anti - barking products

rasper

New dog is going mad barking when we're out of house , esp with darker evenings , have two but only one is the noisy one, neighbours have had enough,

Have searched through the threads and trying to see if anyone has any experience with the ultra sound products such as




Despise the thought of the electric collar but may have to resort to it

peasant

Don't get one of these things ...whatever they are. Ultrasound, spray collar, shock ...they are all equally bad for sevaral reasons:

1) The dog does not learn that it is ok to stay alone for a while and that there is no need to bark; instead it gets "whacked" inexplicably (to its mind) whenever voices its discomfort ...the end result could be a very disturbed dog.

2) Other noises can set the yoke off and the dog gets punished for something it didn't do

3) With two dogs one of these things is out of the question anyway. The other dog might set the collar off and/ or the other dog might get startled as well when it does go off. End result ...two disturbed dogs.

You need to cure the reason for the barking, rather than the symptoms.
The reason most likely is separation anxiety. Train the new dog in very small steps that being alone doesn't do any harm.
First off, dispense with all "rituals" that you might have when you leave the house ...no saying goodbye, no cuddles, etc ...just leave. Same when coming back. No elaborate welcoming ceremony ... just walk in, ignore the dogs for a while (make yourself a cup of tea first) ..then call the dogs. They need to realise that you can come and go as you please.

Start with small steps. First get them to remain quiet when you put on shoes and coat and grab your keys (you don't even have to leave the house for that one) ...ignore any noises or hectic behaviour, praise them if they remain calm. Then go out for a few minutes ...as casually as you can and come back as casually as you can (just lurking outside the door won't do ...they can still smell or hear you). This one is a bit tricky ...basically you don't want to come back when there is a barking frenzy going on, but rather when its quiet. You might have to work on that one for a while and start with very short outings, make them gradually longer.

Takes some effort, wil take some weeks, but it will work.

rasper

cheers peasant,


I hate to have to resort to these options , but have no choice in matter as afraid they could end up posioned and don't want to be the neighbourhood dickhead with noisy dogs.
I know exactly what starts her is the passing trade by the house, we live in the centre of town with people constantly walking by. She's very territorial
and can bark non stop for hours on end.

Last thing I want to do is to electrocute her , but tis hard to train a hard not to bark and enjoy her barking when ya aint there, at wits end as is now regarded as a bit of a crisis and have given up going out at night recently

peasant

Hmm ...I see.

Yes, passers by setting her off is a different problem. But anti-bark products still aren't the right solution ...for all the above reasons.

Have you tried crate training?

Does she bark at passers by when you are there as well? In that case, crate training should be simple enough. Basically the crate would provide her with a "sanctuary" where she would be relieved from guard duty and could put her feet up so to speak.

Get a nice big crate for her (and another one for the other dog), put it in the quietest room of the house and get her used to it. Initially you could warm her to it by feeding her in it, placing favourite toys and treats in there etc.

This crate should not be punishment or a jail but rather a "holiday home". Once she is used to it and likes it, send her there every now and then at times when it/she is usually quiet anyway, gradually extending it to periods where she would normally be on the watch behind the door.
Hopefully, after a while she would get used to this and eventually go there all by herself.
Once you have reached that stage, she shouldn't object to being sent there when you want to go out.

A good dog trainer should be able to explain this in more detail and better than I can do it over the internet.

trilo

One thing about ant-barking collars, never leave a dog unsupervised while wearing one.

Have you thought about leaving the dog in one particular room, with all its comfort items. Maybe if he doesn't have access to the rooms where he will get the visual stimulation to bark.

Also perhaps you could try (this is very time consuming), if he is to get used to one room, leaving him for really short periods of time, to begin with say one minute. Then you would return to the house, spend a minute doing something, ignoring the dog in the process and then leaving the house again for 2 minutes and so on and so forth.

Fratton Fred

peasant wrote:

Don't get one of these things ...whatever they are. Ultrasound, spray collar, shock ...they are all equally bad for sevaral reasons:

1) The dog does not learn that it is ok to stay alone for a while and that there is no need to bark; instead it gets "whacked" inexplicably (to its mind) whenever voices its discomfort ...the end result could be a very disturbed dog.

2) Other noises can set the yoke off and the dog gets punished for something it didn't do

3) With two dogs one of these things is out of the question anyway. The other dog might set the collar off and/ or the other dog might get startled as well when it does go off. End result ...two disturbed dogs.

You need to cure the reason for the barking, rather than the symptoms.
The reason most likely is separation anxiety. Train the new dog in very small steps that being alone doesn't do any harm.
First off, dispense with all "rituals" that you might have when you leave the house ...no saying goodbye, no cuddles, etc ...just leave. Same when coming back. No elaborate welcoming ceremony ... just walk in, ignore the dogs for a while (make yourself a cup of tea first) ..then call the dogs. They need to realise that you can come and go as you please.

Start with small steps. First get them to remain quiet when you put on shoes and coat and grab your keys (you don't even have to leave the house for that one) ...ignore any noises or hectic behaviour, praise them if they remain calm. Then go out for a few minutes ...as casually as you can and come back as casually as you can (just lurking outside the door won't do ...they can still smell or hear you). This one is a bit tricky ...basically you don't want to come back when there is a barking frenzy going on, but rather when its quiet. You might have to work on that one for a while and start with very short outings, make them gradually longer.

Takes some effort, wil take some weeks, but it will work.

good general advice, I'd like to add two things.

give your dog one of your t-shirts you have been wearing, dogs get comfort from the smell of you. Also, never give out to your dog when you return home, regardless of what they have done as they will associate you going out, then returning, with a telling off and just get more anxious.

bilbo79

I have a little terrier and it never shuts up-i used a shock cllar for about 5 days and he stopped barking-you can put them high or low power-go low-if he started up again i would put it back on over night and that would do,only his vocal chords can set it off-there not noise activated but vibration activated

peasant

bilbo79 wrote:

I have a little terrier and it never shuts up-i used a shock cllar for about 5 days and he stopped barking-you can put them high or low power-go low-if he started up again i would put it back on over night and that would do,only his vocal chords can set it off-there not noise activated but vibration activated

Ever paused to consider that (other than body language) barking is a dogs only way to communicate?

How would YOU like it if you got whacked every time you said something?
And would ever dare say anything again?

Think about it ...

GWolf

I'd suggest either getting a second dog ior another animal to keep it company, or leaving the radio or tv on when you leave so they can listen to them talk

SuzyS1972

or you may end up with 2 barking dogs

rasper

cheers for all the advice, would never consider shocking the dog way too Abi Gari sounding for me, only considered the high freq.sounds as it wasn't as cruel. Have set aside a quieter comfort spot for them and have a friend let them in before it gets too late, have two of them as I say and I know she's not really distressed, bored or anxious more likely is territorial and likes the sound of her own bark , pity the neighbours don't.

Sigma Force

Perhaps contact a dog trainer (one that uses humane methods) to give you some pointers. It is best in the long run to treat what is causing it rather than shock methods.

GWolf

SuzyS1972 wrote:

or you may end up with 2 barking dogs

Get a bulldog, their quiet.