Posted on 07/08/2005 4:51:56 PM PDT by LadyShallott
The thing that has always worked for me is after the 3rd bark, grab them by the jowls and stare right into their eyes (you have to hold their face still) and say "enough!". They soon learn that they are permitted to bark 3 times and must stop the minute you say "enough".
Why did you tell us that?
I have the same problem. One solution is the infamous bark collar. You can't buy the cheap ones, they don't work well, but the better quality ones do. I hate them, but they do help. Get the kind with the warning tone because soon that is all you have to use.
Hunting dogs may not react negatively to shock collars, but small dogs like dachsunds do. I've been a groomer for twenty seven years and I've seen many times the effect these collars have on small dogs. Citronella does not destroy the dogs sense of smell, spray any male then bring in a bitch in heat, trust me he will notice, and we're talking about a small pet here not a hunting dog.Also citronella is so effective that it only takes a couple times for the dog to learn.
Thank you Lokibob. I was going to write the same. My dogs are not barkers by nature, but when they do, I've learned to heed them. I'll run to them, ask them what they're barking at (not that I expect an answer (smile), and give them a "good puppy." Usually, they back off and know that Alpha Dog will take over. If it's the front door, once I've reached it, they will back off and sit.
Respect them, they are doing their job.
Boykin Spaniels are not much bigger than a Dachshund - I've seen them less than 20 pounds. A trainer I know specializes in Boykins - she brought eight of them to the last hunt test - they all passed with flying colors - all trained on the Ecollar.
There is no cure for stupidity (as opposed to ignorance). It's not the Ecollar - it's the idiots who don't know how to use it properly and don't bother to learn.
Some bark collars are fairly humane, in that the signal can be dialed up or down as required. It might be worth looking in to.
A friend of mine in Dallas owns one of the world's greatest German Shephards. He's an absolutely fabulous dog. Only problem being, he USED to be an uncontrolled barker.
I visited "their" house less than 24-hours after a collar was introduced. May I say that "Rio" was a new dog person, so to speak. I could see that he was tempted to bark on a couple of occasions, but he decided against it. All thanks to the collar.
Probably should add that Rio is a really smart dog. His owner told me the dog started self-correcting by the third of fourth zap.
Best part of this entire story is that Rio didn't have to be given away, or worse. And no, he didn't become a neurotic mess because of the collar. He does know he can get away with barking when the collar isn't on, but I mentioned he's smart, right...?
Hope everything works out at your house!
I'm not big on giving treats for good behavior.
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Some dogs (mine) are food-driven. They would walk on water for food. Some are not.
When food-driven, you can get them to learn obedience in a heartbeat. I don't know what to do for the little nervous yappers who can go all day without food.
Praise works wonders, tho, and a good ear-rub is worth it's weight in gold.
I tend to consider shock-anything abuse.
Ya'no, if you get a dog, you need to spend time with the dog, and train it.
Get either a shock, squealer, or citronella bark collar. Within a couple of hours it will shut him up. The squealer ones work very well. Sometimes they have to wear it for a few weeks. If that doesn't work - beat him unmercifully. That is the only methos that worked on my lab. (Scream at your lab while you are beating him or he may think you are playing!)
I second that.
I have corgis too:) One is mellow and laid back- the other one is a pip- she's very busy, chatty and barks when an ant crosses the street.
She has two kinds of barks- one is the warning kind- someone's at the door etc. I have used the "thank-you" response effectively with that- taking action- going to the door etc.
Then there's the "isn't life grand, I love to hear myself bark, oh boy let's go for a walk, oh goody it's suppertime" bark...a little more troublesome. For me- the squirt gun has been most effective.
One of my dogs was quite the barker also. I used a training collar vs. a bark collar. With the training collar, you can control when a correction is needed. A bark collar does not distinguish barks. There a times when Shadow barks when a "stranger" is around. I want to know when that happens. Other time he barks just to bark and that is when he gets corrected.
The nusiance barking decreased significantly, but his warning barking did not. I was very pleased with the results.
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