Barking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Deborah Hamilton]

Please help.Mishka is driving us nuts with her barking.
It just started recently. No reason that we know of. If she sees or hears something outside .... she barks. Okay in itself as she is sending out a warning but she now persists in barking and even distraction isn't working. She is sending us 'barking' mad!! Excuse the poor humour.

[Magz]

No doubt john would have better advice but with one of my fosters we taught the talk command to get her to bark then taught her quiet, and with another we just used to rattle a can of nails that soon stopped him.

[marcella]

Debbie,
try cymbals (the small brass discs John sometimes uses in class) to distract her. They work a treat especially on hard floors!!!! If I throw them to the ground when either of our to bark or growl, they usually jump and look at me as if 'what the hell????'
You can pick them up on Ebay.

[Janice]

I don't know if it's any help but there are a couple of articles about barking at www.clickersolutions.com,then its under problem behaviour Some of their things seem quite good.
_________________
Janice and Dale

[John Thomson]

Debbie,

what distractions are you currently using? Might need to up the ante a little?

Diesel loves to bark.......simply enjoys it but does stop if he is pushed
_________________
John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[Jim & Geraldine]

The wee man has an aversion to barking when i have him in the car and i stop to go into a shop or buy petrol etc.
He just goes bananas and scratches the inside of the car - has done a bit of damage to my headrests
Doesn't bother him if he has been for a walk and we go straight back home - only if i stop off anywhere
I tried to get him to stop, but to no avail
Any suggestions

[marcella]

Jim, that sounds like separation anxiety. Does Buster get left on his own at times?

[Jim & Geraldine]

Marcella
This only seems to be in the car
we leave him in the house when we go to work and my mother in law comes about 2 hours later and he is fine
The same when Geraldine gets home from work - he is generally alone for about two hours, but has the cat for company, and he is generally sleeping.
Does not do damage to anything in the house
I think it is a car thing
Jim

[marcella]

sounds like it Jim. Try building it up slowly. Pop him in the car in the drive and go nowhere. Get out of the car and wait only a few seconds. Go back and treat him if he's good. Then little by little expand the time you leave him praising him every time he does well.

If he's good being left alone at home, his issues are obviously just with the car.

[Nicola]

[Nicola]

Also remember that telling your dog to shut the hell up can make it worse, as the dog thinks your joining in! For other dogs, telling them off does help shut them up!

[Nicola]

Another friends dog also has a major problem with incessant barking. Especially in the car. She has tried everything from citronella collars to shouting at her. Ignoring her, praising her, giving her a treat when she's quiet, pennies, pasta and stones in a bottle, she has also tried. All these things work for a time, then stop working. We're now on to the water bottle, which helps to an extent, but no doubt that will wear off too!

Even when she's in a down position, she can still bark for Scotland without a problem!

She bought this dog carrier thing and put her in it in the car. She can open the zip and stick her head on and bark.

[marcella]

[kirsty]

Have tried most of the above with bob - The thing I had the biggest disappointment with was, I bought a water pistol and squirted it a bob, unfortunately dodge is always in the back of the car with him and he goes nuts trying to catch the water flow - bob, as he always does, just looks at us with a - yeah right, whats next expression - bob is as 'leeburg' would say a 'hard' dog

He has no real desire to please, takes no telling, even the prong, while effective, does not phase him at all, even if he pulls tight trying to get at another dog he stops, but his ears stay perked up, his expression does not change and he looks at you again as if to say, your having a laugh, is that all you've got.

I some times try to make eye contact with him when he is naughty, I try to touch his nose, he ducks and dives like a boxer, it is hilarious, there is no way I can make any contact with his snout and he completely ignores any attempt at eye contact

Bobs mad barking is my next challenge - I have sorted out the extreme and really full on barking at other dogs. But I have to stop him running up to other dogs and barking, the regular walkers will notice this mostly happens when he jumps out of the car.

[Deborah Hamilton]