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Question for those with gardens
molliepops
Posts: 26,828 Forum Member
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How do you stop your dogs barking at people walking past ? We've never had a garden until we bought a static caravan this year with a nice fenced area, my husband spent hours chihuahua proofing it for Betty and making it safe for our rather nearly blind Labrador Elsie, neither are normally barkers, we live in a first floor flat so they don't see anyone walking past. But weekends are becoming fraught with the sound of me shouting NOOOOoo and telling them to go back into the caravan to let people walk past without being deafened by two over excited barking lunatics!
So how do I train them not to bark at passerbys ? I can see why they do it, they have just never seen people walking by before but I really want them to enjoy the outside which when no one is around they are loving, grass eating, ball playing, hide the Kong and just relaxing and laying in the sunshine.
But I feel like I'm failing them just yelling no !
Help !
So how do I train them not to bark at passerbys ? I can see why they do it, they have just never seen people walking by before but I really want them to enjoy the outside which when no one is around they are loving, grass eating, ball playing, hide the Kong and just relaxing and laying in the sunshine.
But I feel like I'm failing them just yelling no !
Help !
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But where I used to live there were a couple of dogs who would go bananas if someone walked past. it didn't bother me but it did irritate a couple of the neighbours
I guess if I wanted to stop it, I wouldn't get worked up or say 'no'. Because attention from you is also a sort of reward. I would calmly and silently put them on the lead, take them back inside and ignore for a while. Ultimately they would hopefully come to associate the behaviour with negative results.
Maybe you could speed up the process by getting some cooperative people to walk by for some intense training sessions. ;-)
As it's a new behaviour you may have success if you can calmly get their attention and they stop it or train them to go inside and you give them a reward treat but timing is absolutely critical and it is very hard with more than one dog. Get it wrong and they think they're getting a treat for barking not stopping
Not sure how I'd train this out of them... We have a 6 foot fence so this isn't a problem in the back garden but our mutt does bark at postie/people knocking at the door/horses going past/joggers (luckily we're out in the sticks, so almost no-one passes our house, hence it being a Big Event). I let her bark as it's only a brief burst a couple of times a day - and I want my dodgy neighbours and their visitors to think we have a 'scary' dog.
It's recently got worse because new neighbours with kids who run past many times a day have taken the caravan an older couple who only walked past once every Sunday to take their rubbish to the bins. I dont want to be a nuisance neighbour
To teach a dog to bark on command is fairly easy. Do something to make the dog bark, ie discreetly rattle the letterbox, and when they bark say in a happy exited voice 'speak!' and reward. Keep doing this until the dog barks at just hearing 'speak' nine times out of ten so you know there really got it and fully understand what your asking. Now to get them to shut up again! Say 'speak' so the dog starts barking, let them bark four or five times (or two or three, it's up to you how many times you mind them barking for, but try and make it at least three times, a bark is a dog's voice after all and they should be allowed to use it!) , and on that fifth bark say in a firm low voice 'quiet'. If they stop barking, praise calmly ( high pitched vigorous praising will likely trigger them off again) and reward. if they don't stop barking just turn your back on them and the second they do stop, reward and calmly praise like mad. They shouldn't make a racket uncontrollably though like a persistent barker because their not barking randomly, their doing so because you have told them to and will be looking for your next cue. Keep practicing this, four/five barks then a 'quiet' command with a reward for doing so, and soon you will have a dog that you can 'stop' and 'start' and it will also know itself roughly how many times it's allowed to bark before you will tell it to stop.
This is the best way as it puts you in control, but the other way to stop unwanted barking it to make is unrewarding. If the dog is in the garden and someone walks by, as soon as they bark, say 'no!' firmly but quietly and take them inside. Do this at every single bark and they'll soon realise that if they make a noise they'll be taken away and given no attention. Dogs can't stand to be ignored, they will see any attention, even if it's negative, as better than no attention at all, which is why the best punishment for behaviour you don't want is to simply ignore it. Whatever you do, don't shout at them, it is incredibly hard to not yell at a barking dog, but they will see your shouting as you joining in with them and actually bark louder thinking you approve!
So what I have to do is raise him up over the gate on a table or by sitting him on his own seat so he can see the world go by and can be greeted by people who want to fuss him, and he's back to normal.
I guess it's just not being able to see what's coming.
By "yelling no!" you are essentially backing them up, joining in. Rather than shouting at them, thank them / acknowledge that they have brought a potential problem to your attention and that, it is "OK - thank you + name / girls / whatever" in a positive manner. They should soon learn that people passing are not a problem and will stop bring the matter to your attention.:)