Why Won't My Dog Listen to Me?

One of a dog owner’s greatest frustrations can be a dog that doesn’t listen to what they are told to do.  You may feel that you spend an endless amount of time calling your dog into the house, trying to keep them from jumping, or attempting to get their attention when you are out for a walk.  Or maybe there are simply times you feel your dog has very selective hearing.

All dogs can be good listeners, but they need the proper guidance and relationship with their owners to achieve this.  If your dog doesn’t listen to you, one of the following is probably the reason.

You aren’t as much fun as whatever your dog is doing.  Many of the occasions when our dogs tune us out are simply because there is something more interesting to do.  If you are trying to call your dog in from the backyard and aren’t getting any response, your dog has probably learned that there is a greater reward in ignoring you – more squirrels to chase, more time to smell the grass, etc.  Plenty of dogs listen well at home, but when they are taken out, to the park or into town, they quickly stop listening to even the simplest commands.  In any of these situations, getting upset or frustrated won’t make your dog any more likely to pay attention.  The only way to get your dog’s attention is to become more interesting than whatever they are currently doing.  Make yourself fun, make yourself interesting, and make yourself exciting!

Fear of punishment.  If you correct your dog for something, you should be confident that you are addressing a behavior that you do not want repeated, and that your dog will associate the correction with that exact behavior, not something else.  For example, if your dog gets out the front door and leads you on an hour long chase through the neighborhood, chances are by the time you catch up to him you will be quite frustrated, if not outright angry.  However, if you punish your dog for finally returning home (or merely allowing themselves to be caught), your dog will associate that correction with the last action they took – coming back.  Because dogs have relatively short attention spans, they cannot make the connection between what you are frustrated with (the bolt out the door that happened an hour ago) and the punishment they are receiving now.  That means that if you correct him when he comes back, next time he won’t want to come when you call him.  Using positive methods instead of punishment based training will ensure you never make a mistake like this.

Your dog hasn’t been formally trained.  Many owners expect their dogs to respond to commands that haven’t ever been officially trained.  You may think your dog knows how to do something, but they may in fact have only gotten lucky in responding properly.  Or maybe they do have a little understanding of what you are asking, but don’t know well enough to be able to perform around distractions, when they are tired or bored or in a different situation.  Our dogs genuinely want to do the right thing, but we need to give them the tools.  If you feel your dog isn’t listening because she’s just being difficult or stubborn, consider that maybe she just doesn’t get it.  The easiest way to fix this problem is to do some formal training: go to a class, get a private lesson from a professional trainer or find a good book.  Educate yourself so you know the right way to teach your dog.

You’re speaking the wrong language – English!  Let’s face it; we are a very ego-centric species.  Without even knowing it we often expect our dogs to act the way we would.  It’s the only way most of us know how to behave.  But when we expect our dogs to understand us or act like us, we are usually asking too much.  If you’ve ever thought of your dog as your child, talked in complete sentences and sort of expected an answer, or felt like your dog was holding a grudge against you, you’re guilty.  Don’t worry – it happens to the best of us.  However, if your dog seems to be ignoring you, maybe it’s just a “language barrier” of sorts.  You speak English and she speaks canine.  And it’s not just about interpreting a bark.  Dogs are very tuned into body language.  They communicate mostly through posture, movement, eye contact…all without a single spoken word.  The next time your dog doesn’t listen to you, consider if she really understands the question.

If your dog is not listening, regardless of why, the best solution may be found through a professional dog trainer.  Good dog trainers don’t just know how to get a dog to sit, they can interpret relationships between dogs and owners and help you learn how to improve them.  That leads to a happy ending for both you and your dog, and lots more listening!

A Successful Day

Saturday was a great day of progress for Brody. We've been working up to it the whole time he has been training, building foundation, building trust and creating meaning for the clicker.  Saturday was the culmination of everything we had worked on, and the true beginning of his counter-conditioning training.  I was worried about how Brody would react - while he's done very well so far, there are lots of things that can go wrong once all the cards are on the table and he comes face to face with his nemesis. 

I was worried that he would get stressed out and refuse to take treats, that he would start to ignore the sound of the click, or that I wouldn't be able to keep him under threshold.  Those are all common road blocks when working with a leash-reactive dog, so I had reason to be concerned.  But all our prep work (and my thoughtful planning of bringing several different kinds of treats) paid off.

The park we picked to work in on Saturday was perfect for what Brody needed.  It was busy - with a sunny, mid-70's spring day that wasn't a surprise.  Lots of kids and parents, noise and activity, but that wasn't what we were there for.  I got Brody all set up, leash clipped to his harness, my treat bag and clicker ready, and we headed to the edge of the park, by the sidewalk that ran around the perimeter.  That's where we found what we were looking for - a woman walking her dog.  The first dog we spotted was small, which was fine for a starting point. 

I got Brody to a distance that I thought was just close enough (or just far enough, depending on how you want to look at things!), then proceeded to click and treat at all the right times.  It was a fantastic exercise - textbook.  My timing was good, and I managed to keep Brody just under threshold all but one time (which I caught so quickly it didn't become an issue).  We made it by that dog without a single bark, so I gave him a little break and grabbed a few pictures.  Once I'd spotted the next dog I again set Brody up at a distance that felt right, and we again had a very successful session.

Throughout the couple hours we stayed at the park Brody got to encounter many dogs, and he continued to do very well.  If you think two hours sounds like a long time to train a dog, you're right.  It's too long.  But sometimes you have to take advantage of situations that are ripe for training, so I kept Brody from getting frazzled by mixing things up and taking lots of breaks.  A little work passing another dog, then some time to sit in the shade and relax.  A walk around the grass for sniffing and exploring, a trip over to the car to get a drink of cold water and some fresh treats, then scoping out another dog and taking up our position.

It's wonderful as a dog trainer to have things go well, especially when you have eager parents putting their trust in you, hoping that you will make great progress with their dog.  We still have a long way to go, but right now I'm very happy with how Brody is doing.

Have you ever had a dog that was reactive (towards dogs, people, cars or anything) when on leash?  What did you do to change their behavior, or what did you do to deal with it?

Meeting of the Minds

I had a wonderful meeting this week with Portland's own Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist, Dr. Chris Pachel of Animal Behavior Clinic.  My expectations were high - before leaving Florida, Dr. Lisa Radosta (also a veterinary behaviorist - believe it or not they are two of only about 60 in the country) told me if we were headed to Portland, Oregon that I had to get in touch with Dr. Pachel.  She said he was an incredible behaviorist and an equally positive personality.  I had dealt with him already through a client that we shared, and hadn't been disappointed.

It was a great meeting.  Dr. Pachel is very down-to-earth, which means that even though he has incredible education and experience, he is easy to relate to.  I appreciate his approach to behavior and medicine.  It will be hard to know until we interact more, but I feel like his methods are very similar to mine, which will make it easy to refer my clients when they need his help, as well as to work with referrals of his patients to help them with follow through and moving their dog's behavior in a positive direction.

It's fantastic to know that I have a resource in Dr. Pachel.  For those of you that don't know, his position is why I never refer to myself as a "behaviorist."  Trainers that do are using the word inappropriately, because unlike dog training, there is a medical degree that makes someone officially a "behaviorist."  What's the difference? 

Dog trainers can work on a variety of things, including socializing puppies, house training, obedience training (like teaching sit,down, stay, come, heel, etc.) and changing problem behaviors like jumping up, bolting through doors or barking at squirrels in the yard.  A dog trainer may also choose to handle some behavior cases, if they have the education and experience to do so.  Those may include mild cases of separation anxiety, house training problems in grown dogs, or a dog who is afraid of the vacuum cleaner. Some trainers handle aggression and some don't - if you are looking for help with aggression make sure you find someone who is qualified and who uses positive methods. 

A veterinary behaviorist isn't likely to be much help for acclimating your new puppy to playing well with other puppies, or for teaching your dog to sit for meeting visitors.  But a veterinary behaviorist may be the right resource for a dog that has extreme fears or compulsions, or for a dog that is so intense in guarding his toys that he has bitten family members in the process.  A veterinary behaviorist can rule out medical causes, can create a behavior modification plan that is appropriate for a dog with complex training needs, and can prescribe medication if that is something that will be helpful in the animal's recovery.

We are fortunate to have a veterinary behaviorist in the Northwest, and even luckier that it is someone as caring and personable as Dr. Chris Pachel!                                                                              

How Comfy is Your Best Chair?

Photo (c) 2012 Faith Hague

Leo, a Spinone Italiano mix, has learned to behave well when he's in a comfy spot, thanks to resource guarding behavior modification training through Bravo Dog Training (boy, that's a mouthful!).  Resource guarding is a natural behavior that occurs when a dog wants to protect something he finds valuable - like a great sleeping spot or a rawhide bone.  Dogs can resource guard any number of objects, including food, toys, beds, bones and even people.

Changing the behavior is about changing the dog's perception of our approach and interaction when the dog has something he feels is worth guarding.  Contrary to long held beliefs, the best way to stop resouce guarding behavior in dogs is not to challenge the dog and "put him in his place," but to make him see our presence as a good, safe thing.  Does Leo look like he feels safe?

For additional information on resource guarding, check out the January 2011 issue of The Bravo Bark: http://www.mybravodog.com/January_2011.html Thanks to Faith Hague of Camden, Maine for the great photo!