Barking.

[Bailey+Ralph]

Please move this if you feel it is in the wrong Forum

Just lately Bailey has taken to Barking at everything
He used to bark if there is a knock at the door, or if a motorbike would ride past.
Ocasionally he would bark for attention, but not too often.

He is barking all the time it drives me mad.
I tell him to stop and shhhh (which usually works) but he ignores me......I also will ignore him if he is barking at me, he will continue for a few minutes and then when he realises he is not getting attention he will wander off........and find something else to bark at!!

Any suggestions on why he is suddenly doing this, or advice on how to stop him would be great

 

[Herschel]

If our puppy barks at something that walks/drives by, etc., I calmly distract him by rubbing his chest and getting him to look at me. Have you taught Bailey "watch me"?

 

[Bailey+Ralph]

No i have taught "Watch me", if you have tips on how, that would be great

It isn't anything in particular that he barks at now.
Just anything and everything!!

 

[Roxy's CD]

I was going to say maybe play with him, to take his mind elsewhere... but than maybe he'll think whenever he'll bark he'll get played with..

Roxy's a bad barker. She barks at nothing sometimes.. I just tell her to "Sshhh, Listen" LOL. And she'll get all quiet and try really hard to hear something. LOL

Telling him "no" doesn't shut him up? Just a firm "no" and as soon as he stops barking "Good boy Bailey!" and a treat.

Has he been getting enough exercise lately? Maybe spend more time training with him everyday? Do you have a little schedule with him yet?

If my guys are over excited, running around, Roxy's giving heart attacks, I'll take some time about 10, 15 minutes each and do some work with them. By the time I'm done they just want to go lie in front of the air conditioner and have a nap! LOL

Sorry I don't have anything better Caren.

 

[Roxy's CD]

Oh Caren!!! You haven't taught watch me yet?!?! My oh my.. LOL j/k

This is how I taught it: There are a whole bunch of different ways but the end result is when you say "watch me" they look at you, pretty simple. LOL
(Have a whole bunch of really yummy treats)

1. I'll get Hades to sit in front of me.I'll have a handful of treats behind my back in my left hand. I'll hold my right hand up to my eyes with a treat, and say watch me, Bailey should look at the treat, which is right by your eyes, so you give him the treat. Good watch me Bailey!

(I'd say to do this about 10 times)

2. Then, still sitting in front of you, hold your right hand (with a treat) up to your face and say watch me, slowly move your right hand directly outwards, (half of T). He may follow the treat, if he does, say "watch me" (happy tone) and as soon as he looks at you, reward him very quickly.

Never reward from the right hand. Always reward from the left hand behind your back.

3. After he's got the second step down, he should follow the treat outwards and without you saying "watch me" automatically look back at you, (reward as quick as you can when he does this) You can start walking around him slowly, he should follow you around.

 

[mjb]

I'm interested in all the replies because mine does this sometimes. Sometimes he has heard something outside, and then he seems to continue barking at every little sound or just remembering that he had something that he heard earlier. It's almost as if he has gotten overstimulated or even nervous about something. I hate to use the term nervous, though, because he's not a nervous-type dog. Anyway, at times, we've put him in his crate for a little while. We don't do it as a punishment. Just that if he is overstimulated, he might need a little rest. This has usually worked. After about 20 minutes, we can let him out, and he seems 'back to normal'.

 

[lkeffect]

Here is an article on Barking. http://www.lakeeffectpets.com/Barking.htm but what I personally do most of the time is teach the command "QUIET" I have my dogs drag a leash in the house...wait for them to bark...inspect what they are barking at (This is key because you don't want to teach your dog to never bark) Then once I've inspected I give them a yank/pop on the leash and say "QUIET" they are usually startled and stop...I praise. If they go back to barking repeat a bit harder of a yank/pop on the leash. Pretty soon they gather to be quiet after you say quiet.

 

[Roxy's CD]

I think the "watch me" exercise is the road I would choose before giving physical corrections.

 

[Bailey+Ralph]

I have a schedule with him
He is getting lots of exercise too..........he gets more in the warmer weather

I will add the "Watch me" into our daily routine too.

Ikeffect.........I have never had to use Physical Correction with Bailey......I don't find this type of correction "Healthy"........but thanks for your input

 

[Roxy's CD]

It may be too, that he's coming out of his puppy stage, getting protective of his territory.

The watch me is so easy and you can use it for other stuff too. Like, there's a dog across the road, "watch me". Your about to give him another command, "watch me".

(Roxy hates bikes) So there's a biker coming up the street, "watch me".

There's a whole bunch of uses for it and it really improves their focus on you.

 

[Bailey+Ralph]

We just had our 1st attempt at "Watch me" and i was shocked at how easy we found it.
That is definately one to add to the Daily routine...........and as you said, it will be great to use for lots of reasons

Thanks Roxy!

 

[Roxy's CD]

I'm glad Bailey figured it out quickly! LOL, I read my instructions again and I didn't know if they were clear enough or not!!! But apparently they were! Yeah for me! Yeah for Caren! Yeah for Bailey! LOL