dog barking is driving me crazy
what to do please? she is ten months old. she barks at everything and nothing. she will bark at me to demand my attention. I love this dog to bits. when she isn't barking she is adorable . I need to stop this constant barking because first of all I'm starting to get angry and that just isn't me at all. secondly, she is upsetting my neighbours. that is not acceptable .i don't like the idea of electric collars which give a shock whenever barking occurs. is there anything else more humane?
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This is your problem. She has learnt that when she barks you give her attention. Most owners fall into this trap because it's a very easy trap to fall into! The dog starts barking, you tell it to shut up, it doesn't, so you tell it again, slightly louder, it still doesn't stop, so you shout even louder, and this can go on until your literally yelling the place down, yet the dog still won't shut up! Then, all of a sudden it stops barking and you instantly stop shouting. You don't need to now right? The dog isn't making a noise so all is quiet and well again, you don't need to utter another word right? WRONG. You have actually just given your dog the worst possible lesson which will ensure he'll never shut up when you tell him to!
From the dogs point of view, your shouting and yelling is you joining in, so encouraged by this, he will do it even more as he believes it's what you want, and the louder you go, the louder he will go! In a dog's mind the scene above would go something like this:
I start barking for whatever reason. Up to now my owner has been quiet and boring, yet as soon as I've started barking, their joining in. They must like what I'm doing so I'll do it more. Oh look their going louder, they must be finding this really fun, I'll go louder too! Oh wait - I've stopped barking and as soon as I have my owner has gone quiet and boring again. Now what did I do to make them fun before? Oh yes bark! I'll try it again!!
The owner has inadvertently taught the dog to bark without even realising it simply by trying to get it to stop barking! The dog has learnt that when its quiet, it's owner is boring and pays it no attention, yet as soon as it starts barking, the owner becomes lively, fun and giving it lots of attention. The second it stops, the attention stops and the owner becomes boring again, so the dog barks knowing the reaction it gets from doing do, and it goes around in a vicious circle. That's why many dogs go crazy barking when someone comes to the door or the phone rings, usually the owner leaps up suddenly to rush to answer it, yelling the dog to be quiet so they can hear. Once whoever it was has gone, everything becomes quiet again. It's barking to provoke a reaction it has learnt it will get, and as a persistent barking dog is one of the hardest noises to put up with, the owner usually snaps pretty quick in a frantic bid to shut it up, but actually makes the situation worse.
Dogs perceive any attention, negative or not, as good, they have the mindset that 'any attention is better than no attention'. So being shouted at, scolded, even tapped with a newspaper, is better than being ignored. They hate being ignored. You can use this to your advantage to turn the barking situation around. The next time he starts barking ignore it. Completely. Don't speak to him, don't touch him, don't even look at him. You have to put on an Oscar winning performance and pretend there is absolutely no dog anywhere in the room and certainly not one barking in front of you. It is incredibly difficult but you MUST persevere, stick some earplugs in if you have to, the dog cannot think for one second you can hear him barking. Eventually (possibly straight away, possibly after 20 minutes) he will realise there is zero reaction coming from you, at this point he will usually stop barking, but even if he doesn't you must wait until he does, then the very instant he stops, you must praise him like crazy. If your playing tug and he barks, stop as if you'be been shot, put the toy away, get up and walk out of the room without saying a word. Get somebody to knock on your door and phone you, when he starts barking, ignore him, ignore the door/ phone, then the instant he eventually stops, praise him then go and answer them. If your on a walk and he starts barking at something, say nothing and just turn in the opposite direction. Play and praise him when he's quiet at random intervals, at the slightest bark get up and walk away.
What your teaching him with this the exact opposite of what he's learnt. That barking stops play not encourages it, that your fun and exciting when he's quiet, but the second he starts barking, your quiet and boring, that you do not find his noise acceptable and if he does it everything fun stops. It might take a few lessons but eventually it will sink in. However it is important that everyone in the house follows these rules, or he'll think it's only you he can't bark with, and it's vital you don't 'snap', not once, no matter how infuriating, if he thinks you'll 'reply' just once, he will carry on knowing at some point you'll 'reply' again.
Once you have taught him not to bark, and really be certain you have, you don't want to undo weeks of ear splitting hard work!, you can teach him to only bark on command or a more controlled barking if you want. Play excitedly with him, encouraging him to be vocal. The second he barks give a command like 'speak' followed by a treat. Keep doing this, and build up to two barks then a treat, then three, then four or however many you find acceptable. Once he's up to as many barks as you want, say three, after the third bark hold his mouth closed gently but firmly and say 'quiet' followed by a treat. Keep doing this until he will stop just by you saying 'quiet' to him, until he will bark and stop barking on command. If you decide to teach this, because the last thing you want him doing while your trying to get him to stop barking is to be actively winding him up to bark, be really really sure he's learnt that lesson before even attempting to teach him to bark again.
Don't fall for expenisve fancy gimmicks, such as spray collars. Their just a quick fix and whilst they will stop barking, they won't teach the dog not to do it, so as soon as you remove the collar, many will start barking again. It's like a muzzle, yes it stops biting but remove it and the dog will bite. Quick fixes are just that, they work instantly but won't in the long run, you need to train a dog to do/not do something, not just prevent it as its not going to actually stop it:p.
Then they are let out again before bedtime - sometimes as late as 12.30am, and again its bark bark yap yap yap. Complaints to the neighbours by ourselves and most other people in the road have done no good.
That's annoying, I try not to take Elsie out before 8am and after 9pm as I realise it must be annoying to other people. She is good girl at home. Have you tried the council dog warden ? they are helpful sometimes and might be able to have a word the barkers owners.
No, problem hope it's of use to you and you soon have a quiet canine:). Pretty much yes, except instead of simply ignoring, when the dog goes to jump up, turn around and fold your arms so your back is to the dog. Stay like this until the dog stops leaping, then as soon as it does, bend down to his level, praise and reward him. He'll soon realise that he only gets attention when all four paws are firmly on the ground. Another option for a persistent jumper, is to simply lift your knee up as the dog jumps, so you give him a firm but gentle push to his chest. The shock makes them drop down again and they learn that someone unpleasant happens if they leap up. Obviously breed comes into consideration here, it's fine for an over excited boisterous spaniel, but not a small bouncy bichon frise, but if you've got a 'average' sized dog it works well and the dog learns it quickly:).
Bin it, get a Cat
What makes you think the OP isn't doing just that ? when someone asks for help it doesn't help to condemn them as they are addressing the problem.
Most councils have a Noise Team which could investigate the intensity and length of the noise (which is what it is) and if necessary take action against your neighbour who, apparently, has no consideration either for the dogs or the neighbours. If you're lucky you may have an RSPCA inspector locally who could intervene with some "advice" for the neighbour. Clearly the welfare of these three dogs is not being addressed by the owner or they would not (a) be outside most of the time or (b) be barking.
When the dog barks, immediately give the command 'QUIET'. Make sure you are firm! Holding up your open palm at he same time might also be useful. AS SOON AS THE DOG STOPS BARKING, give it a treat. You must be quick as you need the dog to associate the command with his barking - and the reward for stopping.
Practice this.
Make sure you keep the to the command as described, and be firm. You need to use a disapproving tone.
My neighbour has trouble with her dog barking. When she wants it to stop, she comes out of her back door and calls out in a loving voice, "Susie....stop barking darling, there's a good girl."
The dog stops barking for a few seconds while it tries to work out what the silly old bat is on about, then it resumes again.
We tried anti barkng machine..she barked at it!
We thank her, show her palm..she carries on.
We don't shout/bark back.
She barks at anything that moves and lots that don't.
She barks for attention but mostly because she is a watchdog breed. We don't let her out early or late. We bring her in when it gets too much..as it does if a pesky feline appears.
She's a darling who really likes every dog and every body especially little ones but she loves to bark.
BUT I picked up a tub of foot salts and shook it and she STOPPED!!!!!
So I have a small tub of broken up dry spaghetti for the park. Softy daddy thinks pebbles in a can are cruel...me I like peace.:)..so shake and peace....
"rolls one's eyes".
I agree there is always one.
Interesting to know. One of our neighbours dogs is constantly barking. They put the dog outside and leave it out there alone all day. It barks everytime someone walks past or it hears a noise.
Poor little thing is starved of attention! They never walk it, never ineteract with it or anything. Its just left alone for hours at a time in an empty garden with nothing to amuse it except a hole in the fence to look out of.
I thought about contacting the rspca but i thought so long as the dog was fed and watered there was nothing they could do. From my view of their garden i cant say for sure if it does have access to food or water so havent been able to report them for neglect.
Poor thing perhaps try the dog warden, they can often pop in and have a word with the owner just because it's a nuisance they don't have to wait for neglect or harm.
There was once a dog next door to me that used to start barking at about 5am, when early shift workers merely walked past the house. It also barked constantly throughout the day when I was off work with illness. I was driven to the point where I think I would have done anything to shut it up and even considered buying one of those high pitch devices to use through the walls of the terraced house. In the end, calls to both the Environmental Health Office and the local rescue centre did the trick and the dog was taken away.
I agree but when the owner is addressing the problem and asking for advice it isn't very sympathetic to say get rid is it ? and on the pets forum we should be here to help not condemn when someone is trying their best.