Poorly chicken

[CatieB]

As it says really.

 

Coco is a little over a year now and has only recently started to bark in an annoying way. For example if someone goes past or at something that has caught her attention (couldn't work it out the other morning and turned out to be a bird in the nearby tree!!!) once she starts nothing seems to stop her. If we leave her outside alone she doesn't stop. We tried to leave her alone recently to see if she'd eventually stop and we got fed up first.

 

We have tried ignoring her, or saying a firm NO but without success. Shaking something at her doesn't seem to do the trick either, she looks ignores and then carries on.

 

Someone recommended a special collar. Any views, does anyone know of one. We'd like to nip this in the bud as we are campers and don't want to annoy the whole campsite.

 

Thanks

[bluekarin]

I would love to know this too. My dog is 11 months old now and has taken to barking when she thinks someone has walked past the house, if someone knocks at the door, if the post comes through the letterbox........ And is getting worse! I try and ignore her but she tends to dig at the post ( I do have a letterbox cage to put up, at some point) I tell her there is no one out there! But she doesn't listen. I do shut her in her bed when I answer the door and ignore her protestations.

[HarrisonFamily]

Hi

With my dog we have used a tin of pet corrector , its just compressed air so hisses....my dog hates it ....I have only used it a few times and now I can even mimic the sound and its enough to stop him barking.....

 

However, it does not work on my sisters Jack Russell......

 

Hope you find something...

 

[pips_pekins]

Hi. She is just letting you know that there is something that is bothering her that she doesn't understand and perhaps a threat. I would not get a collar for this. Firstly, don't shout at her, this may give her a confused message that you are joining in with the barking!

 

Our dog has an 'on your bed command'. She used to bark at the postman and people passing. You could do something as simple as shutting the curtains so she can't see out but our dog pushes them apart as she likes to see out and watch for us if we are out .

 

Another thing you could try is getting people she doesn't really know to walk past until she seems to quieten down. At that point reward her, not before. She may then associate not barking with the reward and therefore good behaviour. She might initially bark for a very long time but just keep ignoring it - as difficult as that might be. Any attention she gains may give her the wrong message and there is the risk she will continue doing it to get the attention. As you say, she ignores you and carries on. She may not see it as ignoring you but doing what you want. After all, when we speak they only hear 'blah, blah, blah." How they choose to interpret that depends, I find, on the individual dog!

 

Our spaniel is very trainable and we have developed a 'quiet' command. If someone just puts something through the door, she now knows not to bark and to sit on her bed. If the bell rings, she still barks but we tell her 'on your bed' and she knows that we are on the case and not in any danger. We have developed this through a system of ignoring the barking and rewarding her when she gets on her bed We had already taught her 'on your bed' so we could just guide her to the bed and reward her when she quietened down. Now if she starts a grumble, we can quietly say 'on your bed' and she will go there and be quiet.

 

I know it can be annoying but some dogs are perhaps a bit more barky than others (I seem to remember reading that in a pack they all have a role and so some watch out for the rest of the pack and this might be what she sees as her role within your pack).

 

Good luck. If she is behaving in all other ways, I would say try not to get too stressed by it (easy for me to say I know) and she may just grow out of the habit as quickly as she started.

[bluekarin]

That is some excellent advice, thank you Neela goes to her bed if we tell her to, with a lot of grumbling mind, if someone knocks at the door. I will try to do the same when the post of junk mail comes through. She does go from fast asleep on the sofa to wide awake and almost yelping to get to the door. It is quite funny, but I do worry about her hurting herself as she slips and slides all over the floor. I hadn't seen that she might think us telling her to be quiet or making any noises would be seen as us joining in with her barking. A new plan of action will be in place now.

[Lavenders_Blue]

Welcome to the barky dogs club! Tango is a typical terrier and will bark at the drop of a hat - in the home she barks at cars driving past the house, post coming through the door, voices outside, next door neighbour walking past the fence, me banging around upstairs, next door's dog (also terrier) barking, the doorbell, the window cleaner, plus any 'unusual' noises... It can get a bit wearing!

 

We have reached a kind of compromise. When she kicks off, she is allowed a short period of barking so she is doing her (self appointed ) job, then she is told to be quiet which usually means she goes to her bed to grumble and woof under her breath for a couple of minutes. If she starts up again, she is told to go to her bed - I won't allow the noise to go on. As pips_pekins said, you can teach a 'quiet' command by rewarding the dog for quiet, calm behaviour.

 

It's a bit different if the doorbell rings as Tango is quite wary of strangers both in and outside of the house and particularly hates unknown people coming to the house. In that case she is shut in our living room, which has a glass door, and we live with the noise for the duration of the postman/window cleaner/etc visit. If it's a visitor coming into the house then that's a different situation again and I won't bore you with the detail here as it's a whole other thread! (If it's a door to door salesman then I usually stand at the front door holding her collar and they tend to beat a hasty retreat ).

 

I wouldn't recommend using a pet corrector or anti bark collar to be honest. Certainly for Tango they would be no help at all as her noise and bluster stems from fear/wariness, and it would only escalate that to add something else she is afraid of to the situation. Far better to teach the dog that being quiet is rewarding. The results may not be as quick but in the long run you'll get a better result.

[kinsk]

Barking isn't necessarily a bad thing so you don't want to punish it, you just need to control it.

 

Incessant barking is usually because the dog is feeling insecure or feeling like it is in control, either way it doesn't feel like it has strong enough leadership.

 

Our dogs never get punished for barking but they are all taught the "enough" command. At that point they know that whatever situation they are barking at has been taken over by myself or OH, and as soon as they shut up they are told they are good boys. Any further outbursts get a stern 'ahhgh' (closest I can describe the noise)

 

Shouting does not work, as pips_pekins said, they can think you are joining in with the barking.

 

Work on other training, and also distraction techniques to stop the barking so you can take control back.

[The Dogmother]

Mine are trained to bark at the doorbell or someone knocking, but I use the 'leave it' command, closely followed by 'on yer bed'. They usually work well although Ruby likes to mutter under her breath for a bit afterwards... she's a bit on the highly strung side

[kinsk]

They usually work well although Ruby likes to mutter under her breath for a bit afterwards... she's a bit on the highly strung side

 

I've got one who always likes to have the last word he does it so quietly I'm sure he thinks I can't hear!

[The Dogmother]

my teenager does that too

[kinsk]

my teenager does that too

 

At 50 my husband still tries to do it

[The Dogmother]

It's a bit like Muttley out of Wacky Races... makes me laugh, which doesn't go down well.

[CatieB]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. We never shout at her. I will try the leave it command as she knows those words in relation to food. The difficulty in praising the good behaviour so far has been that she doesn't pause let alone stop for even a second. Thanks again

[The Dogmother]

When you use the 'leave it' command, does she come to you, or give you any attention? If she does, then use that window to call her over and ask her to sit for a treat.

 

I taught Ruby the 'touch game', which she is very good at and it's a great activity for diverting her attention as she's single-minded when playing it. Hide a treat in one hand and ask her to touch the other hand with her nose to get the treat, use a high pitched 'touch' word command and give the treat immediately. I got her to do it by touching her nose with the empty touching hand first, using the command and then giving the treat in very quick succession. She's really bright and caught on quickly.Cyrus however is half dog, half goldfish and can't seem to get it at all

[Lavenders_Blue]

I agree with DM that if there is no pause for breath for you to reward the quiet behaviour then you can encourage it by a bit of distraction/bribery. The touch game sounds like a great idea. I just waved a treat in front of Tango's nose and when she was quiet rewarded her, then started putting a word to it and so on.

[bluekarin]

I like the sound of the touch game. Will be trying that with Neela very soon

[pips_pekins]

I agree with DM that if there is no pause for breath for you to reward the quiet behaviour then you can encourage it by a bit of distraction/bribery. The touch game sounds like a great idea. I just waved a treat in front of Tango's nose and when she was quiet rewarded her, then started putting a word to it and so on.

 

I agree too. I find going into the kitchen and looking in the fridge is distraction enough for our greedy spaniel . I always have carrots and apples in there which are her favourites. She cannot help herself, if she hears me cutting up a carrot or apple she is next to me in the blink of an eye.

 

I like the sound of the touch game. Will be trying that with Neela very soon

 

My spaniel struggles with the rules of this

 

Hope all is going well with Neela bk.

[The Dogmother]

My spaniel struggles with the rules of this

 

Don't worry; Cyrus struggles with 'sit'

[CatieB]

So does coco. She can leave it but she can't sit!

[Cat tails]

This topic is from 2013. I’m pretty sure they managed to get their dogs barking less in 5 years time. 

Edited May 22, 2018 by Cat tails

[Grandmashazzie]

Though it has been good to read through. I have my barkiest dog ever. From we got her she barked to go out to pee and barked to get in, we thought how clever is she. Too clever by half, has her humans dancing a merry tune. She then started barking at  5 for breakfast. Of course rather than wake whole house OH got up and fed her, she barks at near enough 4.45 for tea. Barks if she wants a chat.I am now going to try go to bed and admit I have shouted NO, so will stop that. As to the breakfast think we will have to get up as she will wake everyone.

[GrannyTrish]

She's certainly got you both trained well, Shazzie! Have you tried any of the great ideas in the above posts?

[Grandmashazzie]

Yes she has Granny Trish. Yes I am starting to teach her go to bed and reward her,like a lab she will do anything for food and seems smart. 

[GrannyTrish]

Fingers crossed it works for you. Food is a Lab's greatest love!