Dealing with Bad Dog Behavior
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Where do bad dogs come from, and how do we deal with bad dog behavior?
Dogs go bad because of miscommunication between owner and dog, not because of meaness or spite.
Bad dog behavior can always be addressed with time, patience, retraining, and proper management.
Here are some common reasons that people use for bad dog behavior.
Bad Dog 1 - Born Mean
No dog is truly born mean. Some dogs may be born with neurological disorders that make them act out in unexpected ways, but there are few dogs who truly fall into this category.
Poor breeding may produce a dog that is difficult to handle.
A dog with unbalanced parents (e.g. timid, fearful, anxious), will be predisposed toward being unbalanced as well. That is why it is important NOT to get a dog from pet stores, online stores, or puppy mills. These establishments do not treat their dogs well, and are not careful with the temperament and health of the dogs that they breed.
Nevertheless, even a dog who is predisposed towards fear or timidness, can be properly managed, and trained to counter their genetic weaknesses. If a timid puppy is properly trained, and socialized to a wide variety of objects, people, and dogs, he will grow up to be a confident, and happy adult.
Bad Dog 2 - Vampire Dog
Some people believe that dogs turn bad after they have tasted blood, whether animal blood or human blood.
This is absolutely false.
Dogs are not vampires. They do not suddenly think of all humans as bags of blood, after they kill a gopher in our backyard.
In fact, the original breeders of my Siberian Husky, the Chukchi, would let their dogs free during the summer months to hunt for food on their own. When these dogs return home after hunting, they are playful and loyal companions to both adults and children in the tribe.
Bad Dog 3 - The Dog that Hates Me
Many people believe that a dog's bad behavior is a result of hate or spite.
This is also false.
Bad dogs are bad because they do not understand what we consider bad and what we consider good.
Dogs are not humans, and they do not communicate in the same way that we do. This results in frequent miscommunication, which may cause dog aggression or other bad dog behaviors.
Always be consistent with our dog, and teach him a set of commands and hand gestures, so that we can successfully communicate with him.
The Dog Whisperer
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Bad Dog 4 - The Dominant Dog
The most popular reason today, for a bad dog, is probably dominance.
Popular dog training shows such as The Dog Whisperer, place a heavy emphasis on physical dominance and confrontation.
While dominance, is sometimes the reason for certain bad dog behaviors, the problem is more likely from fear, stress, frustration, boredom, bad communication, or simply lack of routine and structure.
A 30 year study conducted at Yale and U.C. Berkeley shows that:
"Alpha" does not mean physically dominant. It means "in control of resources." Many, many alpha dogs are too small or too physically frail to physically dominate. But they have earned the right to control the valued resources. An individual dog determines which resources he considers important. Thus an alpha dog may give up a prime sleeping place because he simply couldn't care less.
~~ [Excerpt from ClickerSolutions]
Dealing with Bad Dog Behavior
Most bad dog behaviors can be retrained and managed. All it takes is time and patience.
The only case where retraining is not possible, is when the bad dog behavior is a result of health issues, such as a neurological disorder.
Bring our dog to the vet once every year for shots, and a physical examination. This will help us identify and address health issues, before they become bad dog issues.
Bad Dog Solution Step 1
Identify the source of the bad dog behavior.
To do this, we must stay objective and focused on this task, even though we may not always like the answers that we find. It helps to find a professional dog trainer or a dog expert at this stage.
A dog trainer has no emotional stake in the situation and has more experience with reading dogs.
This allows him to quickly and accurately identify the problem source. Bad dog behaviors commonly get intensified when owners misdiagnose a problem, and subsequently try to address it in the wrong way.
Here are some important questions to ask while trouble-shooting bad dog behaviors:
Bad dog behavior - What?
What triggers the bad dog behavior?
Is it large dogs, small dogs, dogs with long hair, dogs with floppy ears, or all of the above?
Is it just dogs, or is it also cats, squirrels, children, old people, people wearing weird hats, people carrying umbrellas, bicycles, skate boards, or something else?
Bad Dog Behavior - Why?
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Bad dog behavior - Why?
Why is the dog showing bad dog behavior?
Is it due to fear of dogs, dislike of people, excitement, or dominance? Listen to our dog by carefully observing his body posture, and what causes changes in that body posture.
A fearful dog will try to make himself look small, and shrink away into a corner, or behind objects and other barriers. His tail and head will be down, and he will be showing signs of stress. In contrast, a dominant dog will have ears erect, tail up, chest out, and a forward looking posture.
It can be difficult to read a dog because the change in body language may be slight (twitch of the mouth, sway of the tail), and brief.
Some dogs may switch body language quickly, and others may ramp up to dog aggression before we can react.
Bad Dog Solution Step 2
Retrain the bad dog behavior.
a) Do not reward bad dog behavior.
Bad dog behaviors develop because we inadvertently reward our dogs for bad behaviors.
For example. when a dog shows aggression, we usually back away. This rewards the aggression by giving the dog what he wants, i.e. being left alone.
Similarly, we try to comfort our dog by cuddling or petting him when he is showing fear. This rewards the fear with affection, thereby making the dog more likely to repeat those fearful behaviors.
When our dog is showing undesirable behaviors, we either redirect him, ignore him, or put him on a time-out.
b) Stay calm and in control during bad dog behavior.
When dealing with a bad dog situation, it is difficult, but necessary to stay calm and in control.
Dogs can easily sense our inner energy through scent and sound. When we get angry, frustrated, or otherwise unbalanced, our dog will detect that, and become even more frantic. The only way to calm him down, is to stay calm and in control of the situation ourselves.
c) Redirect the bad dog behavior.
When a dog does something bad, we want to communicate to him that this behavior is undesired by us. I use a consistent no-mark such as No, or Ack-ack. However, do not make the mistake of just stopping there.
We should always follow up the no-mark with a positive behavior.
For example, after saying No,
- I ask my dog for a Sit or Spin,
- I encourage him to play with a toy, or
- I tell him to go to his bed.
Which redirection we use will depend on the temperament of the dog, what the dog knows, and the situation at hand.
Make sure to mark (Yes), and reward our dog well with treats and praise when he stops his bad dog behavior, and redirects onto the new activity. If we are consistent with our redirection and rewards, our dog will learn to perform the positive behavior on his own because it gets him good results.
For redirection to work, we must stop our dog before he escalates his bad dog behavior.
If we let him escalate his behavior, he will get too frantic or excited to listen to us. Once in this state, it is best to remove him from the stimulus. Sometimes, a stimulus may be so strong that a dog escalates very quickly, and it may not be possible to redirect him onto something else.
In these situations, I find that it is best to first practice controlled desensitization exercises with my dog.
Flooding
Instead of dog desensitization, some trainers may use flooding. With flooding, we expose the dog to large doses of the bad stimulus, and force him to endure it until he stops being frantic or afraid.
Flooding is a common technique used by Cesar Millan, in his Dog Whisperer program.
The advantage of flooding is that it can bring faster results. The danger of flooding, is that it can cause a dog to totally break down and become even more psychologically damaged than before.
Imagine locking a claustrophobic patient in a small room with his psychiatrist until he snaps out of it. Either he gets better really quickly, or he totally snaps. It is best NOT to use flooding techniques because it can be risky and dangerous.
d) Desensitize our dog toward the bad stimulus.
Desensitize our dog to a stimulus, by first exposing him to very low levels of the stimulus, at a distance.
For example. if my dog is aggressive to other dogs, I can start desensitizing him with a very calm dog, that is not moving (e.g. in a Sit position), and that is not focused on my dog (no eye-contact). If my dog is reactive to the sound of thunder, I can start desensitizing him with a low volume, recording of thunder.
Only practice desensitization exercises in a quiet area where we are in control of the environment.
Start with a low level stimulus that our dog is able to tolerate, i.e. he is able to stay calm. Position him some distance away from the stimulus, get his attention by calling his name, then reward him for giving us his attention, and for staying calm.
We can also ask him for other simple commands such as Sit, Touch, or Watch. Once we are comfortable with this, move a few steps towards the stimulus, stop, and repeat the exercise.
If our dog starts to react, then we have moved forward too quickly. Move back and restart the exercise.
Keep sessions short and rewarding so that our dog will begin to associate positive rewards with the problematic stimulus.
e) Set our dog up for success.
Remember to always set our dog up for success and keep him from repeating bad behaviors.
Properly manage him so that he is not constantly exposed to stressful stimulus that cause him to act badly. The more he practices bad dog behavior, the harder it will be to stop that behavior.
Craft our retraining process to suit the temperament of our dog. Focus on one or two bad behaviors at a time, so that neither we or our dog become overwhelmed.
Bad Dog Solution Step 3
Prevent future bad dog behavior.
One of the best ways to prevent future bad dog behavior is to provide our dog with many interesting, sanctioned activities, and toys.
Many dogs resort to bad dog behaviors because they are bored. If we do not provide acceptable activities for our dogs, they are left to devise their own activities, which rarely appeal to our human sensibilities.
A dog who is well-exercised, both mentally and physically, is happy to just lie around and turn over for belly-rubs. A dog who is cooped up all day, with no company, and no activity, will be very frustrated and destructive. He may chew up our house, bark, charge the fence, escape, or perform a variety act from the "bad dog greatest hits album".
This will end up costing us a lot of time, money, and emotional stress.
If we are busy during the day, consider dog daycare or dog walking. This gives our dog something interesting to do, and helps him brush up on his social skills with a variety of people and dogs. The rewards we receive will more than outweigh the costs, because instead of coming home to a chewed up house, we will be greeted by a tired and happy dog that just wants to rest beside us.
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My shih tzu change behavior on three occasions: when ovulating, very temperamental; when pregnant, loving and attention-seeking; and when the puppies are around, aggressive. She is just a playful and energetic dog when not in those phases. Walking is our favorite exercise. 30 mins in the morning and another 30 mins before going to sleep. She is left alone with my labrador during the day on weekdays but she seems to have no problems with it. I love my dogs like they are my kids but I do respect them being dogs and so different from human beings.
Thank you for this informative hub. I might need this in the future.
Hello CourtneyL,
I encountered similar behaviors with my Shiba Inu. What really helped for us, is using a drag-lead and setting up a some consistent house rules.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
For example, I have a no-getting-on-furniture rule. If Shiba tries to get up on the sofa, I no-mark him and body block him away. If I am too late, and he has already gotten up, I no-mark him (Ack-Ack) and lead him down using his drag-lead.
Then I get him to do some obedience commands and to go to his Mat/Bed. I reward him for doing those commands.
If he keeps trying to go back onto the sofa, then he gets a time-out.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop
It is important that everyone is consistent with all the house rules. Otherwise, the dog will get confused, and may actually increase the frequency of those undesirable behaviors, because 'sometimes' it works. For stopping undesirable dog behaviors, consistency and timing are both very important.
If the dog has a bite history, it is probably best to get a professional trainer. I hired several professional trainers to help me with my Shiba Inu. Finding a good one was not easy, but it was worth it.
I own a beautiful 3 year old Alsation who I love to bits, but he has a few problems. Firstly, when given a ball/toy, he tends to push the ball into your legs, trying to grab you and trip you up. I've been told this is a sign because of lack of attention, but he is made a fuss of all the time and gets daily walks. Also, my mother taught him that he could get on the sofa, which does calm him down, but I firstly, do not agree with it, and secondly, will not alow it when we eat- he does not try and eat your food, I just prefer not to have him on the sofa then. But, the problem with this is, when he is on the sofa, he will not get off. I try using a low tone of voice and stand over him, but he challenges me, and will bite me if I try to physically move him, and growl at me. Hes a jem otherwise, with lots of tricks under his belt and perfectly fine on walks. Please help!!!
Hmmm, it could be a health thing. My Shiba is a lot more stressed and vulnerable when he is feeling pain or not feeling well. When in that state, he may sometimes use aggression to keep people away because he feels more threatened. Maybe he is feeling pain when he is peeing? How is the quality of his pee and poop? I would consider chatting with the vet and see what they say.
In terms of the psst or tsch sound, as far as I understand it, it is a marker or form of communication. It is similar to saying No or Ack-ack when the dog does something bad, or saying Yes and Good when the dog does something good.
We usually follow up the good behavior with a good consequence, for example giving the dog a treat or affection. Similarly if the dog has not stopped his bad behavior, we try to redirect him to do something else. If that does not work, we can follow up with a bad consequence, e.g. a timeout. Here is more on this -
http://shibashake.hubpages.com/_srec/hub/Train-a-P
Here are some things that helped me with puppy-
My 11 week old American bulldog is the cutest thing for the most part a happy pup. Very laid back but usually when he is very tired and or after he goes potty he becomes aggressive growls and jumps up to bite me or my clothing. I usually command a stern NO OR STOP even the Caesar psst but it makes him more mad and lunges at me even once bit me pretty hard. I'm getting concerned for others safety if he cannot be trained out of this. Please help before I consider giving him up. I want to go the mile w him but is it me he is afraid of? ????
I wish I read this article earlier !
my dog has been acting up lately, strutting around like he owns the place. definitely will be putting him on a time out and taking this hub into consideration. thanks a lot! :D
It sounds like it could be separation anxiety or hyper energy. Labs and Border Collies are both work dogs and extremely high energy. Therefore a cross would likely be very high energy as well and would require a fair amount of supervised activity every day.
Dog daycare would be one possibility.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Dog-Daycare---Good-Or-Ba
Another possibility is to do group dog walks. There are several dog walking places here that do off-leash group walks at hiking parks.
Also, here is a bit more on separation anxiety -
I have a 6-7 month old lab border collie that we adopted from a shelter about 2-3 months ago. He is very well behaved when we are home with him - he doesnt nip or bite at people and he doesnt chew on anything he shouldn't. However, lately he has been acting up and chewing up a lot of things while we are at work. We tried keeping him in a crate when we first adopted him, but he hated it so much and found ways to escape from the cage even though it was fully locked! Then we tried just letting him free roam the house while we are gone, which worked out well for the first week or two, but lately he is getting more and more destructive. At first, he would just occassionally chew up small things - for example, a sock we left on the floor or a water bottle. Now it has been getting worse - floor tiles, shoes, clothes, pillows, door mats, bed skirts etc. But he doesn't do any of this when we are home with him so it is hard to catch him in the act and correct him immediately.
Do you have any advice on how to stop bad dog behavior that occurs when we are not home? We have a dog walker that comes over for 30-60 minutes on the days that i cannot stop home on my lunch breaks, so he is not completely alone the whole day. Plus he has many many toys to play with! I thought things would get better as he got more and more adjusted to our house and our schedule, but that does not seem to be happening.
Dear Zachary,
What has worked well for my dogs is to always remain calm. I find that when I yell at them, they only get more stressed, and behave in a more hyper fashion. Staying calm, helps them to stay calm as well.
Here is an article on my experiences with dog discipline-
First off I want to express how delighted I am that you actively respond to readers!
I have 2 shihtzu's that are 16 months old. One of them will bark and whimper all night long. They were both kettle trained for 3 months, and one of the sisters is well behaved, but this one, Tango, is just being mean! I always take them to pee and feed them accordingly before sleep. I also play with them all the time! She cries because she wants to play! I discipline her by yelling and smacking her, she stops for maybe 15 minutes, then the whimpering continues. I am very frustrated
It is difficult to tell since I do not have much context. Dogs sometimes chew and act out of character when they are under stress.
For example, when their routine changes, their health changes, etc.
my dog just chewed up my comfeter and she is 11 years old. do you think it is beacuse there was another dog at our house the other day?
Hello Suzanne,
Congratulations on your new Shiba pup!
"But then the game escalates very quickly and he starts using his teeth to the point where he draws blood and death-shakes my hand/arm/foot/elbow."
Yeah, my Shiba Sephy was the same way. He goes from 0 to crazy in a few seconds. :)
When I played with him, I had very strict play rules and I would stop play very frequently so that he can calm down and doesn't get overly excited.
We do obedience commands in between play sessions.
Also, as soon as I feel his teeth on skin, the game stops.
Here are a couple of articles based on my experiences with my biting Shiba -
http://shibashake.hubpages.com/_srec/hub/How-to-st
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop
Having a drag-lead is especially helpful and doing time-outs were very effective for controlling Sephy's crazy behavior in the house.
"He also likes playing tug of war with my fingers or alternatively the leash."
Yeah, I had a lot of problems with Shiba Sephy and leash biting.
http://shibashake.com/dog/train-your-dog-to-stop-b
What finally worked for me is that I would hold the leash very close to his collar and then briskly walk him home. If we are already home I march him to timeout.
Having my hand close to his collar gives me better control of his head and walking quickly home engages him in doing something else so that he can't leash bite.
It also ends the fun walk so that he learns -
leash bite = fun walk ends
These two articles may also be interesting -
http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggres
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-training-tips-and-
I had a lot of problems with Shiba Sephy when I first got him. He was a "terror that flaps in the night"! :D
Hei, great article! I have an almost 12wk old shiba boy. He's lovely, friendly, brave and quirky. But he bites. He doesn't bite stranger or my boyfriend, just me. Judging by his body language (shoulders, down bum in the air and tail wagging) he's initiating play - awesome, I get his toy, make him sit, high five with both paws and then only do I throw his toy - we play a shiba version of fetch. But then the game escalates very quickly and he starts using his teeth to the point where he draws blood and death-shakes my hand/arm/foot/elbow. Seriously struggling to curb his biting. He also likes playing tug of war with my fingers or alternatively the leash. Trying to pry the leash from him only ends up with me being bitten. For such a small pup he really has a lot of bite - and he's damn stubborn!
Hello Heatherkins,
Yeah I have faced similar issues in my neighborhood with off-leash dogs. It is a difficult issue because it is a human matter rather than a dog matter.
I currently carry a small air horn with me so that if a dog charges, the noise from the horn will hopefully startle him and discourage him from coming over. Hopefully, it will also get the attention of the people around us and someone can secure the dog.
I also try to walk my dogs during less busy times of the day and in areas where most of the owners are responsible and keep their dogs on-leash.
Here is more of my experiences on off-leash neighborhood dogs -
Hi, I'm very frustrated and uneasy. I have a 12 month Border Collie whom I work very hard with to ensure she gets lots of stimulation, going to different places, and meets lots of different people and dogs. Unfortunately in the last 3 months she's been attacked 4 times by 4 dogs who were older than her, one of which was larger. Each time it's happened my dog has sat down and bowed her head with lovely calming signals. Two of the owners said "he sometimes gets like that", by way of apology. Today we met an Akita who spotted my dog and came trotting quickly and positively towards her. My dog rushed at the Akita with hackles up and take firmly underneath her in her fear, barked and fly snapped at the Akita. The Akita, a bitch who was also in season, quickly had my dog on the ground and loomed over her. She didn't attach my dog, but it could have been touch and go. I think she's trying to ward dogs that scare her (GSDs, bullmastiffs, Dobermans) away. I try to get her sitting down beside me, but it all happened too quickly this morning. I'm really gutted...I've worked so hard to introduce her to different dogs and I really don't know what to do to help her :- (
Hello Kerstin,
I am so sorry to hear about your friend. It is great that you have adopted his dog and are providing a stable environment for him.
I think that big changes such as these create a fair amount of stress for the dog. Given his age and breed (Dobermans bond strongly and they are very loyal), he is perhaps even under more stress than the average dog.
Since he is a big dog and he is showing signs of aggression towards you, it is probably best to get a professional trainer to come visit. In this way, the trainer can observe the dog in real-time and see what actually triggers his jumping and snapping behavior.
My Shiba inu used to exhibit similar behaviors. He would jump on me when I tried to stop him from doing something, and sometimes he would get into such a frenzy that he would do kill-moves on my jacket. He is a pretty small dog (35 pounds) and already his crazy behavior scared the hell out of me. The more fearful I got, the worse his behavior became.
I can only imagine what it must be like with a large dog. That is why a professional trainer will be very helpful at this stage. A good trainer will be able to diagnose the source of the issue and get training started in the right way before any damage gets done.
Here is the process I went through to find a good trainer for my Shiba Inu -
http://shibashake.com/dog/finding-a-dog-trainer
Here are some of my difficult experiences with my Shiba Inu -
http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggres
Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
Hi. Our friend just passed away and he left a 8yr old doberman neutered male. We thought we would take care of the dog but he is untrained and not well behaved. FIrst day at our house, we went out in the evening and on returning he really was jumping up at me aggressively, he torn my jacket grabbed a mouth full of my hair and pulled it out and tried snapping in my face, my husband tried to stop him and then he started jumping up at him and snapping at his face, this is a worry, can you explain what would be best for us to do, he is used to be inside a house all day and sleeping on the beds and furniture, this would not happen with us he would have a kennel but get a lot of love etc. He spend the whole noght barking and howling etc. Please advise what we shoult do. Thank you
My friend was bitten by a she-dog with puppies. She thought he's invading her territory.
"The dogs dont realise that they are very powerful and could easily knock us down if they play fight into us."
Yeah my dogs are the same way. What I usually do is that I will step in and make them take a play-break from time-to-time so that they do not get too excited. I step in, stop play and get one of them to do obedience commands for rewards. This gives both of them the opportunity to calm down. Once they are calm, they can go back to playing.
Another possibility is to non-mark them (ack-ack) when they enter my space or bump into me. Then if they ignore me and keep going, put them in timeout. However, I much prefer the first method because rather than just telling them no, it is giving them something else to do, which is always more effective.
In terms of not wanting to leave Biscuit, some dogs are just more dog focused than they are people focused. My Shiba Inu is like that. Also having a new dog to play with is a very big positive, so it is very natural for a dog to want to stay with the new dog.
When I got my second dog, I first started training them by having both of them on leash (only on a flat collar). In this way, they both learn to focus on people even while they are in the same room.
First, I started out with having each of them far away from each other. A friend will work with one dog while I worked with the other doing focus and obedience commands. Once they were able to stay calm and focused,we moved them closer together like the desensitization exercises in the article, and repeated the exercise.
Here is an article on my experiences with my second dog -
Hi
My mother in law has a Beagle Tess; 4years Female, she recently took on the care of another beagle Biscuit; 7years Male.
Since biscuit has arrived, Tess has stopped being obdient, doesnt come when called, runs away at dinner time and Ignores us.
Tess is constantly guarding biscuit from us, like a sheep dog would to sheep.
As soon as we go out side, Tess concerntrates on guarding biscuit and wont come to us.
The dogs will constantly bite each others ankles and play fight when someone goes out to hang out the washing or to go out side.
The dogs dont realise that they are very powerful and could easily knock us down if they play fight into us.
Do you have any advice on the above?
Any training advice?
What it could all mean?
Thank you for your time.
Hello Anita,
I went through a similar thing with my Shiba Inu. It started because I was giving him collar corrections and one day he just decided to redirect his frustration out on the leash.
He would get this wild look and start jumping and biting at the leash. When I tried to physically stop him, he would jump at me. It got so bad that he was starting to bite at my jacket. I got quite afraid of him when he got into his moods. But the more stressed and fearful I got, the worse his behavior became. At the end, all I did was hold the leash and he would start with his craziness.
These two articles talk about most of the things I went through with my Shiba during his leash biting phase -
http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggres
http://shibashake.com/dog/train-your-dog-to-stop-b
The most difficult part for me was getting over my own stress and fear. This I think was also the most important step. My dog was very sensitive to my emotions, so as soon as I got tense or fearful, he sensed it and got stressed out himself. So he started acting out even more, which made me even more stressed, and on it goes.
I also tried many different techniques. Finally what worked best for Sephy is to just end the walk and march him quickly home. Since he really liked his walks, this approach worked very well for him. After just a few times, he totally stopped his leash biting. He hasn't done it in over 2 years! :D
Ultimately which technique will work best will be greatly based on the dog's individual temperament and on our own temperaments as well.
When things were bad, I thought walks with Sephy were never going to get better but they have for me and Sephy, and will for you and your puppy as well.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
hi my pup is very active and we try to give her exercise by walking her, but it has become very dangerous for me to walk her alone, because once she sees the leash she gets hold of it and pulls on it and if i try to pull it away she jumps at me to bite me and the leash...it has become very stressful because i cannot walk her and when i do it turns into a tug of war...in the house she is obedient but on the leash she is very rebellious, what should i do to make walking enjoyable? i have tried giving her treats as she walks and does not pull or bite the leash and i walk her on a loose leash, but it only lasts until she jumps and bites the leash without stopping.
Hello D,
Congratulations on your new puppy. Sibes are awesome dogs, but they are also extremely energetic. My Sibe is always on the GO! :D
The puppy is likely crying because she misses her mom and litter-mates. 6 weeks is a bit young for the breeder to separate the puppy from her mom. The usual recommended age is 8 weeks or older.
When I got my Sibe puppy from the breeder she gave me 1) a smelly blanket smelling like the puppy's litter-mates, 2) food that the puppy is used to eating, 3) the puppy's favorite toy.
Both the toy and the blanket helped the puppy get some continuity so that she had an easier time settling down.
Some things that are commonly suggested to help a puppy crying at night include -
1. Moving puppy's crate into your bedroom. The bedroom has your scent and it could help the puppy feel less alone. Both my dogs also sleep in the bedroom at night.
2. Putting a blanket in the crate that has your scent on it.
3. Putting a ticking clock close to puppy's crate or inside the crate. There are also heartbeat comfort pillows that are sold in Amazon and other pet stores.
NOTE - Only put these things in the puppy's crate when you are around to supervise. You DO NOT want to put anything in there that the puppy may chew up and swallow when you are not around.
When I am not home, I only put very safe chew toys in the crate, such as frozen rubber Kongs.
Here are some things that helped with my dogs when they were puppies -
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-training-tips-and-
Another thing that will help is to start training puppy using positive reinforcement techniques. 'Sit' is a great first command.
I just bought a 6 weeks old siberian husky and she barks/howl a lot. I don't know what to do because she doesn't seem to listen. She barks the most when i put her in her cage. I want to teach her to like her cage because I would have to leave her home for several hours a day, alone. Please help me!
Hello Pete,
One thing that has worked for me with shy dogs is to wait a far distance away from them - far enough that they are not afraid - and let them come to you. Don't sit too close and don't corner the dog. A fearful dog that feels cornered may respond with aggression.
Often I will be holding something smelly that they like, for example cheese. I get down, completely ignore them (no eye contact and no talking), and start reading a book.
If the dog starts to approach - I make sure not to give him eye-contact or talk. This will likely spook him. Instead, I just toss some cheese over in his direction and just repeat.
It may take some time. With shy dogs I try to go at their speed and let them make the first move.
Hi,
I'm house sitting and for a friend for the next 10 weeks. He has a 4 year old Healer/Border Collie mix name Ruby. Ruby is very timid and usually runs away when she sees me but sometimes gets aggressive and charges towards me when I approach. The owner told me that Ruby would need some time to warm up to me (it's been almost 2 weeks). I always talk to her in a soft manner and walk slowly up to her in a non threatening way, but she still panics. I have been around dogs my whole life and have never seen anything like this dog. I know deep down that Ruby is a good dog, she acts completely fine when she's around her owner, but won't go near another human.
Do you have any tips to help reduce Ruby's stress level?
Thanks,
Pete
Hello Ashley,
Thanks for sharing your dog story with us.
What has worked well with my Shiba Inu, Sephy are desensitization exercises. I would get a friend that he is less comfortable with to stand a good distance away from us, and make sure that Sephy is calm at that distance (on leash with flat collar).
Then I engage Sephy in commands and reward him for staying calm and listening to me. If he stays calm, I walk one step closer, and repeat.
Once I got Sephy to a state where he is staying calm a few feet from the person, I also got the person to throw very good treats next to him - but only if he stays calm.
It is important that the person totally ignores the dog - no talk, no touch, and no eye-contact. The no eye-contact part is very important because that can be seen as an invitation to interaction or even sometimes as a threat.
Let us know how things go with your lab. She sounds like a big sweetie.
Nice hub, really high in detail :) I like it
I have decided after reading this article that my dog shows the signs of being fearful. In some ways sometimes, you think she is being protective. When new people come around, she sort of circles them and stares at them and then at one point she lets out a sort of high pitched bark, like she is frightened or feels threatened. She is of course sweet and lovable around certain family members that she is familiar with but if she doesn't know someone, she acts in this strange way. She is black lab mix of 2 years of age as of september 2010. We are unsure of what she is mixed with.
Hello Julie,
Yeah I had to go through some similar stuff with my Shiba Inu Sephy. He was a very mouthy dog.
Several things helped with Sephy -
1. Bite inhibition training.
http://shibashake.com/dog/bite-inhibition
2. Using a drag-lead and time-outs.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-training-tips-and-
3. Don't reward jumping and biting behavior. When a dog jumps, don't give him any attention because dogs view that as a reward. I turn away, fold up my arms and just ignore him. If Sephy starts to escalate into biting then he goes to time-out. This way he learns that -
Biting + jumping = don't get to be with people, no biting = gets attention and affection.
When this started, I would push Sephy away, or shout at him, but this only got him more excited which made him bite and jump even more. I didn't know it at the time but doing those things was actually giving Sephy the reward of my attention.
4. Always stay calm and in control. Dogs are very sensitive to our energy and if we get angry, frustrated, afraid, etc- they will pick up on it and get even more amped up. What helped greatly with Sephy is to control my own energy.
http://shibashake.com/dog/pack-leader-to-an-aggres
Getting a professional trainer can also be very helpful in these circumstances.
i have a one year old male boston terrier....hes very vicious he constantly jumps at people trying to bite them, if anyone is carrying anything in their hands(water bottle, purse, towel, anything above his head he also goes into a frenzy trying to jump and bite...even when i get dressed he bites at my pants, shoes anything. i do not know what to do about him i cannot have anyone just drop by they must call before they come or there will be issues and hes very hard to pull off someones shoes when he has his jaws locked on them....
You've done really great job having written this hub. Being a dog-owner for 2 weeks only I will take into consideration all your advice, because I don't want my dog to be bad one. Thanks.
Wow. You took your topic very seriously and did a thorough job of dealing with it. I have a neighbor with dog behavior problems. He needs to read this. I'll be sending him your way.
Hi Mike,
You have some very thought provoking articles on your site. Some of the videos are very disturbing - especially the one with the food aggression test at the Humane Society of all places.
It is one of those things - we need standards and protections for dogs, but then sometimes those standards may get misused or may have bad results. As was shown in the video, when the wrong standards exist - the people involved will usually just follow the 'rules' blindly.
I agree with you 100% on the polarization of dog training - it is totally unnecessary and it is detrimental to dogs. We should all check our egos at the door because this is about the dogs - full-stop.
I liked your training video with Darren and agree with your balanced outlook on dog training techniques. I will definitely think upon the issues brought up in your blog and continue to read your very excellent articles.
Darren is very lucky to have found someone like you.
Thank you for such an informative and well balanced article! There are so many extreme viewpoints out there nowadays - even to the point where some trainers/organizations are saying "dominance doesn't exist" and dogs are no longer considered pack animals. There is so much info out there that is just attacks on other trainer's methods - but this is just pure good knowledge that works. Thanks again!
Hello Jodie,
It may be most helpful to find a good professional trainer and have her come over to observe your RedBone.
Some other things that may help -
1. Follow the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program. This just means that your dog has to do something for you first before he gets anything in return - including affection and food. Make sure that everybody else in the house follows the same thing.
http://ezinearticles.com/?NILIF---Nothing-in-Life-
2. Do short obedience training sessions several times every day.
3. Since he is protecting you and seems most bonded to you, let him know that his aggression is not a desired behavior. Every time he growls or shows any aggression, non-mark him and get him to give both you and the other person some space. This can be done through body blocks (if safe) or by using a lead.
4. Exercise and other activities will also help him get rid of excess energy and make him more receptive to training while at home.
5. Here are some things that may help with food guarding-
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/stop-food-aggression
Here are some things that helped me become pack leader to my Shiba Inu-
I have a red bone who is very protective of me. He isn't even a year old but huge and goes after my husband when he comes in the door. He only does this with him. He occassionally grawls at my son (who's the master) when I'm around. No one can get by the food except for me either. He never grawls at me. I'm afraid we will have to get rid of him if I can't fix this. Please help!
shibashake Hub Author 3 months ago
Thank you Tenkay. Welcome to HubPages! Always great to have more dog lovers on the site. :D
Hugs to your pack.