Dog advice on barking?
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Sorry this is so long!! There's a short tl;dr at the bottom, otherwise you don't have to read all 3 scenarios I have listed!!
I have a dog, and let me tell you, he can sometimes be a heck of a barker. My problem is that I haven't figured out how to control it yet and that's where I need help. Jake is a corgi. I adopted him in January '14 and he's approximately 3.5 years old now. I know that some dogs bark for enjoyment or whenever their bored, etc. There are, eh, three scenarios where it is extremely difficult to stop his barking. Heck, even if I can limit it some, that would be great haha.
Scenario 1: Bark at other dogs
- He barks like no other at other dogs. Now, I understand that dogs bark. A lot of my neighbors' dogs bark. It's just that I'd like to command him to stop or at least settle down some. The problem is that when there's another dog, I cannot get his attention back on me. On walks, I have tried gaining his attention back by using treats, stopping and standing in front of him, and even turning around and walking in the opposite direction away from the other dog. Jake is highly food- and toy-driven, but once he sees another dog, these things cannot distract him from that dog. I'm no expert dog trainer, but I do understand that communication and eye contact between him and me is key. But that's a big problem; I can't figure out how to get him to listen to me. And if it matters, he usually goes on 2, sometimes 3 walks a day, around 20 minutes long each. I should also mention that he likes to look out my window (which looks over our front yard) and he will bark at dogs passing by on a walk. Again, I try to use it as a training opportunity to get his attention back on me. It works with some dogs, but other dogs give him a certain vibe and I cannot gain his attention. I'd hate to keep my blinds closed because it gives him entertainment to watch the cars drive by and it's soothing for him...until a dog walks by. But should I close my blinds? Is this making things worse? I'd hate to make walks his only time to see what's going on outside of the house (other than when he goes in the backyard, but that leads to scenario .)
Scenario : Backyard Bathroom Breaks
2. Potty time. Now, this doesn't happen every time. Sometimes he'll simply go to the bathroom when I let him in the backyard. Other times, something catches his attention and he barks nonstop at whatever it is. We have a six-foot privacy fence that he cannot see out of so I imagine that's part of it. If he hears my neighbors talking, he'll bark. If he hears something going on in the front yard, he'll bark. I always apologize to my neighbors when they're in the backyard and they truly don't mind it, but that doesn't mean I want Jake to continue to bark his head off. Sometimes it's 10 at night and he'll bark at something. That's unacceptable, but again, I haven't figured out exactly how to prevent this. I have attempted to fix the behavior by rewarding him when he simply goes outside, does his business and comes back to the door without barking, but that hasn't done the trick so far. Might I add, sometimes he's so fixated on whatever it is that he will not obey me when I tell him to come back inside when he's barking. I suppose I need to work on his "come" command a little harder, too. However, I do not punish him when he does listen and comes to me when called. I know that that's a no-no.
Scenario : Company
3. When we have certain types of guests over, we'll keep him in my room. For example, we're about to get new windows, so a couple of guys were over this past weekend to do measurements of them. We know that Jake will get in their way so we kept him out of their way. But he barked, and barked, and barked and I couldn't get him to stop. Some people say to "ignore the barking; they'll grow bored and stop" but I really don't think I believe that because ignoring doesn't stop my dog. If I'm in the room with him when this happens, I try to do some training by getting his attention on me and rewarding him whenever he looks at me and/or stops barking.
Now, I understand that this won't be something that'll be fixed overnight. I get that it takes time. I just wanted to post and see if anyone had some other ideas that I could try out? The scenarios I mentioned go from most difficult to milder. My first dog I had growing up had a barking problem too (specifically when she saw other dogs) but I was able to train her to stop barking on command and eventually to the point where she wouldn't even bark if she saw another dog. That's not the case with Jake, and I'm just stumped of what to do. I'll also add that I wasn't very fond of the shelter I adopted him from. They euthanize animals if they don't get adopted by a certain date, but they weren't all that excited when I agreed to adopting Jake, either. They also failed to tell me his temperament with other dogs. Now that I think about it, they did ask if I owned any other dogs when I inquired about him in the first place. I'm not sure if Jake is dog-aggressive or if he simply wants to greet other dogs.
tl;dr: My dog is a heck of a barker and I haven't figured out how to get his attention back onto me so that I can train him to stop barking. Even though he loves toys and treats, neither of these work. Advice??
Anyone who tells you to ignore the barking until it stops has never had to deal with an annoying-ass barking dog, hahaha!
Unfortunately, barking is a hard thing to stop -- especially on the herding breeds (which naturally get fixated on things quickly and it's hard to break their focus ie; the corgi).
I used to work at a dog daycare, and we used one major thing for non-stop barkers -- a 'calming band,' which is basically just a giant elastic band that we'd loop around their muzzle and then over their head. Not for any long length of time, and they were never super tight, or horribly uncomfortable for the dog, but it was enough to distract them from whatever was happening at the time. Then after a bit we'd take the band off, but if they started barking again, on it goes. This obviously might not work so well in the outside world, but indoors it might be helpful, especially for barking out the window.
We'd also use spray bottles -- just with water, if barking was really, really excessive or they were one of those dogs that could pull the bands off their faces (those were fun...) Usually just one spritz would be enough to kind of pull them from whatever bad frame of mind they were in.
As for barking at other dogs and on the leash, I would really look into reactive training for him. I've had dogs be complete angels off-leash and get along with everyone, but as soon as the leash goes on it's like a switch flips and they become a demon. There are definitely places that can help you with this sort of thing, as it's really, really common. They can also give you other tools for helping regain your dogs focus.
Seriously. You can only ignore your barking dog for so long. And it's embarrassing because it is my dog lol.
We have tried the water bottle thing before. It works fine with more mild situations, but if he saw a dog out my window then it's like he is completely oblivious of the water lol. I haven't thought of using an elastic band though. Perhaps I can try that out and see how it goes. As for company, sometimes we have this part chew bone/part treat toy thing that can really keep him calm since he's so food driven like I've said. It works great when we have parties and we can even allow him to hang out with everyone since he's so calm with one. But I don't want to give one to him every time cause then he'd just grow bored of it.
I may need to consider reactive training. He doesn't pull at his leash but will if he sees another dog. I wish I could socialize him with other dogs more, but I don't really know anyone that I could do that with. We have a dog park that is a short drive from my house, but I'm afraid of how he'll react if I let him get close to another dog. Him being a corgi, he's not a big dog, but I fear the worst that he'd try to pick a fight since I really don't know how he is with other dogs.
Thanks for your suggestions by the way :)
There are collars that make a high pitch noise that sometimes stops the dog from what they were doing. I used it on my dog that was eating my other dog's... well you know. I didn't like the shock collar because I felt like it was terrible way to train. Sometimes when they hear the high pitch noise, they go "well that sucks I don't like that" and they stop what they are doing. That may help. The only thing is that I know they can be expensive and if you get it at a retail store just ask them if you can return it if it doesn't work.
[img align=center]http://i.imgur.com/kM8q805.png[/img] [tot=blossie]
Right? And yeah, I know the feeling with it being embarrassing, but really try not to be. Any dog owner who has owned a barker (or a reactive dog) knows your struggle all too well, haha!
That's a good idea! You can also try those Kong toys stuffed with peanut butter and treats, and then you can freeze them, I find those work really well at keeping dogs calm, quiet and occupied for quite some time. Also have you ever tried, or heard of the DAP collar? It's a little plastic collar dogs can wear under their regular one, and it supposedly releases a calming pheromone, so you could look into that as well if you wished.
Yeah, reactive training is a really good investment, imo. You can explain to whomever you choose that you're unsure how he is with other dogs and what you'd like to be able to do with him, and they can definitely help you out!
I've heard of the high-pitched dog collars but haven't actually seen them in a store before. Then again, I can't say I've ever really tried finding one so maybe I just looked over them lol. And I agree, I'm against using a shock collar. I don't want to harm Jake for doing what dogs just tend to do: bark. Since I live with my parents still, my parents have suggested getting that, but I'd much rather find a more humane collar if it resorts to it. I'll keep a look out. Not saying that I want to spend tons of money, but hey if I can find something that works, it'll be worth it.
Yeaaa that's a good point xD
I actually do have one of those red Kong toys as well! I forgot to mention that. That does work, but he tends to be occupied with it in doses. He's really focused on it for a while, then takes a break from it, then goes back to it. I haven't tried it when we had company over, though. I imagine he'll be good with it. And that's a collar I haven't heard of. I'm not sure if it'll be strong enough to distract him from barking at other dogs and calm him, but I can definitely look into it.
If I ever find someone who'd be willing, I'd definitely try lol. Thank you for your suggestions!!
