Can Dogs Be Naughty...

[huski]

Nope.

Dogs do what is rewarding, plain and simple. If they know they can access the rewarding thing when you're out of the room they will wait. They DO NOT know what they've done wrong. What you are seeing is appeasement (and sometimes fear) - they associate the dug hole or wrecked rubbish bin with you being cranky. They don't comprehend that THEY are responsible. Understanding this makes dog training much, much easier.

100% agree

If your dogs can't maintain obedience when you aren't there they are being opportunistic to seek reward. Its like taking a dog somewhere super distracting and expecting them to work the same as they would at home with no distraction around. Ignoring food on the table when you aren't there is another step in distraction work.

I don't think it's wrong to describe a dog as naughty but if we are talking about why they do it, that's a different thing.

Edited October 22, 2015 by huski

[raineth]

Nope.

Dogs do what is rewarding, plain and simple. If they know they can access the rewarding thing when you're out of the room they will wait. They DO NOT know what they've done wrong. What you are seeing is appeasement (and sometimes fear) - they associate the dug hole or wrecked rubbish bin with you being cranky. They don't comprehend that THEY are responsible. Understanding this makes dog training much, much easier.

I completely agree with this.

While I am guilty of regularly saying that Del is naughty (in an affectionate way) . I don't actually believe that she is naughty. She is just clever and opportunistic and does what works for her :)

[Roova]

Ok then, change of tactic when I leave the house now.

Instead of saying 'be good girls' I'm just going to say 'don't do opportunistic things I may not like' lol

[denali]

Nope.

Dogs do what is rewarding, plain and simple. If they know they can access the rewarding thing when you're out of the room they will wait. They DO NOT know what they've done wrong. What you are seeing is appeasement (and sometimes fear) - they associate the dug hole or wrecked rubbish bin with you being cranky. They don't comprehend that THEY are responsible. Understanding this makes dog training much, much easier.

I completely agree with this.

While I am guilty of regularly saying that Del is naughty (in an affectionate way) . I don't actually believe that she is naughty. She is just clever and opportunistic and does what works for her :)

See, i do know that, and my dogs are in general very good.

Also i would call them cheeky, more than naughty. But they definitely know what is right and wrong and will choose the wrong at times. And always with a satisfied look

because yes, its obviously more rewarding to ignore me and roll in a dead possum, or to ignore me and go for a swim, but they definitely know i didn't want them to do that. The looks on their faces whilst considering what they should do says it all

I don't mind things like that though on occasion, so i haven't put more training into them, and they can remain cheeky dogs!

[Leah82]

Yup, the truly 'naughty' dogs are just repeating the things that they enjoy doing as they haven't been taught not to.

This is why it's the untrained dogs that end up dumped at the pound. They're not naughty, they just haven't been shown any other way to live

[Willem]

Nope.

Dogs do what is rewarding, plain and simple. If they know they can access the rewarding thing when you're out of the room they will wait. They DO NOT know what they've done wrong. What you are seeing is appeasement (and sometimes fear) - they associate the dug hole or wrecked rubbish bin with you being cranky. They don't comprehend that THEY are responsible. Understanding this makes dog training much, much easier.

...that's pretty much like little kids, isn't it :D ?

[Sheridan]

With wheatens it's not whether they'll be a thief but what type. My first boy liked socks. My second liked to try anything to see it it was edible. So far Roo prefers bedding. He'll drag bedding out to where he can sit on it. If I put a bed in the kitchen he'd probably pull it over to somewhere else. Just. Because. He. Can.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Dogs who might know the rules...

can't process them when they're really excited or upset about something...

Unless it's classically conditioned. And that takes a lot of super high value treats and repetition.

Hence one excited dog going in the bedroom and one not. Either one was much more excited than the other one, or one had better training ie classically conditioned.

A lot of times - naughty gets a dog attention or you joining in the game. Eg if dog goes foraging and finds a big pile of cooked chicken bones and your recall is not "classically conditioned" - you've only got one option. Chase the dog. But if that's the dog's favourite game... oh dear.