Chepi just went barking quite assertively down the back garden. She was justified. There was some geezer lolling by our back gate. But I was more worried about her barking! Who's more barking? She was just doing her job. I attempted to find a middle ground and say thanks to her but it's ok. I don't think I got it right but what do you do? (All this while getting over her spay ???)
Re: I need to have a balance I don't know, I think you are right and you sound perfectly balanced to me. It's not Charlie's job to be a guard dog, or bark to alert me to anything, or "see people off" - where does that end? I want my dog to be friendly to everyone. I don't want him to bark at anyone, no matter what they are doing. It's the best way, I think.
Re: I need to have a balance In situations like that with my dogs (both my labbys and my livestock gaurdians past and present) I always say something like "what is it? Ok...I see it...thanks for telling me" and usually a "good girl". Sometimes I'll use "enough" if they don't stop....and with the guardians I use "go" if they are to chase off the threat. AS a point of clarification, my guardians are a deterrent, and they remove the threat from the premises - almost always without contact...just reinforce a boundary. They are Anatolian Shepard and spend time patrolling and watching, but only use aggressive force as a last resort....for example, they will chase off deer and coyotes to their boundary and then return...but will defend themselves and their "keep" if necessary. Rodents of all shapes and sizes are immediately dispatched tho.... : pretty sure it's just a sport thing... Sorry...got off track there....basically I thank my labs for drawing attention to a situation, but do not ask them to deal with it. I find generally they are doing a form of "resource guarding" of ME or their home...so thank them, and then deal with the perceived "threat". Chepi is probably just extra sensitive after her spay...give her good cuddles and praise . xx
Re: I need to have a balance Whilst I don't think endless and repeated barking is acceptable I do think that it is quite reasonable when your dog alerts you to something irregular. A barking dog is a deterrent to the casual thief. A few years ago I was upstairs when I heard a sound like the side gate being opened. Alice, barked, then the gate crashed shut. I later learnt that there had been several walk in burglarys in the area that morning. None of my dogs have been agressive, but they have been very useful alarms. We used call the last one 'the head of security' though heaven only knows what she would have done if someone had got in. She had a deep chest and thus a deep loud bark but was a terrier mutt who didn't even reach my knees
Re: I need to have a balance Yes, I acknowledged that something was up. After all, she signalled the burst pipe in freezing weather recently. So, I could tell by her tone that something was up. I said, "ok, let's go and have a look" Saw the guy and said loudly" Yes, there's somebody wandering, good girl" which was half a message for the bloke and some kind of recognition for Chepi. Then I told her again she was a good girl and took her inside. The bloke didn't go and she kept barking with me saying "No. It's ok" (perhaps the entirely wrong thing) so she went into her crate (never does that before bed time). Then I felt I had to reassure her even more. The longer I have her the more I think I have to learn.
Re: I need to have a balance [quote author=Mollly link=topic=9952.msg144596#msg144596 date=1424367742] Whilst I don't think endless and repeated barking is acceptable I do think that it is quite reasonable when your dog alerts you to something irregular. [/quote] Isn't the problem, though, conveying "irregular" to the dog? If that's, for example, "someone approaching the house who doesn't ring the doorbell" I'd say most people are failing at that training, since it seems 80% of dogs go nuts at the sound of the doorbell.... : ;D ;D ;D
Re: I need to have a balance Yes Julie. Chepi barks at the front door being knocked but if I show her who it is, strangers mostly, she just loves them to bits. I should enroll on some kind of course! I need to learn a lot!
Re: I need to have a balance [quote author=Jane Martin link=topic=9952.msg144603#msg144603 date=1424368565] Yes Julie. Chepi barks at the front door being knocked but if I show her who it is, strangers mostly, she just loves them to bits. I should enroll on some kind of course! I need to learn a lot! [/quote] Harley is exactly the same!!
Re: I need to have a balance Sam rarely barks , Millie only does when someone comes to the house so I reckon Sam thinks " Why have a dog and bark yourself "
Re: I need to have a balance [quote author=Jane Martin link=topic=9952.msg144603#msg144603 date=1424368565] Chepi barks at the front door being knocked but if I show her who it is, strangers mostly, she just loves them to bits. [/quote] She is not alerting you - she is saying "hurry up and open the door so I can say hello". ;D ;D ;D
Re: I need to have a balance Gypsy is a noisy monster! She will bark at sounds and sights, and at anticipated sounds and sights. My brother always gets home between 5:30 and 6:00pm, she starts anticipating this and barks at the slightest shadow or sound outside : It gets very annoying! We are working on it Tatze only barks to go out or come in, then it's only one bark and even then only usually a 'huff' sound.
Re: I need to have a balance I would settle for a "huff"! "huff! Huff!" Sounds softer and more feminine
Re: I need to have a balance I do want my dog to bark when people come to the door. We had intruders in our yard and cars broken into but so far not the house (our dog is inside). I feel safer with a dog that will bark. When I'm home alone and answer the door at night I want my dog to be barking his head off. So I let Obi bark a bit and then, when I want quiet I cue him to be quiet and then he runs to me and gets a treat. To be honest he does bark more frequently than I'd like! But at the end of the day I would rather that than no barking at all. Personal preference.
Re: I need to have a balance Do you have space between neighbouring houses in Australia or something? ;D ;D ;D
Re: I need to have a balance I like the fact that Penny will bark at something out of the ordinary. OH sometimes goes away overnight and on those occasions I will have her sleep in the bed with me - if she's up in the bed with me she will bark if anything unusual happens. She has a deep bark that makes her sound twice as large as she is so hopefully a good deterrent to anyone that hears her. It makes me feel safer when I'm on my own. It has gone a bit too far one way though as she will often bark or do a 'huff' bark (what I call 'oofing' because it's sounds like she's saying oof lol) at every car door slam outside or person making a noise walking past the house - this is something we have to work on.
Re: I need to have a balance Maisie has yet to start barking when she hears things outside (she is actually a fairly quiet dog). Her default if a doorbell rings and we don't get the door (as in, I'm watching TV and a doorbell rings on the show!) is to go to the door and whine at me. She has barked twice at this old man who lives across the street. I don't want to be rude and call him creepy, but he does tend to wander around his yard late at night with a kind of weird helmet flashlight thing, so I don't mind it, although I do try to distract her and she doesn't bark a steady stream.. just once or twice. And then the other day on a walk, Maisie barked at a construction sign lady (holding up the SLOW/STOP signs). She had become great friends with some of the regular sign ladies, who neglected their jobs to pet her a bit and give her treats… the construction men also like to give her pats, so she has decided ANYONE wearing construction clothing is a good friend of hers and that they are dying to pet her. THis isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we are walking by the construction sign lady, she is new so hasn't met Maisie before, and Maisie sits… wags her tail… wags… then barks! Like HELLO FRIEND! I AM HERE! COME PET ME! Silly baby.
Re: I need to have a balance It's a tricky one. In an ideal world, I want my dog to be a lovely, friendly, quiet, pet - and yet to be able to distinguish between 'friends' and 'foe'. In other words, I don't want her to bark when the neighbourhood children run past our front gate - but I do want her to bark when some unknown person is hanging around the street for no good reason... It's a lot to ask of a dog!!
Re: I need to have a balance Bella only barks if she wants me to play or if she wants some food and I'm not playing! She just stands at the top of the stairs when someone knocks at the door then goes a bit timid and backs away. I live alone with her so would also like a bark when someone approaches the door..
Re: I need to have a balance After three episodes of telling Monty to shush at the back door - he's a pretty quiet dog now and only barks when you agitate him - making woof noises, etc - the males in the family discovered this!! - I realised he was telling us that our cat was on the kitchen roof and wanted to come in through the upstairs window! kind of helpful in a noisy way...
