The word naughty suggests that your dog is being deliberately disobedient, but is that true?
I recently taught a group class. A couple of the dogs were a little out of their comfort zone, and it was clear that their behaviour was not normal for them; they were overwhelmed. For one of the dogs, this resulted in them being shy and reserved, and everyone aww’d and felt sympathy for the dog. For the other dog, the same emotions caused the dog to bark, lunge and be a little boisterous. The owner apologised profusely for her “naughty dog” and was very embarrassed.
But in reality, she had nothing to be embarrassed about. There was no need to apologise. Both dogs were just feeling overwhelmed by the situation, and although they responded differently, in reality, the underlying emotions were the same.
And if one dog isn’t classed as ‘naughty’ why should the other one be? They are both suffering with the same issue; they just cope in different ways, just like with humans.
Communication
Behaviours such as barking are classed as 'naughty', when in reality, they are just communicating with us. Often these behaviours are actually taught by you!
Maybe your dog barked at you and you responded to them. They learn that barking works and they'll do it next time they want a response. Maybe they pull on lead, and it is rewarded because you go where they want to go. Or maybe they don't recall to you, and when they finally come back, you tell them off. This communicates to your dog that coming back to you is a bad thing, so they wont recall next time either.
Breed instinct
All dogs have instinctual behaviours, some of which we consider 'naughty' only because they aren't ideal for us, such as stealing food from the counter or pulling on lead. In reality, this is just a dog being a dog. They aren't being naughty: They are being opportunistic and excited... and most of all, normal.
Particularly breeds have different instinctual behaviours that again, are considered 'naughty'. Beagles struggle with recall, not because they are deliberately wanting to ignore you, but because they just LOVE to use their nose. Labradors struggle with leaving food alone, not because they are stealing it to annoy you, but because it is literally in their genetics to be greedy and hungry! Terriers don't dig in your garden to purposely ruin your flower bed, but because they have been bred to be diggers.
Emotions
How many times have you let your emotions get the better of you? (Honestly! You don't have to tell anyone!!) Now imagine you're a dog and you can't communicate those emotions AND someone keeps annoying you.
That's life for dogs, unfortunately. I can't tell you how many times I have seen dogs become fed up of being stroked and owners not noticing. Or how many times I have seen excitable dogs on the end of a lead, not knowing how to control that excitement. Or the dogs who are anxious around children but the owner still allows children to come say hi.
If dogs could talk, they'd say 'please stop stroking me', or 'take me out of this over exciting situation', or 'don't let the children touch me'. But they can't talk, so they bark, or they growl, or lunge or pull or tug or bite or whine or any other behaviour that might not be 'ideal'.
Until we learn to communicate with our dogs, they will continue to do these 'naughty' behaviours.
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