N-O. It’s a two letter word that seems awfully clear to many humans when we communicate. But what are we, the humans, trying to communicate to our dogs when we say the word no?
I think for most of us, the human translation would be “don’t do that.” Sometimes this means we want them to stop doing the thing they are currently doing, like chewing on the coffee table, and sometimes it is more “don’t go do that”, like when you’re on a walk and you see your dog eyeing that awfully delicious chicken bone on the ground.
The human feels confident in what they mean, so what is the problem for our dog?
The problem is we haven’t told the dog what to do instead! Though it’s possible you have stopped the behavior for the moment, you haven’t told them what the appropriate alternatives are. This will likely result in your dog returning to the undesired behavior and causing you to have to repeat the “no cycle” indefinitely. If you’ve spent much time around young children, you learn very quickly that telling them no typically leads to a stare, smile, and an immediate return to the activity we just tried to quash. You can see how the learner might get confused on the response we are looking for when we haven’t offered any alternatives. Another reason teaching desired alternate behaviors is so important is because we are teaching them to make future good choices independently. Imagine rewarding good choices so heavily that our dog starts to choose those things on their own without our instruction!
The other reason I do not recommend telling your dog “no” is that it’s often followed by something like a leash tug or removing the item/dog from the situation, both of which are punishing outcomes. The concern with punishing outcomes is that it can lead to behavioral fallout. This would mean that when your dog hears “no,” the response from your pup may be a fearful, anxious, or frustrated one, which we never want!
We also need to consider the why, or reason, behind the behavior. A young puppy chewing on the leg of a coffee table is probably doing so in response to teething or boredom. Instead of simply telling them to stop, give them other options! Offer a few different textured chew items as replacements. You can make them more enticing by adding flavor to them with things like broth or peanut butter, or wiggling the toy around playfully to encourage interaction with it. By redirecting your dog to an appropriate outlet and rewarding them with attention, play, or food, we are showing them what good choices look like. This will help them be more likely to make that choice in the future. When applicable, it’s also helpful to limit access to the item for a while afterwards. It’s much easier to get a puppy to chew appropriately when we’ve given them appropriate alternatives to chew AND blocked off the coffee table to prevent access.
Other skills I find helpful to teach instead of saying “no”:
- Leave it! (orient toward me instead of…whatever the thing is)
- Let’s go (keep walking)
- With me (walk close to me for a bit)
- Recall (coming when called)
- Touch (touching nose to your hand, or other targeting behavior)
A great alternative to a “no” cue would be a positive interrupter. A positive interrupter is a cue that, when given, asks the dog to pause what they’re doing to come to you so you can redirect them to something else. We often recommend using a unique sound for this cue like a kissing noise or clicking your tongue. If you condition this cue really reliably, then you have a way to interrupt anything your dog is in the middle of, and you’ll be getting a happy, enthusiastic response! There’s an excellent video from Kikopup showing how to teach a positive interrupter which you can find here.
Now What?
Think back over the last week or two and identify some undesirable behaviors your dog performed. Can you identify what result your pup was searching for? Often we can find unmet needs this way! If they were chewing on the table, can we offer more chews, especially ones that mimic the material of the table? If they are sniffing in the grass and trying to eat debris or trash, can we offer more snuffle mat time or treat scavenging? By meeting these needs, it’s less likely that they will engage in the unwanted behaviors!
Happy Training!
Claire Laster Horvat