Your Dog Isn’t Giving You a Hard Time—They’re Having a Hard Time
“He knows better.”
“She’s just being stubborn.”
“He listens when he wants to.”
Most dog owners have probably said something like this at some point. And sometimes it really does feel that way. Your dog can perform a behavior perfectly in the living room, then seemingly forget everything the moment you step outside.
But before deciding that your dog is refusing to cooperate, there’s a more useful question to ask:
What changed?
Imagine you’ve taught your dog to sit in your kitchen. It’s quiet. You’re standing a few feet away. There’s nothing particularly interesting happening, and you have treats in your hand.
Your dog gets very good at sitting.
Now take that same dog to a busy park. Children are running nearby. Another dog is walking past. Someone dropped half a sandwich twenty feet away. A squirrel just ran up a tree.
You say, “Sit.”
Nothing.
Your dog hasn’t necessarily become stubborn. You changed the test.
Dogs don’t automatically understand that a behavior learned in one situation applies everywhere. They need opportunities to practice behaviors around gradually increasing distractions and in different environments.
And sometimes training isn’t the main issue at all.
A frightened dog may be too concerned with creating distance to respond normally. An adolescent puppy who has been awake too long may have difficulty settling. A frustrated dog on a leash may be struggling to regulate themselves while another dog passes. A dog staring at a squirrel isn’t weighing your authority against their moral obligation to obey.
Their behavior is information.
That doesn’t mean undesirable behavior should simply be accepted. Understanding a behavior and changing it aren’t opposites.
If your dog jumps on visitors, you can teach them another way to greet people. If they bark out the window all afternoon, you can change the environment and work on alternative behaviors. If they can’t respond to you around other dogs, you can create enough distance for them to succeed and gradually make the situation more difficult.
But the solution depends on the problem.
Calling a dog “stubborn” doesn’t tell us what to do next.
Recognizing that they’re frightened, overexcited, exhausted, frustrated, distracted, or simply undertrained gives us somewhere to start.
So the next time your dog seems to be giving you a hard time, pause before asking:
“Why won’t my dog listen to me?”
Try asking:
“What’s making this hard for my dog right now?”
That small change in question can completely change what you do next.
Helping people understand what their dog has been saying all along.
— Allen
Bark to Basics Dog Training
