How to Stop a Dog From Acting Submissive to New People

For this Omaha dog training session we share tips to stop rewarding and reinforcing 1 year-old Border Collie Ruby’s submissive behavior.

I spent over an hour trying to get Ruby to relax and feel comfortable with my presence. While I made some progress, she was still very unsteady. Her guardians reported this was unusual behavior from her. This was pretty concerting for me as I had adopted very soft, non-confrontational body language within second of arriving. It wasn’t until I took her out for a walk before she finally relaxed.

It was wonderful seeing how playful, tender and sweet this dog was. When I returned to her home, I grew concerned again as she started to adopt some fearful body mechanics as soon as we got to her front porch; ears pinned back, lips stretched, stiff body language and dilated pupils. I took a seat on the steps and waited for a few minutes until she seemed to relax again.

She was noticeably better than before, but still clearly uncomfortable. She had been displaying some submissive dog behaviors associated with lower self esteem so I handed the guardians my camera so I could record a free dog training video on tips to help a dog stop acting submissive.

There are many things you can do to stop a dog from acting submissive. Id like to see the guardians invite people to come by to visit a few times a week so they can incorporate some of the tips I discuss in the video.

I also showed the guardians a focus exercise that can help them redirect her attention away from things she may react to and also lessen the stress hormone in her blood. It was slightly challenging as I had given her so many treats earlier in the session. But anyone can do this, even if they aren’t a professional Border Collie dog trainer.

We covered a number of other dog behavior tips that should help reduce the dog’s insecurity and submissive behaviors. I asked the guardians to practice them for a month and then if she is still lunging at or trying to herd cars, we can set up a session to focus exclusively on that dog problem.

To help the guardians remember all this dog behavior secrets we covered in this in home Omaha dog training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video.