Manic Barking

[Champ629]

I hope someone can help us... Jake will be 2 years old in a couple of months, he has always been a very vocal mini and takes his guarding duties very seriously. But going out for walks he is always really noisy and kind of screams with excitement, to the point where he doesn't stop until about 5 minutes of walking up the road. This screaming is getting much worse now (louder and for longer) and we have tried different things to try and stop it, but nothing works. Jake also barks at anyone and anything. We feel like bad dog parents and really need some help before we get a dog ASBO (if there is such a thing). (crying)

[JulieM]

Sorry, I can't help but I'd also be interested in any tips. Rufus (2 today) is not particularly vocal and when he barks it's quite easy to get him to stop ("enough" usually works or if he's v excited putting him into a sit or a down does the trick). Molly (6 months) is a different kettle of fish. She barks/squeals/ screams/ grumbles at pretty much everything (other dogs, cows, anything passing within 50 yards of the house, falling snow......). As she's so cute people tend to find it quite amusing, however, it is extremely piercing and loud (even Rufus can't stand the noise). We try to distract her and reward calm quiet behaviour but I can't say we're making much progress, so any ideas would be welcome!

[spikey247]

Hi Hope this helps........

I find that its a frame of mind the dog goes into and you need to break this,
the best way is to give a short firm tug (not too hard but enough to let them know you are there)
followed by a sharp Hey or SSsss sound this breaks the mind set that he/she may have entered....!
this may not work first time so keep calm and re-apply the task, it has worked for me and others that i know.

But the key is keep calm dont panic or get angry and dont be embarrassed your dog will pick up on the bad vibe, just keep relaxed, you are the boss and this is your walk you have chosen to let come with you so they do it by your rules.

We met somebody not so long ago and there mini did the same i asked them to try it out and hey it worked.....

Let me knowhow you get on if youuse this method...!?

S.

[Captain Chaos]

Any ideas on the opposite....trying to make a dog that thinks stealth is the best option change her mind and bark when someone is at the door?? Someone told me to reward her whenever she barks appropriately. I've been sat waiting for 6 months to reward her, though..... (hypnotised)

I have also tried barking at people myself, which has amused my friends and family, but hasn't induced barking from the Tula Bear. *sigh* She must know I want her to do it so won't on principle.....

[Mitch]

You can teach some dogs to bark on command but Id say if Lia is a quiet lady let sleeping dogs lie as they say, much more relaxing than a barker.

Ours only bark manicly when someones at the door or just before they go out for a walk they get sooooooooo excited can hardly contain themselves but sorry have no idea how to stop manic barking, spikeys advice sounds good as when ours bark before going out we say hey hey shhhhhhhhh enough and point a finger and they all sit and calm down only to start barking as soon as door is opened but thankfully shut up once leads are on they know we are serious then

Hope you get things sorted [bone]

[Darwinsmum]

Welcome to the world of piggy squealing, Darwin's is a mixture of excitement and frustration (and the occasional terrible two's strop) especially on walks when we see other dogs and people. Spikeys advice is brilliant and I find I have to go into my cross teacher mode with a deeper voice, make my eyes look hard (if you know what I mean) tell him to be quiet and sit and then hold him firmly until he does while staring at him. For the manic barking at the window I've perfected a high pitched scream (thank goodness we have thick cottage walls) which interrupts him and then I remove him from the area without talking. It has taken me 2 years to get to this stage and he is now back in the Good Citizen Class working with other dogs about. Luckily everyone in the village knows him and when he was poorly I kept getting asked where he was as they hadn't heard him lately. (giggle)

Lia can we swap it would be lovely to have a non barker!

[spikey247]

Any ideas on the opposite....trying to make a dog that thinks stealth is the best option change her mind and bark when someone is at the door?? Someone told me to reward her whenever she barks appropriately. I've been sat waiting for 6 months to reward her, though..... (hypnotised)

I have also tried barking at people myself, which has amused my friends and family, but hasn't induced barking from the Tula Bear. *sigh* She must know I want her to do it so won't on principle.....

Well i have a notion as it worked for me......

Izzie wouldnt bark at anything but our cat Chester...!
what i did was ask her in an excited way whos that, whos that, whos that and point to the door obviously when people are outside, she eventualy got the idea and now gives a good bark when anybody passes or comes to the door you must make it a game but you must also teach the command to say its enough..! i tend to use 'well done Izzie come'
yep it worked for me but you must keep it up and when they do it as just a part of what they do dont get upset as you gave them to go ahead to play this game.

[susie]

I find that when I can stop Alfie barking he goes into grumble mode. It's as if he is saying "OK I'm not barking but you won't shut me up"
He just grumbles and woo woos for a while until he gets fed up.

Heather - next time we meet can you taech me the cross look? Alfie just barks even more if I try to give him "the look" so I must be doing it wrong (hypnotised)

If he barks at the door or window I just pretend to have a look, tell him it's OK, nothing there to worry about and he usually shuts up.

[Darwinsmum]

Susie I'll try, it took a whole term of teaching year one children to perfect it, then when I tried it at home I got the 'don't you go using your teacher look on me' (giggle)

I know what you mean about the grumbles, it's like they're muttering under their breath.

[spikey247]

(giggle) He he i like the grumbles.....

[dannie_kl]

I hope someone can help us... Jake will be 2 years old in a couple of months, he has always been a very vocal mini and takes his guarding duties very seriously. But going out for walks he is always really noisy and kind of screams with excitement, to the point where he doesn't stop until about 5 minutes of walking up the road. This screaming is getting much worse now (louder and for longer) and we have tried different things to try and stop it, but nothing works. Jake also barks at anyone and anything. We feel like bad dog parents and really need some help before we get a dog ASBO (if there is such a thing). (crying)

Karen i have exactly the same issues with ruby, always have done and have never broken it completely but have it at a manageable stage. does jake ever run at dogs barking? ruby does! does he ever see someone in the distance and bark or run at them barking? ruby does! when you stop the barking do you still get the under breath grumbles? we do with ruby! and when the barking is going on does Jake go deaf to any known commands? thats ruby's speciality!

basically i sought behavioural advice over this matter because although there was no malice in her barking people were looking at me like i had a maniac on a lead, she could walk to heel beautifully just making an almighty racket at the same time and if truth be told it was starting to upset me!
anyway, there are a number of methods you can use, namely distraction techniques and interruption of unwanted behaviour (much like spikey's idea) i used a mixture of these however that's not fool proof! i used to have a pet corrector with me-a little spray can which makes a sharp hiss-you must be very careful using this as the first time it frick the living daylights out of ruby but it started to work, until she got used to it! basically the idea was with pet corrector hidden from view but at the ready and treats in the pocket we would walk along, if we saw a dog approach i would give her the watch me command, for as long as she is watching me and not the other dog she is praised vocally and if she passes the dog without barking she recieved a treat and massive praise, if however she broke and barked at the dog she got a quick sound of the pet corrector and then the watch me command again with the vocal praise whilst she is doing what she is asked. this worked really well and i could easily anticipate if she was likely to bark at someone approaching and up the anti by really making myself exciting-she didn't want to look and bark at the other dog because i was so much more interesting and there was something good which came from paying attention to me. i hope this is of some help-you are not alone i completely sympathise and if you want any further details into mine a rubys training routine please just ask, although i will say if i dont keep on top of her she will take the liberty to start up again so it is a case of being vigilant and prepared!

[Champ629]

Thanks everyone for all your advice and comments.

Over the last two days we have taken Spikey247's advice and just as we go to open the front door and Jake starts to bark (in a piggy squealing kind of way), we give the lead a sharp yank and say 'quiet' in a really firm voice (we have to make sure the tone is correct), so far this has been working really well, we have even managed to get out of the house with Jake just grumbling under his breath, which for us is fantastic (clap) .

Also, recently we have been doing more to heel walking and we are able to walk Jake under much more control than previously. Thanks again everyone (bigthumbs)

[Champ629]

Karen i have exactly the same issues with ruby, always have done and have never broken it completely but have it at a manageable stage. does jake ever run at dogs barking? ruby does! does he ever see someone in the distance and bark or run at them barking? ruby does! when you stop the barking do you still get the under breath grumbles? we do with ruby! and when the barking is going on does Jake go deaf to any known commands? thats ruby's speciality!

Hi Dannie in response to your questions, Jake doesn't run at dogs barking or run at people in the distance barking. It is just on lead he has issues, if we pass another dog in the street sometimes Jake will bark at it, I do think that sometimes he feels scared or threatened as he has been attacked twice in the past year by nasty dogs. I think when children run past Jake or when a skateboarder or cyclist wizzes past it takes Jake by surprise and it starts him off barking. Also, Jake always grumbles after he has stopped barking, like he has to have the final word! (bark)

[JulieM]

Some really great tips on this thread. It's reassuring to know that we aren't the only ones with a noisy schnauzer. We'll continue with the distraction + praise for calm quiet behaviour and see how we do. Having said that, we took Molly to her first training class last night after the Christmas break and she surprised us all (including the instructor who knows her well) by completely ignoring the other dogs and being a model of good behaviour!

[Darwinsmum]

Well done Molly, it's great when you can surprise the trainer (clap)