Barking dog

tazwaz

Hi, I'm hoping for a bit of help...I have a 2 year old terrier x who is absolutely brilliant except for his barking!! If he sees a bird in the sky, sees a cat in the estate, anything really, he's off barking non-stop!! We live in an estate and I know one neighbour is getting fairly annoyed with it..
I'm thinking of getting him a collar that emits a high pitched sound when he barks, there's also a collar that sprays him and one that shocks him but I'd rather keep away from them. We used have a spray bottle of water that we squirted at him when he barked but it got to the stage where he'd bark and then run to us for a spray of water :-)
Does anyone have any info on the collar I talking bout please? Or any other advice on something I could use?

Whispered

I would suggest that you up his exercise, even if you already walk him daily, try your best to vary it and increase it. Give him something to do during the day, like frozen kongs, maybe a sand pit to dig and play in, toys to play with.

You might have to consider keeping him inside if more exercise and less boredom doesn't work.

Cherry Blossom

Hi OP,

My first step here would be to teach the dog a command to bark (like speak, bark etc.), this shouldn't really be hard in the circumstance but you also need to find a way to get his attention so he will focus on you when kicks off.

Step 2- once the command for barking is established is to introduce a command for 'quiet', to start with you should probably only use this when you have asked him to bark in the first place so his focus will already be on you. Bark and quiet should be rewarded when he listens

Step 3 - When he has learned quiet, you might want to introduce the 'enough' command. If quiet has been ignored twice then he gets the enough command, this comes with a consequence if he continues. Remove the dog from the situation that has caused the barking (30 seconds or so in a room on his own will work for most dogs when your at home). And establish a pattern Barking -> quiet -> quiet -> enough -> consequence. He is given three chances to earn his reward this way and he should soon figure out how it all works as long is it's taught one step at a time. 'Enough' needs to be quite firm like a sort of 'right, this is your last chance' tone of voice.

Getting his attention might be the most difficult part which is why its important to get the commands established in a controlled setting before it can really be put into practical use.

tazwaz

Whispered wrote: »

I would suggest that you up his exercise, even if you already walk him daily, try your best to vary it and increase it. Give him something to do during the day, like frozen kongs, maybe a sand pit to dig and play in, toys to play with.

You might have to consider keeping him inside if more exercise and less boredom doesn't work.

This is the strange part, when we are gone to work and he's in the garden there's not a peep out of him. It's only when we're at home. He could be in the middle of eating his bone or his kong and if he sees anything happening outside he'll go crazy barking. It's not a vicious bark it's more like he'll bark and look at us as if to say why can't I go out and play with the kids, dogs passing or chase the birds... We'll try walking him more but even when he goes to doggie daycare, once a week, he'll come home wrecked and could be dozing on the couch and he'll still react!!
We're going to be having our first baby in sept and I would really like his barking to be under control for then.
He really is the most lovable, adorable dog except for his barking..

Inexile

I have a somewhat similar situation. What I found worked is putting a lead on the dog. I had intended keeping her near me so when she started barking I could manage her and correct her. However, I found that just by putting the lead on she naturally become more submissive and less reactive.. I actually didnt have to do anything more than put a lead on her. Now i havent followed through so without a lead she can be barky but I think its the start for training a dog out of it and its also has, no negative reactions when taking the dog for a walk. try it and see how it goes.

DBB

tazwaz wrote: »

This is the strange part, when we are gone to work and he's in the garden there's not a peep out of him. It's only when we're at home. He could be in the middle of eating his bone or his kong and if he sees anything happening outside he'll go crazy barking. It's not a vicious bark it's more like he'll bark and look at us as if to say why can't I go out and play with the kids, dogs passing or chase the birds.

You may just have answered your own question here! If the dog is quiet whilst you're out (are you certain about this? Have you tried using a video camera to confirm?), and only barks when you're there, AND looks to you when he starts barking, it strongly suggests that he's barking for attention!
Time outs may be a useful way of dealing with this. Put a houseline/light lead on him while you're at home (never leave it on whilst he's unsupervised). There are two ways to deliver the Time Outs, and there's no reason why you can't use both depending on the circumstances.
You must react the very second he starts to bark, by getting a verbal signal that his barking = Time out. Something like "Uh uh", or "No bark" or whatever you choose.
As you say it, either
a) leave the room immediately
or
b) calmly take his lead and lead him to a Time Out room, like a utility room or somewhere boring where he can't amuse himself whilst on Time Out. Other than saying the "Uh uh", say nowt to him during this process. He should stay on Time Out (whether you've left the room, or he's been put out of it) for about 30 seconds-1 minute, and never end the Time Out if he's barking at the allotted ending. Only return/let him out if he's quiet.
End the Time Out as if nothing has happened, and return to whatever you were doing.
Make sure not to feed into his attention-seeking if he starts barking: no talking (other than your "uh uh"), no shouting, no eye contact.
I will warn you, no matter what technique you use, you're likely to get an "extinction burst", where the dog may get worse before he gets better. This is the bit where some owners give up, but don't, as it's a sign that your reaction IS affecting the dog! If you stick to your guns and calmly, consistently apply the same rules when he starts barking, he'll reduce his barking.
And if you see a bird flying past, or another thing that usually causes him to start barking, and he doesn't bark, make a big fuss of him, and reward him with something yum. Indeed, you can set up such training sessions by deliberately sitting with him at the windows!
You may find it easier to take some steps, at the start, to limit his ability to be able to see fully out the windows as he can now: translucent contact film on windows, move vantage points like chairs away from windows, have a radio on to somewhat drown out outside noises which may be sparking him off now. This will help reduce his rehearsing the barking at times when you may not have time to deal with it.
Good luck!:)

beveragelady

The problem seems to be that barking is a habit with him, and has become its own reward.
Have you taught the dog some simple commands? This definitely works: Teach his something easy, like the 'Sit' command. Praise him to the high heavens every time he gets it right. You need to get to the point that when you say 'sit' he is eager to get his arse on the floor, and does it without thinking.
Now you have a 'breaking' command. Whatever he's doing, when you say 'sit', he stops what he was doing and sits. You can use this to break another habit without having to shout at him or lose your temper with him. Pretty soon he'll forget that he likes to bark for no reason, he'll be all about the sittin' down.
This can also work for things like jumping up on visitors, or bothering you when you're eating dinner.
I used the Victoria Stilwell trick to teach my boy to sit. It worked, he learned it in an evening and has never forgotten. AND it taught me a lot about training a dog.