Dog Disobedience
There’s
a difference between disobedience and incomprehension.
If your dog isn’t obeying a command because
he doesn’t understand what it is you want him
to do, that’s not a behavioral problem at all;
it simply means that you need to spend some more time
together in training.
True disobedience occurs when your dog deliberately
does not obey a request or command, although he has
full knowledge of what it is that you’re asking
him to do (and you know this because he’s performed
it reliably on several occasions beforehand).
Although this may seem like a relatively minor inconvenience,
it’s actually a pretty serious thing –
not only can it be dangerous for your dog (for example,
if he’s heading towards a busy road and ignores
your ‘come’ command), but it’s also
detrimental to your relationship with your dog.
Disobedience is rooted in disrespect. When your dog
deliberately does not obey you, he’s saying,
“I don’t respect your authority enough
to do what you want me to do”.
If you allow him to get away with this, you are allowing
him to form the habit of passive-aggression. This
is not something that can just be left to “fix
itself” – the problem will worsen, not
get better, if you leave it.
It’s very important that your dog recognizes
that you outrank him in the social hierarchy of the
household. The concept of alpha status is one that
you need to be familiar with in order to maintain
a healthy, functional relationship with your dog.
It may sound cruel from a human perspective, but
your dog is happier when he knows that someone else
is in charge of making all the decisions – including
his day-to-day behavior and obedience levels.
It is not possible to have a good owner/dog relationship
if he does not understand that you are the clear-cut
authority figure: he must know that he’s beneath
you in the chain of command.
Your first step in dealing with generalized disobedience
is to reestablish your dominance. Here are some tips
on doing so: - When leaving the house and the car,
you must always leave before your dog. This is unmistakable
alpha behavior: to a dog, only the alpha leaves first.
If you allow him to exit the house or the car ahead
of you, you are saying to him, “You’re
stronger than me; you should go first because you’re
the decision-maker”. Inside doors aren’t
so important, but every time you leave the house or
the car to go outside, you must make him wait for
you to go first, until you release him from the ‘wait’
with a release-word.
- Make him wait for his food. Your family and you
must always eat before him – if it means he
has to wait an extra half hour or so for his meal,
it won’t hurt him any. When you put his food
down for him, make him sit and wait until you release
him to eat. Keep his feeding schedule varied, so he’s
always aware that you’re in charge of his food
– don’t allow him to form expectations
of when he should be fed.
- Don’t allow him free, uninhibited access
to the whole house. The house is your den: you’re
allowing him to be inside. Remind him that you’re
allowing him into your den – it’s a privilege
for him to be there, not a right - by sometimes allowing
him inside, and sometimes sending him outside for
half an hour or so. Keep certain areas of the house
strictly for your own, as well (such as your bed,
certain pieces of furniture, or some rooms).
- Never allow your dog to initiate play. If he’s
nudging you for attention or to start a game, you
may think that it’s cute and affectionate; but
what he’s really saying is, “I’m
the boss and I’m telling you to play with me
right now.” If he starts bothering you for attention,
ignore him for a few moments: get up and do something
else. Wait until he’s given up before initiating
the play yourself. Playtime is a fantastic way to
bond with your dog, but it should be done on your
terms, not his.
- When you arrive home, don’t rush straight
over to him and shower him in affection. That is not
alpha behavior at all – an alpha dog, upon arriving
home, doesn’t go over to the other dogs and
throw himself at them, saying, “Here I am! I
missed you guys! Let’s have a cuddle!”
– he ignores everyone else, relaxes for a short
while, maybe has something to eat, and only interacts
with them when he’s good and ready. Even though
you’re probably good and ready to interact with
your dog as soon as you get home, it will make more
sense to him – and underscore your authority
– if you ignore him for just three to five minutes
upon arriving home.
Another fantastic way of counteracting disobedience
is to start – and maintain – a basic obedience
training plan. You don’t have to do anything
fancy or super-demanding; just ten minutes a day of
learning and enforcing commands. This can drop to
five minutes a day once your dog is completely reliable
with the commands.
Here are some tips for a good training program:
- Never give a command that you cannot reinforce
immediately if he chooses to disobey you. Every time
your dog takes the opportunity to ignore your command,
he’s learning that it’s both easier and
a lot more fun to ignore you. For example, if you
call across the park for him to ‘come’
as he’s playing with some other dogs, the choices
are clear-cut to him: he could cut his play-time short
and come to you, or he could ignore you – which
is easy, since you’re so far away – and
continue to have fun. Until your dog is completely
reliable with commands, he should be on a long line
or retractable lead so that you can enforce them if
necessary.
- Remember to use your voice to the best effect.
Praise should be in a light, cheery, happy tone of
voice; if possible, smile at the same time. It makes
a difference to your tone of voice, and most dogs
will study your face to make sense of your expressions,
too. Corrections should be uttered in a stern, brook-no-nonsense
tone: you don’t need to shout, but your voice
should be low and authoritative.
- When you’re verbally interrupting your dog,
it’s more effective to shout, “OI!”
or “Ah-ah-ah!” rather than saying, “No”.
The sounds are more clear-cut, and you’ll get
a better response.
- Do not repeat a command. Remember, you should be
training on a leash or a long line: if he ignores
you, he gets a short, sharp tug (some call it a ‘flick’)
on the lead to remind him that you’re present,
and you’re in charge. Repeating yourself teaches
him to wait for the command to be repeated at least
once before he obeys you.
- Five to fifteen minutes per day is an adequate
amount of time for training. Any more than this in
one sitting, and your dog’s concentration will
likely lapse: fifteen minutes of intense training,
where your dog is concentrating hard on what you want,
is enough to send even the most energetic dogs to
their beds for a snooze afterwards.
- You can move on to more advanced training and ‘tricks’
if you feel like it, once your dog’s got the
basics completely sussed; but it’s not something
that you should feel like you have to do.
- Another great option is formal obedience training
classes. They’re a great way of socializing
your dog (he gets to interact with other dogs, and
those dogs’ owners), and also teaches him to
concentrate on what you want despite the manifold
distractions taking place around him. It’s also
very helpful to have face-to-face contact with a trained
professional: they can pick up on any mistakes you
might be making, and give you advice for tightening
up your training techniques.
For more information
For further information on typical doggie behavior,
including a fantastic resource for training how-to's
and loads of detailed information on preventing and
dealing with problem behaviors, check out Secrets To Dog Training.
Written by a professional dog-trainer, it's an absorbing
guide that deals with all the subjects a responsible
dog-owner could ever want to know about - well worth
a look.
To visit the Secrets To Dog Training website, just
click on the link below:
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