed to play. For example, each of my dogs have their own bed area and when they go there, it is a safe zone where they can rest in peace. I make sure puppy leaves them alone when they are there. If she goes near, I no-mark and just body block her away.
      – I supervise them during play to keep things safe and have many play-breaks so that puppy does not become over-excited.
      – I exercise puppy with games, training and interactive toys so that she redirects her energy onto positive, people-friendly, and dog-friendly activities.

      When I do not have the time to supervise puppy, she goes in her crate, enclosure, or stays tethered in the kitchen with me.

      Here are more of my experiences on introducing a second dog.

      Here are some other things that helped with my puppy-
      http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training

  23. I have an almost 9 month old Husky-lab mix named Bailey, and she was so sweet and affectionate (though hyper active and excitable like huskies and labs tend to be) until her first heat a few weeks ago. Right before we knew she was in heat (before the period), there was an incident at home where my husband and I were sitting on the couch, and Bailey was laying between our sets of feet. I looked down at her at some point and thought she looked especially cute, and decided to pet her. Seemingly out of nowhere, she snapped at me and darted away. She never did this before, and I also got no growl or curled lip in warning. My husband and I were shocked. The only thing I can think of that could have set her off was that she had a bone nearby that she was being possessive over, even though I made no motions towards the bone.
    Things only escalated from there. We have noticed that she never growls at my husband, only me. At first we thought it was because I am pregnant, and might be avoiding me because she senses or smells me differently. Now we think it is just a dominance issue, that she probably sees me as competition for top female in the house.
    We moved her crate (used for bedtime, occasional feedings and travel) into our room so she might feel like we’re more of a “pack”. She does not sleep on the bed with us, though we do let her on the bed at times. When we go in our room, she follows and immediately goes into her crate, even though we don’t tell her. We try to call her out, but she won’t come. If we were sending her there for the night, we would say “bedtime” and she’d go right in, but though we don’t say it, she goes anyway and growls if I approach. Other times, she will lay down on the floor near her crate, and growl if I come near her. When she is in her crate and acting territorial/dominant like this, if I look at her she growls. If I so much as say her name, she growls. If my husband can coax her out, she’ll let him pet her and love on her, but if I gently move my hand towards her non-threateningly to pet her, she’ll then growl at me, and only me. Then she’ll try to go away into her crate.
    She gets growly with me at random times of the day, also. Sometimes she’ll come over to me and lean on my leg for attention, and say I decide to give it to her and pet her, she’ll be fine for a minute and then suddenly she’ll start growling. I don’t get it.
    She is possessive over toys if she is playing with them, unless she brings them to us for Fetch. Again, she only growls and snaps at me, and has only ever been this way with my husband once or twice. She still acts like this, even now that her heat has ended. I am worried about what will happen when our baby is born; I don’t want her unpredictable behavior to mean possible injury to our child.

    We have tried establishing that she is not dominant in the house by having her sit before feeding, by not letting her pull on the leash and walk ahead during walks.. well that one we try on, but we have trouble with… she sleeps in her crate below us, when we play tug of war, we don’t let her “win”, and when we go up/down stairs and through doors, we make her sit and go through last. Please do your best to help me! How can I further establish dominance with her?

    Reply

    • Hello Ashley,

      I went through a similar experience with my Shiba Inu Sephy. It is difficult to say how similar my situation was, so I will just tell my story.

      Sephy is a very stubborn dog and in the beginning, I was not very sure how to handle him. He was also very mouthy and would often mouth all over my hands and arms. Since my husband worked, I was home with Sephy most of the day dealing with his Shiba hijinks. I spent the whole day walking him, feeding him, and trying to give him affection. However, when my husband returned, Sephy seemed to prefer his company. Also, Sephy would reserve his worst behaviors for me – including humping my leg, jumping on me, crazy leash biting, and mouthing all over me.

      Because of all this, I got even more uncertain of him, and was also somewhat fearful. I also felt somewhat betrayed that he would avoid my company, especially when I was the one feeding and taking care of him. However, the more uncertain and fearful I felt, the worse his behavior became. It was not a good time for either of us.

      I later realized that Sephy is a very sensitive dog. Therefore, he picked up on my uncertain and fearful energy, and became somewhat stressed himself. Fear can often be contagious. As a result of this, he started acting erratically because he was stressed, and did not know what to expect from me. On the other hand, my husband was a lot more calm and sure with him. This was something Sephy could count on, and as a result he was a lot more calm around my husband and preferred his calm company.

      House rules are important, but I realized that calm energy and confidence are also very important.

      I started by taking very small steps.
      -First, I stopped giving him too much attention and affection. I spent more time on my own tasks, and ignored him more.
      -I put Sephy on a very fixed schedule. In this way, I was sure what to expect from him and he was sure what to expect from me. I had a schedule for the entire day planned out, to the minute.
      -I established very clear rules and a very clear plan of what I would do for each of his bad behaviors. I also had many contingency plans. Having a plan really helped me build my own confidence and become less fearful of what *might* happen.
      -I put a drag-lead on Sephy (only with a flat collar and only when I am home to supervise). This helped me to control him better, and to easily put him in timeout whenever he tried to mouth me or hump me.

      All of these things helped me to regain control of the house, and become a lot more calm and confident. Once I became more calm, Sephy also calmed down and his behavior improved significantly.

      Here are some things that helped me when Sephy was young-
      http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
      http://shibashake.com/dog/afraid-of-your-dog
      http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggressive-dog

      Getting private lessons from a professional trainer can also be very helpful. I met with many professional trainers when Sephy was young. It was not easy to find a good positive trainer that could handle Sephy, but we found a couple and they were quite helpful. I also did a lot of research on the web and read a lot of dog books. On the web, I found the breed-specific forums and meetup groups to be most helpful because there were a lot of veterans there that post regularly.

  24. Hi! My male shiba is almost 4 months and he has bad food and toy aggression. We started to work on some food aggression techniques so we’ll have to see if that will fix anything. But he will growl at us if we got near him and even after he was done with his food, he’ll growl and be mad for the next 15-30 min. When he’s mad and growling, should we just ignore that or what do we do? He’s protective over his toys if we let him sit with it for a little bit and he’ll start growling if we got near him. This morning, he was being protective over his toy, so I drew his attention away by giving him a couple of treats and I put the toy away. Maybe about 10-15 later, I was laying on the floor, on my computer, my shiba was near him and I was just smiling at him saying hi and he just started growling and just came at me. Jumping and bite my thigh and gave me a small bruise. He has been very mouthy and I’m getting bite marks everywhere. I have no idea why he came at me like that. Maybe cause he didn’t have a toy anymore? and how can I stop my shiba from just biting? I tell him no, stop, or tell him sit, sometimes he’ll sit but goes back to biting. He has been biting a little bit around my leg and ankle lately too. There was also a time when I was training him how to sit and lay down, I gave him a treat after he did a command, and he came at me and then started to protect the bag of treats and growling at us and he started to pee. I need help! I know he’s only 4 months old but I feel like his behavior shouldn’t be this bad at his age. I want to fix this before he gets bigger or we can seriously get hurt.

    Reply

  25. Hi there, this has helped me learn so much that I didn’t think of! I have a new puppy Staffordshire ball terroir. He’s my baby I love him to pieces but he can reduce me to tears. He bites me( hasn’t drawn blood) pounces at me, grabs my hair try’s pulling it, follows me around growling at me. With my partner he’s as good as gold occasionally he may pounce around and growl but never to the extent he shows to me. Other than this he is brilliant I can take him for walks off his lead he doesn’t run far if he is running far he turns to check I’m there and comes running back to me before setting off again. He sits, comes here, gives paw, lays down and has been weeing and pooing on his matts since He was 10weeks.I’ve never been to classes he’s 15weeks now and I’m thinking maybe because of his behaviour to take him to classes what do u think? We currently live In a bedsit and will be moving into a house In 7weeks so I’m definitely going to start doing time out. I usually do that by putting him in his Crete. Is there any personal advice you could forward. Would really help! Thankyou in advance. A very desperate girlie xxx

    Reply

    • Hello Katie,
      I had a similar experience with my Shiba Inu Sephy. When he was a puppy, he would bite all over me, hump my leg, and do crazy leash biting. Here are some things that helped me with Sephy-
      http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggressive-dog

      As for classes, my experience is that group classes are mostly for socialization. I really did not learn much there, but the socialization experience was useful for Sephy. I learned most from doing private lessons with a good professional trainer. Since dog training is not well regulated, there are many sub-par trainers out there. I always call them up, ask them many questions about my dog’s behavior issues, and push them for detailed answers. In general, I look for trainers who are well versed in operant conditioning techniques, have good experience with difficult dogs, and have calm dogs of their own that they can use in training.
      http://shibashake.com/dog/finding-a-dog-trainer

      In terms of time-out, it is best not to use the crate. My dogs go into their crate for eating and sleeping at night, so I want it to be a positive place for them. An alternative to using a time-out room, is to put the dog on a tie-down in a quiet, low stimulus area. Only use a flat collar or harness and not an aversive collar. Do not leave a dog on tie-down if we are not home.

      Let us know how it goes. Hugs to your little boy!

  26. i have huge issues with eddies domination of me. he is never dominating toward me when the hubby is around and he also isnt dominant toward my daughter. but as soon as the hubby isnt around its horrible if iam eating he will hop right on the table wont listen to me at all and will eat my food and if i try to take it from him he bears his teeth. he has also humped me and when i push him off he comes right back, and the most embaressing of all hes actually peed on me. if i take him for a walk i can never take him off the leash he wont listen to me like he does to the hubby, and i have to use the pinch collar the hubby doesnt need it he uses the harness, i dont know if its a gender thing or if he just sees me as weak. also if a male friend that he does not know comes up to me while iam walking him he growls and gets like this hulk stance going on and he like puffs up his chest its humiliating because people think hes vicious and hes far from it

    Reply

  27. I have a male and female pitbull mixes. The male shows dominance to the female, and before she was ok with it. But now she has started fights. In the past month it has happened 4 times. Any advice on what to do?

    Reply

    • Hello Toni,

      I have a no-bullying rule with my dogs, and that seems to have worked well. In general, when one dog is becoming a pest to another I will step in and handle the situation. Usually it is the new puppy that is trying something that the other dogs do not like, e.g. humping.

      I supervise the dogs while they are playing so that as soon as I see puppy getting into position to hump, I non-mark her (No or Ack-ack) and lead her away by her drag lead. Then, we take a short break to do some obedience commands. After a bit, she gets to go back and play.

      If she keeps trying to hump and ignores my warnings, then play stops and she has to go for a short timeout.

      This teaches my dogs that they don’t have to correct each other, I will handle it. I also try to be very consistent with them in terms of the rules, i.e. no dog gets to hump, and all of them get the same consequences for the same actions. The key here is to step in early and stop things before they escalate into aggression. In this way, it can be a learning experience. Once things have escalated too much, it becomes dangerous to step in, the dogs have likely gone rear-brained, and they are no longer able to learn.

      In general, the more a dog practices a certain behavior (including aggression) the more likely he/she will repeat that behavior. Therefore, I also try to supervise and manage things so that there is no need for aggression. For example, I prevent my dogs from stealing each others stuff. Very occasionally, a small theft occurs, but I will hand out the consequences to the thief, and I also replace the stuff. In this way, there is no need for the dogs to use aggression and things don’t escalate. I also make sure they are separated when working on really high priority items, e.g. bully sticks.

      Here are more of my experiences with supervising my dogs –
      http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog

  28. Hello, Thank you for writing this article as I have learnt a lot about dominance. We have recently adopted a border collie puppy who has serious mouthing and nipping problems, we understand that it is a puppy thing but it is getting hard to live with as we are finding it hard to control, do you know of any effective methods we could use? Also, she seems to be claiming part of the garden because if we walk round the side she bites your feet, legs or trousers and growls. I am worried that this will progress into aggression, is there anything we can do to claim the garden back?

    Reply

    • Hello Sophie,
      Congratulations on your new puppy!

      In terms of mouthing, here are a few things that really helped with my dogs –
      1. Bite inhibition training – This teaches a dog to control the force of his bites. A dog with a soft mouth is a real joy to have.
      http://shibashake.com/dog/bite-inhibition

      2. Drag-lead – I put a drag-lead on puppies while they are still in training. The drag-lead is nice because it gives me more control of my dogs without having to lay hands on them. Only use a drag-lead under supervision and with a regular flat collar (not an aversive collar).
      http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training#draglead

      3. NILIF program (Nothing in Life is Free) – This simply means that my dogs have to do something for me before they get anything in return. This teaches them that the best way to get what they want is to first do what I want.

      4. Time-outs – Time-outs worked very well for my Shiba Inu’s biting issues. Most dogs like their freedom and like being with people, so having that taken away is a big deterrent.
      http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout

      Also, she seems to be claiming part of the garden because if we walk round the side she bites your feet, legs or trousers and growls.

      Sounds like she is trying to herd people. Border Collies are very high energy and they can be very intense about doing a job. There are two Border Collies in the area where I live and it is amazing watching them herd goats. Border Collies really love to herd. 😀

      Two things that may help –
      1. Give her many positive and human approved outlets for her energy.
      http://shibashake.com/dog/hyperactive-dogs-how-to-calm-a-hyper-dog-or-hyper-puppy
      2. When my dogs nip on feet or hands, I non-mark them and try to get them to do something else. If they ignore that and keep biting, then I calmly say timeout and remove them to a timeout area using their drag lead.

  29. A brilliantly written article. I found this because I have a Doberman who like yours won’t back down if challenged. Unfortunately it means he’s getting less predictable on walks and I don’t want to have to take away his liberties.

    He is otherwise very well trained, he doesn’t bolt through doors, sleep on furniture and is very obedient. With most other dogs he’s fine and will play, if they get too playful he will try to get away or give a growl or snap. Nothing abnormal or wrong with this. But if any dog tries to stare him down, he’ll switch in an instant! I know he doesn’t want to fight, I can often step between them before it escalates and keep them from making eye contact and he will keep his distance and let me deal with it even without being told.

    Now I know in the dog world, he’s not doing very much wrong, he’s sticking up for himself, he’s not going to allow a dog to bully him into submission which in some ways is great… if it were a child, I would be proud. Unfortunately a dog in the human world, this is unacceptable and potentially dangers. With new dog control laws going through UK parliament, this could be seen as my dog being ‘dangerously out of control’ and liable for a fine.

    These occurrences are rare now, is there anything else you would advise to stop it before it becomes a genuine problem? My little dog is very submissive so never gets into fights…. and I want an element of that in him. I sometimes make him lie down if a dog a little further away is staring too intently, but I’m not sure if it’s the best thing to do.

    Reply

    • Hello Simon,
      Yeah Shiba Inu Sephy has a similar personality. He absolutely does not get along with other dominant dogs, and he will not back down even though he is a pretty small dog. He also does not like new dogs sniffing his butt, which may be because of dominance, trust, or both.

      I keep him away from dominant dogs because it will not go well.

      He plays with more submissive or playful dogs, larger dogs, and usually in small supervised groups. When we meet dominant dogs during walks, we ignore them. I do not let Sephy stop and stare back, we just move along at a normal pace. This creates a neutral experience rather than a negative experience. It also ensures that he does not practice any dominance behaviors with other dogs.

      Now, Sephy has learned that we usually ignore new dogs. Sometimes, we will stop and greet friendly dogs that are under very good control of their handler and that we often see in the neighborhood. Still, I keep dogs away from his butt area.

      I also have a lot of play breaks so that Sephy does not get over-excited when interacting with other dogs. When he gets over-excited things can get a bit too intense and play may turn into something more serious.

      Here are more of my experiences with Sephy and other dogs –
      http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression

      Hope this helps. Thank you very much for your comment.

    • Thanks again, it’s refreshing to hear from someone who can provide a more balanced and objective solutions while the famous ‘professionals’ are teaching all sorts of bad and/or ineffective habits. The ‘Neutral’ experience is a good tip, I’ve always gone for Positive to avoid negative but actually neutral is a more balanced approach in cases such as these. (two dominant dogs with positive reinforcement food?… bad idea…)

      Will now digest the entire blog as you have some amazing stuff on here!

  30. I’m pretty sure Reptar sometimes thinks he is a working dog and that we are cattle. He tries to herd us constantly. He’ll even go as far as nipping at our ankles like a border collie does to cattle. He does this when we’re playing or have something he wants. For example, when we’re playing fetch outside and it’s my or my husbands turn to throw the ball or go get the ball, Reptar herds us to the ball. Also occasionally in the house if we’re looking for his Kong to fill, he herds us.

    We’ve tried stopping play, and not giving him his Kong or whatever it is he is after. We’ve also tried non-marking the situation and even bringing him in the house so he loses his freedom when he does it. Doesn’t seem to make a difference. He still does it. He’s a smart dog, as you know with Sephy, and usually picks up on things quickly. So i’m not sure how to handle this situation.

    Any ideas? I don’t even truly understand why he does it. He knows his role in the house and while he tests us with everything, we’ve established and continue to prove to him we’re the pack leaders. The herding is the only dominating thing he does that we can’t seem to get under control.

    Reply

    • The herding is the only dominating thing he does that we can’t seem to get under control.

      My guess is that Reptar probably just sees it as a game. In this case, the targets of the game are the people, so getting any kind of reaction from the people can probably be seen as a reward.

      What does Reptar do after you bring him into the house? Does he continue with the herding? Does he only do it outside the house?

      One thing to try is to show him that if he tries to herd, then he doesn’t get any attention and he can’t come near people for a while. There are a couple of ways to do this. You can ask him to Go to His Mat and to stay there. If he does that and stays there for a bit – then reward him well. Then just keep repeating that every time he herds.

      You can also try asking him for space when you are walking around. For example when he gets too close, non-mark him, and then body block him so that he moves back. Then turn around and continue your walk.

      Most of the time, Sephy will go to his mat when asked. Sometimes though, he is too intense on the game, so two possibilities are using a tie-down for a short period of time or putting him in the time-out room for a short period of time.

      Hugs to Reptar! Let us know when you put up new pictures. 😀

  31. We keep a drag leash on him at all times too. That definitely helps keep him under control when he acts up. We’ve been diligent about correcting him and not letting him control us, but he still occasionally bites at our feet. I think it will just take some time on our part to break him of this.
    Also, he marked for the first time at a friend’s house that has dogs. he’s never ever gone in our house before. is this part of his dominant dog behavior? and how do you stop it!

    Thank you for this site. It’s nice to know that it’s not just me.

    Reply

    • Also, he marked for the first time at a friend’s house that has dogs. he’s never ever gone in our house before. is this part of his dominant dog behavior? and how do you stop it!

      Hmmm – it is difficult to tell. It will depend on whether he showed other signs of dominance. For example, how did he act with your friend’s dogs?

      If the pee-ing is the only thing, then it could just be a matter of smell. Maybe that was an area that your friend’s dogs have gone before, or which particularly smells like them, which will be very tempting for another dog to want to leave their own scent. Dogs have a very strong instinct to pee where other dogs have peed before. Kindda like leaving their calling card.

      When Sephy is at the training facility (in a daycare center) the first thing he will do is usually go around and explore everything in the environment, then sometimes he will mark a bit here and there where it strongly smells like other dogs. I think it is normal canine behavior.

      In terms of stopping it – you would pretty much do the same thing as you would with potty training in your own house. Dogs don’t usually generalize across different locations, so while Shiba may have learned potty rules in your house, he does not understand that the same rules apply in your friend’s house and possibly does not understand how that is different from when he is walking outside. Maybe after training him on multiple houses, he may generalize to certain types of houses.

  32. We adopted an 19mo old male shiba 2 months ago. He has food aggression issues, but we’re working with a behaviorialist and have established rules for him so we’re pack leaders. We are currently hand-feeding and have a definitive feeding plan in place for next 8 weeks.

    He still will occasionally bite at our feet when he doesnt want us to go in a certain area. He’s bitten through a few shoes! I’m pretty sure it’s just him being dominant and challenging our role as the “alpha”. The behavioralist said to ignore him when he does this, but that doesnt work.

    Have you encountered this problem? If so, how did you deal with it?

    Reply

    • One thing that has worked very well for me is to use a drag lead and a flat collar. My Shiba is now about 3 and although I don’t have to use the drag lead much anymore, I still leave it on.

      When he bites, or performs one of his Shiba moves on me I would non-mark him (No or ack-ack) and stop him with the drag lead. Then I get him to do something else – e.g. go to mat. If he ignores the command and goes back to his previous behavior, I say Timeout and put him in timeout in the laundry room. If he complies with the command he gets rewarded with attention and sometimes food rewards.

      Here is more on what I do with the drag-lead
      http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training#draglead

      However, I am not a trainer, so you may want to ask your behaviorist and see what he/she says. In general you want to use a consistent set of techniques so that there is no confusion for the dog.

  33. We have 3 dogs, a spayed female husky who is the dominant dog (8 years old, had since she was a puppy), a neutered male husky (10 years old, had since he was 2), and a spayed husky/chow mix (5 years old, had one year).
    When we first got the husky/chow mix, she and the other female had a few spats, and then my husky laid down the law one day and everything was great for about a year. Now, the husky/chow is afraid to come in the house from the back yard, because the female husky has dominated her at the door. She lays at the door and intimidates her if she tries to come in. Since we have a dog door, they come and go as they please, and this new behavior just started about a month ago. We don’t let her do it when we see it, but I can only imagine how much of this goes on while I’m at work! Now husky/chow won’t even come in for supper.
    How can we change the behavior of either or both of them so that husky/chow feels free to come and go through the door?

    Reply

    • Is it possible to keep your female husky in a separate area when you are at work or not home?

      In this way, the Chow mix can have her own space when they are by themselves.
      When you are home, and have time to supervise, then keep a close watch on the door. As soon as the female husky approaches and tries to dominate the Chow, non-mark her (No) and body block her away. Then give her an alternate command, e.g. go to her Mat. If she keeps persisting then a time-out may be appropriate.

      If you do this consistently, she will learn that you set the house rules.

  34. I have a 1 year old, very hyper, Boxer/cattle dog mix. He is generally a good dog but I am having a hard time with a few things. First, he continues to mouth and play nip other dogs and humans. I’ve tried the “ouch” approach which had no effect. I’ve tried holding his mouth shut for 10 seconds and I’ve tried short time outs. Anything else? The more pressing issue at this time is his dominance over other dogs. I love to go to the dog park with him but 50% of the time he gets into it with another dog forcing us to leave. At first I though he just plays rough but I think when he really gets challenged by another dog he gets aggressive and will not leave the other dog alone. I’m getting tired of wondering if it will be a good visit to the park or an embarrassing episode. Any advice? Thanks

    Reply

    • Hello Tosha2,
      I know what you mean – my Shiba is like that. When I take him to the dog park he seems to gravitate towards the dogs who don’t want to play with him and then keeps at them.
      One thing that may help is to totally remove him from the enclosed park space when he acts out. Walk with him a bit outside, do some obedience commands, then once he is more calm, you can try again. If he goes back to pestering the same dog, repeat. In this way he learns that if he does not listen he does not get to play.

      In general, however, I am not a big proponent of enclosed dog parks. Here are some reasons why –
      http://www.shibashake.com/dog/enclosed-dog-parks-g
      As for the biting on hands, I find that it is generally most effective to follow up the non-mark (e.g. ouch or No) with an alternate command. This way he not only learns what he shouldn’t do, but also what he should do instead. Make sure to reward him with some calm play or calm affection when he complies with the alternate command. This way, he learns that doing the alternate behavior gets him attention and rewards whereas biting gets him nothing or a time-out.

  35. After reading your post, I have to say it fully sounds like your dog dominates you. If you have to constantly reinforce the same “laws” you have implemented then you are obviously are not the “alpha dog”. If you have a significant other, then that person is breaking the rules you implied, which is in turn being learned by the dogs. Or you are showing some sort of favoritism and the “dominant” dog is getting mixed messages.

    Reply

    • Thanks for dropping by pst. Your comment made me think of Cesar Millan.

      It is amazing how you know so much and are so sure of everything, without having ever met me, my dogs, or even seen their routine and environment. That is some special talent.

  36. Hi Shibashake,
    Thank you for the great article and the wonderful advice you’ve been giving everyone. I’ve had dogs all my life, including a fear-aggressive Lhasa Apso rescue, and have never had any problems, until my current dog. My husband and I knew we wanted a family, so we went to a breeder for a gentle family dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy named Charlie. He is 5 years old now, neutered, and is constantly testing boundaries and trying to show dominance. I already do everything you’ve mentioned. I practice NILIF, he has lots of rules, no getting on furniture, no going in the kitchen (he is a very practiced sneak thief and will take and eat anything, including bags of sugar). I don’t greet him immediately upon arriving home, he gets time outs when misbehaving, we practice obedience every day, no rough-housing or tug of war games, etc. We’ve taken him to obedience school (we live in Germany), and the reaction we’ve gotten from every trainer is that Charlie is sweet but extremely temperamental. I used to have the energy for dealing with him, but I’m pregnant with a toddler now and it’s getting stressful to constantly confront his testing of boundaries, not to mention I can’t control him as well on the leash anymore and sometimes just have to let go of the leash (I used to be able to get him to calm down pretty well, but now he fights a lot more). He hadn’t shown aggression either, until just recently. Now when I try to calmly move him into his time out room, he’ll growl and mouth my hand. I don’t like the way things are heading. Any advice?

    Reply

    • Congratulations on your upcoming baby 🙂 Boy or girl?
      Bernese Mountain Dogs are really beautiful. Love their coat and face. And a sugar thief?! – lol – Charlie sounds like my Shiba Inu who is also very temperamental.
      One thing that could help is to get a dog walker or to put Charlie in a dog daycare a couple of days a week. This will give you a much needed break, as well as keep Charlie busy.

      I used to have a dog walker do group dog walks with my Shiba Inu at the park – 3 times a week. After these excursions – he is totally pooped and less likely to get into mischief. He also enjoys himself a lot, gets good mental and physical exercise, and gets to socialize with other dogs.

      Another thing that helped with my Shiba Inu is doing private training sessions at home with several different trainers. It helped to have a few trainers observe me interacting with him in a home setting and letting me know where my timing or technique was off. I liked getting different opinions so that I can get a fuller picture of what was going on.

      The thing that made the biggest difference with Shiba is controlling my own energy. Shiba is very smart and knows when I am angry, stressed, or frustrated. Once he sensed this, he would act out even more. Once I controlled my own energy and stayed calm, Shiba’s behavior improved significantly. Controlling my own energy was not easy.

      Here are some of the things that helped me –
      http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggressive-dog

      How does Charlie act wrt. your toddler? and other members of the family?
      Has Charlie escalated his behavior recently?
      Has anything else in Charlie’s routine changed?

    • Hi, Thanks for your response. Don’t know yet what the gender of the new baby is. My toddler completely dominates Charlie. That’s no problem. Our toddler can take toys from Charlie and put his own food down in front of him without worrying about the dog taking the food. My toddler is pretty calm (as far as toddlers go), and treats the dog well (again, as far as toddlers go). Charlie waits for both me and my child to go through doorways before he enters a rooms. My husband is dominated by Charlie. I’ve gotten my husband to make Charlie lie down before giving Charlie attention, but my husband is in charge at work and doesn’t want to worry about being in charge at home. He’s always complaining about Charlie being a roadblock and getting in the way whenever he wants to do something Charlie doesn’t want him to do. Charlie is his first dog. But he works so much that he doesn’t want to put any effort into dog training. I know that’s a problem. I’ve shown him Dog Whisperer and talked to him about it for 5 years, I don’t think I’m going to change his behavior.
      Personally, I’m a very calm and assertive person. I’m always being complemented for being easy going and yet authoritative and rise to leadership positions without pursuing them whenever I’m in a group. Like I said, I never had a problem with a dog before. I’ve often been the only person in a group that can deal with a troubled dog. I’ve watched Cesar Millan and feel I do a pretty good job of having calm-assertive energy.
      Our neighbors love Charlie, and we live in a rural area, he’s sort of the neighborhood mascot and we’re known in town as “Charlie’s owners”. My husband takes him on short walks every morning and evening. I often take him on 30-60 minute walks through pasture, woods and farmland most days (if I can’t do the walk, we go out to a pasture and play fetch until he can’t stand up anymore), on weekends he usually gets a long hike with my husband. We’ve got teenagers across the street that take him 3-4 times a week for a walk and play (they’re usually out 2 hours + and walk to neighboring towns with him to see friends), plus our next door neighbor takes him a couple times a month as well. So I can’t see that lack of exercise is a problem.
      His behavior has escalated in the last couple months. He never growled at me before then. We’ve also had to start locking him in the hallway (closing and locking the doors to all rooms) when we leave because he will destroy things when we’re gone. He’s learned to open doors if the doors aren’t locked and will get diapers out of the diaper pail, or toilet paper off the toilet paper holder and tear them up. He’ll also go through the trash can and shred any paper products he finds.
      His energy level has never declined since we’ve had him, which I think is really unusual for a Berner. I had a husky before and that was normal for that breed, but Charlie still has the energy level of a puppy at 5 years old. When we’re away from home, he stays at a luxury dog hotel where he gets two long group walks and group play every day and he is placed with the young dogs because the dogs his age can’t deal with his energy level. They love Charlie there, but said he breaks into their food storage area regularly.
      I guess, typing all this out, maybe the problem is perhaps my husband being inconsistent about the rules. I don’t really know how to take a different approach to him though!

  37. I just got a Olde English bulldog that is 2 years old. HE is INSANELY hyper. Obviously never had any disipline. Jumps on you constantly despite the “knee” trick. We only pet him when he is not jumping, and praise him for it, then stop as soon as he is jumping again. Anyhow, he is uncontrollably hyper. Pinning him down reluts in him thinking you are playing and him trying to bite on you (in play) which we discourage. The bigger problem is trying to introduce him to our other male dogs. We do breed, and plan on breeding him some day. So none of our dogs are neautered. And there are females present. Introducing males to the pack has usually gone pretty smooth. But being he is so hyper AND he wants to dominate everyone.,..has made it difficult. He tries to hump all the male dogs. And they don’t want any part of it. We have an English mastiff, much bigger than him, that is dominant of everyone. He is so gentle and sweet. But lets them know right off he is the bigger dog and gently grabs them to show his dominance (grabs them with his legs not mouth). Well this new hyper boy leaps nad jumps and tries to dominate everyone. We can tell him NO, pull him off, nothing works. He ignores us completely. He has no respect for us at all. It’s like we are not even there. So we don’t know how to get this hyper boy to CALM DOWN and realize he is not the leader of the pack, and respect the other dogs as well. Any help please apreciated.

    Reply

    • I do not breed dogs, and therefore have little experience with unfixed dogs.
      The kneeing thing never worked well for me either. In fact it got my Shiba even more excited and crazy. What worked well with my Shiba whenever he got overly excited, is to stay calm, and not interact with him physically. If he did not stop, I just removed him (by drag lead with a flat collar) to time-out so that he could calm down. That way he learned that crazy behavior means don’t get to be with people or dogs, and calm behavior means he gets to play.

      I also make sure that he is very well exercised. After he gets rid of his excited energy, he is easier to retrain while at home.

      Another thing that really helped me a lot when I was having troubles with my Shiba is visiting the Shiba breeders that lived nearby. They were very helpful and let me know what to expect from my Shiba and what were normal Shiba behaviors.

      They may be a great resource for you as well. I used the breeder directory at the AKC site.

      A professional trainer with breed specific experience can also be very helpful.

  38. You have some very good and helpful information on your post, but part of the problem in regards to explaining behaviors is that we often misinterpret our dogs intentions as something else.
    Case in point being the above photo with the caption, “Dominant Dog – Shiba Inu Sephy testing his boundaries.” Sephy’s, not really testing boundaries in this photo, this is more or less a “This looks like it could be fun” thing, until of course he saw what I can only imagine was the photographers displeasure with this act.
    ( Of course this could also be a look of “Better get away from my stuff”, because dogs of different personalities will often display similar body languages while their intent being different.)
    Although some may describe this act as an exploratory behavior, it’s based in fun nonetheless. As I’m sure this little guy already knows there’s great fun to be had with all the cool stuff in this box.

    Reply

    • What you say is very true. We often misinterpret our dog’s actions, and perhaps think it is dominance behavior when often, it is not. I find dogs fascinating, so I always try to observe my guys very closely and learn all I can about what they are trying to tell me. Still, I probably miss a lot of what they say because their body language goes by so rapidly.

      As for the photo – you are right that my Shiba does a lot of these things because he thinks they are fun. He also thinks that challenging his boundaries is great fun. He is a great character and is always trying out new things and testing old things. Sometimes he reminds me of that Verizon commercial – except he asks – Can I do this now? 🙂
      I understand and agree that dominance is not at the root of all ills, but I do think that dominance sometimes does apply.

  39. Shibashake,

    when i take my dog to the off leash park he acts like the great dog i know he is but when we run into this one dog who is the same breed, just younger he’s super dominant.

    at first i thought it was because he wasn’t nuetered and he was older but now that he is nuetered, he hasnt changed his behavior.

    how do i challenge his dominace wen its only towards one dog?

    p.s.

    he plays with every other dog fine and he listens reativley well wen at home! its one dog and theyve only met twice!

    Reply

    • Hello only1dog,

      It could be any number of things – the way the other dog holds himself, (is the other dog neutered?), the way the other dog smells, or the way the other dog acts. It may be best to just keep them apart.

      One possibility is to call our dog back to us, whenever we notice him focusing-on or moving towards other dog. I also play with my dog for a bit to distract him, then let him get back to the other dogs.

      If he doesn’t listen and keeps going after the one dog, I just calmly get him and make him stay by me for a while. This will teach him that if he tries to engage the one dog, he doesn’t get to play at all. We may need to repeat this exercise more than a few times before he learns to leave the one dog alone.

      Another possibility is to slowly desensitize our dog to the other dog, but in order to do that, we need to do one-on-one training, in a quiet place, with just our dog and the one dog.

  40. hey! awesome article, it helps alot.
    my dog is a fixed ~1.5 year old brittany. we only realise it now, but we brought him up wrong, with love, affection and praise before rules and boundaries.. and as a result, he tries to be dominant. we taught him tons of tricks and now that we’ve changed the relationship a bit, he’s becoming a lot better. except now he’s starting to show aggression.
    we brought him to the dog park today, and we went insane. he saw a smaller dog and immediately began to bark viciously, and tried to lunge through the fence. we didn’t let him in, but we left. before we left though, he bit my sister who tried to first pull him away, then tried the alpha roll. he goes into such a state that the skin around his eyes turn purple and his eye balls red.
    that’s happened a few times before, and all with smaller dogs at that same park. i want to overcome this behavior. what should we do in those situations- leave, or try to calm him and introduce him to the dogs? should we get a professional trainer?

    Reply

    • Your situation sounds similar to what I went through with my Shiba Inu. I started out with very little discipline, and he really became a wild child 🙂 Then, I started using aversive techniques including alpha rolls and leash jerks. This was taught to be by a traditional trainer. Things got a bit better for a little bit of time, then Shiba started getting aggressive with me. Here are some things that helped me –

      1. Stop doing alpha rolls. Alpha rolls are extremely difficult to implement properly and can often encourage aggression in dogs. This University of Pennsylvania study shows that using aversive techniques (including alpha rolls and leash jerks)increased aggression in 1 of the 4 dogs that they surveyed.
      http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/if-youre-aggressive-your-dog-will-be-too-says-veterinary-study-university-pennsylvania

      2. Switch to reward based dog training. I used to think that reward training is not going to be effective for a dominant dog, but it really worked a lot better for me than the physical aversive techniques I was using. Reward training can be used to both encourage good behaviors as well as stop bad behaviors.

      3. Start small. I would stay away from dog parks for now. The dog park environment can be very high stress, very high stimulus for a dog. What you want to do is slowly desensitize him to other dogs in a more quiet and controlled environment.

      http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize

      4. With aggression issues, it can be very helpful to get a professional trainer. I would recommend getting a positive reinforcement trainer as opposed to the traditional physical force trainers. Once I switched over to reward training and started instituting some rules and routine with my Shiba, he started acting well and there was a great reduction in his bite instinct. Nowadays, his first instinct is still to use his mouth, but usually he will think and stop himself before he escalates.
      I would also highly recommend bite-inhibition training. It really saved me from my Shiba when he was leash biting, people biting, and leg humping and whatever else.

  41. Hi shibashake,

    I have two shibas one dominant female and one non-dominant male, both being fixed. My sister rescently got a male shiba that is fixed but he is dominant. We were hoping that eventually they would be able to get along. But i was wondering if they would be able to, since my female and male are so closely bonded, if it would cause a dominance fight between all the dogs. i know shibas are VERY attached to there owners and family members, so would it be a bad idea to see if they would get along all in all?

    Reply

    • How old are your Shibas and how do they usually act with other dogs? How old is your sister’s Shiba and how does he act with other dogs? This will largely determine how you approach introducing them to your sister’s dog.

      When I organize meetings, I make sure to take proper precautions so that everybody remains safe. It may be better to have the first few meetings on neutral ground.

      I usually start by just walking the dogs in the general vicinity of each other and see how they react. I make sure NOT to walk them head-on as that is usually seen as a challenge. I always have space between them and make sure there are no head-to-head meetings.

      I only let the dogs go if I am totally confident that they will get along. Initially, I may leave the leashes on, and let them drag it around, so that it will be easier to stop any misbehavior. I make sure they all have flat collars on and NOT aversive collars as that can cause injury during play.

      It is also a good idea to introduce the dogs one-on-one. Initially, I only let my non-dominant dog meet with the new dog. If all goes well, then I try with the next less dominant dog, etc. Note that the dynamic may totally change once multiple dogs are together so make sure to keep careful watch and make safety be a priority. I closely supervise them and interrupt them before they escalate into any kind of aggression. Do not leave them alone for any period of time.

      I make sure to stop play from time to time so that they do not get over-excited which can sometimes also lead to aggression. It is a good idea anyway to stop play from time to time and insert some human play time in-between.

  42. What studies show that tug-of-war and rough housing lead to dominance? Rooney and Bradshaw performed studies with 14 dogs and found no affect to confidence/dominance behavior. In fact, play training (including tug-of-war and controlled rough housing) leads to stronger bonds between humans and dogs. Reference pg 322-326 Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training: Adaptation and learning By Steven R. Lindsay.

    Also, nervous, undersocialized and scared dogs with little confidence show more aggressive than dominant dogs. Just a different way of looking at things. Nice site. I also have two shibas and an Akita.

    Two paws up

    Eric

    Reply

    • I think wrt. Tug-of-War and rough-housing, it is the type of behavior that it encourages and gets the dog to practice on people. Rough-housing can encourage dogs to mouth on people, and tug can encourage dogs to pull on objects held or attached to people.

      If played with proper rules on most dogs it is probably not an issue. However, problems arise when these games are played with no rules, or improper rules, which can teach dogs that if they mouth or pull hard enough, they get what they want.

      I don’t rough-house with my Shiba because he is a very mouthy dog and that is not the type of behavior that I want to encourage in him. He gets to rough-house with other dogs but not with humans. My Siberian Husky has a much calmer temperament, so I am less strict with her.

      I think it all depends on how the games are played and the temperament of the dogs involved.

  43. Hello shibashake,

    My familly and I have a 9 month old German Shepherd male not fixed yet. He has recently been barking a lot at people without dogs. He is fine when we take him off leash to dog parks and doesn’t even care for other people there but around the house and if we take him someplace other than dog parks he won’t stop barking when he see’s a dogless person. At first he would only bark and not come close to a person but latley he is becoming more and more fearless and getting closer and closer. He has been to obedience training a while back but the commands he does know and listen to in the home and dog park environment go out the window around people with no dogs.

    Any advice would be helpful.

    Thanks

    Reply

    • Two things that help with my dogs – 1. Desensitization to people and ultimately 2. Socialization to a wide variety of people.

      I start with desensitization exercises first. The article below describes desensitization of a dog to other dogs, but the process is similar wrt. desensitization with a human. Just make sure that to take all the safety precautions – if we think our dog may bite, then use a basket muzzle and have him on a secure leash.

      http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize

      With the desensitization process we are trying to teach our dog to look to us for direction whenever he is stressed or unsure what to do. It is also a great way to brush up on obedience commands, and to create a stronger bond with our dog.

      Once I progress through the desensitization process and can get close enough to the other human without my dog showing any reactive behavior, I have the other person throw my dog some really good treats. This helps him make positive associations with people. If we keep repeating this, he will soon look forward to seeing people because it means good treats for him.

      Once my dog is comfortable around one person, I try having the person move around and also have a variety of different people dressed in many different ways (e.g. big hats, with umbrellas, with sunglasses, baseball cap, men, women, old people, young people etc).

      Dogs don’t tend to generalize something across multiple different situations, so we must desensitize them to a variety of different situations to help them make that generalization.

      If our dog starts to escalate his behavior, I would get a professional trainer who can observe him in real time and accurately identify the source of his reactivity.

      I would also consider the neutering process. It can (but not always) reduce reactive behaviors, and will also save us the hassle of really supervising our dog closely whenever there are female dogs around, especially female dogs that are going into heat.

  44. Hi, I have a 3 year old french bulldog that is totally Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. He can be affectionate and sweet when he wants to be but when he’s off he’s off. In particular when my adult son comes home for awhile. As soon as my son walks in the house the dog is all over him and seems very, VERY happy to see him but 10 minutes later he will be most likely growling at my son the next time he tries to touch him. I can’t stand this on again off again Cujo attitude. What can I do.

    Reply

    • I teach my dog what is appropriate behavior when interacting with guests and visitors. In the beginning it is best not to allow any roughhousing at all – no jumping, no biting (even in play) and no growling.

      When a friend/relative comes, I ask him to totally ignore the dog. Fold his arms, and institute the no talk, no touch, and no eye-contact rule. No eye contact is especially important because that can be seen as attention and an invitation.  When the dog jumps, I get my friend to turn away from my dog (not move away, just turn away, calmly).

      Also I have my dog on a lead. If he tries to play-bite, or growl, *I* no-mark him (No or ack-ack). If he ignores me and continues with his biting, then I say “Time-out” and remove him to a time-out area. I leave him in there for about 30 seconds and repeat the meeting exercise. If he play-bites or growls again and ignores my no-mark, I put him in time-out for a longer duration (1-2 minutes).

      The time-out teaches my dog that if he doesn’t behave well with guests, he doesn’t get to be with them or the family at all. He will quickly learned that in order to be with people, he has to follow certain rules. I make sure to consistently enforce those rules.

      I only give my dog attention when he is calm and following commands. I always follow the NILIF program with my dogs – i.e. I ask them to do something for me before I give them anything in return – even affection. This can be as simple as asking for a Sit before giving them affection.

      I make sure to always be calm and consistent when interacting with my dog.

      It is also best not to play any dominance or physical-games with our dog while we are retraining him especially tug-of-war.

      Also, many dogs are sensitive to touching, hugging, and handling. Here is an article on how to train a dog to enjoy human affection –

      http://shibashake.com/dog/hug-dog-teach-your-dog-to-enjoy-hugging

    • Hello Travis,

      Thank you for the link. I think that is a very excellent article which I am definitely going to bookmark.

      I agree with pretty much everything in the article. Following a strict dominance theory based training method is ultimately detrimental to the human-dog relationship.

      However, dominance behaviors do exist in dogs – not all the time – but sometimes they do exhibit dominance behaviors. For example, many enclosed dog parks do not allow intact males because an intact male may start posturing to the females, and incite other male dogs to posture back which could ultimately result in a fight.

      There is a strong backlash, I think, towards all dominance concepts because there are many dog owners who try to attribute everything towards dominance, and as a result develop an antagonistic relationship with their dogs as described in the article. In fact, as pointed out by the article and also by scientific studies, it is rarely about dominance.

      I think dominance behaviors do sometimes exist in dogs, as they also do sometimes exist in humans. However, I think that this only occurs very occasionally as most of the time both dogs and humans are busy living their lives and trying to be happy – not trying to pick a fight with someone else.

      The other important thing to consider, I think, is *how* to deal with dominance behaviors. Believers of dominance theory often think that the best way to deal with dominance is through physical force, which I strongly disagree with. As stated in the article, the best way to achieve leadership is through the control of resources.

      Another interesting question in the article is whether dominance=leadership. In many ways, I think it is not very helpful to get into a semantics argument about which terms to use. The dictionary defines dominance to be influence and control, and leadership to be guidance and direction. All I can say is that you say potato, I say potato.

      Ultimately, what matters most to me are which methods will bring about the best quality of life for my dogs and which will help build a strong relationship that is based on mutual trust and respect.

      Thanks for the great link!

    • Thanks for sharing a picture of your lovely dogs. Love their smiles and all those toys 🙂

      My dogs pounce on each other all the time in play. They both like wrestling a lot. Sometimes though, if the younger dog is bothering my older one too much, I will step in and stop her. Sometimes, the older dog just needs some rest time and a break 🙂

  47. My dog is a chihuaha/yorki he has a thing for attacking this terrior that is non nuertierd like him and he only plays with nuertierd dog and rarley plays with non nuetierd and i need help to get him not to attack the terrior and to become friends with all non nuertierd males at home and at the dog park and not be protective over female dogs so pleasegive me some good tips for small dogs

    Reply

    • If you do not plan to breed your dog regularly, then it is best to neuter him. If you leave him intact and do not provide him an outlet for his physical needs, he will get frustrated and this will manifest itself in all the things you describe and more.

      It is generally *not* a good idea to bring unneutered dogs to the dog park. Unneutered dogs tend to posture a lot more and this may trigger a fight with both neutered and unneutered dogs. It is instinct for an unneutered dog to want to claim female mates by posturing and challenge other male dogs for those mates.

      Here is a good article on the facts and myths of neutering –

      http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet_overpopulation/facts/spay_neuter_myths_facts.html

    • We are planing to breed my dog there is this one chihuaha male non nueterd he plays with but the other dog wont play with him and he gets mad but wont fightMe nor my dad want to get him nueterd. He loves to play with big dogs even if they are nueterd or not but i dont get that.

    • Questions about females we are going to breed my male dog with my sisters female buthe female is stubern and loves to play and i dont know if she will give him a chance to mate with her when she gos into heat. she lives with my grandparents and they have a male dog that my dog gets along with but will he hurt the puppys because there not his or should she breed and give birth at my house or let my dog stay at my sisters house.

    • Hello doglover,

      I am afraid I won’t be much help to you. I am not a breeder so I do not know much about the whole process.

      From talking to my Siberian breeder it seems that it is a very stressful affair, involving a lot of work, worry, and high vet bills. In her last litter, her dog stopped giving birth after two pups and my breeder had to rush the dog to the emergency room for a c-section. Sadly one of the pups didn’t make it, and the other one is our sweet Shania- Shania is an awesome puppy but she had a lot of complications due to her c-section birth.

      And after the birth, my breeder had to put in a lot of time caring for the puppies and finding them good homes. The vet bills were also out of this world :-/

      After hearing all this, I just want to enjoy my dogs and have no interest in breeding them 🙂

      Sorry I could not be of more help.

    • We can offord the vet bills but is it a problem if the puppys are around the other male dog that lives with my dogs mate will he kill or harm the puppys because they arnt his or should they mate at my house and should she give birth at my house.When the girl dog is pregnant my dog will stay at there house or the female come to my houseand give birth at my house.My question is it bad for the puppys to be around a male dog thats not there dad and my dogs going to be very protctive of her when she is pregnant and when the puppys are born

    • A breeder is probably the best person to answer your questions. One thing you can try is to look up some accredited Chihuahua breeders from the AKC website, and give some of them a call.

      http://www.akc.org/breederinfo/breeder_search.cfm#503

      I did that when I was having some behavior issues with my Shiba Inu and many were very helpful.

      You can also try asking your vet but I think a breeder would know more.

  48. I’ve got a female dog who is very loving towards people. Yet when it comes to another of our female dogs, she’s rather aggressive. They’ve gotten into some pretty nasty fights. We think it’s a dominance issue. Is there any way to “cure” our dog from fighting the other?

    Reply

    • Hi Tiff,

      It is possible to desensitize them to each other so that they will learn to associate something positive to the other being in the room.

      This task will require two people. Get something really yummy for each dog – they *only* get this yummy treat during desensitization exercises. Then when they are together, they both get treated. Take one of them away, and the treating stops, bring the other one back, then start treating again.

      Make sure that the dogs and people are safe at all times. Both dogs should be on leashes, and make sure they are far enough apart from each other initially that they are not reacting.

      This article has more details the dog-to-dog desensitization process.

      During training you want to manage them carefully so that they are separated at other times. You do not want them practicing aggression with each other on their own as that will set back the desensitization work you are doing.

  49. I have a 3 year old Pit Bull. He is very loving, and has NEVER shown any signs of aggression. We recently had to move in with some family who have a lab chow mix. She’s older and has been fixed. (My Pit has not). He has been obsessed with her lately. He follows her everywhere… has to know where she is at all times, and if we seperate them, he will lay at the door and sob. If we pet the lab/chow, he will come and push her out of the way. She constantly growls at him, as he’s always sniffing her butt and trying to mount her. We’ve become exhausted with telling him to leave her alone and having to seperate them. The female shows signs of wanting to co-exist with him, but he is constantly showing her who’s boss. In saying that, he shows no signs of that with us. Although has been known to try and hump visitors. I have done a lot of reading up on this, and I think it is a dominance thing. He has always been by himself and we allowed him to be on the couch and the bed which i’m now reading is a bad thing. I have read that I need to stop allowing him on the furniture, make him leave the room when we are eating and ensure he’s never fed from the table, and limit his toys in order to make him stop. I also read that if he shows signs of dominance that I should pin him to the floor until he is calm, and release him. Are these tactics correct? Is there anything else I can do? If so, how long will this process take??

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply

    • Dog training or dog behavior modification is filled with a lot of different opinions. Here are some things that worked on my dominant dog:

      1. Follow the Nothing in Life is Free program. Always make your dog do something for you (e.g. look at you or Sit) before he gets anything including food, toys, opening the door for him, etc.

      http://shibashake.com/dog/nothing-in-life-is-free-dog-training

      2. Start doing short obedience training sessions with him every day. This not only helps with dominance but will also enhance your bond. Start with very simple commands e.g. Sit.

      3. Do not allow him to engage in dominance displays – e.g. humping. As soon as he humps another dog or a visitor or anybody, non-mark him (No), and put him in a time-out (it is best if the time-out area is not his crate. Find a safe boring room to put him in briefly.) After a brief time-out, bring him out and try again. It may be easier to have a flat-collar and lead on him while doing this for easier control. Make sure to praise and reward him when he greets people properly and does not engage in humping.

      4. Do not play dominance games (e.g. Tug-of-War) with him, and do not rough-house with him.

      5. For the time being, do not let him on furniture. It is also good to institute other rules that make sense to you around the house so that you can prevent dominance displays from even arising. For example, by not allowing the dog on furniture, you prevent any possibility of him thinking that the couch is his or him trying to protect it. The less he practices dominance displays, the less likely he will continue doing it in future.

      In answer to your questions:

      1. Feeding from the table – It may be best to stop this practice. A dog that is constantly fed from the table will always beg by the table, may get insistent during meal times and may become disruptive. Table scraps are also generally too rich for dogs and may upset their digestion. I have fixed meal times for my dogs, and make them work for all their food either through obedience and grooming sessions, or from interactive toys. I feed them high-protein dry kibble (e.g. Innova EVO, Orijen, Wellness CORE, Nature’s Variety Instinct).

      2. Limit toys – The most important thing here is to follow the NILIF program, i.e. to show your dog that all resources belong to you and to get a resource, he must do something for you first. So yes, it is good practice to store all his toys, and cycle through two or three different ones every day. Make sure he does some obedience commands for you before he gets his toys.  Cycling through toys will also make them seem more new to your dog and make him more interested in playing with them.

      3. Pin him to the ground – This is sometimes also referred to as alpha rolls. I tried this initially on my dominant Shiba and it DID NOT work out well. This is one of the areas where there is much disagreement in the dog training world. For me, alpha rolls only eroded my dog’s trust in me, and made him very sensitive to handling. It also made him fight back a lot more because he felt extremely threatened. More about alpha rolls …  

      4. Anything else that may help – Neutering may also help with humping and other dominance displays. The “following female” behavior may also stem from this. Your vet will be able to best advice you on this issue.

      5. How long – This will be different based on different dogs. I started to see change in my Shiba fairly quickly (in a matter of days). The thing that made the most difference for me was in controlling my energy (staying calm and in control), and following the NILIF program. My Shiba is a pretty good citizen nowadays but he will still challenge me from time to time; just to test his boundaries.   

      Hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions or clarifications.

    • Hi Linda. You are very lucky that Mochi is such a sweet girl. My Shiba, Sephy, is a “terror that flaps in the night” 🙂

      Thanks for the pictures. Mochi looks lovely! Can I put up a picture of her on my website? I will link back to your Flickr page. Let me know. Thanks.

    • Sure thing 🙂 Feel free to put her picture on your site.

      Wow…Sephy is really adorable for a “terror that flaps in the night”. LOL!

    • Thanks Linda! If you want to put up a different description of Mochi let me know. Btw, how is Mochi after her spay?

    • Mochi is doing really well right now. When I picked her up at the vet after the surgery, she looked SO sad. I ran to kneel beside her and hugged her while my boyfriend talked to the vet assistants.

      That night, she was pretty drugged so she’d walk a few steps, fall asleep, suddenly wake up, walk a few steps, and fall asleep…and it repeated. By the second day, she was up and running as if nothing happened, so it took some time to calm her down since she’s not supposed to be running around.

      She’s getting her stitches out this week. I’m so excited because I feel so bad that she can’t play. Everytime she does the ‘front-paws-down-butt-in-the-air-I-wanna-play’ thing, we have to stop her.

      Thank you for asking. 🙂

      Also, I read in your profile that you like anime and RPGs. Same here! In fact, I go to anime expos every year…and own every single game console (PS3, 360, Wii…) including the hand held ones like the PSP and NDS. LOL!

    • I am so glad to hear that Mochi is doing well. Sephy was practically climbing up walls by the time the incision healed.

      That is so awesome that you have all the game machines. I used to be very addicted to online RPGs before I got my dogs. I was big into FF online, and then WoW. Now I mostly stick to single player games because I can’t devote the focus needed for an online RPG.

      What anime do you like? I really like Saiyuki. I haven’t been watching too many new ones, so recommend me some. Anything with good looking guys will work for me 🙂

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