Are Dogs Really Stubborn?

I see this question online at least once every week. “How do I teach my stubborn dog to (pick a behavior)?”

Spoiler alert – I don’t believe that dogs can be stubborn.

“Stubborn” implies a level of critical thinking that I honestly don’t believe dogs are capable of. It assumes the dog is hearing the cue, understands exactly what you want, and consciously decides that he’s not doing that today.

Also lovingly described as “flipping the owner the paw”, the belief in stubborn dogs isn’t limited to pet owners. I’ve seen it in dog sports as well, and even said it myself once or twice in the distant past.

As with all aspects of life, we learn, we grow, we understand, and we (hopefully) do better.

Physical Issues

My friend’s dog started refusing to finish the weave poles. She was super frustrated with her dog, because he had always had decent weave poles in the past. Because he was still running fast, playing, and not showing any signs of pain, she figured it couldn’t be a physical issue…but it was. She finally took him to the vet after a couple of weeks of missed weaves, and they found a minor injury to his spine. It wasn’t enough to slow him down when playing or during normal activities, but the back and forth torque that he was putting on his spine while weaving was painful.

If your dog stops performing a behavior that he has been well-trained on, check for physical injuries first. His “stubbornness” might be the only way he has of telling you he is in pain.

Copyright 2018 Great Dane Photos. Used with permission.

Lack of Generalization or Proofing

The more things dogs learn, the easier it is for them to generalize behaviors to new places or situations. When they first start learning, they are very dependent on environmental cues. I give the example of being taught to sit in the kitchen facing west not translating to sitting in the back yard facing east. Over time, they learn that a cue is a cue regardless of the setting, but that takes experience.

If your dog is “being stubborn” and not performing a behavior that you taught him, consider the environment. Has he been on multiple teeters in different settings? Has he learned that they are the same obstacle even when they look different? Has he had experience with the differences in the rate they drop and the location of the tipping point? If not, that “stubborn” behavior might mean he just needs more experience, in different locations, with different equipment.

Reward Value

While I don’t think that dogs have the cognitive ability to consciously be stubborn, I do think that there is an unconscious calculation of effort vs. reward. Rewards are determined by the dog, not the owner (see Motivation in Dog Training for more information on reward value). Many times, a dog will decide to quit being “stubborn” if whoever is training him finds a reward that is worth working for.

Inconsistency with Training Cues

Dogs read very subtle movements. If you are inconsistent with your cues, using one physical cue sometimes, and a different physical cue at other times, for example, dogs can become confused and appear to be stubborn. They really are being geniuses and assuming that the other cue means something different, and they are waiting to learn what that is.

Instinctual Behavior

A frequent complaint is that a dog is being “stubborn” because he won’t come back to the handler when called. When I dig deeper, I usually find that the dog was doing something by instinct when he refused to come to the owner.

Without extensive training and a great history of rewards, it is almost impossible to compete with instinct. For a terrier, a mouse in the field is going to be way more exciting than you are unless you have built value for yourself. A sighthound will find bunnies mesmerizing and may not “hear” you call. A bloodhound that finds a tantalizing scent will look like he is being stubborn, but he is just following his nose.

Teaching consistent recalls is a subject deserving of an entire course, but here are a few tips:

• Don’t ever call your dog to do something unpleasant like a bath or nail trim
• Only call your dog when you are 99.9% certain he will come to you
• Practice recalls in low-distraction environments to build a huge reward history before trying to move to a busy area
• If you need your dog to come to you but aren’t certain he will, keep him on a leash or longline

Today’s Tip

Before you write your dog off a hopelessly “stubborn”, dig into the reasons why your dog might not be doing what you ask. Most of the time, a dog who appears to be stubborn has a different issue going on, and the good news is that most of them can be fixed!

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