I have another plan for Pooh Bear's barking

[JackieMaya]

Today, Pooh Bear started barking when I had him on the leash, and every time he would bark I would say no and close his mouth with my hand. It basically didn't have any effect. He would start barking again right away. And every time I would do the same thing.

So...

Before I resort to the electronic collar, I'm going to find a dog trainer who specializes in barking problems and see if he/she can help us. I've never gone to a dog trainer; I've always been able to do all the training myself and never had any problems I couldn't resolve. But Pooh Bear and I need help on this one. Other than the barking, he's a great little dog!

So after the stitches are out and he's walking on his "new" leg, I'm going to get us into training. I'm going to start checking out trainers now.

[nadooshkinz]

good thinking JM :wink:
let us know how that goes!

[Canis erectus]

Someone may have already suggested this to you, but do you use the'Enough' command? Basically it differs from 'No' in that it denotes something which is OK to do but now is the time to stop doing it. The 'No' command states that a behavior is not OK to do and shouldn't ever be done. It seems to me that could be confusing for a dog whose individual nature is screaming at them to do that behavior. You can teach Pooh Bear 'Enough' on a behavior that you think he can be trained on alot more easily. Once he has learned the meaning of 'Enough' you can apply it to other behaviors, and then finally to his barking. My advice would probably be not to listen to me and take him to the trainer anyway. I'm definatley not the most demanding of dog trainers, but I did stumble across this with Zoey and it worked for me.

Zoey is a night barker, when the lights go out in the house she camps out in the middle of the living room and guards us against any stray cats or vermin that might be lurking near the house at night. Her bark is quite loud and very sudden, and she would continue until I hauled myself out of bed and laid my hand on her. Nothing else would make her stop, and after I touched her she'd go back to sleep. I had taught Zoey the 'Enough' command for various different things like when to stop rough-housing in the house or when to stop pawing ruts in the lawn after pottying. Anyway, at some point I began to tell her 'Enough' while I laid my hand on her at night to 'reset the alarm'. After awhile she caught on to that and now I very seldom have to get out of bed anymore if I want her to stop barking.

[JackieMaya]

Yeah, I've tried "enough" too. I think that being in so many homes with no consistent training, he learned to bark and nobody ever told him not to. And I don't think he's ever seen squirrels and birds before, because that's what always sets him off. So I'm going to see if I can find a trainer who can come to my home and work with us, since that's where the problem is.

[Canis erectus]

It's always the squirrels... damn them all...

[JackieMaya]

You wouldn't think that something this tiny would drive a dog into such a frenzy!

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[xavierandrea]

JM,,, I got to smile when I read your post only because it reminds me of when we have to train Asim the "Quiet and or SHHHH". Especially with the feral cats and squierls where in the yard. It took us a while to have him follow the command but it is well worth it now! Seeing that his "look out" window is in the kitchen and DJ's bedroom is right off of it.. Good luck...

[Crystal]

Sounds like a great idea. Hope you can find someone and they can help. Some dogs were born to bark. Toby only barks when he sees us or the neighbors dog. I've meet some dogs that never bark. You got a loud mouth I guess. Good Luck