Strange Behavior on Walks!
Ok, so, we have a 7.5 month male Shiba. He is a fantastic, loving puppy and profoundly obedient and well behaved indoors. He is also very intelligent and needs to only do something once (i.e. commands) to learn it.
This is the problem: it is definately our fault. We have had him since he was 6.5 weeks old and always let him walk in front of us on walks, thinking that we were letting him explore, learn, and grow. Of course, as such a baby, he had nipping problems on walks that we corrected at the time, but chalked it up to developmental stage. However, he is now finished teething and his teeth are extremely sharp and he has a VERY strong jaw...and this behavior, despite many behavioral methods, has continued. We recently started watching Cesar Millan's training videos and realized that by letting Ebi walk ahead of us outside, we had been giving him mixed messages: we are the boss inside the house and he is the boss outside the house. Thus, we have been working fiercly on the heel command and only letting him walk next to us. This has greatly decreased the behavior, but not eliminated it. This is how it generally goes down:
1. We are out walking, heeling is going great, and then he has a bowel movement.
2. Ebi starts ferociously chasing his tail and despite all efforts at come, distraction, commands, comfort, etc., he continues to chase his tail.
3. Ebi gets frustrated, angry, etc.
4. We decide enough is enough and say come and enforce with the leash.
5. We walk ahead of him and he comes up behind us and bites our calves or jumps up on us and goes for hands/arms/etc.
6. I think to myself calmly "you can't challenge me," tell him "off," immediately turn to the side (communicating I can't be challenged) and refuse to make eye contact. I do not give him any attention until he is calm and then tell him "heel" and he's fine. He usually stops immediately.
7. My husband has a far bigger problem. He generally turns towards Ebi (saying essentially, "bring it on"), makes eye contact with him (ditto), and gets very upset inside. Thus, Ebi continues lunging at him and gets more irritated and aggressive. Eventually, Ebi calms down and they start walking again but the second Hubby walks in front of Ebi, it's on again. My hubby comes home exhaused, Ebi comes home upset-it's a nightmare.
8. I told Hubby that he MUST change is body language, use calming signals, and think to himself that he is not challengable. He agrees. That should help the severity of the behavior.
But, I'm not sure it will be eliminated. So, 1. any advice or experience is greatly appreciated! 2. Any ideas on why this is occuring in the first place and how to eliminate this behavior? We are very motivated to understand and stop this behavior. One of the reasons we chose the Shiba was because of the breed's athleticism and would really love to enjoy long runs/walks with him. Additionally, we are hoping to bring a female Kai into our home this summer and certainly don't want to make the same mistakes with her!
Thanks so much!
This is the problem: it is definately our fault. We have had him since he was 6.5 weeks old and always let him walk in front of us on walks, thinking that we were letting him explore, learn, and grow. Of course, as such a baby, he had nipping problems on walks that we corrected at the time, but chalked it up to developmental stage. However, he is now finished teething and his teeth are extremely sharp and he has a VERY strong jaw...and this behavior, despite many behavioral methods, has continued. We recently started watching Cesar Millan's training videos and realized that by letting Ebi walk ahead of us outside, we had been giving him mixed messages: we are the boss inside the house and he is the boss outside the house. Thus, we have been working fiercly on the heel command and only letting him walk next to us. This has greatly decreased the behavior, but not eliminated it. This is how it generally goes down:
1. We are out walking, heeling is going great, and then he has a bowel movement.
2. Ebi starts ferociously chasing his tail and despite all efforts at come, distraction, commands, comfort, etc., he continues to chase his tail.
3. Ebi gets frustrated, angry, etc.
4. We decide enough is enough and say come and enforce with the leash.
5. We walk ahead of him and he comes up behind us and bites our calves or jumps up on us and goes for hands/arms/etc.
6. I think to myself calmly "you can't challenge me," tell him "off," immediately turn to the side (communicating I can't be challenged) and refuse to make eye contact. I do not give him any attention until he is calm and then tell him "heel" and he's fine. He usually stops immediately.
7. My husband has a far bigger problem. He generally turns towards Ebi (saying essentially, "bring it on"), makes eye contact with him (ditto), and gets very upset inside. Thus, Ebi continues lunging at him and gets more irritated and aggressive. Eventually, Ebi calms down and they start walking again but the second Hubby walks in front of Ebi, it's on again. My hubby comes home exhaused, Ebi comes home upset-it's a nightmare.
8. I told Hubby that he MUST change is body language, use calming signals, and think to himself that he is not challengable. He agrees. That should help the severity of the behavior.
But, I'm not sure it will be eliminated. So, 1. any advice or experience is greatly appreciated! 2. Any ideas on why this is occuring in the first place and how to eliminate this behavior? We are very motivated to understand and stop this behavior. One of the reasons we chose the Shiba was because of the breed's athleticism and would really love to enjoy long runs/walks with him. Additionally, we are hoping to bring a female Kai into our home this summer and certainly don't want to make the same mistakes with her!
Thanks so much!
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
It sounds like your boy is has a low threshold and is somewhat reactive.
I would suggest using a gentle leader. It will take some time for the dog to adjust but it is a valuable tool for just the situations you are describing. I also would consult with a trainer that uses POSITIVE training. No roll overs, leerburg method, choking etc etc etc.
I am sure others will have other tips/options/opinions too. Select your trainer wisely.
Snf
However, the nipping would cause me some annoyance. I would give Patrice's suggestion a try. A gentle leader is a great training tool. You may also want to bring a pocketful of treats and treat the proper behaviour that you want. Ignoring the pup and refusing to continue the walk can also help alleviate the negative behaviour. Just make sure you praise, treat, and continue the walk when he calms down.
Another suggestion I have is changing the pace of your walks. At 7.5 months, he is probably ready to get moving. I know that with our oldest, Bella, we found that we were walking too slow for her tastes due to bad leash behaviour. Once we upped the pace a bit, she was much happier and behaved much better!
I ask because Joey went through a phase where he would trot up next to me while walking and jump up to playfully nip my hands. I didn't see it as a challenge or aggression, I saw it as playfulness. It did get annoying, so I trained him out of it using the following approach (which is similar to what you have been doing): Whenever he would initiate the behavior, I would stop walking immediately. If he continued to go for my hand, I would use my knee to block him (NOT FORCEFULLY, I just put my knee out to the side so he no longer had access to my hands). If he was persistent, I would grab his collar with one hand and use my other hand on his rump to gently guide him into a sit. If he wasn't persistent, I would give the "sit" command (which sometimes required a gentle reminder with the leash). Once sitting, I would do a watch me with a treat and then give it to him.
Notice the difference in our approaches? Not much right? I think the only thing I did differently from you was use a treat at the end to reinforce the correct behavior. With Shibas, you really do need to focus on the carrot over the stick. You'll be amazed at how quickly they pick things up when rewarded.