There’s a difference between disobedience
and lack of understanding
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 doesn't mean that you have a disobedient dog; it just
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 knows fully what it is that you’re
asking him to do (and you know this because he’s done 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 bad for your relationship with your dog.
A dog's 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 will just “fix
itself” – the problem will worsen, not get better, if you leave it.
It’s very important that your dog knows 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 harsh 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 re-establish your dominance.
- When leaving the house and the car, you must always leave before your
dog. This is clear 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 your home it isn'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
with 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.
Tips for a
good training program:
- Never give a command that you cannot reinforce immediately if he
chooses not to obey 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 that he can wait for the
command to be repeated at least once before he obeys you.
- Five to fifteen minutes per day is sufficient 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 completely absorbed the basics; 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 many 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.
