#3 – The motivation isn’t enough
If you’re trying to train him using his regular kibble, maybe he isn’t interested enough in what you’re doing. Use a high-value treat that you ONLY give him during training sessions. Freeze dried meat, for example, broken into pea-sized pieces, may keep his attention better than regular kibble. Some dogs aren’t very motivated by treats at all and would be more excited about getting their favorite toy or a game of fetch as a reward for a positive behavior. Maybe your dog will be happiest with verbal praise and a scratch behind his ears. Try a wide variety of motivations and see what your dog gets the most excited about. This is what will keep him focused during training sessions.
If different members of the household are using different methods or commands to try to train him, he is likely to become confused as to which commands he should listen to and how to respond to each signal. Make sure every member of your household is using the same methods, commands, and cues to teach your dog the behavior expected of him. Consistency in having your dog follow the rules is important. If one family member lets the dog sneak into their bed or beg for food, he will be much more confused when others tell him he’s not allowed on the furniture and needs to stay from people while they’re eating.
What could people mean, then, when they say their dog is stubborn?
I think they think their dog is stubborn, but what they’re really seeing is an untrained dog. They’ll say things like “He knows I asked him to sit. He’s just being stubborn because visitors are here.”Nope, he’s not being stubborn – he’s too distracted. The environment is filled with lots more exciting things, sitting’s the last thing on the dog’s mind. That doesn’t mean he’s stubborn, that means you haven’t done your training. Yep, I’m putting this one squarely on the owner, not the dog. Look, if it were that easy for the dog to sit, he’d go ahead and sit! It’s not like sitting is difficult or time consuming. It’s pretty darn easy for a dog to do. So why wouldn’t the dog sit? Not hard-headedness, not stubbornness – it’s lack of training.
When I say lack of training, what I really mean is lack of training in the face of distractions. That’s usually what trips most dogs up, what gives them the label of stubborn and hard-headed.Take my own dog, Nemo, as an example. He’s a puller on walks. He likes to go now, go fast, and go far. Logically, it would be much easier and more pleasant for him to walk on a slack leash. A tight leash is (1) a lot of work for the dog – he’s constantly pulling and (2) pretty uncomfortable – the leash is pushing against his trachea and neck muscles. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable for Nemo to slow down a bit and have a nice, enjoyable loose-leash walk? Well, yes, it probably would. So why, then, would Nemo still pull? Must be because he’s stubborn. Wrong. He’s excited. He’s over-threshold. He can’t wait to find out what scent the next blade of grass holds. He wants to know which dog peed on the neighbor’s mailbox. He can’t wait to add his own scent. In short, he’s awfully excited to be out on a walk.
He’s far from stubborn or hard-headed. He’s flat out excited. Plain and simple.
But it’s much easier for me to blame Nemo, rather than put the blame where it belongs: on me. I need to spend a lot more time teaching Nemo that a slack leash is the way to get to that next blade of grass or to the neighbor’s mailbox.
Medical Reasons. It could be that your dog is in pain or has another medical issue that makes the behavior you are asking for, difficult to do. Recently, when a client’s dog was not sitting as asked, I noticed that when he did sit, he was falling into it. Tests revealed he had a pulled groin muscle. Maybe your dog isn’t wanting to go further on a walk because something is causing discomfort or tiredness. Definitely if there is a sudden behavior change, rule out any underlying health issue that could be the root cause.
The first thing I will do if you tell me that you have a ‘stubborn’ dog, is ask you, “What exactly does stubborn look like to you and when is it most likely to happen?” After all, stubborn is really just a label or construct. It could describe SO MANY different behaviors in so many different contexts; and what I picture when I think of stubborn could be very off from what you are thinking.
Listen to your dog. Get to know your dog’s body language. Watch for stress signals. If your dog does not want to walk in a certain direction, don’t force the issue. If your dog is afraid of something, help your dog to feel safe. You can walk the other direction or choose another location all together. You may need to work on teaching your dog new associations with environmental stimulus. If what you are doing is causing your dog to exhibit stress signals, change how you are interacting.
Always teach your dog with the most positive strategies, allowing for choice, as much as possible. Teach your dog that good things happen when he does wanted behaviors.
Your dog doesn’t fluently know the behavior you are requesting. If you haven’t practiced doing the behavior to the point of your dog doing it without hesitation, he really may not know what you are asking and may be confused. Please read this post on how you may be inadvertently creating cue competition.
How To Train a Stubborn Dog
I cringe whenever I hear someone refer to a dog as “stubborn.” It is patently unfair to label a dog as stubborn. Dogs do what works for them (as we all do), and when they aren’t doing what we ask, they have a good reason. When your dog doesn’t respond to your cue, perhaps he’s come to associate it with something aversive, perhaps he doesn’t understand what you’re asking, or perhaps he’s too distracted or stressed and your request doesn’t even register in his brain. In any case, it’s our job, as the supposedly more intelligent species, to figure out how to get our dogs to want to do what we want them to do.
Some humans believe dogs should do what they are told, simply because we tell them to. “Because I said so!” hearkens back to childhood, when parental directives were often accompanied by the implied “Do it, or else!” In these days of a more enlightened dog training philosophy, this coercive approach isn’t what many of us want with our dogs. We prefer relationships based on a cooperative partnership.