Barking at things

My dog has many problems but one of the most irritating is barking. He will bark at birds, the post man, anytime i attempt to leave etc it must stop.
He's ten years old and you must be saying "Why is she only starting now?" but i have tried before and nothing has worked so far. I am trying this whole amichien thing but i can't find anything that deals with this problem.

Barking can be an annoying habit. When my dog is in the garden she's forever barking at the birds, wasps, butterflies etc- you name anything that moves and she'll want to bark at it... I find the only way to stop her, is to keep fetching her indoors.
...Normally she doesn't bark at anything while we're out on our walks but if she does, I make her sit and turn head so that she can't see the thing she's been barking at, until she calms down.
I sympathise with your problem though.

Hi,

I have a similar problem with one of my borders. We have a very large garden so we have fenced off a smaller area for the dogs to play in and whenever she is in there (either alone or with all the troops) she barks at everything (or so it seems). If she has the freedom of the whole garden she rarely barks and rarely barks in the house either.

If anyone has any advice I'd be VERY interested.

I have 2 boys, same breed and age, but just the one barker.

Some things I have managed to stop him barking at, ( he used to bark at everything )

Now, it's the doorbell, fire alarm ( so that is ok by me he is letting me know )

In the garden, it's the birds - which is just excitement, and other dogs in adjoining gardens, again letting them know he is there

I know it can annoy people if it continues for some time. but the general "woof" never hurt anyone.

Clicker training is good for distraction as are other methods. Good Luck

Can I just enquire has this always been the case or is it something he has started over the last couple of years.?

Sorry just interested.

If it is something he has started recently, being ten, his hearing maybe slightly impaired (as it sometimes does with older dogs) I was once told by a very brilliant vet, that with hearing impaired dogs, they like the sound of thier own voice.

However if it is something that he has always done, then this will be a habit, and in which case will be a hard one to break.

As someone has said clicker training is good, also anything that distracts, then when he stops a treat with ''good boy'' and lots of praise, but I really think that if this is something he has always done, then you will have to be extremely persistant with your training. Remember bad habits are easier for him to pick up than good habits. Hope you find a solution Good luck.

Not really sure what advice to give. I rescued my last dog at ten years old ( he was a fox hound cross) an dhe had a ten year barking habbit which had been reinforced in five different homes.

The theory is that any attention from barking increases the frequency of the barking. So even if you shout at him to tell him to stop, or touch him to settle him down the dog has got the attention it desired and therefore will continue to bark to get attention.

You should then never give attention for barking BUT a ten year habbit is very hard to break and, because barking has always worked for them in the past, they will try harder and harder to get your attention by barking before the behaviour gradually tails off.

Some people take the stance that if you can teach your dog to back on cue, you can also teach them to be silent on cue. The dog then only gets rewarded for barking when they are asked to do so.


What did we do? All sorts! Did he ever stop - not really....but then he was also a fox hound which are naturally very very vocal! Because he loved being with us we did get some joy with teaching him to go out of the room. Then he had a choice, if he barked he was told to get out the room.......but insted he grumbled a bit and lay down quietly......if worked for us!

He usually barked a couple of times when we left him but then settled down to sleep. If you dog is barking continuously when you are not there he may be suffering from separation anxiety.......which is a whole new kettle of fish!

[QUOTE=youngstevie;1440108]

If it is something he has started recently, being ten, his hearing maybe slightly impaired (as it sometimes does with older dogs) I was once told by a very brilliant vet, that with hearing impaired dogs, they like the sound of thier own voice.QUOTE]

That brought back some memories! As a child we knew a family with a lovely cocker, as he got older and deafer he barked more and more loudly....in the end he used to scream when people visited or they came home from work! I swear he couldn't hear just how loud and shrill the noise was!

Hello,
I sympathise with you, our neighbour had a dog that barked continuously day and night at the slightest of things. One day someone recommended that she contact Ron Fields Nutrition,he suggested that she tried silent 4 capsules which helped to calm her dog down and help to stop the barking. It hasn't stopped completely but it wouldn't be right if a dog didn't bark at all!