If a dog shakes himself out,does that mean he just "shook you off"?
 

After dog is given a command and he shakes his body like he does after a bath, does that mean he just “shook” off your command?

At Cody’s last obedience session, the trainer had him, gave him a command, (my back was towards her and Cody) She is starting to give me back his leash and then says in a shocked voice, “I don’t believe he just shook me off” ? I am puzzled by her statement, had no idea what she was talking about. Later when I have him he shakes him self out again, like after you pet them sometimes they shake their fur loose. The trainer says, see he just shook you off, I ask her what she means, she says, you just gave him a command and he shook you off, that is him saying “I am not going to listen to you” really I say, I thought he was just shaking his hair loose. So my question is::: if you are training a dog, you give them a command and they shake their body, like they do sometimes after you pet them or brush them, Does that mean they just “shook you off” like them saying, not gonna listen to you? I never heard this before, but then again I never had to take a dog for obedience training.

It kind of makes sense, and I can see why the trainer would think that, but from my reading, a dog will shake when it finds something unpleasant and intense or too stressful.

It kind of reminds me human relaxation techniques where we tense everything up and then relax. Try doing a body shake and see if it's not relaxing.

This makes sense to me, and I will bring it to the trainers attention if it happens again. This obedience school is all new to me. I always had puppies, I trained them all, they were wonderful with ppl and all types of animals, Cody came to me with this behavior issues. I don't have the knowledge of how to undo what I call aggressive behavior if it is just that, " aggressive" or he just does not know how to approach other dogs he would like to meet. So off to school we go for ME to learn how to undo do what prev. owner instilled in him. This was a term I never heard of, but it does make sense, he does not do this to me at home, but does do it at sessions. This has been very helpful, thank you so much.

You are so welcome. Actually the shaking off would be a good thing if seen in one light as being able to settle himself down and relax, and yet another light if he's just trying to say, "blank off" to you. Best of luck with the training.

I think Cody was just stressed, insecure, anxious or even bored in that situation and dogs do various things to offload stress or boredom when they feel it. My Tibbe yawns when he is lightly stressed or bored. Most "professional" training sessions are 30 minutes long or more - way too long for my liking as dogs rarely can maintain much interest in training for that long. In nature, dogs don't line up for training sessions so we must keep the training very short, frequent and fun and engaging for them. It may just be body shaking is how he chose, or chooses in the future, to handle light stress or boredom.

His reaction could be something in the nature of the training techniques or tone of voice, body attitude, etc., of the trainers he interacts with cause him some degree of tension or boredom. Are they/you making the training fun, interesting and upbeat for him?

I don't think so. Hopefully she was just joking.

This is so off topic but this thread is making me sing shake it off by Taylor Swift :D

NO, he keeps lunging at the dog he is being trained with, that's why he's in obedience training, to stop or get the lunging under control. These are one hour sessions, as we all know that is to long for terrier's, they loose interest. His interest is in getting to the other dog, I think he is frustrated because he is so close to another dog, yet not allowed to meet. The trainer thinks diff. I am no trainer of aggressive behavior, I consider what she says. I will be taking him to pet supply stores, stand outside where he can see dogs trickle in and out and work in short time spans. It was the shaking off term that threw me off. Well I now have some knowledge and can start the practice on short periods at the pet stores. As always your advise / suggestions is always appreciated and used / tried. Thank you

NO she was NOT joking, She was more like insulted that my boy would DARE dis her like that lol. I never heard of a dog shaking you off, but these lil terriers with their "attitude" I wouldn't be a bit surprised lol.

lol, I love Taylor Swift

[QUOTE=matese;4493363]NO, he keeps lunging at the dog he is being trained with, that's why he's in obedience training, to stop or get the lunging under control. These are one hour sessions, as we all know that is to long for terrier's, they loose interest. His interest is in getting to the other dog, I think he is frustrated because he is so close to another dog, yet not allowed to meet. The trainer thinks diff. I am no trainer of aggressive behavior, I consider what she says. I will be taking him to pet supply stores, stand outside where he can see dogs trickle in and out and work in short time spans. It was the shaking off term that threw me off. Well I now have some knowledge and can start the practice on short periods at the pet stores. As always your advise / suggestions is always appreciated and used / tried. Thank you


NO she was NOT joking, She was more like insulted that my boy would DARE dis her like that lol. I never heard of a dog shaking you off, but these lil terriers with their "attitude" I wouldn't be a bit surprised lol.QUOTE]


One hour! That's an eternity for a dog training session! My lord, what does this trainer expect of dogs? 3 -5 minutes 3 times a day is the best way to get started teaching a dog to control his impulses and look to you for direction. Once you have control of your dog, then you can take him out for very short, frequent socialization sessions but an hour sounds grueling for your little guy.

Your dog trainer doesn't sound as if she's very dog savvy. And tell her he's not dissing her - dogs shake after getting down off the grooming table, the vet's exam table, out of a car or out of their beds, too. Body shaking occurs for various reasons but in a stressful situation, is considered displacement behavior - something they do to displace their insecurity or not knowing what else to do in the current environment they are in, showing they are not all that happy. It is NOt a sign of disrespect, though I doubt Cody has much respect for anyone that doesn't know much about natural dog behavior. Ask her to look up "dog displacement behavior" on Google.

Doggone Safe - Signs of Anxiety

http://www.eastbayspca.org/document.doc?id=348

Displacement behaviour | Kaye's Dog Training Courses

It's not just dogs that shake off stress, my horse and parrots do it as well.
I usually try to 'lighten' the mood when I see that. Relieve pressure if training or whatever, or throw in an impromptu quick little game. Something to make the 'shaker' know you understand and are willing to work with them goes a long way toward building trust and bonds, and relieving stress in both you and the animal.

Amen. Just walking a dog in a tight circle for a few turns or teasing him with your hand or that ball you always carry in your pocket can help relieve the tension he was feeling prior to the body shake-off. More than anything, a break for the dogs every 10 - 15 minutes for a quick walk around or tugowar or play session with his owner would help dogs decompress during an hour long training class. For already trained, calm, submissive dogs, this long training class would be hard for a dog to keep focus but for new-comers with excitability and behavior problems, it sounds really grinding. I had no idea today's pet-store dog training classes lasted a whole hour!!!

Many under socialized and excitable dogs have ADD-like restlessness and attention spans so trying to keep them focused and well-behaved for an hour is almost impossible. I think it's better to train dogs like that at home in how to focus on you, remain calm and keep their impulses under control in by fun, upbeat, highly rewarding, positively-reinforced very short obedience training sessions and then socialize them in very frequent trips out and about several times daily to places where dogs congregate during the day for short sessions so they gradually desensitize themselves to being around other dogs.

An hour session is a long period,agreed, but that's ok, it's more to teach me to teach him. To teach me the proper way to handle a situation. Practice session with me & Cody will be short periods, no more then 5 minutes. After that terriers loose concentration. The classes I go to is not a "pet store". The only "pet stores" in my area would be Pet Supply..PetCo and Pet Smart and if they have training classes I wouldn't use them, wouldn't use them for grooming either, but I do buy dog food, toys & sweaters from these stores. While at the vet several weeks ago, Cody was getting over excited with all the dogs coming & going, a lady with 2 yorkies was about to enter the vets office, she was attracted to Cody, turns out she is a yorkie breeder, told me her little yorkies take agility classes and one was training to sniff out ?.I asked if she could recommend an obedience trainer, she gave me the name of the school I am using, where she takes her little yorkies. Is the trainer I am using, using the correct training technique? I have no other to compare her to. I need the training to train my boy. I know he is not going to learn anything in these 1 hour sessions, that's up to me to practice what was taught to me. I am gathering all my YT advise, suggestions and tips and combining them with what I have learned at these sessions. Cody may never be able to play at a dog park which would be sad, a couple of years ago they built a nice dog park about 10 minutes from me, my girl now past was not able to use it, she was at that time about 60 % blind and was getting hard of hearing, I was hoping Cody would be able to go there. But I will get him under control. Again thank you for your wealth of information.

[quote=yorkietalkjilly;4493390]Thank you for these links.

I am not a fan of "one size fits all" dog training which is what I often have seen from dog trainers. I believe each pup is an individual and should be treated as such. I believe dog behaviorists are the better way to go.

Perhaps reading some of Tamar Geller's books might help you. Here is her website....her books can be purchased on Amazon..

The Loved Dog

Thank you for this link, and information...a dog behaviorist may be next on my list if I cannot get Cody's behavior under control. My plan is on my next vet visit which is soon I will see if she can recommend one.

I have long loved The Loved Dog as Tamar Geller thinks like me about dog training and I always recommend her book to anyone wanting a better relationship with their dog and who wants to read and learn how to create a well-behaved, happy dog. We see many very well-trained dogs but not all of them seem that happy about performing their commands and even look a bit intimidated or "under the gun" while performing their commands. I want a dog eager and more than pleased and happy to perform his commands, usually with a wagging tail.

Just obedience train your dog using regular positive reinforcement training. Teach him to come, sit, lie down, wait, stop in place and wait for you to come pick him up, watch me(focus on your eyes only - not anything else going on inside or outside), leave it, drop it(anything he's got in his mouth), take it, go to your bed/spot, relax, etc. A regular obedience training schedule of 3 -5 minutes 2 or 3 times a day, together with life-enriching activities and games/puzzles you play with him will begin to reshape his behavior and begin to form a strong bond between you two. During the one-on-one training, he will begin to actual develop a predisposition to automatically do what you request of him.

Proper training is always fun for the dog and you, is positive, upbeat and encourages the dog want to obey you every single time as he will learn that the result of doing that means only good things for him and a very happy you. It settles dogs down and makes them stop misbehaving as they have learned skills that allow them to control their impulses and desire for instant gratification as they learn that delayed gratification from you after doing what you requested is even more rewarding.

If he's very wild, as I told you before, the Nothing In Life Is Free program can help teach him about impulse control, working for his wants and needs and respect and the dogs really love the program as they love working for whatever they get.

Once the dog has learned how to focus on you with the "Watch Me" command and relax on your command, you can begin to socialize him in many frequent, very short, daily trips to places dogs congregate. Take some freshly boiled, warm chicken with you to keep his nose engaged as you teach him how to focus on you rather than other dogs when you first begin socialization and keep him at a good distance until he's able to remain calm. After a week or two of being able to remain calm at a distance, you can gradually allow him to get closer to other dogs - as long as he stays relatively calm. If not, walk him in very fast circles with a big piece of chicken in your hand.

If he cannot settle down, remove him to a distance where he can focus on the chicken in your fist or your eyes using the "Watch me" or "Focus" command each time you bait him with the chicken for his attention so that later, in an emergency, you can say "Watch me" or "Focus" even when there isn't any warm chicken and he will know what to do, look at your eyes or your outstretched fist rather than go crazy over a nearby dog. When he does gain control of his behavior and does watch you or focus, after a time, give him his chicken treat and a gentle praise - gentle so as not to excite him.

Getting control of an excitable dog's brain before you try to socialize him is important to keep him from practicing frenzied behavior and that becoming a pattern he learns every time he's out around other dogs.

Again thank you, my plan was to use the chicken for the focus. I live in an isolated area, there are no dog walkers, dogs are kept in back yards,so that means I have to drive to places where I am sure there will be dogs. The only place where I am sure dogs will be is a Pet Supply or Pet Smart store on a week day where they trickle in. My training will be no more the 5 minutes, I have had yorkies for 30 + years, all raised by me from puppies, I know about their short concentration span. Cody is my first rescue dog, this is how he came to me, not socialized with dogs, now it's my job to control his behavior, this is a safety issue. Again thank you so much for all your advise, and suggestions. I hope many ppl will read this thread and benefit from this wealth of information all members so unselfishly gave. This unconditional love all members have for the breed and all animals is what makes YT one big family, who help others help our loved fur babies.

And get Tamar's book - you will love it - and really like her approach. She's an interesting woman and has a great knack for dog handling and training.