Barking

Barking, humping, aggression are covered here. If you have a behavioural issue, please raise it here. Whether it be good or bad.
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meggy156
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Barking

Post by meggy156 »

My Schaunzer will not stop barking at people walking by. If they have a dog it's worse almost an aggressive bark. Also when she is out for a walk it's not a pleasure to take her. Continuous barking. I have sprayed her with water helps for a few minutes, then hell breaks out again. Honesty I am pulling my hair out. Neighbours are giving dirty looks now. Can't blame them really. Any ideas please .
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Schnauzer Sam
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Re: Barking

Post by Schnauzer Sam »

Hi Hazel,

First up, schnauzers like to bark and they especially seem to like to bark at anything passing by and got help us if someone actually walks up the path to the front door :)

You can train them to stop this but it is much easier when they are pups ( I see your girls are 3 and 4). That said they will get there with patience and consistent training.

I would never use a deterrent or punishment when training so the use of water, while you may get immediate relief, it will, as you've found out, not last. You will get better long term results using rewards for encouraging the behaviour you want. Generally speaking it is better if you dog does something because it knows you want them to rather than because they're afraid of being punished.

What I have found to help with my oldest one (who is 15 months) is to do some basic training (sit, stay, paw etc) in the hall rewarding her with a high value treat each time. During this I will knock on the door, letting her see me do it, and I reward her immediately she stops (I use a clicker to identify the moment) and give her a small piece of cooked chicken. Eventually the connection is made that if she's quiet she gets rewarded. I should add that there's no point in shouting at her to stop as this usually ramps up the excitement.

I then moved into our front room but kept the blinds closed so that she can't see out and do the same exercises but get my wife to knock on the door. Of course she'll run into the hall and bark and then come back to me for more rewards. I don't mind that I just want her to stop when told - our command is "that'll do".

Eventually we were able to move onto opening the blinds bit by bit. This is not a quick fix but it does work - eventually.

When out walking on the lead she is only barky if started by a dog or runner so I take on the role of lookout and when I see something that I know may cause a reaction, I make her stop, sit and stay and give her a treat for sitting still. This is something too that took a little while to become ingrained but we got there :)

Love to know how you get on should you try this out - just don't expect instant results.
Country Girl at Heart (Molly) 8 April 2003 - 22 December 2018

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Oscar 12345
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Re: Barking

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Hazel

It does sound like you need the expertise of a behaviouralist to help you put a plan together because this is not simple at all to stop. At the moment, she is fearful of people (and dogs) and barking is her defence mechanism. Her experience is that if she barks she gets rewarded by dogs and people staying away or moving away. Job done and success in her mind. If it was just dogs then I have recently shared a post on what I am doing with Otto which is slowly but surely working. If it was just in the home/garden then there are things you can do as Sam suggests. Unfortunately, on walks, people are everywhere and this makes it doubly hard when you want to put distance between them and your dog to manage the fear and build confidence. That's why I think you need some expert help. They will take a walk with you and see for themselves what is triggering the behaviour, is she frightened for herself, you, your other dog or all of those things. They will look at what you are doing in the home that might be reinforcing the fears. They will advise how best to resolve it. Ask your vet if they can recommend someone and maybe your insurance will cover the costs. The sooner the better if you don't want this to become engrained behaviour. I do wish you the best of luck as I know how you must be feeling.
Man cannot survive with wine alone...
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Schnauzer Sam
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Re: Barking

Post by Schnauzer Sam »

Following on from what Julie's post; I should have added that what I did (and continue to do with Rosie) is a plan that was the result of a consultation with an behaviourist who spent 6 hours with us in the house, out driving and out on walks. As I'm insured with Petplan, they picked up the cost of the behaviourist provided that the referral was initiated by a vet. They took off the usual excess of £100. To give you an idea of cost, a suitably qualified behaviourist will charge somewhere around £250 for the consultation and a report with a recommend plan of action.

The behaviourist must have certain qualifications to be acceptable to the insurer.
Country Girl at Heart (Molly) 8 April 2003 - 22 December 2018

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Hil54
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Re: Barking

Post by Hil54 »

We have just had a very stressful weekend with our ms. Friends came to stay bringing their 2 dogs. One is a welsh springer and the other a working cocker spaniel. Our ms has met them both before several times at our house and at theirs. Although she has always barked quite a bit at them previously, this was continuously for the whole weekend. The only way to stop it was for one of us to stay in a separate room from the other two dogs. Not ideal with guests! She also didn’t bark nearly as much when they were walked together. She mainly barked at the younger cocker who is male and about 2. our ms is almost 16 months. We don’t want to stop seeing our friends but we can’t put up with the noise. As soon as they left we didn’t have another bark out of her for the rest of the day. Any suggestions for what might help?
Oscar 12345
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Re: Barking

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Hilary, I do think you need some expert help with this if you want a dog that will settle around other dogs in her own home. You have a dog that is nervous of being close to other dogs and the best advice when this happens is as said previously to limit the closeness to other dogs until she feels totally comfortable. Unfortunately bringing two other dogs in to the house forces a closeness she isn't comfortable with and in her mind barking does eventually mean that they go away (or are removed from her in your example). I guess you don't see your friends and their dogs very regularly which makes it very difficult to work on this with them. Maybe the not barking so much when out with the 2 dogs is a bit of better the devil you know in that she was probably more concerned about any other dogs she might meet - but I am just guessing. I think she needs lots of work on her confidence which is where an expert can best help. Has she been getting better on walks near other dogs generally?
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zeta1454
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Re: Barking

Post by zeta1454 »

I agree with Julie that a good professional behaviourist may be the best idea to assess just what is going on with your mini and the barking and to suggest an individual approach to her situation.

A few points though in a general way:

Looking back at previous posts it does seem that your mini had a traumatic time at puppy classes which were too crowded, too noisy and badly managed by the "trainers". Unfortunately a large number of puppies, however well brought up previously, can suffer serious behavioural issues from negative experiences at a vulnerable age. They may learn that close contact with other dogs in a confined space or on lead is frightening and this can result in loud barking, aggression or anxiety in similar circumstances (confined spaces / on lead) depending on the temperament of the puppy.

Your mini is also still in her adolescence and it is common for adolescent dogs to be more temperamental and exhibit behaviours such as barking or even nipping that families thought were well behind them after young puppyhood. This is a phase but still needs to be managed with care, patience and regular daily training to reinforce focus, encourage calmness and include social interaction with people and calm, well behaved dogs.

If you do not regularly have visitors staying with you and especially ones with dogs, the situation you describe is a new and clearly stressful one for your mini. She is likely to regard the home environment as her family territory and suddenly it seems to have been "invaded" by others. It is a totally different situation to that of meeting dogs (even the same individual dogs) outside on walks or in the park. It is not natural for many wild animals to allow strangers into their home/ territory and, although dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, the hard wired mental reaction to object to newcomers in their home can emerge if not managed carefully from the outset. Having dogs visit regularly for short periods building up to longer ones and making sure that the stay is a fun and enjoyable one for your mini is perhaps the way to go. It is difficult if you have human visitors to concentrate on your own dog and make sure that she is happy and comfortable with the situation and she may feel that if she is not happy she needs to let the other dogs know by barking her objections!
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Oscar 12345
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Re: Barking

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Hilary, probably won't be any consolation at all but my neighbour has just visited with his female standard poodle and we chatted in the hall, Otto was in another room. As I expected, when they left Otto bolted into the hall and made it very clear than no such furry visitors are welcome. I haven't socialised him with other dogs in his home so I am not surprised at all. Christine's Gino meanwhile (she posts as Schnauzer) is unbelievable, happily sitting and playing with other dogs either in her home or in theirs. I am very jealous of that. I have had 2 male schnauzers and not been able to do that.
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schnauzer
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Re: Barking

Post by schnauzer »

Oscar 12345 wrote: 11 Dec 2018, 18:51 Hilary, probably won't be any consolation at all but my neighbour has just visited with his female standard poodle and we chatted in the hall, Otto was in another room. As I expected, when they left Otto bolted into the hall and made it very clear than no such furry visitors are welcome. I haven't socialised him with other dogs in his home so I am not surprised at all. Christine's Gino meanwhile (she posts as Schnauzer) is unbelievable, happily sitting and playing with other dogs either in her home or in theirs. I am very jealous of that. I have had 2 male schnauzers and not been able to do that.

Just had to reply first of all Julie thanks so much for your lovely comment about my boy yes Gino does & has since day one welcomed his doggy friends to our house as we have friends that visit & stay often with their two Scotties Gino doesn't bother with them also we were away recently staying with my friend who has a B & S mini, again they were all fine. I first took him to visit the Scotties when he was just 14 weeks old. Gino has just turned 19 months & is very laid back. Even when we have visitors or workmen eg when the washing machine engineer came he didnt bother unlike my last girl. I also visit my friend who has a King Charles Cavalier & again he is fine with Poppy. Will confess that he can be a bit vocal when the doorbell goes but once the visitor comes in he is fine & doesn't bother them. Outside he is sometimes like a meerkat up on his hind legs & just whimpers but very friendly with all dogs that he has met. My thanks goes to my breeder who put so much into socialising him also I could not believe that I had a 8wk old puppy that was dry all night & every night from his first night with us also she (breeder) crate trained him which I can't get him out of but it is a good thing as we go away a lot & he is so happy in his crate again the opposite from my girl.

Sorry to be boast about my boy but we can't believe it as we were dreading the puppy days after losing our precious girl who was just 4 weeks short of her 13th Birthday. Our boy is such a joy to have & we are so lucky he came into our life to ease the pain. The breeder let me choose him from 5 boys so he was my choice.

I know that Schnauzers can be & are known to be very vocal but even my last girl was only vocal if the doorbell went or someone passed by when she was lying on the window sill.

I maintain its all in the up bringing just like a child !!!

Do hope a behaviourist can help you.

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Christine & Gino (Siglette Shadow (born 9/5/17 ---

Suzi (15/5/04---13/4/17) (Sugarbabe) RIP loved you to the moon & back, miss you so so much precious girl
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