Mrs D Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hi everyone, I'm new to join but have been a fan of browsing the forums for ages. I have a Tibetan Spaniel, male, desexed, and he is 22 months old. He is a livewire when he wants to be, and is fantastic with the kids. However......he barks. A lot. He used to bark constantly as soon as the front door was closed and I was on my way. He has since grown out of this, with some help from the barking collar I bought. He barks whenever he hears someone coming, which is kind of expected I guess, the problem is, if he doesn't know the person, he will not shut up! Despite telling him to be quiet and admonishing him (growly voice, low tone) he just completely ignores me. I decided to get a crate, because he was harassing the visitors and then would wee on them if they bent down to pat him. He now goes in the crate before I open the front door to greet a visitor. This works well to keep him off the visitors, but then he barks constantly! He has one of those annoying high pitched barks that cuts right through you, too! I have tried rousing on him, spraying him with water, upgraded to citronella, nothing has worked. He can cop a spray in the face and not even pause. The barking collar doesn't work anymore, because he just keeps barking. Bark, squeal, bark, squeal. I am at my wit's end trying to work out what to do with this little boy! I can't leave him outside for any extended period of time (in the dog run) because he stands up at the adjoining fence and goes ballistic at the neighbours dog if he even looks at him. Any suggestions???????? Please help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Oh No There's two Mrs D's. Try a zappy collar, the citronella ones are commonly useless. Welcome :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs D Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 Oh No There's two Mrs D's.Try a zappy collar, the citronella ones are commonly useless. Welcome :D Good news is, that's why he squeals, cause it IS a zappy collar!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Sounds like he wasn't socialised enough and it nervous of these visitors, so telling him off and using a crate or barking device isn't going to work, you need to go back to basics with him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) This works with one of my barkers, but it hasn't completely cured it. I pick her up when a visitor is at the gate. I say quiet & good girl when she is, firm voice reprimand if she starts but I try & focus on the good girl bit. She likes being told that I keep hold of her when they come in for a few minutes. Then when I put her down she is quiet. Works if I remember to pick her up consistently but sometimes I forget. Worth a go rather than punishment/banishment. Edited March 28, 2011 by Christina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs D Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) Sounds like he wasn't socialised enough and it nervous of these visitors, so telling him off and using a crate or barking device isn't going to work, you need to go back to basics with him What sort of basics do you mean? Like sit, stay? He does the sit part, not the stay part, and he knows how to wait for his dinner. If I try to get him to stay, he wiggles around and whines and wags his tail and looks like he's getting anxious/excited. How do I deal with that? I had people come over the other day and I knew they were coming, so I actually put him in his cage and covered it up. Well!! Should've heard the racket, we literally could not hear ourselves speak, so I had to (give in) and let him out. I'm not loving being told what to do by a dog Once he was out, he barked another few times, then stopped. Fixed the barking problem, but hello? Who's in charge here????? And Thanks, Christina for your advice! Edited March 24, 2011 by Mrs D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirty Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I think it would be helpful to have a behaviourist come and visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan3 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 An exercise I like because it works and it's simple, but it takes a little bit of practise, is as follows: Stand near your door. Have a clicker (yes, you have to use a clicker) and some yummy treats. Knock on the door, just on the inside of the door. He will see you do it. This doesn't usually matter, but if it does, knock discretely. When he barks, click immediately, toss the treat, while he is eating the treat, click again, and toss another treat. You can practise this over and over, even if he's given up barking, it doesn't matter, but only for a couple of minutes at a time. So what are we doing here? 1. we're clicking and treating for barking in response to the door knock, but only a small amount of barking 2. we're clicking and treating for not barking, while he is eating the treat he isn't barking 3. we're chaining these two behaviours together; bark for a short time, then be quiet for a short time. Progression: 1. knock on door, click immediately for barking, toss the treat, pause half a second, click again, toss another treat. Repeat a few times. 2. knock on door, click immediately for barking, toss the treat, pause a second, click again (if he's still quiet), toss another treat. Repeat a few times. 3. knock on door, click immediately for barking, toss the treat, pause for two seconds, click again (if he's still quiet), toss another treat. Repeat a few times. ...gradually build up the period of silence after the barking, second by second. 4. have a friend come over and knock on the door for you. Do several repetitions. This works like a charm if done according to the instructions. It may seem counter-intuitive to you, I am happy to answer any questions though. Some dogs learn to whine and squeal when wearing an anti-bark collar because the higher-pitched sounds don't trigger some models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs D Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 An exercise I like because it works and it's simple, but it takes a little bit of practise, is as follows:Stand near your door. Have a clicker (yes, you have to use a clicker) and some yummy treats. Knock on the door, just on the inside of the door. He will see you do it. This doesn't usually matter, but if it does, knock discretely. When he barks, click immediately, toss the treat, while he is eating the treat, click again, and toss another treat. You can practise this over and over, even if he's given up barking, it doesn't matter, but only for a couple of minutes at a time. So what are we doing here? 1. we're clicking and treating for barking in response to the door knock, but only a small amount of barking 2. we're clicking and treating for not barking, while he is eating the treat he isn't barking 3. we're chaining these two behaviours together; bark for a short time, then be quiet for a short time. Progression: 1. knock on door, click immediately for barking, toss the treat, pause half a second, click again, toss another treat. Repeat a few times. 2. knock on door, click immediately for barking, toss the treat, pause a second, click again (if he's still quiet), toss another treat. Repeat a few times. 3. knock on door, click immediately for barking, toss the treat, pause for two seconds, click again (if he's still quiet), toss another treat. Repeat a few times. ...gradually build up the period of silence after the barking, second by second. 4. have a friend come over and knock on the door for you. Do several repetitions. This works like a charm if done according to the instructions. It may seem counter-intuitive to you, I am happy to answer any questions though. Some dogs learn to whine and squeal when wearing an anti-bark collar because the higher-pitched sounds don't trigger some models. This is very helpful, thankyou for taking the time to explain this to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ESCS Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I have a 2 year old male tibbie too who can be a bit of a barker. It is frustrating at times and I worry that the neighbours will get upset. I ended up getting professional help so that I could work out why our tibbie was barking. The person who helped us was terrific at assessing the situation and diagnosing what the problem was. She was able to help us with strategies to reduce the barking among other things. Tibbies, being bred to be watchdogs, will have the tendency to bark at any strange happenings. This combined with their independent and strong willed nature (some call it stubborn!) makes training them out of an unwanted behaviour tricky at times. Our tibbie responded better to positive reinforcement (treats or some sort of reward) than being roused on all the time. The trainer suggested that we distract him from whatever he is barking at ( usually another dog walking past our house) and reward him with a high value treat as soon as he was quiet. Eventually, we were able to call him to us when he started barking, tell him to be quiet and then reward him for being quiet. It required a huge amount of patience and persistence as it really only worked if we were absolutely consistent which meant I had to go outside to deal with the barking every time it happened. I have found that tibbies are smart and will do what you want them to do if they think there is something in it for them. Having firm boundaries and reinforcing them made a difference too. There was a time where our tibbie would growl at my daughter when they were both on the sofa so he lost his sofa privileges. He is last to walk through the door, comes in when I'm ready to let him in not when he barks or begs, sits/waits until I take the first step (when we go for walks) etc. Basically, anything to establish my leadership. Obedience classes was very helpful in establishing basic commands. I just found that his behaviour in general was much better if boundaries were in place. It may be just my tibbie but he has perfected the saying "give him an inch and he will take a yard"!!! At present, I am trying to find a way to stop his turkey chick killing spree! Our trainer also recommended that we take him for a good walk everyday to use up some energy (plus training sessions for mental stimulation). We walk him every morning and it tires him out so he is less likely to bark and bark and bark. Would you consider getting a behaviourist to assess the situation and to help you find strategies to deal with the barking etc? If you live anywhere in the Brisbane area, I would recommend Jane Harper from Dogsontrack. She is brilliant and I could not have managed the issues we had with our tibbie (he is an anxious dog and has fear aggression issues) without her help. All the best with your tibbie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs D Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) ESCS, thankyou, glad to hear it's not just me and I really don't think it's just your tibbie who takes a mile, mine's EXACTLY the same! I'm in FNQ but I'll definitely be trying some of the techniques that have been suggested, thanks again, everyone! Edited March 24, 2011 by Mrs D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandybrush Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 maybe do some focus work on him? click and treat when he stares in your eyes, then get a friend to come to the door and continue to get the dog to focus on you, and reward for looking at you and quiet, start with the person at the bottom of the driveway if you have to, then get them to slowly move forwards only at the dogs level, this should teach a new behaviour in when someone comes to visit go look at mum (iykwim) might not totally cure it but if you get the focus and quiet mostly then i say its effective sorry thats all i can say either that crate the dog in a diff room and shut the door so the noise is less...and only let them out once quiet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngeK Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Teach your dog the command "bark" and praise him for barking at the time. Once he knows a command it is easier to tell him "quiet" after that again. Now he barks and when you tell him off for it he basicly doesnt know what he is doing wrong. Can always come in handy as well to make him bark when you want to. Also tell your visitors to completely ignore him when they come in your house. Once he is quiet they can give him some attention. Our German Shephards bark as well when people come in and after the first trick of this post now quite is quite and after 5 minutes they are all back to normal again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Oh No There's two Mrs D's.Try a zappy collar, the citronella ones are commonly useless. Welcome Good news is, that's why he squeals, cause it IS a zappy collar!!!!! Um, okay it was just a suggestion - you didn't say you are already using one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs D Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 Oh No There's two Mrs D's.Try a zappy collar, the citronella ones are commonly useless. Welcome Good news is, that's why he squeals, cause it IS a zappy collar!!!!! Um, okay it was just a suggestion - you didn't say you are already using one. Oh sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude at all!! Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabel964 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 You sure have a problem, but it seems it can be resolved - though I think getting a trainer in is necessary because you have to do things the right way.I got a trainer in just to have control of my dogs (I had no major issues) and the trainer was AMAZING. After 1 hr spent with me and my dogs, I had a 10 min exercise to do with the dogs every day and it worked a treat! As I said, I had no major issues, just wanted some extra control so mine was relatively easy. Yours is more complex and it might cost a few hundred dollars, but it will be worth it. PS when the dog is not always barking like that, I bet it will be a calmer happier dog too PPS I send you hugs, you have tried so much and you have been so patient with your dog. All the best with resolving this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Teach your dog the command "bark" and praise him for barking at the time. Once he knows a command it is easier to tell him "quiet" after that again. Now he barks and when you tell him off for it he basicly doesnt know what he is doing wrong. Can always come in handy as well to make him bark when you want to.Also tell your visitors to completely ignore him when they come in your house. Once he is quiet they can give him some attention. Our German Shephards bark as well when people come in and after the first trick of this post now quite is quite and after 5 minutes they are all back to normal again. No, no, no. I taught this to one of my dogs and he started to bark constantly because he thought I WANTED him to bark! He drove us friggin' crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngeK Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 It works here and I know it does for a lot of other people/dogs You have to train the word "quite" as well at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan3 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 You're both right! Teaching a dog to bark on cue can be a disaster if you don't get it under stimulus control, but fantastic if you do. That's why I recommend teaching the dog to bark on cue, for a short amount of time, with the cue being a knock on the door. If he's already barking at that, you're not risking anything so you can't really go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Oh No There's two Mrs D's.Try a zappy collar, the citronella ones are commonly useless. Welcome Good news is, that's why he squeals, cause it IS a zappy collar!!!!! Um, okay it was just a suggestion - you didn't say you are already using one. Oh sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude at all!! Sorry No that's okay, I misinterpreted what you said, sorry - easily done on the internet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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