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”.
Dog Obediance Training
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.
Dog Obediance Training
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 Dog Obediance 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 Dog Obediance Training, including a
fantastic resource for training how-to's and loads of detailed
information on preventing and dealing with problem behaviors, check out
SitStayFetch.
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.
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