Our Dog Barking at Sheep

Bawnmore

Our dog has been with us since she was a puppy. We got her from the ISPCA originally so we're not sure of her age, but she's about 10. She's a rough collie cross. While we've had her, we've always lived in estates, so her walks etc would be in the village and her play time would be in an enclosed back garden.

About 2 years ago, we bought a house in the countryside. We're the only house around here really, but there's a field around our house that sheep have access to that's owned by the family we bought the house from. I say they have access to as they're mainly in a massive expanse of bog type land behind our house and maybe one or twice a week come down to graze.

Our dog hasn't really adjusted well to sheep being around and barks constantly when they come down around the house. In fairness, she's gotten quite barky at all of the unfamiliar things she wouldn't have been used to before we moved here (cyclists/walkers passing the house, tractors, noisy things in general). It's been a little frustrating for sure, but we haven't been too put out by it as we've no close neighbors.

This morning, the farmer called and was outside. He was quite rude/direct which is probably besides the point, but it looks like he needs the sheep to come down to the field to keep the grass/rushes down. This is a fair point I guess as he'd need to cut it otherwise. I don't know a whole lot about keeping grass down, but it doesn't at all seem unreasonable that it would be causing him hassle that the sheep won't come down to graze that land then he'd want something done about it. He didn't make any suggestions, just said he'd let it sit with me.

So the question is - what can we do? I'm completely against shock collars, but I'm not quite sure how possible it will be to train her to be less upset at unfamiliar things.

cocker5

Firstly I suppose you need to look at what you can do to help her adjust .. are u there 2 years now?

when a scary situation happens and she starts barking …. What is your response?

there is lots of things you can do to build a positive association with scary things .. but it will take time and consistency

I take it your garden is not fenced in?

can you not keep her inside with you during the day - to allow the sheep to move through and this will reduce the barking?

agtee with you .. it’s completely cruel and unnecessary to use a shock collar to train a dog that’s just frightened or anxious..

have you considered some calming supplements to help reduce her stress levels?

HazeDoll

A lot of the time the barking becomes its own reason for barking, if that makes any sense. The dog stops thinking, "Oh my Dog, what are those unfamiliar woolly things?!?!" and gets into the habit of thinking, "There are the woolly things, time to make some noise, because that's what I do when I see the woolly things."

It's much easier to teach a dog to DO something than it is to teach it NOT to do something, So you need to think of a way to teach the dog to do something harmless when the sheep appear.

Here's what I would do. Firstly I would keep her inside unless I was outside with her. Remove her opportunities for barking at the sheep. Every time she does it it is reinforcing the behaviour for her.

I would pick a patch outside, within clear sight of the fence where the sheep appear. That's the 'playtime' spot. I would set up a cue and everything, so when I say "Come on Lassie, it's play time!" she knows we're going to that spot and we're going to have fun.

I'm sure you play with her lots and she has lots of fun during the day but she'll still be up for extra fun.

At the start only bring her out there when there are definitely no sheep around. Bring treats and teach her something new. Maybe the basics, like sit and stay. Reward her, keep it fun. She has some collie in her so she's probably very eager to learn things. If she already knows the basics there are lots of videos on youtube of things you can teach your dog. She will love it, and she will get into the habit of focussing on you. Do it for a few minutes every day, or even a couple of times a day. Use treats she doesn't get at any other time, like chopped-up hotdogs or something.

Eventually there will come a day when you're doing 'playtime' while the sheep are there. Keep her focus on you and keep rewarding her. Get her used to ignoring the sheep because you are much more interesting. If she kicks off bring her inside with as little chat or drama as possible. Barking at sheep=no more fun.

After a few successful playtime sessions where she ignores the sheep you could try to bring her over to the fence, keeping her focussed on you all the time. Talk to her and tell her to sit, run her through her repertoire of little tricks. Give her treats, effectively teach her that good girls who don't bark at sheep get treats. Playtime ends if she starts making a fuss.

The idea is that the neural pathways she has laid down get rerouted and instead of 'sheep=mad barking' she will start thinking 'sheep=not very interesting.'

Victoria Stilwell's book, "It's Me Or The Dog" is actually brilliant for learning how to teach the basics and for understanding the mistakes we make with training. It's marketed as a solution for problem dogs but it's great for any dog. I bought it when it came out in 2005 and I still go back to it every so often.

tk123

I’d take a look on apdt.ie and see if there’s a qualified behaviourist near you can come out and do a session. You’ll make much more progress dealing with somebody in person 1:1 who can see what’s happening.

spookwoman

I know you said you don't have neighbours close by but a dog barking can be heard kilometers away.

Who owns the land and is your dog outside when it is barking at the sheep? If he owns the land and it's outside barking at them and probably running around it will frighten the sheep. I'd be inclined to think the farmer is probably warning you if he sees the dog on his land we will deal with it.

I'd recommend what tk said get someone in who knows what they are doing to sort it out and soon. He probably won't put up with it for long when the ewes are pregnant and a chance of aborting.

Bawnmore

Thanks for all the replies folks - apologies for the delay in response - will read through fully when I have some proper time to reply.

Roxxers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238105#Comment_119238105

cant have been that importatnt

Bawnmore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119438276#Comment_119438276

True - apologies for the lack of an update - there really hasn't been one, but appreciate there has been some really thoughtful advice here that deserves one.

So it's at least kind of resolved itself. The sheep were only down in the field at this time of year so that the farmer could keep the grass/rushes down to a manageable level. Our dog wouldn't have been used to having sheep at the other side of the fence (which must feel in her territory in fairness) and was understandably upset about it.

As the sheep were always there, she just kind of......stopped caring about it. I think part of it at least is that sheep stopped running when they heard barking, so there was no big reaction to her barking anymore and she kind of just lost interest.

She's still not great with cyclists passing by on the road, but we're working on that with her by spending time out the front with her on a leash and keeping her calm when cyclists are passing.

Appreciate all the advice given here - we were at a loss what to do at the time and we were thrown off by the conflict with the farmer so having level headed, clear advice here really helped.

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119443954#Comment_119443954

Excellent news. Thank you. And yes farmers are very very wary re dogs.Probably /maybe bad experiences, I arrived at one rental way out in the country with a sheep farming landlord.. with two dogs.. He looked horrified but I spent half an hour showing him how under control and obedient my dogs were.