Hi folks new to the forum need some help and advice. I've got a red lad 18 month old who is turning into a nightmare. He has a massive problem with barking and a very little grumble when he hears a noise in the house. When he is on his bed and he hears a door shut upstairs he starts to bark he stops barking when I tell him but he then grumbles for the next five minutes. He is worse in the evenings and its getting to the point if someone walks down the stairs or goes to the bathroom he starts. Also if he hears the front door he's off but if I'm talking to a person at the door he is horrendous. I've read a few books regarding this issue and it appears he has fear aggression. He has barked at a couple of strangers out in walks but if they have a dog he pays no interest in them. Overall he is a lovely dog and full of drive and enthusiasm but the barking and grumbling is driving a massive wedge between us and I'm going off him. I have a clicker which I've used to help with his heel work and other bits. How could I use the clicker in these circumstances. I'm desperate for a plan and look forward to hearing your suggestions. Thank you
Re: Help it's driving me mad Hi Jeff,welcome to the Forum,I'm glad you've stopped by for some help,your dog sounds like a fine boy apart from this issue and there is a lot of experienced members on here that I am sure will be able to help. I have a 2 year old boy,he's our first dog and apart from the usual barking at the door bell and the odd alarm wuff if he's startled by a movement in the garden I haven't got a lot of experience.there was a time when I was working to mimimise his barking at the doorbell .....I used the clicker and I needed to recruit an assistant....we practiced a lot ,ringing the bell and rewarding the quick snatches of quiet amongst the barking ,eventually I got my 'quiet' verbal cue and a fingers on lips hand signal.the doorbell now goes and he just runs into his room which is the utility room off the kitchen....I know this isn't the same as the behavioural issues you think are behind your dogs barking and I'm sorry that I can't help you more specifically but I just wanted to let you know that the clicker was a really good help to me as it's a tool you can mark 'not barking' rquickly and accurately ...better help will be along soon ;D Best wishes Angela
Re: Help it's driving me mad Hi and welcome my 17 month old fox red lab, Harley does exactly the same. I posted on here last week about this. It appears to be the second fear phase. When she barks, I call 'touch' and she comes running back for a treat. I then quickly get her doing other things such as paw, high five or wait. If she doesn't come back or doesn't stop barking I am working on trying to distract her. Usually I will get her really exciting dummy out and if she stops barking and pays attention she gets a throw of the dummy. I hope this helps a bit
Re: Help it's driving me mad I don't enjoy the barking either. Sometimes she is just saying I am here!!! If she hears a noise upstairs I say "It's just Dooley" and she stops. Dooley is the cat she curls up with. I am thinking that just the word association might help so I may test it when the postman comes next. Chepi is fine when she can see who is at the door, very friendly in fact, but she WILL bellow when someone knocks! This actually was very helpful 2 days ago when she alerted me to the burst pipe in the garden; I hadn't heard it "go" but she did and insisted I went to the back door. There I was met with a huge arc of water spraying from a half inch split in the metal pipework. 8)
Re: Help it's driving me mad Thanks folks for the welcome and advise I will start doing distraction stuff with him and see if this helps
Re: Help it's driving me mad from a teeny tiny black 6 year old Labrador known as The DivaDog and her human in Somerset, UK
Re: Help it's driving me mad Gypsy is just coming out of this stage. When she starts I do five minutes training (anything!) to snap her out of it. I also find having the radio on helps, she's less likely to be 'listening out' when the radio is on.
