Canine behaviourist Will Atherton has taken to social media to share his opinion on the most challenging dog breeds to train. Posting on his account @iamwillatherton, Will is known for his straightforward advice to dog owners.
He runs the Will Atherton Canine Centre in Derbyshire, UK, and has amassed over one million followers on YouTube and nearly 25 million likes on TikTok. A follower took to the comments to ask Will: “What is the hardest dog breed to train?” He responded with three breeds he finds particularly challenging, based on his years of experience training dogs.
1. Livestock guardian breeds
Topping Will’s list are livestock guardian breeds, which include dogs like the Turkish Kangal and Caucasian Shepherd.
He explained: “They are incredible guardians, but they’re bred to be incredibly independent and make decisions for themselves, which means they’re incredibly difficult to train.”
2. Shiba Inu
The Shiba Inu breed was largely unknown outside Japan until the 2010s when an adorable dog became an internet sensation. But since then, these cute pups have gained popularity worldwide. A Shiba Inu even became the face of cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
While Will acknowledged their intelligence, he noted that this doesn’t necessarily translate into ease of training.
“The difference with a Shiba Inu is, is that they are not eager to please,” said Will.
“They want to do what they want to do when they want to do it, and because they’re so intelligent, they learn how to do that.”
3. English Mastiff
Will pointed out that the English Mastiff has a very different personality to the Shiba Inu, but is difficult to train for other reasons.
He said: “This next breed is really difficult to train because simply, they’re not the most intelligent.
“They have no energy levels, even though they really like to please, pleasing you is such an effort.”
Stroking a particularly sleepy looking dog, Will admitted: “but we love them anyway.”
