Dog barking increasing any advice

Dobiesmon

Hi
Well been there got the t shirt as they say , as long as the dogs do not bark for more than 20 min at a time in our area its ok , but I have 3 dogs and one will bark at ( if it moves ) but any of them are only allowed to get 3 or 4 barks out then I shout (enough ) they stop but to be fair its usually a squirrel or cats or birds on the shed roof as the bloke next door feeds them. ( one of mine hate him ) I am always in the garden when they are and they are never left on there own .
I do not think the collars are good only if you have tried every thing else first

Sammy_Girl

Sounds similar to my dog. When we're out of the house, you don't hear a peep out of him, but the minute someone comes to the door, it's like he's possessed! We moved into our house 18 months ago and he settled in really well but quickly barked at the neighbours or their visitors if he could see them through a window (one of the major factors in buying our home was that it is in a corner of a cul-de-sac, so no passers by - purely for the benefit of our dog ).

We found that introducing him to the neighbours alleviated any concerns of both our dog and our neighbours. He no longer barks at any of our neighbours, and will quite happily trot up for a fuss. As we live on a quiet street with no other dogs, our neighbours often comment that they like him barking in the garden (usually at the foxes), as it gives them a feeling of "protection" against any would be intruders

I've still not cracked the issue of the postman, milkman, window cleaner and Avon lady. In Pooche's eyes they are the "devil incarnate" :rotfl:

Is it that awful for me to say that I always wake up at 05:30 with a smile on my face when I hear the milkman "tutting" very loudly at the welcoming sight and sound of my pooch behind the window

RooBee

She may be well exercised physically but just running along with your husband while he cycles is not really appropriate exercise as she's not getting any mental stimulation from it. Collies need mental an physical exercise in equal measures.

Do you do any training with her? I would look into clicker training. You may be able to find classes in your area but in the meantime, check out this site for some information and ideas http://www.clickersolutions.com/ . This would be an ideal way to train the 'speak' and 'quiet' comands.

She is probably barking because it is self rewarding....she barks and the person she is barking at goes away (eventually) so in her mind barking is effective hence her desire to do it more. I personally would avoid those spray collars and things...they can be very hit and miss and can cause more behavioural problems...say, for example, a bird happens to take flight at the instant she starts to bark and gets the spray response...the dog may well decide that the bird made the unpleasant spray thing happen so she barks at all birds.

rev229

RooBee wrote: »

She may be well exercised physically but just running along with your husband while he cycles is not really appropriate exercise as she's not getting any mental stimulation from it. Collies need mental an physical exercise in equal measures.

Do you do any training with her? I would look into clicker training. You may be able to find classes in your area but in the meantime, check out this site for some information and ideas http://www.clickersolutions.com/ . This would be an ideal way to train the 'speak' and 'quiet' comands.

She is probably barking because it is self rewarding....she barks and the person she is barking at goes away (eventually) so in her mind barking is effective hence her desire to do it more. I personally would avoid those spray collars and things...they can be very hit and miss and can cause more behavioural problems...say, for example, a bird happens to take flight at the instant she starts to bark and gets the spray response...the dog may well decide that the bird made the unpleasant spray thing happen so she barks at all birds.

I think she is stimulated from the running with my husband as her cycles as we live in a very rural area. They are not on cycle paths but paths in the woods and surrounding fields. She goes off to explore looking for rabbits etc and socialises with other dogs. She is only on her lead near roads.