Guest Mutts4Me Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Okay, Sasha barks a lot. This annoys and frustrates people in our house to no end, but the biggest problem is the fact that my dad works third shift on the weekends, and so he sleeps through the afternoons Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So Sasha's barking creates a big issue in those times, especially. She barks like crazy when someone knocks on the door, when someone comes into the yard, and when another dog shows up in the yard. She also barks when she hears a car or car door that she thinks is in our driveway, but often is in a neighbor's. Sometimes if we look out a window, she assumes someone is here, and she starts barking. When people actually do come into the house, she barks until they are in and settled. No amounts of "Sasha, No!" or "Bad dog!" helps this. Sasha is probably a chow/GSD mix. We've had her for 6 years, so she's probably about 7 years old. I'm a pacificist, especially when it comes to my pets, but my parents and sister tend to resort to smacking and threatening the dog in the most desperate situations (when Dad is alseep or the baby we often babysit is alseep). This doesn't make her stop, either. So does anyone have any (quiet) suggestions as to how to make my dog stop barking on command? I considered teaching her a "Speak" command, and then trying to work in a "Quiet" command to compliment it, but I realized if anyone in my family found me encouraging Sasha to bark, I'd be disowned ;) Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abker17 Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Have u tried the shake can? Just put a couple coins in a tin can, and when she barks, shake it. It sounds like nails being scratched down a chalk board to them. I personally would use it as a last resort, because it's not very "positive" reinforcement, but it does work well. Good luck. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aonir Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 Woof woof bark... Bark woof ruff! translated: never expect a dog to NEVER bark. Dogs need to bark, but it sounds like your dog may be barking out of boredom. Try telling them No after they bark maybe 2 times, then giving them a toy to distract them. When company is over, give the Sit-Stay command(train him if he doesn't know it - it will be a life saver). Be sure to praise him and/or give him a treat when he does the right thing. You may also try the squirt-bottle. OR the shocker-collar which my friend uses.. That works well but I think it's a tad mean.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pei obssessed Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 I don't really like the idea of a shock collar either, but I've heard of a citronella collar that seems to work--whenever they bark, the collar gives off an odour that's unpleasant for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malamum Posted October 5, 2003 Share Posted October 5, 2003 I know someone here used the citronella collar and said it worked great. I can't remeber who it was though.... if you do a search you may be able to find the tread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mutts4Me Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 I've heard of the shake can, but that would definitely defeat my purpose of making the house quiet while people tried to sleep. I certainly don't expect Sasha to never bark. She's a protective dog, and she takes every hint that someone or something may be on our property as a possible threat. So she barks to warn us, or alert us, or to threaten possible intruders, or something. To intruding dogs, she attacks the sliding glass door, throwing herself on it, snarling and barking her head off until the other dog is long gone, and no amount of dragging her away is going to calm her. Any treats offered to her to pacify her are spit out. (Sasha was never socialized, or played with as a pup, we think, and therefore has no interest in "toys") To any "unknown" visitor, starting from the sound of a car pulling in the driveway, or one of us saying "so-and-so's here," she starts barking madly, I THINK more because she doesn't know what's going on, or who's here, than any aggression (she is not human aggressive at all). Also involves seeing people in the yard/driveway without being able to go to them, or knowing who it is. This also includes US, before she realizes it's us. Once someone's INSIDE the house, and she has been allowed to sniff them, say hello and whatnot, then she commences an uproar of excited, incessant, happy barking, celebrating the fact that we have company, I suppose. When it's one of US coming home, the happy barking is even more loud and incessant, and often accompanied by a lot of happy Wookie talk. Now, I'm very glad that my dog is so happy to see us when we get home, and such an eager hostess to our company, but it lands her in trouble quite a bit, and that makes me sad. I've never heard of the citronella collar, I'll have to look into it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellieangel Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 Info on citronella collars here.... [url]http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/[/url] Would it help if the curtains were closed so that she couldn't see out ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midori115 Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 I've always had great success with a sqirt bottle. The dogs hate it, but it's only water .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mutts4Me Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 [quote name='ellieangel']Info on citronella collars here.... [url]http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/[/url] Would it help if the curtains were closed so that she couldn't see out ?[/quote] Thanks, and no ;) Her seeing outside has almost nothingt o do with EXCEPT in the cases of a dog being in our yard, or a stray kid wandering through, too. But company, the mailman, etc, are all based on what she hears, or what we do. If she hears a car, she gets excited. If we look out a window (above her head) she gets excited. If we move to the door to let someone in, she gets excited. And if someone knocks on the door or rings the bell, she goes ballistic. I guess a squirt bottle may be another option... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 One thing I have tried that works while people are trying to sleep is crating. I give my dogs stuffed Kongs while there in there crate to give them something to do. They enjoy this so much that they run to there crates as soon as someone goes in there room and sits on there bed. Another thing I tell people when I am teaching obedience classes is a tired dog is a good dog. Spend half hour to 45min playing with the dog before they go to bed so your dog can sleep while you sleep. even if you are really tired you will get much more sleep taking 30 minutes to play with your dog then you will lose trying to get the dog to stop barking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peng1zrule Posted October 9, 2003 Share Posted October 9, 2003 I think this is belated...but a squirt bottle can help. a blast right at the back of the head as they yap-yap to high heaven. praise them as soon as they quiet. mine need only for me to lay my hand on the bottle for them to hush. getting things for her to do, such as buddy balls or whatnot, may help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mutts4Me Posted October 9, 2003 Share Posted October 9, 2003 Thanks everyone :) I think I may try the squirt bottle first, and then the citronella collar if the squirt bottle doesn't work, or if some innocent guests get squirted on accident ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sushiwelldone Posted October 10, 2003 Share Posted October 10, 2003 I own a yappy breed with a bark that slices through your cranium like a dentist drill. I couldn't tolerate barking from my dog for these reasons. I use clicker training for all my training with him. When someone would come to the door, or if we were entering an area with other dogs/people he would bark. I would tell him "quiet" or "enough" and distract him-getting his focus on me. As soon as we was quiet I click the cliker, give him a treat and tell him "good quiet". After a few weeks of this I have a very quiet dog. I am personally very surprised how well it worked and there was no real punishment invovled. Of course your dog has to be food motivated and using the clicker is almost a must so you'd have to look into this. There are a ton of websites on it and it is fast becoming the method of choice with training professionals. It is a very positive method as you reward desired behviours and only ignore undesired ones. For barking you must be VERY diligent. Do not leave them unattended in the yard to bark aimlessly, give the quiet command and reward the dog VERY often. If I could silence a Keeshond...anyone acan do this! Good luck and may you find peace and QUIET in your home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 11, 2003 Share Posted October 11, 2003 Maybe you should try to de-sensitize her to people coming over. Set her up a couple of times (when your dad is not sleeping), have your friends and even your sister come to the door or even just stand out in the driveway and shut the car door. When your dog begins to bark tell her quiet or no. You need to stay calm and confident when doing this, don't put any emotion into your commands. Dogs feed off emotion even if it is negative. Hang in there and as soon as she is quiet give her a favorite treat, maybe even something that she has never had before like ham or goldfish crackers or even yogurt. Also as you give her this treat praise her like crazy. Let her know how happy you are that she is quiet. If praising her just gets her going more than just pet her and talk to her softly still letting her know what a good dog she is. Have your friends come over individually throughout the day. Have a planned time for them to arrive so you can be ready with your dogs special reward. Try this as much as possible. After you get this under control you can work on people actually entering the house. Have your friends enter and tell them before hand to not even touch, look, or talk to your dog until she has stopped barking then they can give her a treat. Good luck to you and your dog! :bday: [color=indigo][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackieMaya Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 I was the one who used the citronella spray collar on Maya, my Golden Retriever/Husky mix. I work until midnight, so I don't want them barking that late at night when I let them out after work. Maya is a very vocal dog. I put the citronella collar on her at night, and she doesn't bark at all when she has it on! It works wonderfully! Once in a while my other dog, Jackie, will go up to Maya and bark at her and get sprayed (hee hee). Maya has learned that she can do low quiet little "woofs" and play growls, and that won't set off the collar. Here is a picture of the citronella collar (the picture was from the Petsmart website). [img]http://www.petsmart.com/images/product/large/z301789.jpg[/img] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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