Within
the dog world, there are a few words and phrases that just refuse to
expire. Many of you have heard me lament the use of the words
"dominance" and "alpha"; my issue is that the terms are usually misused,
and do not necessarily describe what is actually happening.
But I have another word that I would like to see eliminated from our vocabulary when talking about dogs: STUBBORN.
The
dictionary definition of stubborn is "unreasonably unyielding". I have
been uncomfortable with the use of the word to describe dogs for some
time, but when I actually came across the definition, it became clear
where my discomfort stemmed from. Describing a dog as "stubborn" implies
that the dog is "unreasonable" in his failure to comply with your
commands.
As
I've discussed before, there are numerous reasons why a dog may not
comply with a command you've given: he doesn't understand it fully, he
doesn't understand it in context, he is distracted, he is
overstimulated, he is stressed, he is hot, he is irritable, he is
tired... or he just plain doesn't feel like it at that precise moment.
None of that sounds particularly unreasonable to me, especially since
many of our commands are extremely unnatural to dogs. How many dogs do
you know that freely walk along the sidewalk in a straight line, without
pausing to sniff or socialize? Or who wait patiently and quietly at
doors?
This
morning on my way to work, my attention wandered and I drove through a
questionably yellow light. I know that the intersection has a red light
camera, but I did it anyway. Now I am worried about the potential
consequences (an expensive ticket in the mail); however, that was
clearly not enough to deter me from making a poor choice at the time. I
had the briefest moment of "should I slam on the brakes or chance it?" I
took the chance. Sound familiar? A dog may "know better", but when
faced with a choice and having only moments to decide on an action ("Do I
lunge and try to play with that dog, or sit here quietly?"), it's not
"unreasonable" that a dog will impulsively choose a behavior that lines
up more with his instincts.
So
when someone tells me that their dog is "stubborn", that does not give
me very much information as a trainer. A better description might be,
"He has a hard time following commands when other dogs are around." Or,
"He doesn't like to be 'drilled' in obedience and will get bored after
several commands in a row." Or, "He's going through adolescence and he's
more interested in checking out the environment." Or, "When his nose
hits the ground, he tunes me out." None of this is "bad" behavior. It
just means you have to get more creative with your training. The
traditional use of consequences may not be enough to convince a dog to
ignore his instinct to get excited when a stimulus presents itself.
Understanding
this is an important step in training a dog effectively, and with
understanding. Give the dog a clear choice, but make the decision a bit
easier for him if you can. So if you're practicing "stay", and you know
your dog is distracted by tennis balls, don't try for a long "stay" all
the way at the end of the leash while tennis balls are being bounced.
Practice a brief "stay" with the pup at your side, so you can give
effective feedback. GRADUALLY introduce duration and distance, rewarding
the dog for successful efforts. If the dog breaks the "stay", make it a
little easier, rather than correcting repeatedly. The dog isn't
stubborn; he just finds bouncing tennis balls to be highly exciting and
it is hard to concentrate on something as boring as a "stay".
If
your dog gets "stuck" on smells, he may have a genetic predisposition
to find smells extra-fascinating; he is not stubbornly ignoring your
commands. Instead, he is so absorbed in odors that he forgets that he is
attached to a human. Get his attention off of the smell when you can,
and practice a heavily-rewarded "Let's go" around the scent-y area.
Simply correcting him and moving on will not convince him not to smell
next time; walk back and forth a few times in front of the odor to teach
him what TO do instead. This will take a lot of repetition before he
understands that he cannot be driven by odor alone, but through fair,
consistent training, he can learn to turn his attention elsewhere.
If
your dog looks at you blankly after the fifth "sit" command he's had to
do, he may simply not see the point. Some dogs will go through commands
500 times, but others grow bored of repetition and don't find it
particularly enjoyable or rewarding. For a dog like that, make obedience
a game. Weave obedience and play together, giving the dogs lots of
breaks and interacting in a way that the dog finds enjoyable. Use a toy
or encourage the dog to chase you a short distance. Pat him on his side
or roll him over for a fast-paced belly rub. Let him get a little worked
up, then try some obedience again.
But
above all, try to avoid thinking of your dog as "stubborn". Try to get
to the root of why the dog is behaving the way he is, and modify your
training technique to help the dog succeed. If I can't be trusted to be
perfectly behaved at traffic lights, I'm not going to expect my dog to
always make the best choices. Because of my mistake and it's
consequences, I am going to be very conscious of my approach at traffic
lights from now on... but will I eventually slip back into some
yellow-light-running habits? There are certainly enough people with
multiple speeding tickets who clearly didn't learn their lesson the
first time. It's unfair to hold dogs to a higher standard than we hold
for ourselves. In order to train a dog, we need patience, consistency,
and rewards, not judgmental, unhelpful labels.
