My dog is really getting on my nerves?
Question by Missy: My dog is really getting on my nerves?
I adopted a dog about a month ago, and she was great! She had some leash tugging issues, but we worked on that. She wasn’t perect, but she certainly behaved. Now, she has gotten into the habit of stopping and laying down in the middle of a walk. She is impossible to move, and I have to give the leash a good tug before she will get up. That is the most annoying thing. She will not “sit” when I tell her to, and she knows how. I have to firmly press her bottom, almost like when I was trainig her! She has developed such a stubborn streak! She’s even taken to gently biting by hand when we play. Is she becoming aggressive? OR just stubborn? I’m really starting to dislike my own dog! What have I done wrong? Have I spoiled her? Is she testing me?
Help! I don’t want to feel this way at all.
FYI-She is an APBT, and she just went to the vet. Clean bill of health.
W61Earl, I never let my dog sleep in my bed. SHe has her own bed. Also, a fenced in area doesn’t compare to a walk. A dog bonds with the owner during a walk, rather than if you just let them out to play.
Best answer:
Answer by mmcrobinson
what type of dog do you have?
What do you think? Answer below!
JVZoo Product Feed
Well if it were my dog, I would recognize the signs that I needed a trip to the vet, and then figure it out from there. She isn’t testing you, she is trying to tell you something is wrong.
Take her to obedience classes; the mouthing isn’t aggression, it’s just play behavior. Tell her “no” and take your hand away if you don’t like it.
Hard to say. Could have to do with her breed, could be something medically or neurologically wrong with her, etc. Take her to the vet and have a full medical evaluation done to rule out anything medical.
It may be that she’s coming into heat as well. Is she spayed? If not, go ahead and spay her.
Edit: Have her neurologically tested. Do make sure she gets spayed as well.
I think you should take her into a training school,maybe she thinks she can walk all over you because she is the only dog in the house and she knows you will love her no matter what.I also think however if you do not want to take her to obedience school then you should start giving her treats but only when she does right when she doesnt then simply walk away.as for the walking issue bring a spray can full of water and when she lies down spray her she might be irritated at frst but trust me these are teh answers to full on success! i hope my answer hellped you/
it really could be any number of reasons, but getting frustrated doesnt help. You may want to take her to the vet to make sure something isn’t bothering her medically. Animals often change their behavior when they have infections, irritations or something is simply uncomfortable. that would be the first step. make sure nothing’s wrong.
If all checks out medically, then i would talk to my vet or a trainer about what might be going on.
it might sound stupid….but go to ceser milan’s website and read what he has to say, or watch his show. He’s not a trainer, but a dog behaviorist. He has some pretty good pointers when it comes to stubborn dogs.
good luck
Lol…my dog did that too! We’d be walking and he’d decide he didn’t want to anymore. lol My dogs a Beagle. It’s a dominance thing. My dog kinda just grew out of it because he came to the conclusion that I’m the alpha. What kind of dog do you have? The biting on the hands is just playing. My dog does that too but I let him know when he gets too hard. If your dog is being too stubborn and you can tell he’s trying to be dominant over you by deliberately disobeying, I’ve always pinned my dog on his back and stared him in the eyes til he calms down. That way YOU are showing your dominance and they learn fast. You may still have to remind him sometimes though. I still have to. I hope this helps.
if she’s young, she’ll most likely grow out of it. but take her to obediance classes and don’t let her walk all over you.
Sounds like something is bothering her. When my dog did that she had stomach cancer. Try taking her to the vet for a check up.
If that is not the case put food in your back pocket and get her to chase you. Or hold a treat and get her to come. Maybe she just is not getting to spend as much time with you. Maybe she needs another puppy friend to play around with cause she is lonely and bored.
She is testing you. Quit letting her sleep in your bed. Feed her only at specified times. Use a fenced area, not a leash. A lot of it has to do with the breed of the dog, of course. What did you get? A pit?
Just be calm with her. If your walking take a snack (Dog pebbles,biscuits,ect.)if your tell her to sit and she does she must get a reward and just work through all the stuborn streaks
them dogs are really stubborn i have 2 and belive me there hard to train. when your on a walk and she lays down give the leash a pull and say very sternly GET UP and if she dont listen pick her up then say BAD and jus kinda ingore her because dogs hate when you ingore them and hey realize they did something wrong.
Dogs will test the limits just like a child will. You just have to be firm and let them know who is boss. Keep your cool and always remember not to hit or yell because that wont get you anywhere. You need to establish yourself and the “lead dog” to show her that she listens to you and not the other way around. Dont overuse the word “no” because if you do it loses meaning. Try to use a sharp and quick vocal noise when she does wrong to get her focused on you and remember that dogs arent stupid. They can read the expression on your face and they know emotions by the tone of your voice. Good luck.
somehow you have been inconsistent with something, and it might not just be with the walks.She needs to know your in charge. I would start getting fairly strict. don’t let her on the couch or the bed. Only feed her 3 times a day for about 30 min, if she doesn’t eat, oh well, pick it up and give it to her later. Just be very strict with her schedule, and stick to it. Once she sees that you mean business and your sticking to it, she should go back to herself. don’t talk to her too much, don’t make a lot of eye contact, do not pet her when she asks you to, only do it when you invite her to you. get little treats and reward her when she does something good, practice her tricks daily. good luck
She’s not ‘stubborn’. She is probably distressed by something you are doing or something in her environment and instead of trying to figure it out, you get annoyed and punish her.
And one month is about right for most adopted dogs to start to settle in to a new home and be comfortable enough to be themselves.
Pushing on her butt is activating her ‘opposition’ reflex. The best training is accomplished with operant conditioning (mostly positive reinforcement) – not force or punishment. You may want to read up on it and try practicing some patience.
you need to take her to training classes, you need to learn how to correctly train her.
She is tesitng you, trying to assert her dominance over you. Many dogs go through phases like this.
If she bits while you play, say no bite! very sternly and take your hand away. play again and if she does it again, say no bite! and this time stop the game.
If she stops on a walk, keep walking till you get to the end of the leash then wait, with your back turned, ignoring her. It may take a few minutes but she’ll get bored and come to you.
Every time you feed her, hold the food up in the air and tell her to sit. Do not give her the food until she sits. If you have to push her bottom down the first few times, do that but make sure she stays sitting on her own before giving her the food. After the first few times if she doesn’t sit on her own put the food away and try again in 10 minutes. If you have to try more than 3 times, she misses that meal. This is a GREAT way to assert your dominance over her, you are the master of her food, therefore you are the pack leader.
Make sure that you are VERY consistant in this, at this stage, any inconsistancy will be viewed as weakness and you’ll lose your role as pack leader!
How old is she? Sounds like adolescence. When puppies test your limits and see what they can get away with. Your previously angelic pup turns stubborn and rotten.
If that’s the case, be consistent with her. Reward her good behavior with tiny treats. And yelp when she bites you and definitely don’t give her any positive attention when she does it. It really does sound like she’s just testing you. Be patient!
How old is she?
If she’s between 6-12 months old, she might be hitting the teenphase, where dogs generally become obnoxious and disobedient. There’s nothing to do, but to wait it out, be calm, consequent and very patient.
If she’s older, she might be giving you calming signals on the walks and with the sit. Did you give her time to settle in? Have you perhaps trained her too intensively? Are you stressed? Do you need to get the walk over in a hurry? Are you talking harshly to her? All of this can trigger calming signals in dogs, like lying down, sniffing around, refusing to move, refusing to look at you, and the more agitated you get, the more the dog is going to try and calm you down.
Also remember that dogs are not good at generalising. She might do a great “sit” in the kitchen, but not “get” the “sit” in the garden, some dogs need to build up several “sit” references, before they understand “sit” in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the garden, on the parking lot, in the city, when balancing on a tree stub etc.
In general, she’s probably bonding to you and feeling more relaxed around you. It happens very often with rehomed dogs that they are angels the first few weeks, after which they start to relax and show their true nature. Her being more relaxed is probably why she’s also playbiting your hand. Playbite is NOT aggression, and it’s not only puppies that do it, many older dogs will very gently playbite people they trust (people they have a good relationship to and who will not see the biting as anything other than play). She doesn’t sound aggressive to be, aggression would be more likely to show itself during training, especially if you physically push her down into a sit, than during play.