Hi there, I'm so sorry this is a long story but would be grateful if someone could read it and help us. I'm not sure if this subject has been covered without going through all the posts but here goes. We have a beautiful black Labrador Ellie. She is from gun dog stock, though we don't use her as such, she's just a pet. The problem is that when we are out walking, and I live in a very rural village, if she's off the lead and sees someone approaching she will take off and just bark at them and circle them until I can chase after her and put her back on the lead. We also have our food delivered and she barks every time they arrive, we put her on her bed whilst we bring in the shopping and she is as good as gold as soon as she sits on her bed, I've tried everything, I have even sat there with her stroking her and trying to reassure her that everything is ok but she is still agitated. This will also happen with any visitors that come to the door but once they are in and she has had her initial bark and sniff she will calm down. She even barks if she 'thinks' there is someone at the door and we have opened it a few times to let her see there is no one there but we don't do this every time. This of course can terrify people, particularly if they are not dog owners themselves. Now I know she will not attack anyone, as far as anyone can know what their dog is capable of, but I can't seem to control this. The only solution I can see is to muzzle her so at least, if she runs off and barks at someone they know she won't be able to bite them but this doesn't solve the problem. The other alternative is to keep her on the lead which is not an option as I enjoy the walk far more just watching her running around free and I'm sure she prefers this too, otherwise I could just walk her around the garden, we have about an acre so no problem there as far as space goes, though it could be a bit boring with the same old scenery every day. I use a whistle to recall her but if she is in flight mode it has no effect. I've tried reinforcing the whistle recall when we are on our own walking and most times she comes back immediately, though sometimes she does tend to ignore the first whistle but usually comes back to the second one. I'm at my wits end. At the moment my husband does most of the walking because I just feel so nervous that she's going to take off at some stage if I don't see the people first and I'm sure this transfers to her and I have to walk her when I am sure there will be no one around but then this affects her ability to interact with other dogs which she usually does very well. It used to be that she would bark at a person without a dog and I thought she was sort of saying 'where's your dog' but now I know she will be attracted by a dog and go up to play with it but has to have a bark at the owner first. We have been to a trainer who was completely flummoxed by her behaviour and the only other alternative I can see is to get different dog behavourists in at vast cost to see if one of them can advise us. She is now 4 years old and this has been going on since she was about a year so I do feel that perhaps we are too late and should have nipped this in the bud, but at first we thought it was a one off until she started doing it all the time. If she's on the lead often she won't react in any way to anyone and walks past them like a little angel. I would be grateful for any advice, I'm getting quite desperate and fear I may never be able to enjoy a walk with her in places where there are other people again.
Re: Barking at people Whilst going through all the other behaviour posts I came across my original post which I'd forgotten I'd put on the forum. (Getting old and forgetful!) Thank you all for your advice and I do think that perhaps she is anxious as was suggested, though having said that, if she was anxious I would have thought she would stay by me. When we walk she doesn't often walk far away from me but if she sees someone approaching and I don't, she will run off barking at them. This is now making the walks a very anxious time for me since I have to keep looking around for people and making sure she is near me so I can get her back on the lead, but I think this must be transferrring to her so I think I will be going round in circles. Anyway, I'm not giving up yet.........she is the perfect dog other than this so should be greatful she doesn't have some of the issues that I've been reading about. Good luck to you all.
Re: Barking at people Julia, I had this problem with my Lab and still do to an extent, he lacked socialisation at the correct time as at 16 weeks he broke his elbow and was confined in a crate for a month, in small room for further month and then five minutes walk a day on a lead, then ten minutes etc etc so he was nearly 8 months before I could give him a normal life. The thing which has helped most is lessons with an ex police dog trainer who believes in giving dogs confidence, so we did some simple obedience and then walked round a small town and ended up in hotel for tea of coffee. We have done this for many weeks and now he is much more laid back, so I think you need to walk your dog round a small town with many people so that she learns that people are nothing to be afraid of, as I believe the barking is through fear. Obviously teach a good recall so that if she does bark you can have an instant recall from the person. Can you get her focused on a ball and retrieving so that she watches you all the time, not the horizon?
Re: Barking at people Sorry Julia....this might get a bit confusing with there being 2 threads .I'll reply on this one as there's a couple of things that stand out to me in your post.....but I'm not that experienced as Dexter is our first dog x Whilst I totally understand you wanting to do it( I'm the biggest softy ever with Dexter ;D)Sitting on her bed with her to soothe her is giving her attention when she is barking ....this is rewarding her barking.I haven't had a barking problem but there were reasons I wanted to teach dexter a quiet command for when the door goes .......I don't know if you use a clicker but that worked for me ,I clicked quickly in between barks to mark the quiet and rewarded.....it's harder to do if you are alone,friends understand but deliveries get a bit impatient as you try and settle your dog whilst they are standing on the doorstep ;D Our 'quiet ' transfers to outside pretty well too when I've needed it ,but you've got different things going on with Ellie ,getting to the cause of her barking will be key and the other more experienced members have made suggestions for that on the other thread x The other thing I wanted to say is that I understand and sympathise with your anxiety.....I have to be on high alert for other walkers and dogs where I walk Dexter.i live in Dubai, a very unfriendly dog city,Dexter has to be on the lead in all public places including the parks he's allowed in ( I've lost my off lead desertwalks due to poisoning incidents)i get up when it's dark at 5.30 am to get into the park to give dexter off lead free running ,like you I love to see him running free ;D but I'm so scared in case we antagonize someone in the park and they call the police....it's not unheard of believe me!I worked through Pippas total recall and this has improved my confidence no end.....Dexter will come back to me reliably from everything except cats ( don't get me started ;D....and other dogs....although that is getting better as I try and use every opportunity I can to practice) that would help you enormously .....you've mentioned already that Ellie recalls to a whistle,with practice and small steps you could develop that.....and it would make you less anxious and she wouldn't pick up it. She sounds a lovely dog and I can tell you love her to bits Bye for now Angela x
Re: Barking at people I have a similar problem with my two labs but it's when they are on a lead. They are very nervous of strangers coming near and sometimes other dogs on leads. This is because of a very bad experience at the vets between 3 and 6 months old! They are improving a lot but it's taken a long time. I use very smelly treats to get their attention and now they know if they don't bark they get the special treat even if I haven't got it in my hand. I'm lucky enough like you to have a very big garden for them to run in and other dogs in my extended family for them to play with we live on a farm. The country lanes we walk aren't suitable for off lead or I'm sure they'd be the same as Ellie. If I was you I'd try to get her used to people on lead and work on recall in your garden first. If you have that much space she won't miss out on racing about if you keep her on lead on walks. When you are confident with recall try again. Also have you tried using a long training line when shes loose so you can get her before she runs barking at people. It would be easier to desensitise her if you can stop her quickly and reward for not barking. Kikopup has a good video on you tube about counter conditioning. Good luck Jen
Re: Barking at people Hi Stacia, I read your post with interest and can see that the barking could be through fear, she was socialised a lot from the age of 8 weeks, I used to work in a pub and my husband used to bring her in every day and until she had her jabs and was 12 weeks old he used to sit with her on his lap and saw loads of people and so was probably more socialised that a lot of dogs. The problem with walking her around the town is that she would be on the lead and the barking only happens when she's off the lead so this, I'm afraid won't cure my problem but thank you so much for taking the time to give me your experience.
Re: Barking at people Hi Angela and Dexter, thank you very much for your help. I have thought about a clicker and will now go out and get one to try that. Yes, I realise that sitting on her bed and stroking her is rewarding the barking as she's getting attention but by then I was at my wits end to try and find something to make her realise that these people at the door weren't a threat. I actually welcome the initial barking when there's a ring at the door as I live in the country down a very quiet road and I won't answer the door at night before I've asked who's there so if Ellie barks and the person the other side of the door is not a nice person they will probably run off before I get the chance to enquire who is ringing my doorbell. I am so sorry your circumstances in Dubai are such that you can't let Dexter run free in the parks but you seem to have that sorted out now so good luck on not being spotted that early in the morning. I think everyone who bothers to join a forum about dogs must love their dogs to bits trying to get the best for them. It's the sad people who own dogs as status symbols or to scare other people who give dogs a bad name but don't get me started on that subject...........
Re: Barking at people Hi Jen, I'm so sorry your poor dog had a bad experience at the vets which has caused his fear. Ellie, as I said in a previous post, was very socialised when I worked in a pub and my husband used to bring her in and sit her on his lap until she was old enough to be put on the floor and came across a lot of people. She did start barking at people coming into the pub at one stage and we couldn't work out what was happening since she was then on the lead or very close by my husband. We didn't take it seriously and thought at first it was women then men with hats on then men with beards. We used to just say it's ok and she was fine but the real problem started when my husband was walking her on the local army land and an old couple were walking towards him, they were a long way off and he thought nothing of it until Ellie suddenly took off and was barking at the couple, the man, quite understandably took his walking stick to probably hit her with it but he didn't, I just wonder if this could have been the trigger to her doing it to people outside now I think of it. Not much my husband could have done to prevent this as he didn't know she was going to bark at these people. I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what happened so I can't make any comment and don't know what I would have done had I been there instead of him. I do have a long lead but that one is 50 mtrs long so I shall try and get a slightly shorter one and see if I can help her with her barking that way. By the way, the long one is for when we take her to the seaside, she goes in and catches a ball but where we take her has a pretty strong undercurrent and so far we've only been throwing the ball a short way in, with her attached to a longer lead she can go as far as she likes and if she gets into difficulty we can 'haul' her back in. Haven't tried it yet but she certainly loves going in the sea to catch the ball. It will also be useful for when she comes out of the sea and sees other dogs and their owners, I can 'haul' her back in from them before she starts barking ha ha.
Re: Barking at people Thank you all for your help with my problem, this morning Ellie barked at a van that pulled up outside our house and then backed up the road. She makes us laugh really but I am sure there's something in what some of you have said, that she's anxious about something. I will work hard on trying to break this habit and report back when she's the PERFECT lovely dog I know she really is - but for one little flaw.
