Hi all. Little Cuillin has been developing more and more of a habit of barking at dogs in the distance. She sort of rushes in their direction barking, and rushes back to me looking flustered, then rushes back to bark again. She is also showing some fear signs when she meets groups of dogs she doesn't know close up, tail tucked between legs and ears firmly pinned back. She stops barking when dogs get closer, and once she recognises her pals she will have a game, if she doesnt know them she will look unsure but no barking and will sometimes have a game if they are friendly, other times she will run a short distance away and sit looking scared while Brodick has a sniff and a game...I had got things a bit better by calling her over to me when she was barking and getting her to sit next to me, Look At Me, then reward when the barking had stopped. However in the last few weeks she has gone back a few steps and is getting herself in a right state when we are out on walks (strangely, this behaviour is much less marked when we go to the beach, which is a two or threee times a week treat...). This is not great for her, and also a bit off putting for other dog owners so I am keen to help her work this through but not too sure how to go about things... In terms of what is causing this, it started sort of low level when she was about nine months old, stopped, and has started again big time in the past three months (she is now sixteen months old). Both she and Brodick were attending a large scale creche a couple of times a week, around forty dogs, mostly free play all day in large fields. I have decided to take the pups out of creche recently, for a variety of reasons. Mainly I want to know what they are up to all day, and train them consistently to my rules, but also now because I want to keep more of a control on Cuillins interactions with other dogs while I work on this issue with her... They havent been for four weeks now, I dont know what may have happened there, but in terms of any specific incidents while with me, she was chased by two or three lurchers, part of a group of eight walked where we walk, about four months ago, and she is now absolutely petrified of this group, but also now seemingly all other dogs in the distance unless she recognises them! I am worried that by treating her once she has stopped barking I may have reinforced this behaviour, but any advice or suggestions would be gratefully received! I feel very sorry for her as she gets herself in a right tizzy now, and we are starting to walk at very strange times to try and avoid too many dogs, though again I am not sure whether this is making things worse!
Re: Getting in a right tizzy at dogs in the distance... Hi Debsie, If this is fear based you may need to go through a desensitisation program rather than just try and stop the barking. I don't have much experience with dealing with fear but I'm sure someone else will offer some help. Good luck, I hope you manage to give Cuillin a confidence boost Barbara
Re: Getting in a right tizzy at dogs in the distance... Hi Debsie, sorry to hear your dog had a horrible experience being chased. You need to restore her confidence in gradual steps. Have a look at the kikopup series on barking (search kikopup barking on Youtube) they cover all sorts of situations and are very helpful. Pippa
Re: Getting in a right tizzy at dogs in the distance... Oh dear Debsie, it's the Nervy Little Thing syndrome again, isn't it? My tactic with Poppy, which seems so far to have worked regarding strangers, is to carry the dummy in a bag. If she starts to 'stiffen', I get the dummy out of the bag and offer to let her do a little bit of retrieving - AFTER she has walked to heel past the strangers without any barking or growling. (Can't claim that I thought this up; Pippa and others suggested using something she loves doing and associating strangers in her mind with this activity). It seems to be working very well for us - perhaps you could adapt it somehow, to take Cuillin's mind off the scary dogs and to focus her on you instead?
Re: Getting in a right tizzy at dogs in the distance... thanks for this everyone. Karen very timely advice - Cuillin had just developed a passion for dummies!! so I will try this properly at the weekend, I had a wee go in the park on the way to the hill yesterday and she was distracted by the dummy for a bit but then got in a wee state again and had to have a bark.....but the park is very busy with dogs so I think too much for her at this stage. Barbara yes I think desintisation is the way to go as stopping the barking is only momentary and she needs a long term fix, thanks...Pippa had a quick look and these seem to be great videos. I'm going to sit down with a cuppa and work through this and write up a proper progressive plan for her. I keep trying differnet approaches every time this happens so need a consistent desensitisation approach....fingers crossed....
