Hello,
My neighbour's dog is a fabulous German Shepherd/ Doberman cross. He is friendly, smart and playful.
The problem is that he barks like crazy when he is excited. He barks mostly when his owner is around, and there are other dogs around. (my dog is usually around when we are out in the yard)
The neighbour is trying to work with him by grabbing his colar when he barks, and giving him positive feedback when he stops. But the behaviour isn't stopping - dog only stops barking when owner has his collar in hand.
My neighbour doesn't want to resort to a shock collar or bark collar until it is apparent it is time for a last resort.
The dog is 3 or 4 years old, my neighbour adopted him a year ago. Can anyone offer suggestions on how we can stop this crazy barking?
Thanks in advance!
2006-09-03 05:24:09 · 12 answers · asked by fireweedgirl 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Effective obedience training would be a good place to start. Effective basic obedience is the foundation for communication, and can calm down even the most excitable dogs.
This type of barking is a self-rewarding behavior though...the more the dog barks, the more excited he becomes; hence, he barks more. Probably is having a lot of fun doing it. And getting physical contact from the owner -- who grabs the collar as a form of discipline -- is an added bonus because it probably feels good to the dog! Kind of like a rough hug.
Today's no-bark collars are much better than the ones from even a few years ago. They start with low-level correction and increase only to the point where the dog needs it. They also deliver correction instantly so the dog clearly understands why he is being corrected. Dogs have reflexes that are so much faster than ours, a correction delivered even a split second after the event can be too late, especially when trying to shape a new behavior.
A no-bark collar can be used effectively. When the collar corrects the dog, the owner would do well to be on hand to say NO BARK at the same time. This associates the collar correction with the verbal command. After a time, a dummy collar could be exchanged for the no-bark collar but still linked with the owner's verbal input...the final step would be, just the verbal command NO BARK and the dog would get it.
Praise when the dog is quiet must be given also, but in a calm and low key manner so as not to further excite the dog.
2006-09-03 05:32:24 · answer #1 · answered by flysilly 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I resuced a lab that did this a while back. He was on a dog run and whenever i would go outside he would bark and bark and run side to side. He did this for at least 30 min after I went in. What I did was made sure that he got enough exercise. He was a very energetic dog, so I would run him for about 30 min a day and walk him for 45. One in the morning one in the afternoon. This minimized the barking but didn't eliminate it completely. The dog might also bark because he doesn't get a lot of attention, so when you do go outside, it becomes highly excited and barks. I would suggest a bark collar. In the end we got one for the lab and it worked fine. He was quite.
Good luck.
2006-09-03 13:13:57 · answer #2 · answered by announmous 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I remember hearing a dog trainer on TV once that said if you throw something at them, NOT to hit them but to divert their attention away from the barking they will stop. It does work. Also, I have trained my cats to stay in the yard by putting rocks, or the like, in a tin container and shaking it when they would go out of bounds. They don't like the sound at all. I had lost too many cats to the woods behind the house and even though these two adopted Siamese are declawed and were 4 when we took them in, they now stay in the yard. That was a trick I heard to use on dogs especially when they jump up on people.
2006-09-03 12:35:36 · answer #3 · answered by Koko 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dogs communicate by barking. It's as natural for them as breathing. Would you put a shock collar on a child to shut him up?
2006-09-03 12:32:33 · answer #4 · answered by jinxybear 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
our dog also does this... he does it when we are about to leave... we didn't know what to do... so we tried giving him a treat to preocupy him right before we leave.... and it worked!!! we've done it so often now, that he looks for a treat instead of barking when we're about to leave... now we don't have to give him a treat every time we leave... only every other time or so... i think you should try this out!!!
2006-09-03 12:27:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
tell him that a bark collar works great. electric for bigger breeds.
2006-09-03 12:36:52 · answer #6 · answered by maureen a 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Do what Adam Sandler did in "CLICK".
Buy a universal remote control and lower his volume!
2006-09-03 12:30:45 · answer #7 · answered by YA!!! 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Have your neighbor call Sissier from dog whisper.
2006-09-03 12:31:58 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
spray him in the face with water everytime.
2006-09-03 12:34:08 · answer #9 · answered by crystalfaria11306 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
get a cat
2006-09-03 12:27:24 · answer #10 · answered by edward h 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋