Vocal Dog / Barking

[KobiD]

Hello kind folks of Dol.

I'm dog sitting for a month, about a week in already.. My dog is a black mutt who is very independent. She has her own triggers that she will bark at, but on the whole she is very chilled and quiet. Doesn't really alert to much, she is more of a reactive barker (towards other dogs, birds, etc). We've been working at desensitising her with some improvement. I've had her from 8 weeks and shes just turned 3 recently.

 

The dog we're sitting is around 6 years old, I have known since she was a wee pup, and has known our dog since we got her too. She's a blue cattle dog, and comes complete with all the drives such a herding breed has. I understand this is probably going to mean hard work and limited success given a short time period. The two dogs get along well. They have a bit of play during the day but not excessive. 

I have a few issues with the barking - more so I'm thoughtful of neighbours as well. 

6AM - Blue dog barks at a neighbour who walks their dog past around that time. This barking then turns into attention barking. In her regular routines she gets walked early morning - I'm not an early morning walker. We've been doing afternoon walks instead. I've been ignoring the barking, often getting out of bed, walking past the dogs and ignoring until they settle and then saying good morning and rewarding. The problem being neither myself, family, or neighbours enjoy several minutes of yipping at 6am.  Questioning if I should interrupt the barking, potentially rewarding the attention seeking.. or maybe i need to get up earlier and try and avoid the whole situation before it starts.

The other is play time. She is a vocal player. She herds and barks. It's genetic. I can ask her to stop and she'll hush for a bit, but as play continues she just cant hold back what she was bred to do. I've been supervising play and ramping down if she gets excited too much. 

Any other suggestions for advice?  

[persephone]

Hi
If it were me dog sitting ..and knew there was a time limit to it  ...I'd be continuing the dog's early morning habits..not teaching her a new one   .... she has her own routine, and I guess money will change hands for some effort expended

[jemappelle]

Can you block access so she doesn't see the 6 am walker?  Having owned cattle dogs I can relate to the high pitched excited barking.  When I got my second one the noise at first light was enough to have them sleep inside, in separate areas.  lol

[KobiD]

I agree Pers.. but she's the guest and I don't want to restructure routines and build habits for my own dog during that time! No money involved either.. just good will.

This morning I woke up earlier and as such made sure the behaviour wasn't there. It's no fun waking up at 5:30am on Sunday morning though!

[KobiD]

She's not being a trouble maker by any means either. Well, no more than normal. All of these are typical behaviours for her. Part of her personality. Given that her primary carer (shes very bonded to them) is away for some time she's transitioned very well with no signs of detachment anxiety. I presume being in a house where there has mostly been someone here (coming/going/etc) as well as having another dog for company, has helped her.

The two girls spend most their day laying around.  

[Two Best Dogs!]

Is she in the yard when she see's the 6am walker?

 

Assuming you don't want to remodel your yard to remove visibility, and as she's only a temporary dog...I would personally just avoid the situation and have her sleep in the laundry or something to allow you to stick to your routine. Sounds like 6am walker is also pretty routine minded which has pros/cons for you.

 

I don't mind barking when playing personally. Thyme likes to give me his play-by-play when he's REALLY excited. If I'm not feeling it, we will just play tug or something that keeps his mouth occupied or, as you have found, a less exciting activity. Sniffing things out maybe?

[KobiD]

Yeah both dogs are outside 100%. We have a purebred ragdoll that lives inside.. Confined to the laundry would feel like an exclusion to her.

 

At her normal house, she is on more land, but sleeps inside and comes in and out as she pleases. My dog still respects the boundaries (door ways) when she visits there. Blue dog has been respecting boundaries while here. IE I can leave a door open and she doesn't come in.. just waits at it.

The visibility is not great. Small section about 3M which is wooden fence. She can see through the gaps, and shes that alert that even without sight she'd be aware of them passing.

I'm confident that she will settle more yet as she learns what the expectations are. She's a sharp minded, confident dog. Also, she doesn't bark at the post man! so she's certainly not aroused by every little thing that passes by. Just the ones she's not sure of.. or in the case of the morning walker, I think its that shes missing out on. The sun is well and truly up by then at this time of the year too (FNQ).