I have a problem with Charlie which is if he is sitting in our yard and he sees a delivery man or anyone arriving he goes crazy barking, standing up at the gate, hackles up and sometimes he whines, this must look pretty scary from the other side of the gate. With Summer coming I like to have the backdoor open so that Hattie & Charlie can lay outside but this behaviour will mean I won't be able to unless I sit out all day with him which would be nice but not possible as I have things to do. The distance from the yard gate to the front gates is about 25 meters and even if he sees anyone walking past he barks, if he is inside sitting in the window and hears someone he barks, this is driving me nuts . I use "quiet" as a cue and when he is quiet and I reward him well but it's not working very well. He barks a lot if anyone rings the frontdoor bell too, again I reward him for "quite". The weird thing is if he is with me and I open the door he greets whoever is there like they are a long lost friend I have been working on this for 2 YEARS with very little improvement. I don't know if it's fear, excitement or him just being a dog. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you xxx
I'm lucky Baxter doesn't seem to react to noises or people but a girl I work with has a Westie who barks at anything. She's had her for a year and she's a rescue dog. It's a real problem as we work night shift, you can imagine not getting much sleep then having to work a 12 hour night shift Will look forward to hearing any advice on the subject
Oh der Helen, two years is a long time, poor you My last Lab Tess was just the same ( thankfully Sam doesn't bark ) and to an extent Millie is a barker too, but like Charlie , she only barks when someone is at the door or approaching the door . What I do is to immediately and calmly put her indoors , in the sitting room , whereupon she stops , so I let her out and give her a treat .
Oh Helen, I wish I could offer some advice but barking isn't something I've had much experience with as none of our dogs have been much into barking although we've always allowed them to offer a few barks when some one knocks on the door, if only for the deterrent factor of a deep bark. With my Spinone I taught him to "speak" so he barked when asked and Juno only ever gives a woof about the pheasants running around the garden - usually if they are too close to the patio doors . So does he bark if he hears someone passing the house but doesn't see them, or does he bark if he sees someone - just trying to work out if there is a trigger to the bark. Strange I know but how would you describe the bark? How quickly does he stop if barking at someone when he is in the garden? Have you thought about having a consult with a behaviourist? Just thinking that sometimes fresh eyes can resolve the barking with a few training methods. Sorry for all the questions, just trying to break down the barking episodes. Does he ever bark at people/dogs when you're out on a walk?
No need to be sorry for the questions I am grateful for the help He barks when he hears or sees anyone go by our house. The bark is loud and almost like he is scared if that makes sense. Stopping depends on how long the delivery van is in the drive, a doorbell ring he stops quicker. I used to be able to say "bed" when this happened but now if I say it he quickly goes the other way and won't go. He doesn't bark at people and only barks at dogs he isn't keen on during walks, all other dogs he just walks past as if they aren't there. I really have had my fill of behaviourists/trainers, as far as I am concerned none of them have offered any solutions that I don't already employ, so they have been a waste of money. I would rather try to work through this myself I don't mean to sound negative but really you wouldn't believe what we have been told to do x
Sadly I can believe this @charlie Helen , like in most fields, there are some good ones and some shockingly bad ones . I guess they can be useful in seeing things from another perspective , but like you , I do prefer to find the solution myself if possible. I did find that removing Millie from the trigger ( shutting her in the sitting room ) did help enormously , hope you can bottom this with your dear lad x
Unfortunately Helen it wouldn't surprise me at all . Perhaps a first step could be to re-train the "bed" cue. Change it for a different word, a different spot, perhaps a bit of vet bed. You will need someone to help you with the training when it comes to using it with someone knocking on the door but we're used to having to find willing helpers. I wondered whether his bark when seeing someone from the garden was more of a "fearful" bark than a "happy" bark of you know what I mean. I'll have a look at some of the websites I know of which may have some ideas to help. Watch this space ...
@charlie Just a thought but have you read the Turid Rugaas book Barking: The Sound of a Language ? I haven't read this one myself but have liked her other books and it may provide one or two ideas to go forward with, plus her books are oncise and easy to read. It's available on Amazon. Off to have another look around
oh I have sympathy. I have this with both of ours. One barks at a passer by through the front window and sets the other one off. Either can be first. They drive me potty. If I say "leave it" sometimes one will and immediately come for a treat, which brings the other one. It doesn't even have to be a real passer by..an imagined one will set them off. At least that's what it looks like to me. The do it from the back garden too...
Homer barks quite a lot too. Unfortunately We've had an anonymous complaint, a rather rude complaint that suggested we don't look after our dog properly and they'll report us to the RSPCA. Hubby lets him out into the back garden after breakfast and he does sometimes bark for a short while. I only give him treats when he goes out and comes back in without barking. Problem is hubby will call him back in when he's barking then give him a treat!
I would be also interested in advice and strategies on barking as well. When it is alarm barking, with Boomer once I investigate the issue and return like it's nothing to worry about it seems to calm him down. But at the same time I can only do that so many times . My main issue with barking seems to be when Boomer is unable to get to the person or dog and he turns into a lunging barking frenzy. He does this to any person/dog he sees at a distance. Even if it's his own shadow. But once he gets up close to the person/dog he is all happy jiggles and stops the barking.
Brilliant, just ordered it on Ebay for £8.90 free P&P. I have some of her books and I like the way they are written, no waffling just concise, and as you say, easy to read. Thanks Rosemary, so helpful as always x In the meantime I wonder if I should get a small blanket and put it away from his bed so as it's a separate space, perhaps in the hall and change my cue but to what? I will clicker train it too as he responsive to it. I think I got stuck in a rut with this training as there has been so much other stuff to tackle I have some willing helpers to ring the bell, at least they will be when I tell them xx
For alert/alarm barking I laugh. In the space of two years all three houses abutting ours changed hands and Oban did not think the new people should be there. Plus we have a church, park with playground, community centre and trail access all right beside or very close. People are coming and going all the time, I can't have him barking at all of them (like the bad bad word dog next door does) I laugh, "Ho, ho, ho, you big silly, they live there now. They are nothing to bark at. You made a mistake, Mr. Silly." It's sort of a chastising/mocking laugh. I have to redo it every spring when people start moving around outside again but it works. He does not bark at these people. However he does still bark when the door bell rings and someone is right on our porch. The laughing still works for that too, but I have to do it every time. Now for the outside people the odd time he does bark I often just have to say, "Silly. Don't be silly." P.S. I told the neighbours what the laughing was for, probably doesn't look good to laugh when your dog barks at them if you don't explain.
@charlie perhaps just use 'mat' as the cue, and I can't see any real reason to delay starting to train the new position and cue unless you want to read the book first Some of the advice I've read this afternoon suggests that you ignore the barking as responding to it/speaking to the dog helps to confirm to the dog that people passing etc are scary and need to be frightened away and you're joining in with him. I can see the logic behind but don't know how you are meant to live with a barking dog without having problems with the neighbours - lots of gifts of alcohol may help . Numerous sites were saying that if you can't cure a dog from the barking you should consider using an electric collar to zap whenever the dog barks and if that doesn't work surgery to the vocal chords! I have to admit even I was quite shocked with how easily so called trainers/behaviourists recommend mistreating an animal for doing what comes naturally. Still I know you going to crack this problem with Charlie, and you will do it with love and patience, and perhaps a little help from Turid. You have achieved so much already with him so this is just the next step on the road
I have SO much sympathy for you, Helen, but not much help, I'm afraid. My previous dog was the barkiest dog I have ever known. I used to say he would bark if there was someone THINKING about walking past our house. He would bark all the way through the first half of our walks, including barking down the manholes he came across as we walked across the road. I tried teaching "speak" in order to teach "quiet", which didn't work (well, "speak" worked great...). I tried various other training methods but back then (a good 20+ years ago now) there weren't too many ideas other than bark collars which I never felt comfortable using. In the end I just accepted that he was a barker and would never change. Have to say I am very glad that Simba is pretty much the complete opposite
Sorry can't help with the problem Helen, Fred doesn't bark, but look on the bright side, you will never get burgled
Thanks ladies for your thoughts @MaccieD Rosemary, Lucky for us our neighbours aren't too close and they have multiple dogs so nothing to worry about on that score. I will use 'mat' as my cue and stop talking to him, so bogged down I didn't think of that and hope this works for at least the doorbell ringing which I am hopeful of as I will use my clicker, but I'm not sure how to tackle the yard barking because unless I sit out there all day in all weathers waiting for the delivery man or someone to walk past the gates I can't see how I can train for this whilst the door is open which is what I need Any further thoughts or ideas please? Thanks xxx
I'm sure you've already heard of passer-by syndrome, but here's an article about it which might help some others: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-avoid-your-labrador-barking-at-passers-by/ The dog gets rewarded for his barking by the fact it "works" - the passer-by disappears, obviously scared off by the ferocious barking. Is there any way you could set up scenarios with stooges to walk by, who stop (ignoring him completely) when he barks, then, when he's quiet, throwing him a treat and carrying on their way? I don't know the situation of your garden, but this may need to be at a distance at first. I can see this would be an amazing use for the Treat & Train!
Is there any way you could set up scenarios with stooges to walk by, who stop (ignoring him completely) when he barks, then, when he's quiet, throwing him a treat and carrying on their way? I don't know the situation of your garden, but this may need to be at a distance at first. I can see this would be an amazing use for the Treat & Train! I think this is a Great idea
I go and 'investigate' the noise, tell the dogs it's fine and then they stop - but it doesn't stop the initial 'alert' barking, which I think is very natural behaviour .
