My 7 month old Fox Red Lab simply wont stop barking at passers by - whether he is in the house and sees someone walk past, in the car or on a walk, the results are the same. He barks furiously and will not be distracted by treats or anything. I have never had this issue with any other Labrador I have owned and would welcome any advice. We have tried puppy classes, he socialises with other dogs, although he is often quite nervous and we regularly have people visiting so he is used to strangers. It is getting very embarrassing and every other dog walker offers different advice including removing him off the lead - something I tried once but he then bolted when a small terrier chased him - we lost him for three hours! Would neutering help?
Re: Aggressive Barking Hi there So your dog is very reactive towards strangers, it sounds. I don't have much experienced with this, but others on the forum have and mght be along to help. Have you thought about getting some 121s with a suitably qualified trainer? That might be the best thing, someone that can look at your dog and provide direct advice on how to handle things. Or a behaviourist - your vet might be able to make a recommendation. By the sound of it, your dog doesn't get any off lead exercise? That's probably not helping in that a young, energetic dog without enough exercise can be hard to handle. A good trainer would help you with recall training too. Castrating your dog wouldn't help, it only helps with things that are driven by testosterone - humping, marking and roaming mainly. Good luck with it.
Re: Aggressive Barking Many thanks for the swift response - no he doesn't get a lot of off-lead exercise, he does get some when it is very quiet on the moors but we are scared he will bolt again.
Re: Aggressive Barking Hi I have two four year old labs who are/were very reactive towards strangers. They would bark at people approaching us especially if they came very close and no way could they touch my dogs. With people they know they behave as you'd expect labs to behave. I've done a lot of training with my dogs using counter conditioning and I'm pleased to report they are a lot better. They no longer bark at people approaching, very rarely bark if someone comes close and as long as they choose to they will go to a person and allow them to touch. Their behaviour started between four and six months of age when they had prolonged veterinary treatment. There is a thread on the behaviour board called 'BAT tips' . If you take a look you will see how bad my dogs were, what I've tried and lots of helpful advice I got from forum members. These are some websites I've used that you might find helpful www.empoweredanimals.com This is about 'BAT ' Behavioural Adjustment Training. www.woodysway.co.uk. This website is actually to educate people/children on how to approach a strange dog, warning signs that a dog is nervous etc. I found PAWS rule very useful and when I explain to people that my dogs are nervous I then try and get them to follow these rules and it does work. www.careforreactivedogs.com This website explains counter conditioning simply and breaks the behaviour training into three phases. Unfortunately there are no quick fixes, I know I've looked but these training methods do work. It takes time and patience but you will get there. Good luck.
Re: Aggressive Barking I know recall isn't the reason you posted, but since you mention recall problems you could read Pippa's Total Recall - it's a great book, and contains a great over view about how dogs learn. It might be generally helpful and at least tackle some of the recall issues you have, allowing your dog a bit more freedom.
Re: Aggressive Barking I agree with Julie, our rescue boy Charlie had zero recall when we got him and was on a long line for almost 3 years whilst working through Total Recall he is now off lead for a large part of his walks x
Re: Aggressive Barking [quote author=charlie link=topic=9353.msg134402#msg134402 date=1420312074] he is now off lead for a large part of his walks x [/quote] Still makes me smile to see this.
