The barking.....OMG the barking

Brandie&Maggie

New member
I need some new strategies here.

Ruby has a big problem with seriously overreacting to everything. People, cars, animals, anything. That is our biggest challenge with her as I can't take her anywhere where there are other people/dogs.

She is actually wonderful and very nice and sits when she gets to meet anyone and plays well with other dogs.

However, if she's not allowed to meet anything, she's totally and completely nuts. Barking, lunging, etc.

It's not been a problem in the house, until the leaves fell off the trees. Now she can see the main road from our living room and goes bananas when she sees runners or bicycles. She'll bark for 10 minutes running around, whining, and jumping in the windows.

I've tried distracting with treats, putting her in timeout, ignoring the barking and rewarding the calm, etc. I need new strategies. The barking has got to stop.
 

CathyC.

New member
Puppy pushups? Whenever the barking starts have her repeatedly sit then down then sit then down until calm prevails. Or maybe try the calming protocol? I got the link here somewhere. All that barking is enough to drive anyone nuts. The other strategies you tried sounded very good though. Maybe it just needs more time?
 

lmfoltyn

New member
My Jake does the same thing...it's been 2 years of this and nothing has stopped it...drives a person nuts...good luck with your girl...if you figure it out...let me know!
 

wulfin

New member
I feel for you!!! We've been there and are still semi-there!

We taught speak and quiet. Then when there's ANYTHING outside he'd bark at, we'd tell him quiet..make a loud noise to startle him (which he'd be quiet for) and run into the kitchen for a treat (rather than having them on hand since he'd then return right to the barking). Rinse. Repeat.

After 2 years (yes, 2 years)..he now will look out the window "boof" quietly or quiet whine, then run into the kitchen and wait for us to get there to get a treat. So, we're still working on it..but we're getting there .. and we no longer have to bang on the walls to get his attention back.

The other option really is to just block the windows. Avoid the trigger ;)

Note: our dog is reactive, so it may be a little different..but this is what worked for us. Since distraction did NOTHING for him. His brains went so far out the window that I could throw an entire chicken infront of him and he would ignore it .. and he LOVES poultry.
 

DAWNMERIE

Active member
I taught focus (hot dogs in my pockets at all times, especially walking her) and whisper, that's what helped with my guys. Myra was my crazy (and sometimes still catches me of guard) and Zeke was my barker (in my face, spitter) Keep at it!

As for the leaves, I'd tell you to go out there and have some fun and play each day for about 10 minutes, she needs to release some energy and it will also help her get over the movement of them which probably starts her. As for the people & dogs, I never discouraged that cause I wanted to know. I actually thanked my dogs, with a good pup, thanks for making me aware and gave them pats on the head, but that's just a personal preference. It gets better, takes time and consistency, I promise!
P.S.
Just realized you are talking outside and to keep her focused on walk and not wanting to meet & greet everyone, duh. I have finally gotten Myra much better cause she was horrible about that, so much so I made Vin walk her. (and she was even bad for him sometimes) But I made Zeke always sit and focus on me (and hot dogs) when people and dogs passed on the walk, if he was trying to be insistent about meeting. Oh and when I say focus, if Myra & Zeke started to pull towards someone, I'd take out the package of hot dogs and say focus and with me. What collar are you using?
 
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Brandie&Maggie

New member
I'm talking about both inside and outside.

We are working on focusing, but her brain gets so focused on the offending object or person that NOTHING will take her focus off of it. She's food motivated normally but once she sees something out of the ordinary, she could care less.

When we are out and I see something coming, I take her to the side, have her sit and focus on me and a high-value treat. As soon as she hears or sees the thing it's all over. Until they are well out of range she won't move, won't look at me, won't stop.

If we're in the woods it's better because she can't see them for very long, but on a straight trail or road its a nightmare.

At home I have to drag her out of the room. I'd put in new blinds but that would literally cost a few thousand dollars as our living room is mostly windows and requires custom blinds. So we have curtains for now.
 

Brandie&Maggie

New member
What collar are you using?
We have the Sense-ation harness. It's ok in normal situations but does nothing when she really gets going.

I considered a prong but I've never used one and don't know how to properly fit it/use it. Our trainer is completely opposed to them and I can't find anyone locally to show me. So I don't want to do it wrong.
 

wulfin

New member
For the windows - I almost wonder if something like an window etch film would work - looks nicer than the cardboard we used previously.. basically, you put it on your windows (it's supposed to be on the inside, but my coworker used it on the outside for her dog so it wouldn't get scratched up) and it makes it more opaque. She'd still be able to hear or see fuzzy shape/colours, but it wouldn't be as clear as a window. Fairly inexpensive too.

As for while walking - that's what we did. We started by ducking behind cars, going up driveways, etc. But he wasn't as reactive on-leash as what you're dealing with and as long as we have his focus before the other people come by, we've always been ok. So I can't really offer any other tips than what your trainer has probably done with reactivity work (setting it up so he just sees another dog/person/etc from far away..then end the session on a calm note, and eventually work to walking past in a wide arc, and slowly making the arc smaller).
 

victoria1140

Active member
We put stickable film over our windowsfor our barkers. Ours is a stained glass pattern and you can get some fancy ones.

Outside just keep working on her getting used to stuff constantly.
 

Emily1123

New member
My boy Maylo has this same problem. In the house, luckily for us all it took was a little direction. When he barks too much we basically close the curtains for a few minutes until he calms and if he just "talks" more quietly, we reward that by talking back to him (i.e. "woof" "what do you see Maylo?") and going over to him/petting him.

On the leash, our boy is very reactive and we have a great trainer/behaviorist here in Montreal who is really good and so affordable. When we first got Maylo he pretty good but would go a little nuts when seeing another dog. When he got to be 9/10 months he started going nuts for everything: squirrels, leaves moving, people, bikes and everything else. We basically started doing some avoiding, some redirecting attention (we just call him back when his head turns to look at something and sometimes give him a little nudge on the butt which startles him and he looks at us like "what was that?". The nudge has helped us with the minor things like leaves rustling as he is snapped out of it but not for dogs/bikes etc.). We also do more controlled exposure, like if someone is coming towards us on the side walk we step off the sidewalk and make him face them and sit. Most of the time he is great with that but every once in awhile he scares the crap out of some innocent person when he barks/lunges at them. Luckily he's not aggressive and he doesn't jump on them he just wants to get their attention so many people think its cute (although I find it so embarrassing).

We think for him its a combination of reactivity and frustration as he will sometimes be great for the first two or three stimuli (i.e. two dogs, one bike) and then something small (i.e. a squirrel) just makes him nuts so after a few stimuli we try to find him a stick or give him a ball and let him just sit in an alley/park/low traffic area to calm a little more.

I am so happy I get to be home with him these days so we can really work out this problem! Let me know what helps you!
 

shellyk

New member
"I considered a prong but I've never used one and don't know how to properly fit it/use it. Our trainer is completely opposed to them and I can't find anyone locally to show me. So I don't want to do it wrong. "

I feel your pain! :hugs: Our rescue has issues with barking and reacting outside on walks. He sometimes even reacts in places where he once saw a squirrel. When we took him to obedience class @ 17 months, I think we were extraordinarily lucky to have a trainer who had Newfs. She gave us a lot of insight to some of his behaviors - he is very independent and smart. She also was opposed to using a prong collar but she showed us how to use it. She said that some people need it with their dogs and need to know how to use it correctly. She did inspire me not to use it during her class and for a while after that. One thing though...he seems to move from one troublesome behavior to another as he matures. We went back to the prong collar at the beginning of our walks. By the end of the walk he has worked off some energy and we can switch his leash to his collar. He is a small male at 120 pounds but he can pull me and my husband to the ground. A squirrel crossing our path is dangerous so we went back to the prong.

If you can't find a trainer that will show you how to fit and use the prong collar - a high end pet store that sells prong collars should be able to help you fit it. I bet there are Youtube videos on how to use them too.
 
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shellyk

New member
Nina - sorry I missed your post! I came back to the post because we still have the same barking and reactive issues. I don't want to go back to that Trainer because she only does classroom settings for beginners. He's too disruptive now for a beginning obedience class... If she gave me the tool(s) other than the prong collar to deal with him I have sadly forgotten it. I guess I should call her and see if she will do individual training or can recommend someone else who can.
 

AngusMcDubhsMom

New member
Darwinsnewfie, that was an excellent link for the use of prong collars. Brandie, as you know because I think you've seen Traveler in action, I use a prong when circumstances seem to call for the extra reinforcement. He has pulled me down so hard that I damaged my hamstring one summer. Anyhow, I got a prong with the easy release clip because I wanted to be able to put it on or take it off quickly and with little commotion. I hope you find a solution with your wild girl and someone who can teach you how to use the collar, if you decide to try it. I was fortunate that my trainer believes in them for certain circumstances.
 

Brandie&Maggie

New member
Darwinsnewfie, that was an excellent link for the use of prong collars. Brandie, as you know because I think you've seen Traveler in action, I use a prong when circumstances seem to call for the extra reinforcement. He has pulled me down so hard that I damaged my hamstring one summer. Anyhow, I got a prong with the easy release clip because I wanted to be able to put it on or take it off quickly and with little commotion. I hope you find a solution with your wild girl and someone who can teach you how to use the collar, if you decide to try it. I was fortunate that my trainer believes in them for certain circumstances.
I did end up getting one a couple of weeks ago. I also got the quick release, along with a coupler that I modified so the prong has a backup in case it came loose.

It works!

I haven't taken her out on the trails or anywhere yet, but I plan to try that very soon.

She's really a good dog but with so much stimulation, I could dangle a turkey in front of her and she wouldn't care. So this is a good option. Thanks everyone for encouraging me to try it.

She's also doing better with the windows. She still barks at other dogs and the neighbors coming home, but it doesn't last as long.
 
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