Dog barking help!
Lainiomonkio
Posts: 890 Forum Member
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Hi there
We have very recently adopted a dog from a shelter - nothing was known about him, just that he is a very young (about 1 yr) terrier cross. We think he's a Cairn / Yorkie mix. He is as good as gold when he's in the home, he is chilled out, quiet, obedient and very loving. He is happy when strangers come to the door, is great with people who come in and he can visit other places / people's homes without getting stressed or wound up. All in all, we couldn't ask for a better dog.
But when we walk him he turns into something completely different. He barks at everyone he sees - it starts with a growl which then turns into a bark and he lunges on his lead. When he sees other dogs he gets even worse and barks so much he sounds hoarse. And he tends to gallop in circles around me (on his retractable lead) and can't be calmed.
I've tried coming down to his level and stroking him to calm him down, I've scolded, I've walked him away calmly, I've offered him his favourite toy, I've offered him treats ranging from kibble to hot dog sausages but nothing works. We've tried one of those Pet Safe spray collars but when he's running around it doesn't seem to work very well, I think by the time it sprays he's already run past the spray so it doesn't affect him.
I'm going to continue the treats / praise method but I wondered if anyone has any other advice? I'd love to eventually trust him enough to let him off the lead but right now, I don't know what he'd do if he came across another dog. As much as I'd love to be able to take him places with lots of people and dogs and have him sit calmly, I want him to be calm for his own sake - he gets so stressed out and it can't be good for him.
We have very recently adopted a dog from a shelter - nothing was known about him, just that he is a very young (about 1 yr) terrier cross. We think he's a Cairn / Yorkie mix. He is as good as gold when he's in the home, he is chilled out, quiet, obedient and very loving. He is happy when strangers come to the door, is great with people who come in and he can visit other places / people's homes without getting stressed or wound up. All in all, we couldn't ask for a better dog.
But when we walk him he turns into something completely different. He barks at everyone he sees - it starts with a growl which then turns into a bark and he lunges on his lead. When he sees other dogs he gets even worse and barks so much he sounds hoarse. And he tends to gallop in circles around me (on his retractable lead) and can't be calmed.
I've tried coming down to his level and stroking him to calm him down, I've scolded, I've walked him away calmly, I've offered him his favourite toy, I've offered him treats ranging from kibble to hot dog sausages but nothing works. We've tried one of those Pet Safe spray collars but when he's running around it doesn't seem to work very well, I think by the time it sprays he's already run past the spray so it doesn't affect him.
I'm going to continue the treats / praise method but I wondered if anyone has any other advice? I'd love to eventually trust him enough to let him off the lead but right now, I don't know what he'd do if he came across another dog. As much as I'd love to be able to take him places with lots of people and dogs and have him sit calmly, I want him to be calm for his own sake - he gets so stressed out and it can't be good for him.
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I'm not going to be of much use I'm afraid but had to pop on and reply as this sounds so much like our dog when we got her. She was 6 months old when we got her (and also a terrier) and as it turned out had not been socialised so when she was out on the lead she lunged and went ballistic at everything - mainly other dogs. I have a thread her somewhere if you want to have a nosy - I think it's called 6 month old undersocialised Westie, help and Haltis.
I tried to manage it myself with info from the internet but felt I was making it worse as I didn't know whether it was fear aggression, true aggression or there was some other reason why she behaved like this and as the training advice differs depending on the reason I didn't know what to do for the best so I had to get a one to one trainer. Well worth it. Within one session she had us approaching other dogs for a sniff.
In my dog's case it turned out she had a touch of fear of other dogs (on lead) but really wanted to get to them for a reassuring sniff. When she couldn't get near them she went crazy - barking and lunging like a dog possessed. The dog trainer was able to judge what my dog could cope with, control the situation and ask other dog walkers to stop and wait for mine to settle. If she (my dog, not the trainer
I couldn't have done it without the dog trainer because she knew what was causing this with our dog so knew the right plan of action. Lots of dogs have real fear aggression which needs to be managed differently: take your dog to a place were they can see a dog way off in the distance, so far off the dog does not feel threatened and therefore bark - treat dog with tastiest treat ever. Over time you very gradually take your dog closer to another dog, treating all the while for not reacting. This is a very slow process and you have to stay calm and patient but it is meant to teach the dog to have positive associations of other dogs, reduce the feeling of threat and increase calmness.
Ours always wears a Thundershirt when she's out on walks too. This a long with training has helped so much. The Thundershirt doesn't work on it's own but it certainly takes the edge off somewhat making the training that little bit easier as she feels calmer when she's wearing it.
Don't lose heart... there is hope. I know how hard it can be but ours has come on so much now that she is getting to meet have positive experiences with dogs. We still have our bad days but we're getting there.
I would avoid scolding or pulling on the lead as the dog can associate this with the other dog and react even more. We had been doing so well until recently when we took her to a dog training class (a stage I thought we would never get to!). We were doing perfectly fine, treating her for staying calm near the other dogs, when the trainer (a subscriber of that damn pack theory) decided we should show the dog 'who was boss' and grabbed and tugged her lead and shouted 'No!' when she got too overwhelmed and excited with the dogs whizzing past her. After that she was much, much worse and has resorted to barking again. We're back to square one somewhat but we'll get there again by giving her positive experiences out on walks.
We are also trying to teach her the 'Watch' or 'Watch me' command. I hold a treat in front of my face so the dog looks at me, I say 'Watch' and treat her. It's a work in progress but eventually we hope to use the watch command when we see a dog in the distance to get her to focus on us, not the dog. Eventually, the watch can turn into an 'autowatch' were the dog associates the watch command so much with seeing another dog they automatically look to you without you even having to say 'watch'. I got this from a book called 'Fiesty Fido' by Patricia Someone-or-other (sorry don't have book to hand).
If you can get a dog trainer, even for one session, to find out exactly why your dog is doing this and get a training plan specifically for your dog it would be worth every penny. I mean, in our case our dog actually wanted to meet other dogs (although she initially had a very funny way of showing it!) and getting to meet the other dog is her reward for not barking but for dogs with true fear aggression it would certainly not be a reward for them to march them straight up to other dogs!
So to summarise all that ^^^^ waffle I'd recommend:
- consult dog trainer if possible
- look into fear aggression
- Thundershirt
- consistent, positive training designed to teach the dog positive associations with other dogs at a very gradual pace that the dog can cope with and build from there
- pray someone who knows what they're talking about comes along.
Good luck!
He's the most lovely dog and so affectionate and it's upsetting to see him turn into some crazed maniac. I also can't bear to think what the surges of adrenalin and cortisol is doing to him if he gets worked up the way he does. I'll keep you posted of his progress and I'll do a search on your other threads!
I'm heading out soon but I'll try and find that link for you later, but truth be told it won't be helpful because we were past the demonic barking by that point and I was looking advice on pulling and whining that had replaced the barking. Bloody dogs, who'd have them, eh.
Look forward to updates. I'll keep checking in to get ideas from you. :-D
Start from a long distance away ( the other side of the park) on a short lead so you have good control and walk towards another dog. If your dog starts going crazy lunging and barking, say 'ah ah' in a stern voice and swiftly turn around and start walking in the other direction away from the dog, if needs be walk right out of the park. Wait a few seconds then start off again towards the other dog, if he starts lunging just turn and walk away again. If he's quiet or calm reward like crazy then stop and let him play. This will help him associate other dogs with good stuff giving positive reinforcement which will make him see other dogs as a really great thing to have around. Keep doing this, building up gradually to getting closer and closer, the aim is to get to the point of simply walking past someone else with a dog. If he starts lunging/barking just make the distance a bit wider and build up from that point again.
Another thing that may help is if there's one dog your dog is really good around and likes, ask the owner if they will help you, using the method above. Using a dog yours is happy and comfortable with will encourage good reactions for practicing with strange dogs.
Also, many dogs show aggression on the lead and are actually perfectly fine loose. This is because a dog has a fight or flight instinct, where possible it will choose flight, but on a lead (no matter how long it is, a lead is still a lead) it is trapped, unable to run so if its feeling insecure the only way it can defend itself is to fight.
She has prescribed scullcap and valerian tablets and says it will take about 4-6 months before the anxiety is broken. I'm currently walking him somewhere different, somewhere he is less likely to come across huge groups of people or dogs so he can learn that walking is fun and we can have fun with toys and running around and he doesn't have to be anxious. Eventually I'll take him back to the big area and get him to gradually meet other dogs.
I'm really glad we're moving in the right direction and we have help, he's such an amazing dog and everyone completely melts when they see him so I'm pleased that there may be the possibility that he will be able to walk amongst other dogs and not go loopy in a few months time
We were still having lots of problems with him barking and lunging but we had another session with the dog trainer and she thinks he isn't aggressive, it's more of an excited bark as he wags his tail and doesn't growl. She thinks because he wasn't socialised with other dogs when he was young, he doesn't know how to act around them so she has asked us to use a muzzle (after we slowly introduce it over a week) and a long, long training lead.
So we're getting there. Very slowly but we have new things to try.
So glad to hear Baxter's progress. Well done you. And Baxter.