Barking

Fire_Fox

gettingready wrote: »

Besides - her pulling on a lead etc is NOT a major issue for me.
The issue is the BARKING (as in the title) so I would like to concentrate on this.
Especially barking when I am NOT arround t "correct" her.

Thanks a lot

I'm with Sarabe and CFC, I think half the battle of the clicker is training the human! Noah and I are presently doing stand up on back legs, crouching down and sitting at meal times. I am not fussed about him doing any of these 'tricks', I am getting ME in good habits of clicking at the right time before we move on. Eventually I want to be able to hold his paw but don't want to make a pig's ear of it so we practice practice practice on lesser issues!

Some people apparently click with their tongues instead of a clicker, or I would have thought you could hold the clicker in the same hand as the lead ... which is where Zara not pulling helps ... If it's any consolation Noah went to bite me twice this morning, he was definitely annoyed and not playful or loving.

gettingready

Firefox - yeah... can I remind you that Noah is a cat and unlikely to cause you problems with neighbours :P

LOL

Still, thanks for all the input at all levels but barking is the problem, for me, at the moment....

gettingready

Sarabe - I am waiting for that magic wand.....;)

sarabe

gettingready wrote: »

Sarabe - I am waiting for that magic wand.....;)

Join the queue.

Seriously though you need to look at the whole picture.

Sure you could use an anti barking collar or the device that you bought and it may stop her from barking but you are addressing the symptom not the cause.

Your dog sounds very typical of a lot of dogs that I see. You need to work on overcoming her frustrations and help her to relax.

If you really want to help her then get Leslie Mcdevitt's book Control Unleashed or Emma Parsons Click to Calm.

Maybe try and find a trainer who uses positive reinforcement, preferably clicker.

It's easy to go down the punishment route but often solving one problem will see two more emerge.

If you lived near me I'd see you, no charge, and show you how easy it is to teach a dog what you do want.

gettingready

sarabe wrote: »

Join the queue.

sarabe wrote: »

Sure you could use an anti barking collar or the device that you bought

Waiting for a replacement, the one that arrived was faulty....

sarabe wrote: »

Maybe try and find a trainer who uses positive reinforcement, preferably clicker.

If you lived near me I'd see you, no charge, and show you how easy it is to teach a dog what you do want.

Sarabe- no clicker will help for her barking while I am not around to use it (the clicker it is...) and this is the main problem ..

Contacted a local behaviourist, quoted me £365 for a 3 hour session....

:eek:

sarabe

You need to try and think outside the box.

If you use a device to stop her barking in your absence then it may work.

If you want to address WHY your dog is doing it and address the other issues then you need to look at the whole picture.

gettingready

I know why she barks
- she barks because she does not want me to leave the flat.

I can not adress that issue.

Unless someone is willing to support us financially/deliver our shopping/etc etc so I can be with Zara 24/7...

Pls PM me - will gladly accept

loobyloo2

Crosskeys Pet Care Centre for your clicker training, check out their site, afraid I don't know how to add the link . Know lots who have been here with their various problems, 1 hour a week over 5 weeks, shouldn't be anything like as much as you were quoted.
Not too far from you, straight down the A12, turn left at the Moby !!!!!! Pub. Bus from here straight up to Hainault too for a fabulous walk. Must admit to driving most everywhere, but my teenage daughter take my 40kg dog on the bus to Hainault no problem.
Oh, they have a dog psychologist and residential courses too.

sarabe

gettingready wrote: »

I know why she barks
- she barks because she does not want me to leave the flat.

I can not adress that issue.

Unless someone is willing to support us financially/deliver our shopping/etc etc so I can be with Zara 24/7...

Pls PM me - will gladly accept

Okay, so why does she not want you to leave the flat?

Is she anxious? Does she get bored when you are out? Do you have too rigid a routine that she cannot cope with change? Does barking at you delay you leaving? Does barking bring you back, eventually. Does barking feel good? What triggers the barking? What would you rather she did instead? (the answer isn't 'not bark' by the way).

Perhaps when she writes her memoires we'll find out.

I will PM you later.

Fire_Fox

Gettingready you have asked for advice and been given it for FREE; as far as I can see what Sarabe doesn't know about dog training isn't worth knowing! What do you have to lose by trying the clicker (£3) and the recommended books (order via the library)?

Imagine a girlfriend who gets jealous and tearful every time her boyfriend so much as looks or speaks to another female, even if that is his colleagues or the cashier in Tesco. Is the solution for the boyfriend to ignore all other women, or is the solution for the boyfriend to give the girlfriend a slap each time she starts getting hysterical? Hopefully neither!! Or ..... is the solution for the couple to work together on the girlfriend's insecurities using, say, CBT techniques?