How do you deal with an exuberant dog?  What do you do when you catch your dog “in the act”?  When is it appropriate to “discipline” your dog?  A reader writes with some great questions – and I follow up with my answers:

Thank you for your helpful blog! I have a small hound whose behavior towards other dogs is always friendly and submissive. She is generally a super friendly — and super hyper — dog.

Recently, when we have disciplined her after behavior we want to discourage (digging into our house plants) by putting her in her crate, she has resisted — first by being hard to catch, and then by actually acting aggressive and snapping at us and biting.

She needs a lot of exercise– I take her for a 2-hour walk every day — and then I play games with her to burn off some of the energy, like tug-of-war and “chase” — she loves it when she’s chased for something, so rather than something illicit, like a slipper, I’ll give her one of her toys and we’ll chase for fun. But I wonder if this is all wrong thinking on my part, and encourages the aggressive behavior when it’s time for some discipline? What is the best thing to do when she crosses the line?

Any help would be much appreciated!

I’m glad you’re finding my blog to be helpful.  For starters, here’s a post where I centralized a lot of information about aggression:  What to do when your dog is aggressive in Four Steps

That being said, there’s a LOT to cover in your e-mail.  I’ll do it as best I can quickly:

1. Super-friendly and super-hyper – that’s good.  You have energy to work with, you just need to give her a direction for that energy that will be satisfying for her.
2. Disciplined her to discourage behavior - I don’t recommend this at all.  At least not until you’ve given her a healthy outlet for her energy.  Once she thoroughly knows what TO do you can think about the “discipline” part – but your discipline is probably creating a charge that’s contributing towards her aggression.
3. “by putting her in her crate” – even worse! If anything, you want her crate to be a refuge away from the energy and stress of the human world, a little den of safety where she loves to go.  Then it becomes a convenient place for you to keep her when you need to.  Creating a negative connotation to the crate is missing out on a great opportunity to use it for something constructive.
4. A lot of exercise – first, let me just commend you on your devotion – a two-hour walk!?!  Assuming that the walk is something you also enjoy for yourself, then how great that you’re able to take that time out during the day to get some exercise, take in the sights, etc.  However, what you’re experiencing is that while the walk might take care of the need for physical exercise, it’s not satisfying her on an emotional level.  That’s where tug can come into play – as long as you always let her win.  I have an article on how to play tug the right way here:  How to Play Tug With Your Dog
5. Also, you do NOT want to chase her.  You want to encourage HER to chase YOU. This emphasizes your “moooseness” and teaches her, over time, that when she’s feeling energized YOU are uniquely capable of resolving it for her.  A great game to play with a high-energy dog is “Fetchtug” – and I describe how to play it here:  Fetchtug And when I say “mooseness” this is what I’m talking about:  Mooseness
6. While it’s mentioned explicitly in some of the above articles, I want to also highlight the technique of “pushing” – which will be the cornerstone of your turning around this dynamic.  Pushing gives you a consistent way of resolving your dog’s emotional energy in a way that’s satisfying for her, and you’ll find that your dog will get calmer and calmer – instead of what it sounds like is happening now, which is that having no real outlet for her emotional energy (of which she has a lot – all “super-hyper” dogs do), she is storing that energy as stress.  Which comes out as “super”-anything, as well as misbehaving, and, ultimately, aggression.  You want her to feel COMFORTABLE and relaxed around you, even when she’s energized.  Right now you’re causing her stress and tension when she’s energized, which is manifesting as the beginnings of aggression.  How to push and Why pushing works

When do I need to use discipline with my dog?

If you get to a situation where you think that you need “discipline” – my suggestion to you is to take responsibility for the situation and think about what you could have done to prevent her getting into that predicament in the first place.  Is she being given too much “free” time without supervision?  Is she getting a healthy outlet for her emotional energy?  Did you see signs of her getting tense and energized that you ignored (instead of helping her resolve it)?  Did you miss a chance to redirect her from some mischief into something acceptable?  If you start thinking this way, I think you’ll find that the concept of “crossing the line” retreats into obsolescence.

The good news is that this work is generally easier with super-friendly, super-hyper dogs.  The “bad” news is simply that you have to just start doing the opposite of everything that you’ve been doing. 

Once you fix your “behavior” (and I hope you know that I’m saying all of this with a smile, not as a condemnation) – I think you’ll find that your dog’s behavior starts to take care of itself.  But I’m happy to help you along the way, of course!

Please let me know if you have any other questions.  I’ll do my best to answer them.

All of the techniques that I’ve mentioned to you (along with a lot more – for instance, channeling that high energy into really focused obedience) are also taught on my DVD set.  There’s a SUPER high energy hound/lab/mix dog (named Josie) on the DVDs, who’d be a great example for you.  You can check out the trailer for that here (scroll to the bottom):  Link to page about Natural Dog Training:  The Fundamentals

All my best, and please keep me posted on how it’s going.  Would you mind if I used your questions as a blog post?  I think it would be really helpful for other people to read.  I promise to keep you anonymous, of course!  And Happy Thanksgiving!

Then a GREAT follow-up from our reader:

Dear Neil –

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response! I will certainly get your CD [sic - it's a set of two DVDs] and try to learn from it also.

Just a lingering question though — for dogs to be good companions, there has to be some behaviors that are off limits. Like — nosing in our plants, munching on the dirt, and spreading it all over the floor.
To attempt dog psychology, I can see how this is all natural when she’s outside, so what’s the problem when she’s inside? It’s not hyper or aggressive behavior, just the  natural thing to do when you’re a hound and you use your nose ALL of the time (with my dog this means what goes into the nose goes into the mouth). I accept that we’ve been doing all the wrong things — but what are the right things to do in this specific instance?

Yes, of course you can use my questions as examples on your blog — and happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks again!

So what DO you do when you find your dog digging in the houseplants?

You’re most welcome, and I appreciate your willingness to get into dog mind.  Think of it as “dog heart”.

A question: how old do you think your dog is?  She sounds young, given your description.  A young dog especially needs to develop some inner structure around the question of “where do I get to deal with all this energy I’m experiencing?”

About your lingering question – and I think it gets to the root of “what drives behavior”.  You can look at “how we learn to behave” as a question of being praised for good things and punished for bad things – and hopefully we figure it out because we don’t want to be punished and we do want to be praised.  This model of psychology, however, only shows you part of what’s really going on.  And if you think of it in human terms, it’s easy to see why children raised like this might become either incredibly fearful (of making a mistake, for instance) or insecure (motivated by the desire to please others).

On the other hand, nurture what is unique in a being, nurture the part of them that yearns for, even demands expression – and THAT becomes (I believe) where their attention is focused.  For what’s at the core of our being is something good, creative, whole, and – I believe – social.  There are many speculative reasons for why dogs and humans have been linked up throughout history – but assuredly one of those reasons (which must have existed long before theories of behavior) is that a dog’s nature is somehow symbiotic with our own.  So the way that I train humans and people is meant to uncover what is simply at our core.  The closer that we are to “ourselves”, the more social and connected we can be.  For a human, that means connecting with your desire, your passion, and your presence, in the moment, on the planet.  For a dog, that means having an outlet for their emotional energy that satisfies them – and inserting you (their human) into that role.  So you can see the emotional dynamic at work within your dog in a way that’s free of human judgments.  Once you just recognize what “is”, and accept it, it frees you up to work with it, rather than fighting against it.

For the short term, you’re going to be developing a structure for your dog that reinforces, for her, that outside is where the energy moves and flows – through your interactions together.  And inside is where things are relaxed.  Massage.  Sleep.  Quiet time.  No talking, just touching.  Calming touch.  And when you’re not in a position to keep her out of the plants, she gets to go to a nice space (her crate) where’s she’s kept safe from her own curiosity.  Outside is where there’s lots to sniff, dig, and stimulate.  And the inside plants will certainly lose their appeal, as they become part of the inner landscape – just something to remind her of the relaxed state of being that being inside represents.  For that matter, if you (and whomever else is in the house) can work on keeping the indoor environment calm for yourselves (as well as your dog), it’ll cut down on the amount of stress that she feels the need to express indoors.

Let’s say, though, for the sake of your question, that you catch your dog with her nose in the plants.  What is she telling you in that moment?

“Give me something to do with my energy.”

So you could use a loud syllable (I use “Aye!”) to get her attention.  But at that point you need to give her something to DO.  Something positive.  Pull out a tug toy, let her have a tug on it and win the game.  Or grab a treat, call her name, and head off in the opposite direction so she has to come find you.

Since you’re in the house, you want to keep the play to a minimum, so once you’ve redirected her away from the plants, you might take some time to just sit with her and massage her, in order to relax her. The more relaxed your dog is, the more energy she’ll be able to experience without feeling the need to give it a voice.  When you’re in the house, the “problem” is generally one of not enough relaxation – with occasional times that you actually want to DO something to redirect energy (like when a guest arrives, or when, for whatever reason – like digging in the houseplants – she’s asking for your help).

I hope that makes sense to you!  Great question.

Among the most popular articles on this site is the one I wrote about the best way to introduce two dogs to each other (in ten easy steps!) using Natural Dog Training techniques.    One recent reader asked a question in the comments, and I thought I’d answer it here for everyone’s benefit.  This is also a chance for long-time readers (as will be most of these “questions answered” segments) to see how far you’ve come in your understanding of dogs via Natural Dog Training.  Magie writes:

I had just read your article about introducing two new dogs to each other and I have a question. I have a 1 1/2 year old Rottweiler male and I rescued him from a local shelter. I would love to have him interact with other dogs but because of the breed I’m not sure if he would give a warning before he would attack. Therefore, I’m afraid to let him meet other dogs.

I went to the vet and there was a smaller dog there and he kept running towards him wanting to sniff. Of course i didnt allow cause the woman holding the little dog would have had a heart attack.

How do i solve this problem?

It sounds like there are a few problems going on here.

The first issue is:  What are the warning signs of an aggressive dog – i.e. how do you know if your rottie is about to go ballistic?

The second is:  How do you negotiate an encounter in close quarters – say, at the vet?

The third is:  How do you get a feel for how your dog is going to act with other dogs?

First things first – your fear, let go of it you must

The only way that you are going to be in control in these situations (and the best way to help your dog) is if you can stay relaxed.  Focus on your breathing, keeping it slow and steady.  It will help keep your mind clear, so that you can have an accurate awareness of what’s happening with your dog and the other dog.

Warning signs of an aggressive dog

Is your dog stiffening up?  Are the ears back or raised?  Is the tail wagging in quick little vibrations, back and forth?  These are all signs of tension in your dog, and, if you remember from reading my article(s) on dog aggression, tension – in an energized moment – is what’s at the heart of an overload behavior (like aggression).  Now tension doesn’t mean that your dog is going to be aggressive, necessarily (ultimately your dog might roll over and pee) – but it IS a warning sign for you, and it’s an opportunity for you to be proactive, using a Natural Dog Training technique like pushing to help your dog release the tension.  That’s one of the reasons why I recommend introducing two dogs on a walk – to maximize the flow of emotional energy, and to minimize the stress of the face-to-face encounter.  There are plenty of on-line resources that describe  signs of an impending attack – lip raised, snarling, etc.  You almost always feel the tension building and building in those moments, before a dog snaps.

So the point is that Natural Dog Training gives you an avenue for dealing with the tension before it escalates to aggression.

How do you negotiate interactions between dogs in close quarters, like the vet’s office?

Your instinct was a good one, that you shouldn’t let your dog just run up to another dog in the waiting room at the vet’s office.  It’s always advisable to keep your dog close to you, on leash, and to use techniques like pushing (or obedience, like a down-stay) to keep your dog focused on you in the moment, instead of the other things that are there.  If the waiting room is really crowded and you’re worried about your ability to manage your dog, you might ask if you can wait outside, where there’s much less intensity for your dog.  It’s not important for your dog to be friends with all the other patients at the vets office.  And who knows, those other pets might have something contagious (and dogs are notoriously bad at covering their mouths when they sneeze)!

How do you get a feel for how your dog is going to act around other dogs?

The best way is for you to conduct controlled experiments with other dogs – say, your friends’ dogs – outside.  If you have friends with dogs that are known to be low-key and rock-solid around other dogs – start with them.  Use the guidelines in my guide for introducing two dogs to each other, and let the dogs get to know each other over several different meetings before you attempt any off-leash interactions.  And when you DO let your dog off-leash, let the dogs play for a little bit, but then separate them before things get too intense.  At that point, play tug or do some pushing with your dog to help your dog release any stress stored from that encounter with the other dog.  At all times you will be reinforcing for your dog that interacting with YOU is the way to handle excess energy and stress – which will give you a pathway to access your dog’s awareness as the energy level of any situation escalates.

Some concluding thoughts on how to get a sense for how your dog is going to act around other dogs

In my opinion, there are many dogs these days that are over-socialized, and, for that matter, too many owners who are really worried that their dog isn’t getting enough playtime with other dogs – especially if they have a dog that tends towards aggression.  In the grand scheme of things, what’s important for your dog is NOT that they have other dogs to play with.  What IS important for your dog is that they have a chance to be a dog, to do what dogs do.  And that is simply to have an outlet for their prey drive as way of handling the emotional energy (and stress) of their days in “human-world”.  The more that you can show your dog what to do with their energy, and the closer that you get to resolving 100% of your stored up stress, the happier your dog will be.  And your dog will be guaranteed to be more social when around other beings – dogs, cats, people, etc.

One last thing:  I was just featured in the Editor’s blog over at the Vegetarian Times.  She  had some questions for me about how to handle the arrival of a new baby in a house with a dog, and wrote up a great summary of our conversation.  I’ll have to write up a more in-depth article on that topic for the natural dog blog, but, in the meantime – here’s a link to the article at the Vegetarian Time.  Enjoy!