Chapter 14: Dealing With Inappropriate Behavior

Your “NOOOOO!” can be heard ’round the block. Your dog has done something bad again. Of course, your instinct is going to be to yell at him … but is that the most effective way to fix the problem? The answer is … No!

Yelling and physically punishing your dog may make you feel better because it’s a release for your frustration and anger. It’s just not terribly constructive. For example, your dog gets hold of your shoe and runs off with it. You yell at him to come to you. He cowers and crawls over to you. You grab the shoe away and swat him on the rear. You show him the shoe and yell, “Leave this alone! Don’t take my shoe! Bad dog! BAD DOG!” You’re probably thinking that you’ve made it clear that he should never touch your shoes again. Not exactly.

Instead, you punished your dog for coming to you. The next time he’s in the yard and you call him to come inside, he may not. The next time you call him to come to you because you have to give him important medication, he may avoid you. This is because you’ve actually taught him not to come to you. He has associated coming to you as a negative experience. You also may have taught your dog to go hide with the shoe next time so he can tear it to bits under the table without your seeing him. These are not behaviors that you want to teach your dog.

What could you have done instead? You could have trained your dog some behaviors that would have been very helpful. If you saw your dog headed for the shoe, you could have used Leave It so that he never picked it up in the first place. If you were too late, and he already had the shoe, you could have used Drop It so that he’d spit it right out.

If you hadn’t trained your dog yet, there still were better options. You could have encouraged your dog to come to you, then calmly taken the shoe, and then praised him for giving it to you. That would have taught him that it is rewarding to come to you … and bring you things! It could be the start of a nice retrieve.

Yelling and physically punishing your dog for problems is not constructive.

The Cost of Corrections

Dogs need rules and boundaries. You should be a leader in your home; you just don’t have to be a tyrant to achieve leadership status. There is a big difference! If you use harsh methods to correct your dog when he makes mistakes, the price you pay may be further problems.

•Swatting, spanking, “pops on the rear,” slapping, scruff shakes:

•Can cause fear, especially fear of hands or approaching humans, and resulting aggression. Depending on the dog, these corrections can cause the dog to shut down. This is called “learned helplessness,” in which the dog is too fearful to try any action, for fear of punishment.

•The idea of rolling up a newspaper and swatting your dog to disassociate the action with your hands is a myth. Your dog knows that you’re holding the newspaper!

•Collar grabs, dragging dog:

•Can cause fear, especially fear of hands or approaching humans, and resulting aggression. This could be a problem if you ever need to grab the dog’s collar for safety issues. It would be better to train your dog to positively associate your grabbing his collar with treats and praise.

•Can cause aggression so that dog bites when someone reaches for collar or head. This is a common cause of bites to children when they reach for their dogs’ faces.

•Pulling a dog in one direction automatically causes most dogs to pull back. This is called
an oppositional reflex, and it makes it even harder to move the dog in the direction you want to go.

•Alpha rolls (flipping the dog over onto his back to show that you are dominant or the boss):

•Can cause confusion at best, fear and resulting aggression at worst. This correction can cause fear of hands or human approach. It can cause a dog to be so frightened that he will urinate. This will not necessarily teach him to stop doing what you didn’t like. It is likely to teach him that you are unpredictable and can’t be trusted—that you become aggressive randomly.

•Based on the inaccurate belief that wolves force their subordinates to flip upside down to show respect. This is not true. Lower-ranking wolves roll over of their own volition to a higher-ranking wolf. Dogs are not wolves. Dogs also realize that you are not a wolf, either. You don’t pin him with your muzzle. Therefore, the alpha roll does not accomplish what is intended.

•Yelling, screaming:

•Depending on the dog, could cause fear and resulting aggression. A human temper tantrum, with yelling and screaming, can cause some dogs to be so afraid that they will urinate. This will not necessarily teach your dog to stop doing what you didn’t like, but it is likely to teach him that you are unpredictable in your anger. Some may start growling, feeling a need to protect themselves.

•With other dogs, yelling is ineffective. You could scream all day and they’ll just ignore you.

•Spraying water or vinegar from a bottle:

•Can cause aversion to water, which is unfortunate when it’s bath time!

•Your dog learns to obey you only when you carry a spray bottle.

•Doing something unpleasant to your dog until he does what you want (negative reinforcement):

•Can cause fear and resulting aggression; can cause the dog to shut down.

•Depending on the application and the dog, can cause aversion to other things. For example, one method of teaching a dog a retrieve (for competition or field training) is to pinch his ear firmly, often against the buckle of a collar, until he takes the item in his mouth. Once he does, you release the pressure. This is called a “forced retrieve” or “conditioned retrieve.” Does it work? It can. But it can also teach your dog to dislike retrieving. And it’s not necessary to use this method to get a reliable, consistent retrieve—even for competition and field trials.

•This doesn’t mean that you should never discipline your dog. It doesn’t mean that there are no consequences for “bad” behavior. When you use positive methods to train your dog, however, you’re just smarter about it. You can avoid the negative consequences that come with physical punishment and still have a well-behaved dog.

So, if your dog does something that you don’t like, what should you do? It depends on the infraction. If the dog is about to hurt someone or himself, a sharp “No!” can interrupt the behavior. If you use positive training methods with your dog, a single, sharp “No!” can be extremely effective because your dog doesn’t hear it all the time. If you are constantly yelling at your dog, it just becomes background noise.

If your dog is just being annoying and isn’t doing something dangerous, ignoring him is extremely effective. Ignoring behavior that you don’t like is one of the best ways to discipline him. Dogs hate to be ignored! They thrive on attention. For example, if your dog is bounce, bounce, bouncing by the door, waiting for you to open it, just ignore him. Don’t move, and don’t open the door. The second he stops bouncing, you open the door. He’ll learn that door will never open if he’s airborne.

The most effective way to stop problem behaviors is to manage and train your dog.

Grabbing your dog’s collar can cause fear and resulting aggression.

The Management Plan: Controlling the Paycheck and Benefits

Modern dog trainers talk a lot about management. The concept is simple, but the execution can sometimes be a challenge. Once in place, however, it’s a very powerful tool for preventing problem behavior. Prevention is the key word—with a good management program, you prevent your dog from misbehaving.

The more that your dog practices a behavior, the better he will get at it. So if he’s practicing behaviors that you don’t like, he’s getting very good at them! What starts as a few repetitions of an annoying behavior will quickly turn into a habit. Habits are harder to change, for people as well as for pets. This is why it’s easier to train Walking Nicely on Leash to a puppy that’s never walked on leash before than it is to train an older dog that’s been dragging people around for years.

The less training your dog has, the more management you have to do. If your dog hasn’t yet learned to chew on appropriate toys, you need to be sure to keep everything out of his way that he may find tempting to gnaw on until you teach him which items are OK. If your puppy isn’t house-trained, you need to confine him until you teach him where you want him to potty. If he’s counter-surfing, you can block off the kitchen area until you teach him to stop it. The more you teach your dog the behaviors that you prefer, the less management he will need. There is truly something special about an older dog that completely understands your rules and routine! That’s the goal—you just have to train your dog to get there.

The most effective way to stop problem behaviors is to manage and train your dog.

Take Control

A humane, effective way to deal with your misbehaving dog is to control all of the good stuff in his life. Once your dog learns that you control all good things, you have his attention and respect! It’s also so much easier than trying to muscle him into doing what you want.

Your dog already knows that you’re the one who can get into the dog-food bag and the refrigerator. You’re the one who can attach his leash and take him outside for adventures. All of these are very rewarding to him. Once you begin a positive training program, your dog will learn that you are a source of fun and treats. He will want to earn the treats, so he’ll pay closer attention to you and learn how to enjoy working for you.

If he doesn’t do what you ask, no paycheck. If he acts inappropriately, he loses benefits. For example, your dog starts shredding one of his toys. You take the toy away from him—too bad! He doesn’t get to play with it anymore. Does he start barking like crazy when you reach for the leash? You step away from the leash instead. Too bad! You don’t attach the leash to his collar if he’s barking. He needs to be quiet instead. While on a walk, he starts dragging you to a spot on the side of the road. You put on the brakes. Too bad! He doesn’t get to sniff that spot. If he walks nicely, he can go in that direction. If he continues pulling like a sled dog, then you’ll just turn and walk the other way instead, and he loses the opportunity to sniff that enticing spot altogether.

You will find that your dog pays quick attention to what is working and what doesn’t. If you do let him shred toys, bark, and drag you down the street, then he’ll continue to do so. By withdrawing the reward, you can teach him that those things really aren’t very fun after all.

You can still maintain your leadership if you let your dog eat before you do.

Does the Devil Make Them Do It?

What makes your dog misbehave? It may not even really be misbehaving. Normal dog behaviors, such as eliminating, chewing, digging, barking, and jumping, are often considered annoying by people, but dogs engage in these behaviors because they come naturally to them. You just have to train them to understand when these behaviors are appropriate and when they are not.

The Dominance Myth

A common myth is that dogs misbehave because they are trying to be “dominant.” It’s as if your dog aspires to be the ruler of your household—the “alpha”—and make you and your family his loyal subjects. The truth is that dogs aren’t that complicated. They don’t spend hours plotting intricate maneuvers to storm your castle. You know how your dog will be happily running to you one second and then get distracted by something in the dirt? How is that creature capable of masterminding a takeover?

Some of this myth stems from early concepts that dog behavior was overly similar to wolf behavior. In a wolf pack, there is an alpha male and alpha female, who determine pack rules and responsibilities. Other wolves in the pack have varying ranks, and there can be jockeying for position at times. Popular myths of the alpha wolf have trickled down into our relationship with our domestic dogs, which are leagues away from their lupine cousins.

You may have heard that the alpha wolf always eats first, so, before feeding your dog, you should always eat something first, in front of him, to maintain your leadership position. This is simply not true. The alpha wolf in a pack does decide who gets to eat first, but it isn’t always him. Alphas often let the youngsters eat first, out of practicality—young wolves need the nutrition to survive much more than their older relatives.

Your dog already knows that he can’t eat without you. You control the food he eats, when he eats it, and where he eats it. Munching on a cracker in front of him right before you present his food bowl is irrelevant.

Dogs do not steal things, chew things, pee or poop on things, bite, pull on leash, bolt out the door first, or many other behaviors because they are dominant. The reason why they do those things is much simpler. They’re dogs. These behaviors are rewarding to them. Dominance is also not a personality trait. A dog can be social, shy, or a goofball, but he can’t be dominant as a personality descriptor.

So is there such a thing, then, as dominant aggression? Yes. Dominance is defined in animal behavior as a relationship between individuals that is established by force, aggression, and submission in order to determine who has priority access to resources such as food, preferred resting spots, and access to mates. If your dog is on his bed, and he growls at another dog that tries to lie down next to him, this is dominance. He is saying that the bed belongs to him, and he doesn’t want the other dog on it.

If your dog runs out the door ahead of you, however, what is the resource that he is challenging you for? The door? Access to outside? This makes no sense. He just wants to go outside because it’s exciting out there, or maybe he really needs to eliminate.

Don’t mistake normal puppy and dog play for dominance. Some dogs growl when they play tug-of-war, and they are not threatening you at all. They’re playing. If your dog nabs a toy and runs off, looking over his shoulder for you to chase him, this is not dominance, either. He wants you to chase him and play. True instances of dominant aggression occur less frequently than common culture would have you think. So if your dog misbehaves, please don’t assume that he’s trying to outrank you!

Some dogs growl when they play tug-of-war, but this type of growling is not threatening.

Triggers

Sometimes, dog behaviors have triggers. Some dogs bark furiously when looking out the windows of their houses. Or, you may take your dog out for a ride and he barks when someone approaches the car. Some dogs growl when children approach. Some dogs only pee in the house during a thunderstorm or fireworks. Some of the reasons may be behavioral in nature; for example, it’s not unusual for fearful dogs to eliminate inappropriately or act aggressively. Sometimes, the reason is physical.

If your dog exhibits a sudden change in behavior, rule out physical problems. For example, if your dog hasn’t peed in the house in years and suddenly starts peeing on your carpet, a vet check is in order. Or, if you’ve been picking up your little dog forever, and one day she suddenly snaps at you, take her to the vet. If the problem is physical, then no amount of training or behavior modification is going to help until the physical problem is addressed first.

Once your veterinarian eliminates any physical problems, then you can consider whether the trigger for your dog’s behavior is something else. For example, are there any stressors in your home that could cause your dog to start peeing in the house? Something that seems minor to you, like a change in your work schedule, could be stressful to your dog. If you used to always come home at 5:30 p.m., but a work project has you staying late every night until 8:00 p.m., this is a disruption in routine. Dogs settle comfortably into routines, so this could be stressful for him. When dogs get stressed and upset, they can urinate or chew destructively.

When your dog does something you don’t like, ask yourself, “Is this normal? What caused it? Can I fix it?” You may never know why your dog does certain things, but some educated guesses might be very helpful in guiding you to a solution.

Dogs settle comfortably into routines, so any changes could be stressful for them.

Train What You Want

Once you identify any triggers that may be causing your dog’s undesired behavior, you can address them. Instead of getting angry all of the time and telling your dog what you don’t want him to do, you can train your dog to do things that you want him to do. “No!” just isn’t very specific. Telling your dog to stop doing something is different from telling him what to do.

An effective method is to train an incompatible behavior. This is a behavior that, when performed, makes it impossible for the dog to do the behavior that you don’t like. The chart on the top of the page shows some common problem behaviors, along with alternatives that you can teach your dog instead.

Think about other things that your dog does that bother you. What can you teach him to do instead? Train those desired behaviors to fluency so that they become better habits for your dog.

Techniques to Help Frightened Dogs

If your dog is afraid of something, there are two techniques often used to help him develop more positive associations with the scary item. You can also use these techniques for dogs that don’t like certain activities, such as nail clipping or bath time. If your dog is so frightened that he eliminates, or is behaving aggressively, it’s best to work with a canine professional who uses reward-based methods and has experience working with your dog’s specific behavior issue.

Desensitization

Desensitization is the process of increasing an animal’s tolerance to a stimulus by gradually increasing the presence of the stimulus. You start at the point at which your dog can perceive the scary thing but does not show signs of stress. This is called “under threshold.” If your dog shows stress, you are already exposing him to too much of the item. This is called “over threshold.”

For example, your dog is afraid to ride in the car. If he is standing next to the car, he starts to look away, yawn, and whine. If he is 3 feet (.9 m) from the car, he starts to become tense. But he can be at your front door, looking at the car in the driveway, with no problem. So you would start at the front door. You would take one step toward the car and make sure that your dog was still OK, and then proceed another single step, and so on. Desensitizing your dog to the car may take one session or many sessions.

Counterconditioning

Counterconditioning is the process of pairing a stimulus that causes a response with another stimulus that causes an opposite response. The first stimulus then starts causing the second response. You give something to your dog that he really likes when he’s exposed to something he really doesn’t like. He then builds a better association with the thing he doesn’t like, so he grows to like it.

With the car example, every time your dog looked at the car you could give him a treat. He would start looking at the car more often. As he approached the car on his own, you would give him a treat so that he would start moving closer to the car. He would start to associate the car with treats and start looking forward to being near the car.

You must be careful with counterconditioning that you don’t proceed too fast or push the dog too hard. It can backfire if you’re not careful. The dog could have the opposite reaction than what you intended, developing a negative association with the item you were using as a good thing. For example, your dog could start not liking the treats you are using because they now remind him of the scary car.

This is why you should not give your dog a food-stuffed chew toy only when you leave the house. Most dogs love food-stuffed toys. But if your dog only gets one when you leave, and he doesn’t like it when you leave, then he will start associating that toy with the negative experience of your going away. Giving your dog food-stuffed toys randomly when you are at home can prevent this.

Don’t give your dog a food-stuffed toy only when you leave the house, or he will come to associate the toy with your leaving.

More Powerful Together

Desensitization and counterconditioning are often used together, and they work very well together. You can often make faster progress by pairing the two techniques together.

You start under threshold, the point at which the dog is not exhibiting stress. You then start rewarding the dog with something he finds wonderful, such as treats or playtime with a toy. You gradually move closer to the scary item, continuing to offer rewards. As long as the dog does not exhibit stress, you are still under threshold and performing desensitization correctly.

When Should You Consult a Veterinary Behaviorist?

If your dog is exhibiting a behavior issue that concerns you, how do you know when you need help from a veterinary behaviorist as opposed to a professional dog trainer? Veterinary behaviorists are educated to deal with both minor and severe behavior problems. Lore Haug, DVM, MS, DACVB, CPDT-KA, CABC, of Texas Veterinary Behavior Services in Sugar Land, Texas, explains that there are certain situations in which contacting a veterinary behaviorist can provide valuable insight into a behavior-change program. These include situations in which an animal may have a medical problem that is causing or contributing to the problem.

“The veterinary behaviorist can help manage the medical issues to maximize the animal’s response to a behavior-modification program,” Dr. Haug says. “Additionally, veterinary behaviorists are uniquely trained to manage cases in which psychoactive medications are needed or indicated—for example, animals with marked fear, anxiety, or repetitive behaviors. In short, veterinary behaviorists are one of the few professionals who are trained to address all aspects of an animal’s health and well-being.”

It can be hard to find a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area because there aren’t that many of them. Don’t give up, though. Dr. Lore adds, “Owners living in areas that do not host a veterinary behaviorist can still benefit from their knowledge by encouraging their pet’s regular veterinarian to contact a veterinary behaviorist by phone or email for assistance in managing difficult cases.”