Please Give Me Some Tips On Our Barking Dog!!!!!!

Me | July 8, 2005 | LadyS

[LadyShallott]

My husband bought me a dachshund last year for my birthday. When we brought him home (at the time)we lived in a very rural, VERY quiet neighborhood. We are now living in Columbus on a very busy side of town. Hence the increase in traffic, noise, people, and everything else that goes along with it. Well our dog barks for hours at the smallest noise. I hate trash day....when the trash truck shows up our dog is in full blown hysterics. What can I do about this? We have tried training (it didnt work), taking him outside when the the loud noises occur (doesnt work), and making sure he has everything he needs in terms of going outside and so forth. Scolding him basically sends him under the nearest couch to bark. The sound of the phone ringing sends him into barking fits. Mind you this is a dog that has grown up with a very noisy and active toddler who drags him around for almost everything. He is great with kids and is very protective of our daughter. Plus there are nights when we (daughter and myself) are alone when my husband has to go into work. So I dont want a mute dog. I would just like to find a middle ground with our dog. Any ideas?

[truthkeeper]

...where you don't want him to bark, squirting a water spray bottle on stream works wonders. He should stop right then. May start again, so another squirt is in order....

That was the technique I used in training my Springer pups. I used to hide, allow each of them to bark only TWICE in response to noises and after that they got the water spray in the mug. Worked on every one of them.

[KC_for_Freedom]

The trick is the treats, a dog will learn what he did to get it. Sooner or later he will learn that it is being quiet that gets the treat. At first he will think he has to bark first then be quiet, but sooner or later he will not bark, get the treat for not barking and then he will expect treats whenever he is quiet.

You do this for a while giving him treats whenever he is quiet after a noise, but there will be noises that he gets nothing as the treats become fewer and farther between, but he should never get a treat for a bark. (see next paragraph for more on this) Eventually the dog will realize he should be quiet and sometimes he will get a treat. Then you have him where you want him.

Of course if he barks at a knock on the door or a stranger outside you reward him for this bark and then you have your watch dog too.

I forgot to say that some dogs are too dumb to get this. If you have one of these it will become clear after a while that the dog cannot associate treats with behavoir. Then you have to decide if the dog can stay or not. (He may need a quiet country setting), but I would bet this will work. In the TV show they did not say how long it took but I got the impression it was several sessions a day for a couple weeks, so don't throw in the towel too soon.

[conservativebabe]

BTW, Dachsunds are about as adorable as adorable gets! I have always wanted one, but my hubby likes big dogs. My grandma used to raise them. She always said they were great dogs.

[conservativebabe]

That technique also worked on my two cats, which are supposed to be nearly untrainable. Totally full-proof IMO.

[Lokibob]

This may sound strange, but here goes:

The pup is only doing its job, as he/she thinks it should be done.
He is telling you that you need to take action (answer the phone, check the trash guys out etc).
What I do is pet my dog when she barks, tell her "good girl", speak soothingly to her, and answer the phone, or look out and say thank you to her. It took some time, but now, after she barks and gets my attention, she just sits and watches that everything is ok.
My dog now barks once, runs to me, whining (to tell me that somebody is at the door) and follows me to the door.
Summary, try love and petting her, accepting the fact that she is doing her job....Bob

[GretchenM]

My fam had a Dacshy when I was growing up. I sympathize -- Schultzy wasn't as much of a problem as your dog but I learned from that this one very valuable lesson: my next dog will be a Lab. I know I'm not much of a help, but there is one (drastic) suggestion I would postulate, and that is, you could get a muzzle for when your dog sets out on those extended yapping endeavors.

[Smokin' Joe]

LOL!

[truthkeeper]

Interesting, but what did the cats do to warrant the spray? (I love cats too. Well-behaved animals are a real joy.)

[LadyShallott]

With the noise level (we live behind a freeway) they cant hear the dog bark 99% of the time. The jake brakes and horns drown out most of the noise from anything outside. At night he is in the house. But yes, I agree with you. A barking dog is not fun for anyone, especially if it isn't your own dog. Point taken. Thanks!

[LadyShallott]

Trust me....it has crossed our mind. Thanks! LOL

[conservativebabe]

That's how we kept them off of the counter-tops.

[truthkeeper]

Good thinking.

[lonestar]

Dachsunds are about as adorable as adorable gets!

Thank you!

Weinie

[conservativebabe]

Thanks. It was advice from a friend and cat owner. Works every time it's tried.

[LadyShallott]

He is a beautiful dog. And for the most part very sweet. Outside of the barking I don't have any complaints. My mom has a doxie and she is as quiet as a church mouse. Has some of the same territory issues, but sweet as well.

[GretchenM]

Which? The muzzle, or the Lab?

I see that other, wiser friends have offered much better advice than mine. I didn't know they had the collars that help to train away the extreme barking. Those sound awesome.

[conservativebabe]

Feel free to post pics of the little guy.

[LadyShallott]

Those are great ideas! Thank you so much. I havent really thought of it that way. It really does make sense. Our dog knows when the mail man is coming 20 minutes before he gets here. Maybe Buster just wants me to get the job done. Great advice. :)

[LadyShallott]

Hey I can do that! Let me find them on our server.

[HairOfTheDog]

Here's my .02 cents...

Doxies are a strong willed dog, but an electric collar on a doxie very well might make it neurotic. It is wrong to put an electric collar on until the dog (1) knows the command he's supposed to obey and (2) can be shown that obeying the command will make the shock stop. I've seen dogs in automatic no bark collars literally go insane screaming and shocking themselves, and the owner had a hell of a time catching the dog to get the dang thing off.

I would have this dog drag a leash all the time you're home (not when gone so they can't get in a bad tangle), so he can't just go hide under things, and teach the command ~quiet~ with a pinch collar on. "Quiet" and correction for any noise after that until he stops. Reward for doing anything other than barking... Mine will kindof do a muffled "mfff" "mffff" after such a correction, which is cute.... she knows if the mouth opens, she's gonna get it. ~after~ the dog knows the command "Quiet", then the leash can come off and an electric training collar (with a button you press) could be tried. This time you would still first say ~Quiet!~ and press the button if the dog does not. Go easy on a little dog, collars are strong, and too much is hard on their little minds. After the dog understands he only gets a shock for barking, an automatic collar could be used, but man I would be really reluctant to leave the dog alone with it..

Ping!

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