My eleven month pup is fairly obedient and works well for rewards .But when she  is caught doing something she knows is wrong,she crouches down,backside in the air in the way a puppy does inviting a friend to play. She then rushes about madly, bouncing off the furniture or defiantly galloping about the garden, daring me to catch her if I can.  Obviously I do NOT chase her, but  I have tried walking away and ignoring her and  she soon calms down.But should I then reward her for eventually behaving properly or not? I have had dogs for 50 years and never had one act like this before!

She may be thinking it's all a big game, but it sounds just like Buster if he is told off sternly. My OH just doesn't get it and will occasionaly shout 'NO' at Buster or say 'no' very sternly, Buster will answer this with a play-bow and try to start a game. It's not defiance, it's appeasement/calming, a way of trying to calm my OH down and get him in a nicer mood.

Are you stern with her or shout at her? It may just be that you need to be a little calmer (not frustrated or angry), with plenty of patience and find the diference between firm and stern. A firm yet kind & gentle 'no' will have Buster stop being 'naughty' with no further issues, but a stern 'no' will make him 'playfull'.

From what you describe, it's one of the "4 Fs" - fight, flight, freeze or fiddle about - and she is showing the last one. It's a stress behaviour basically (and that is related to appeasement).

.But when she  is caught doing something she knows is wrong

Dogs don't usually "know" they are doing something wrong - although it can look like it. They are usually reacting to the owner reaction or even associating owner + (whatever) with owner being cross. There has been research studies on this, which show that guilty behaviour isn't actually guilt (IYSWIM)! :)

Lindsay
x

Hi,

As above really, she's trying to duffuse the situation by, (I call the last F faffing about :-D) but as Lindsay says it's a response to her feeling uncomfortable or anxious about the telling off so deals with it by 'silly' behaviour to try and appease the siutation/you.

> As above really, she's trying to duffuse the situation by, (I call the last F faffing about :-D) but as Lindsay says it's a response to her feeling uncomfortable or anxious about the telling off so deals with it by 'silly' behaviour to try and appease the siutation/you.

"Oh I don't like it when you shout! I'm only a little puppy! Please be nice, I'm only a baby! can we have a game instead? can we? can we? can we????"

> .But when she  is caught doing something she knows is wrong,

But she doesn't KNOW it's wrong.  As far as I'm aware, dogs don't do guilt trips!  :-)

mine is inclined to reset to this behaviour too-but its if I am too sharp in telling her off- i think its a bit of a panic behaviour and its made me modify my behaviour as she is a far more submissive dog then my last one

If you watch carefully you find some youngsters do this with adult dogs- if the other dog reacts to them in a grumpy way- definitely appeasement.

I have a boy who is doing this at the moment, who has been returned to me through sad change of circumstances with his family...

It is a stress signal, and I dont treat when he returns... just tickle behind his ear, at which point he tries to nible my hand AND also hooks his paw around my arm (another appeasement gesture)...

Circumstances may be different, but I would be inclined to go with the comfort 'touch' rather than treat then carry on as normal

Thanks for your advice ,kayc. 
I have found that ignoring her and walking away does indeed seem the best response ( not easy when she is actually eating my glasses or another credit card!)
When she follows me to see why I won't play,I do just as you say and a tickle behind the ear seems to resolve the situation.
It doesn't always work, as she will sometimes prefer to crunch up and swallow whatever she has found.(Yesterday it was a plastic mug).I did try rewarding her if she brought the stolen object to me, but she soon twigged this and started looking around for anything that was not nailed down,just for the reward!!

If they have something I don't want them to have getting something else and looking really interested, ooh what have I got, will often result in the time they have being forgotten/dropped, and you can swap it for something they can have.

Glad to hear things are progressing :)  We have had a few breakthroughs with my boy too, one step forward, two steps back progress.. but all to the good eventually :)  it takes time and patience.