my dog is stubborn
Your dog…
stands there staring at you as you ask repeatedly for an easy skill, like “sit,” over and over.
sees a thing they should not have and with a twinkle in their eyes as you say “no” goes for it anyway!
stops in the middle of a walk and refuses to walk—not just in one direction, but in any direction.
Once, my dog Jake sized me up: I am pretty sure he was making a precise calculation: how fast can the human run? how fast can I run? how far is the pile of horse poop from me? how far from the human? how fast can I eat?
The calculus came up in his favor, and he went for it. he got four good mouthfuls down before I caught up to him. also, he got hiccups because he was eating so fast, and was so excited about the fun snack. I dragged him away and was livid. so many thoughts raced through my head….
He ignored me. he mocked me. he valued a pile of horse poop more than me. if that was something dangerous for him to eat, I would have been taking him to the vet, and I don’t want him to get sick!
I know how frustrating it is to experience this kind of behavior.
let’s talk about it.
what is stubbornness, anyway?
ignoring very good ideas in favor of an already established idea
unyielding
obstinate
fixed, determined
difficult to change
why is your dog ignoring your very good ideas?
I don’t really know why your dog is doing what they are doing. But here are some things to think about:
it’s not really “stubborn” if your dog does not understand the reasoning behind your very good idea. have you shown your dog (repeatedly) that your idea is a very good idea? if not, you just have a difference of opinion and you can probably bring them over to your way of thinking.
it’s not really “stubborn” if your dog is overwhelmed, distracted, or new to the activity. puppies often just are not coordinated enough physically to do skills over and over. adolescent dogs have brains that get overloaded and easily frustrated. adult dogs that have not practiced a skill for a while can get really rusty. senior dogs can have arthritis that distracts or slows them down. rescue dogs can have a lot of adjustment to your way of life that is weakening their focus and decision-making capacity. fearful dogs can be simply overwhelmed.
it may be “stubborn”. many dogs were bred by humans to be “committed” and this is another word for stubborn. humans have selected most dogs because they are willing to commit to an activity that is not in their own best interest. hunting, retrieving, guarding, rescuing, drafting and protecting are dangerous and often pretty thankless jobs for dogs — but they really commit to them.
do you need help figuring out what kind of stubborn your dog is?
We can help you come up with a very good idea that you and your dog can agree on; we can help you see your dog as wonderfully committed instead of stubborn; we can problem solve with you so your dog can hear your very good idea in the first place.