I cringe whenever I hear someone refer to a dog as “stubborn.” It is patently unfair to label a dog as stubborn. Dogs do what works for them (as we all do), and when they aren’t doing what we ask, they have a good reason. When your dog doesn’t respond to your cue, perhaps he’s come to associate it with something aversive, perhaps he doesn’t understand what you’re asking, or perhaps he’s too distracted or stressed and your request doesn’t even register in his brain. In any case, it’s our job, as the supposedly more intelligent species, to figure out how to get our dogs to want to do what we want them to do.
Some humans believe dogs should do what they are told, simply because we tell them to. “Because I said so!” hearkens back to childhood, when parental directives were often accompanied by the implied “Do it, or else!” In these days of a more enlightened dog training philosophy, this coercive approach isn’t what many of us want with our dogs. We prefer relationships based on a cooperative partnership.
If your dog isn’t doing what you ask, consider these questions:
Are you training competently? Remember, dogs shouldn’t have to do what we say just because we tell them to – or just because they love us. We want them to want to do it. Make sure your reinforcers are valuable enough that your dog will eagerly offer the behaviors you ask for, and that you are marking and/or delivering the reinforcer with good timing so your dog associates the reinforcer with the desired behavior.
Is there something aversive about the behavior? Years ago, my first Pomeranian, Dusty, started refusing jumps when we were training for the Open Division of obedience competition. I didn’t punish him for not jumping – I took him to my veterinarian and discovered he had bad hips. It hurt him to jump. A behavior can also be emotionally aversive. If a car ride always means a trip to the vet, your dog could become very reluctant to jump into the car. Your challenge is to make car rides consistently predict “good stuff” – a hike in the woods, a trip his favorite canine pal for a play session, or? If he’s refusing to enter his crate because he has mild separation distress and associates crating with you leaving, alleviate the separation distress through behavior modification (and possibly appropriate medications), and then convince him that crating is wonderful.
Does he not understand? You may have taught him to respond to a cue for the desired behavior, but perhaps you’ve used body language prompts in the past without realizing it, and now, absent the prompt, he doesn’t understand what you’re asking of him. Fade all prompts if you want him to respond reliably to verbal cues. Perhaps you’ve always trained in the kitchen in front of the refrigerator, and so he thinks “Sit” means “Sit in the kitchen.” When you ask him to sit in the living room, he doesn’t sit because it’s not the kitchen. He’s not being stubborn – he needs you to help him generalize his behavior so he understands that “Sit” means to put his tail on the ground wherever you ask him to do it. Even your tone of voice can matter. If you usually give cues with a happy voice but your own emotional state causes your voice to sound different, he may not understand.
Is he distracted? If you haven’t generalized your dog’s behavior to distracting environments, his attention will naturally be drawn to the multitude of exciting things happening around him. He’s not ignoring you; he probably isn’t even hearing you because he’s so focused on the fascinating world around him. Help him hear and respond to your behavior requests by training in various environments with gradually increasing distractions.
Is he stressed? “Stressed” is an even bigger challenge than “distracted.” When stress happens, the thinking part of the brain (the cortex) shuts down and the emotional part of the brain (the amygdala) takes over. We even have phrases in the English language to describe this phenomenon: “I was so scared I couldn’t think straight.” “I was out of my mind with worry.” When your dog is so stressed he can’t think straight, it’s unfair to blame him for not doing what you ask. Relieve his stress (remove him from the stressor, and/or do behavior modification to change his association with the stressor) and try again.
Your relationship with your dog will be so much happier when you stop characterizing him as stubborn and realize how you can help him be more responsive to your behavior requests. Now get busy helping him want to do what you want him to do.
Featured photo: Christine McCann/Getty Images
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Sixteen weeks in lockdown and not being able to have his injections has course many problems with Loki. He was sim months old when he took his first steps out side.
He barks non stop when he sees any one and doesn’t stop when they go out of sight.
His anxiety levels are very severe.. he hates going in the car I have tried everything and brought everything to help make him more comfortable in the car.
I can’t house train him probably because whilst most of the time he will go to do his toilet near the door he often do a wee in the any where. He has started cocking his leg up the table or the sofa to do a wee.
I wasn’t able to use the toilet mats while he was in lockdown because he would chew them up the second I put them down.
I was so looking forward to taking him for walks when we were able to go out. Whilst he does love to go into the field for his walk he just in inconsolable when another dog appears or a person.
Thanks for the information..
Thanks
I beg to disagree….My dog could be called stubborn, but I call him bull-headed. Proof…..He used to bark at dogs; people; bikes; cars. I have finally got him to stop doing it. BUT…when he does not do anything like that and the point of contention is out of sight, I might say “Good dog” and give him a pet. He immediately turns around in the direction the stimulus went and barks like crazy. Nothing is there, but he still has to bark. That is bull-headed! Still love him to pieces!
I was just having a discussion with my mother on whether dogs could be stubborn. This isn’t a training thing but I was complaining that my old guy who now has cancer + arthritis insists on accompanying me when I move to a different room, even when I tell him I’ll just be gone a couple of minutes. I’m having a really hard time letting him go but I also hate so much to see him hurting. Still, I contend that he IS stubborn! 😀
I think our dog is stubborn! Got nothing to do with training or barking, nothing like that. To me stubborn is when HE decides which way we’re going on a walk. We are very lucky to be able to walk through woods and heathland which are crisscrossed by multiple paths and our Sid will come to a meeting of paths and once he decides which path he wants to follow he’s very difficult to persuade otherwise. Backside on the ground and refuses to budge. This by the way is a 10 kilo Jack Russell, heaven alone knows how you persuade a 30 kilo lab!
Our lab/boxer mix is about 40 kilos (90 pounds) and he’s just like Sid. He decides which way we are going to go. Sometimes we give in to it, but he often chooses a route we know he can’t manage (elbow dysplasia issues). He parks his butt and refuses to move. He was a rescue that we acquired at 2 years and he was allowed to roam before. He’s now about 9. We put it down to his independent nature. He’s well trained and very bonded to us. The only other explanation that we would add to this article is ‘is your dog the leader?’ – we have to work at this. Gus knows that he doesn’t get what he wants when he initiates a command. It’s tough on a walk, as if we ignore the behavior and wait, we’ll there a long time. 🥴
My pit bulls are stubborn for sure! They occasionally say, nope or I don’t want to. It could be the sit command which has been mastered for 6+ years in any and every circumstance. But sometimes Daisy just looks at me and stands. She’d prefer not to sit at that exact moment and I see that as stubborn 🙂
I completely disagree. Stubbornness is fluid and they will choose to ignore cues, treats and all other forms of positive reinforcement if they simply don’t want to do something. We cannot assume it’s our/owner/handlers own “fault” if the dog does not respond to our cues and commands in a low distraction environment. They are being STUBBORN!
I disagree. My current BMD is very stubborn, and he is also very well trained. But when he doesn’t want to move, for example to come into the house, he will plant his butt down and you cannot budge him. He recently had TPLO surgery and we must keep him on leash and quiet. Taking him out is a challenge as he doesn’t want to come back in because he will be put back into his Xpen. I have tried every tasty treat out there, including tripe, but he is stubborn! He knows to come when called and many other commands, and he heels very well, but when he doesn’t want to do something, he won’t, and I call that stubborn. I use positive training techniques and have for over 25 years, and have trained dogs for over 50 years.
It always bugged me that breed books characterize Basset Hounds as stubborn. They were bred to put their nose down and follow it, so when they don’t listen to owner’s commards, they’re labeled as stubborn when they are listening and following their genetic makeup.
Thank you !
I think you are wrong. Stubborn is exactly what some dogs and some children (never mind some adults) are.
They have the will to stand out for what they want and will not accept anything less.
The problem is more seeing stubborn as a sin, instead of a personality trait. In life stubbornness can be an advantage – it is just that it takes more effort on our part to train a stubborn dog to do what WE want it to do.
in my books, unless some behaviour is important, then I don’t insist a dog do it.
I must admit I enjoy my willing dogs more, but if Ironbark will simply NOT sit more than twice in a competition ring, then I stop entering him in competitions, He’s a great smoocher and has an excellent bark 🙂
I believe that some dogs just have a mind of their own. I have trained many dogs over the years, but when I had a pack of five Jack Russells and a Westie, well that was a different story. The Westie never needed anything more than pats and a “good girl!”to do as requested. The Jack’s were well trained on lead, but off lead plus a squirrel and no way! I tried everything including kitchen scraps as treats. You could actually see them making the decision to not obey. If there was some sort a of prey in our 2 1/2 acre fenced yard, and I would call them to come, the Jack’s would perk up their ears (that’s how I know they heard me), then the ears would go back and against the head. No amount of calling would get them to come unless the squirrel left the yard. You should have seen them the day they treed a cat! The deliberate choice to disobey, in my opinion, is stubborn! It is good to note that on all the occasions except the cat, the Westie came when called even though she would look longingly back at the Jack’s still chasing the squirrel. The terrier is a very smart dog, and I believe they sometimes make their own decisions. That is why anywhere outside a fenced area, these dogs need to be on lead. Sadly, this wonderful group of dogs have gone to the rainbow bridge.
“Stubborn” dogs are often owned by people who refuse to consider that their inflexibility in their beliefs and approach might be holding both of them back. One could in fact label them as stubborn.
I agree with Ms. Miller, stubborn is the wrong choice of words. It’s definition is determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so. I’ve had the good fortune of sharing my life with a lot of dogs, from rescue dogs that started out terrified of their own shadows to dogs that have never known anything but love and affection. All have had their unique personalities, all of them wanted to be good – but as Ms. Miller points out, we can’t always know what is going on in their minds to understand why their behavior can sometimes be a puzzlement to us. Yes, there are dogs with special needs, but even these dogs will respond to consistent behavioral training with positive rewards.
Sometimes too, it is good to remember that dogs have agency, and we humans are not alway predictable or consistent and yet despite that, dogs still do a darn good job of reading us.
that;s all fine for triggers, but what about the dog who refuses to listen because she thinks it’s fun and games?
to run around and tease?
I am leaving in the car and she still refuses to come into it…I will even drive away and she chases me thinking it is still a game and still refuses to get in when I stop and open the door?
The biggest problem I see with the label “stubborn” is that it allows some people (not, hopefully the ones on this list) to use that label to punish the dog for being ‘stubborn”.
Just a thought…
Kitti
Shouldn’t punish a dog for their nature. These dog need ‘management’ and an intelligent trainer/handler/owner.
I’m of two minds here. I agree that some dogs are stubborn when they deliberately make up their minds to NOT do what they are asked. I also agree that almost all dogs do what you want when there is something good for them involved. Unless continued training decreases the treat, if it is not there, why should it obey?
I’m of the opinion there is “stubborn”, “self preservation” and “instinct”. Some of the examples here appear to be stubborn but I also think the “smarter” the dog, the more effort it takes to train. Smart dogs, including those working breeds that were bred to do a job and can do it on their own are smart and their brains need a lot of stimulation to get them past the I wanna do something else or I just don’t want to.
Some dogs with a very high prey drive will not obey until the animal they are chasing is either killed or gone. The same with dogs that will go through an electric fence and ignore the pain.
I know of Alaskan Malamutes that have refused to go over thin ice that looked solid to the human because they knew they would go through and drown. They could be beaten and still would not go. A Siberian would cross anyway, and would go through it. A mal may avoid anything it knows is dangerous to him, not necessarily to the human but to him. I call that instinct and self preservation.
This discussion could to on ad infinitum and everyone would have examples of their dog’s behaviour to back up a claim.
All good comments!
I have a one year old English Cream Goldendoodle who is the absolute BEST until, on a walk, she encounters another dog.
She sits, plants her paws in the ground and refuses to keep going. I have, at times, had to drag her across the street when cars are coming and she is Stone Statue looking at another dog. I felt it to be so dangerous that I now give her the command to sit/stay until the other dog has moved on. While this is a semi-solution, it still makes our walks (4 miles a day) stressful for me and, possibly for her.
I’ve used high quality treats along with “good girl” when we finally get past the other dog. What is this? Stress? Distraction? Fear? Anxiety?
We have graduated to her “leaving it” when the other dog is on the other side of the street, but when they are coming towards us, she freezes and will not move.
Any suggestions would be so welcome!!!!
Also, do puppies grow out of this behavior with constant commands, treats and “good girls”?
Thanks for any reply!
Sorry Pat. Though I love you and respect you, there ARE stubborn dogs.
Usually they are referred to in dog training circles as difficult to train. I always think of them as dogs who try to train me.
“Not not good enough! Get a better reward or I’m outta here!”
“You and whose Army?”
I think that the deciding factor is whether they will work for social rewards from you.
Which is why a far and away prefer the sheep herding dogs 🙂
That’s what a trainer told me with my first Ridgeback puppy 30 years ago. She said they were stubborn and difficult to train. They were not. They just did not respond well to a heavy training hand. All of mine (12 over the years) have been easy to train with repetition and they remember long after the reinforcement ends. They also need to respect you and not think they can get around you. I’ve never ever had a stubborn dog.
I rescued a dog a couple of years ago. They told me she was stubborn. I found out within a weak that she was almost deaf and within months completely deaf. I had to teach her hand signals and she learned in minutes. You just never know.
I’ve had a variety of different breeds thru out the years and trained a lot of different dogs and do believe some dogs are stubborn. Right now I have a standard poodle and a boxer. Both are fairly well trained but training the poodle was a breeze, she just wants to please. The boxer is a whole nother story. When she doesn’t want to do something asked of her you can see her brain working on should she or should she not comply with the request. She eventually decides to do the right thing but it’s not a quick agreement. I do believe stubborn dogs are harder to train but not all hard to train dogs are stubborn. It seems to be a breed thing, bully breeds are quite a bit more stubborn then the “soft” breeds. They need many more repetitions of a desired behavior then saya border collie or poodle. Sometimes you have to get more creative on how you ask and reward
Are you old enough to remember Red Skelton and the “mean little kid” “If I do I gets a whuppin’ I Dood it!” That’s Ponko – a hienz mix rescue. Stubborn to the max.
My 11 month old goldendoodle is a sweetheart, except when she picks up something she knows she shouldn’t have and refuses to give it to me, clamping her jaw so tight I can’t get it out and so we have a stare down til she finally gets tired. This could be trash on a walk, a dangerous bone found on a walk, my clothing, you name it. Even trying a high quality treat in exchange does not work. Yes, she has a stubborn streak.
When we got our last Labrador the breeder had told us he was her favorite because he was ‘the bad one’. Should have heeded the warning, lol. He stood out in his training class, and not in a good way. He sure entertained everyone in the class though.
He had a mind of his own, for sure, and I finally realized that we were both better off if I worked with him and focused on teaching him the house rules rather than trying to make him into a ‘perfect dog’. The best decision I ever made because we became best friends and he was my Soul Dog, for sure.
Certain breeds are known for being stubborn and I know some dogs just don’t make the cut for being a seeing eye dog, etc., so why is it not possible for some dogs to just be stubborn? Sorry, strongly disagree here. We know dogs share a lot of similar emotions as people, just not the more complex ones, so why can’t a dog share certain personality traits and be stubborn?
Where can I find evidence of this?
Only seems to be opinion from what I’ve read.
Would love to find evidence of the scientific study that says dogs aren’t stubborn.