5 reasons WHy your dog isn’t stubborn
Most dogs love chewing on a stick. Can you use it to your advantage?
It’s easy to humanize our dogs—we talk to them, assign them personalities, and sometimes even expect them to think like we do. But when it comes to training and behavior, it’s important to remember that dogs see the world very differently from humans. One common misconception? That dogs are “stubborn.” In reality, what looks like defiance is often a lack of training, clarity or motivation.
Dogs aren’t naturally defiant! Contrary to popular belief, dogs aren’t out to challenge us or “win.” They’re not being difficult just for the sake of it. They thrive on clear and consistent communication. While many of us (myself included!) enjoy chatting with our four-legged friends, it's easy for cues to get lost, diluted, or overused when mixed into long sentences. Keeping commands simple and consistent helps your dog understand and respond more effectively.
Motivation is key! Each dog is an individual with their own unique preferences and needs. What motivates Milo might not interest Betsy at all. And a piece of kibble will rarely be enough for any dog to lure them away during the excitement of a dog park. Rewards can take many forms—while some dogs may respond well to food, others might see a game of tug as the ultimate jackpot.
Your dog does everything well at home but not outside? Dogs learn differently from humans. They rely on consistent training and repeated practice across various environments. Teaching a behaviour at home is just the first step—dogs need to gradually build up their skills in more distracting settings, like a busy park, to truly understand and generalize the behaviour. In many ways, they have to re-learn the same behaviour in each new context.
They might be uncomfortable to perform the behaviour. When a dog doesn’t respond to a cue or appears “confused,” it could be a sign of stress or discomfort—not stubbornness. This is especially important to recognize if you have a reactive dog. Tuning in to these signals can help you better support your dog and adjust the environment or training approach as needed.
You are not on the top of the list of priorities. Dogs don’t just ignore you out of spite. Each time they go out for a walk, it is a whole new world of discoveries for them which is incredibly exciting and that smelly tree or a squirrel might just be more rewarding to them than you. With the right training and a positive approach you can teach them that you can be just as rewarding!
Next time Fido’s more into sniffing the bushes than listening to you, take a moment to think—what could you do to make yourself a bit more interesting than the world around them? Not sure where to start? No stress—just drop me a message and we’ll figure it out together.
