Dogs Barking?

Question

We live in a complex of 4 houses. We are the first one and have two dogs. Our neighbours have been complaining of the excessive barking. We however dont think there is much of a problem. The dogs will bark when someone walks past our place. However we have the visitor parking right outside our window, the bins next to our yard, and look right at the letter box. On top of this we live across the road from a school where parents park outside our place to pick their kids up. As we are the first house, our dogs cop alot more of these noises than the other dogs in the other houses (each house has a dog). My husband is home during the day and i am home at night so the dogs are not left alone for too long. i refuse to put barking collars on them cos i think it is cruel - what do you think?

Answer 1

I have used coke cans with a few pennies (tape over the top)inside to get their attention and train not to bark.


Here is good information on what to do.
http://pets.yahoo.com/pets/dogs/bt/excessive_barking

Answer 2

Don't use bark collars... I agree with you on that. The bark collar is simply not smart enough to tell why your dog is barking, and there is a possibility of it reacting to things other than your dog's bark, causing total confusion. It needs to be a human doing this training because some barks are ok, while others need to be stopped.

You are going to need to use negative reinforcement here. It is not cruelty, because you will be giving your dogs peace of mind by teaching them that the outside environment is nothing to be worried about. They will need to be punished in order to break their reactionary instinct. You might not like it, but don't feel bad... you are helping your dog to a happier life. You will be able to incorporate positive reinforcement after you break the dog's instinct to bark... then they are capable of thinking about it, and treats for good behavior will help.

There are hundreds of books about barking dogs, but I'm an advocate of "The Woodhouse Way" series, including "No Bad Dogs", which is an absolute classic. I put the Amazon link below for you. Barbara Woodhouse is the original "Dog Whisperer"

BTW, when I say punishment, I don't mean to hurt your dog. Punishment sucks, and it might involve physical discomfort, but never cause injury. Again, read the book. I've dragged more than a few yelping puppies onto their papers or out the door... it's heartbreaking but it's for their own good, and their natural mommies would do the same thing.

Answer 3

I don't blame you one bit it is a dogs natural reaction to bark at something. I also don't blame you for not wanting to use barking collars on your pets. I'll bet your neighbors would be barking out of the other side of their face if your dogs scared off someone who was trying to break into their house!! I have heard that the best way to make a dog stop barking is to look in the direction that the dog is looking while barking and tell him in a reassuring voice that there is nothing there.

Answer 4

I agree with you that putting a barking collar on your dogs would be cruel.

The key to training is to remember that you are punishing the behavior, not the animal.

Since you live in a complex, try to be considerate to your neighbors concerns too. Complex walls are generally thin, and even things like door slamming (I have a neighbor who slams his door all the time around 2-3am and it drives me nuts), can become annoying very fast.

Since the law is on their side, you have a responsibility to make sure that these demands are met before it escalates. And since you don't see it as being a problem (I don't either because I've owned pets), you'll have to try to place yourself in a similar situation with different elements.

For example:

Would you be aggravated if your neighbors argued all of the time, and you were able to hear these arguments?

People are different and so are opinions. Just try to be considerate to the fact that it is bothering them, and there are things you can do to stop it before the problem gets worse.

Train your dogs to not bark at people as they pass by. This is a problem that can be corrected with a little TLC and behavior therapy.

If personal training fails you can always go to places like Petco and take classes/have a specialist help with the behavior problem.

~Hope this helps!

Answer 5

regardless of how fair it is that you rent the apartment with the most foot traffic isnt your neighbors fault. if dog lovers even complain about too much barking then you know theres too much barking. you only have a few choices move, stay home an coach your dogs until you run out of breath, get rid of your dogs, or do what makes most sense an buy a bark collar, you do know theres a bark collar that just sprays water at them right? an one that has low frequency shock. you may be saveing them from agony by do that because if you have to move that can stress them , if you have to get rid of them thats even worse for them an if your neighbors get mad enough one might try to poison the dogs

Answer 6

Ehm..
My puppy was barking at everyone and I was looking for some help online. A very good training course you can follow is http://www.goobypls.com/r/rd.asp?gid=572

I liked it because this method it's gentle, simple and very effective.
Best

Answer 7

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