How can I get my dog to stop barking and also respect me?

i have a one year old (nearly 2) tibetan terrier Tilly.
The past few months she started to bark at other dogs.

On her lead she will come across as quite aggresive when barking. But off her lead she'll just bark as if just saying hello. Shes fine once shes up to dog and will just happily play and have fun and she nevers seems aggresive! It's just when she see the other dog in the distance, she'll start barking.

Shes never had any bad experience with other dogs (that i know of). I made sure she socilaised from a young age and she has been fine with everything up until this last few months.

Also she can do her basic commands etc, But just doesn't seem to respect me (or see me as boss). If she doesnt want to do something she won't. It's kind of like where both fighting to be pack leader....?


Please help as walks just arn't as fun as they used to be!!

p.s. Also when she sees cars/ bikes / people she's started to act as if shes getting into position to start her barking.

Sorry I haven't any advice and hope someone will help you soon, but I can sympathise being the owner of a tibetan. They are such stubborn creatures - mine who was 1 yesterday is driving us crazy at the moment with barking in the garden. Can't pinpoint what it is that is making her bark but she is obviously hearing things we can't lol. This is our second tibetan and they will do what you say - only if they think it's worth their while to do so. Good luck

if the barking is new and out of the blue i would get a vet check to rule anything out and then get hold of a good behaviourist, these things can get worse if left alone. also dont punish her for barking as this can make it worse

as for her not respecting you
if she is not obaying you when their are other fun things about then she is not fully trained in the behaviour, its not about respect its about training for distractions
the outside world is fun, training with you should be fun.
if you are constantly in a battle then everything else is more interesting

she is also a teenager, they can be right pains
for a few months every time you are in a new location or things are more distracting just treat her like she has never been trained for the behaviour and train it again from scratch
if she isnt even able to focus on you dont get mad at her just dont ask for anything but calmly reward her for looking in your direction, then tell her to go and sniff or chase things or whatever. she will start to check in with you more often and you can slowly ask for more behaviours before sending her away again

is she due a season?

Hi Iona welcome to Dogsey,

Without seeing Tilly is is difficult to say why she is barking, it could be in excited anticipation at meeting another dog or she may be a bit unsure about meeting them so is barking to 'warn them off'. Many dogs bark at other dogs when on the lead and behave differently when off the lead, being on the lead restricts a dogs natural flight response (which with freeze and fight is one of the options it has to use to escape threatening situations).


Why do you think she doesn't respect you, 'respect' in dogs if you want to call it that is all about a dog trusting and bonding with the owner, this comes with consistently teaching a dog what is expected of it with gentleness and patience.
I wouldn't worry about being 'pack leader' , dogs know we are not part of their 'pack' any more than cows or chickens are, we don't look /smell/behave like dogs and I am sure a dog knows the difference between a human and another dog.
For me dog ownership is about building a partnership not my being the pack leader. I teach my puppies what I expect of them and provide them with food/comfort/companionship and they learn to trust me and to obey (most of the time ) because to do so is a rewarding experience. This is a partnership based on mutual trust which will last a lifetime.

My 2 year old dog used to get very excited when seeing another dog approaching and would make an awful noise.
What she wanted most of all was to reach the other dog so that was her 'reward'. As soon as she started making a noise I turned around and walked the other way without saying a word at the same time breaking eye contact with the approaching dog. The second Chloe was quiet I rewarded her with praise 'quiet girl' and turned to walk toward the other dog. If she made a sound I repeated the whole process. Gradually she learnt that she could only approach another dog when she was quiet.
At times Chloe still forgets herself occasionally and 'yatters' with excitement particularly if she sees a particular dog and I use the turning away method

With the cars etc I would take Tilly to a place where she can observe a number of them from a safe distance, go armed with a toy and treats to help to get her attention so that seeing these things becomes commonplace and not something strange to be barked at