"No" is not a behavior.
Scene: You’re at the veterinary clinic with your dog for a routine check-up. The vet comes into the room, and your dog starts to shake. You think ‘that’s odd’ but brush it off, because really, who likes going to the Doctor’s office?
The vet comes over to your dog and when they put their ice cold stethoscope against Fido’s chest, Fido curls his lips and let’s out a menacing “Grrrrr!”
You’re shocked! Fido has never growled at the vet before. How embarrassing!
So, you do what anyone would do and you firmly tell Fido, “No! Bad dog!” Fido stops growling at the vet, you can breathe again (crisis averted), and the vet continues on with their examination.
What just happened here?
To many of us, it looks like Fido’s owner successfully stopped Fido’s bad behavior (the growling) and taught him that growling at the vet is not appropriate.
However, if we were to ask Fido, he would probably tell us that he was anxious and worried about the vet and the cold stethoscope they were reaching towards his body, and he was trying to make his fears known.
Fido would tell us that when his trusted guardian shut down his communication of this fear, it didn’t change how he was feeling (no, he was still very frightened about the vet and their stethoscope), but it did make him feel like he could not trust his guardian when at the vet clinic, which certainly did not make him feel any better about the situation overall.
Why “no” doesn’t work.
Telling the dog “no” in the scenario above did effectively stop the behavior in the moment (stopped the growling), which might lead us to believe that it was effective in teaching the dog what to/not to do in this situation in the future.
Here are the problems with this:
most dogs don’t understand what “no” means - often times they are simply responding to the harsh tone of voice of body posture that the owner uses in conjunction with the word, so it works to interrupt whatever they are doing at the time. Does the dog above hear “Don’t growl at the vet, that’s rude”? Not likely.
“No” does not consider, nor address the dog’s feelings - All behavior happens for a reason, including (especially) growling. When we tell the dog “don’t you dare communicate that you are scared/worried/anxious with me,” we might effectively stop the growling, but we do not change those underlying emotions. This is a really great way to eliminate our dog’s early warning system, that lets us know when they are struggling, and feel that they need to escalate their behavior. This doesn’t necessarily stop the escalation of the dog’s behavior, but it does get rid of that growl that preceedes the snap or the bite.
“No” doesn’t tell the dog what TO do - No is not a behavior. Our dog cannot perform “no.” This word doesn’t give our dog any information as to what they should do in place of their current behavior (growling) at that moment, or in the future. This results in a dog who is confused (“what do they want me to do here?”) in addition to remaining scared about the stimulus that triggered the growl in the first place.
What should we do instead?
Instead of looking to shut down our dog’s communication (yes, including their growling), we need to take the time to figure out why the dog is growling in the first place. What is triggering my dog? What might they be trying to communicate here? How can I help them feel better?
Remember, all behavior happens for a reason and has a function. It’s up to use to ask “WTF?” And figure out what the function is of this particular behavior.
Once we have determined the trigger or stimulus that has set off our dog, there are multiple things we can do if we don’t want to end up in the same situation again in the future:
Manage the environment to prevent the behavior - if your dog is jumping up on people at the front door, utilize a barrier to prevent them from being able to access guests. If your dog is growling at other dogs encountered while out on walks, cross the street to give them more space to safely pass.
Give them outlets - if the unwanted behavior in question is normal dog behavior (spoiler alert, it often is!) then we need to make sure we are providing our dog with legal and safe outlets to perform this behavior. Trying to make normal dog behaviors and drives simply “go away” does not work; but it can result in that behavior being released in a different way or environment, and likely not one that you agree with.
What do I want my dog to do instead? What do I want my dog to do instead of chewing my shoes? What do I want my dog to do instead of growling at the vet when she goes to listen to his heart? If we don’t know what we want the dog to do, how can we possible expect the dog to know what we want them to do?
Teach an alternative response - once you’ve determined what is a more appropriate behavior, it’s up to you to teach the dog how to do it. With something like chewing shoes, this could be as simple as putting the shoes up on a shelf and teaching your dog a reliable “leave it” cue, should they manage to sneak a sneaker. With a dog who is growling at the vet, we need to address that underlying fear, and help out dog to feel more confident and secure with this stranger person and their stranger tools touching them, so that the dog is capable of then standing still during that examination.
While stopping behavior in it’s track with a sharp “no” seems like the faster response in the moment, it can result in further emotional turmoil for the animal, and can do damage to the relationship between you and your dog.
It’s important for us to determine the reason behind our dog’s behavioral response before we consider whether we should modify their behavior, and how we might go about doing so.
Don’t leave the onus on your dog to figure out the meaning behind your no.
Don’t forget to stay awesome,
Vanessa
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Vanessa Charbonneau, is the author of Dog Care for Puppies: A guide to Feeding, Playing, Grooming and Behavior. She owns Sit Pretty Behavior & Training, employing force-free training techniques to work with companion dogs and their owners. Charbonneau lives in Prince George, BC with her husband, two daughters, and one dog.