Canine debarking, the options?

OK, I know I’m going to get abuse on this one, I know you all think this is my fault & the poor dog is not to blame it is purely being itself etc..

But, say you had a dog (Boarder terrier) that was very clever, loyal, loving & great in almost every way, except the thing kept barking at anything & everything, any noise, any bird in the garden, every other dog on the planet, & don’t even think about mentioning squirrels!

It also has little dog syndrome, if it see’s a bigger dog then it absolutely must run up to it barking it’s head off & then jumps up at it’s neck. This has resulted in my wife not wanting to walk him & other owners quite rightly defending their own dogs.

We have tried to correct this, it’s almost to the point of me being able to control him without any ‘measures’ but it seems he see’s me differently to my wife who just can’t manage him.

We have tried all sorts, the harshest being the citronella bark collar he wears for half the day, the other a soft muzzle. He also knows he’s doing ‘wrong’ when he does it, as he gives me a look & just comes over & rolls over when he has finished, so the bastid ain’t silly.

So, in your opinion, would I be better to find him a new owner who can live with this trait, & perhaps train it out of him eventually, or go for something a little more extreme such as drugs?

I know I could turn him around eventually, but that would entail me spending 24/7 with him & this really isn’t practical as I need to work, but the neighbours are moaning & I need to do something, please help!

Cheers in advance.

Watch a few episodes of the Dog Whisperer..?

Isn’t the standard response something along the lines of it could be a child’s face next time, so get it put down.

Seriously, though it sounds like it could be trained out of him,

We have a German Shepherd that can get a bit annoying with his barking at times

We use a ‘shaker’ – a small plastic bottle with dried peas or gravel in it
One shake & he hits the floor & goes silent

Putting it down is not an option, period…….

it sounds like youve made progress, dont give up now.
try some professional help if you are at a dead end.

Uplink, I know there is a reason he got to that response, care to share?

Uplink, I know there is a reason he got to that response, care to share?

I really have no idea why he responds to it like he does

uplink, then how did you learn that the shaker would give you the right result?

One of my Cockers has got worse with barking the older he has got (he suffers from fear agression when it comes to other dogs too). Is he suffering from separation anxiety as well as fear agression? Try a DAP plug in in the main room of the house that he lives in or try a DAP collar that will mean he has the Pheramone with him 24/7.
If all else fails how about a week at dog boarding school where someone else may be able to sort him out professionally.?
http://www.petplanet.co.uk/category.asp?dept_id=719

uplink, then how did you learn that the shaker would give you the right result?

Dunno really – IIRC, it was something that the missus heard about – so we tried it

http://www.about-cocker-spaniels.com/stop-dogs-barking.html

we were recommended the shaky tin thing to stop our shepherd chasing cats. tried it once, she was so petrified of it, it didnt seem the right approach. We’re still looking for what is the right approach. Till we do know, its a gentle leader. Doesn’t help with the barking though. (shes fairly quiet)

I got a bark collar for my cocker when his barking was a problem. Little box that’s activated by the sound of him barking and it sprays a little puff of liquid that contains a scent dogs don’t like. Cured him in a couple of days.

Get rid of the neighbours…

Sounds to me as if the dog thinks he is in charge of your wife so feels the need to bark at things. Does he bark more when you are not there? Try the rattle can as mentioned. Find a large can and put a few pebbles in it and tape up the top. As soon as the dog even thinks about barking give it a sharp rattle and say no in stern way. While staring at the dog. You must also get your wife to do the same. As soon as he realises he is bottom of your pack he’ll calm down.

Thats my 2p anyway worked perfectly with a staffie i had to look after.

a friend had the same thing with thier lurcher , vet recommended a plant mister , every time the dog barked gave a little spray of water ,took maybe 2 weeks . no more barking .

It would seem the dog thinks its above your Mrs in the pecking order and is simply defending her from other dogs when out walking.
If he doesn’t do it when your there then obviously your the alpha.
Establishing the pack order should stop the aggression, not sure about the barking though.

Have you taken the dog to any formal training classes? Socialising with other dogs is part of the training. Sounds like you need that.
You can also hire dog trainer type people to come to your house and give you some guidance. We did that early on to get some help with a couple of problems our dog had (stealing food and barking at outside noises) – was a great help and wasn’t expensive.

Having watched the “Dog Whisperer” on TV – she trains social problem dogs by familiarising them with other dogs and rewarding when they don’t misbehave – rather than the other way round, which is what the rattle can does.

If you do decide to go to training classes – contact them first and tell them what the problem with your dog is, as they may have some dogs there that aren’t suitable for the socialising (or they may bring in dogs especially that are).

I’d be happy to help some with socialising with my dog if you’re local.
But get some training in first so you know the method you’re going to use.

Many thanks for all the ideas, I’m going to look into to training & get some of that DAP stuff for when he is left at home alone (well with the other dog but you know what I mean).

Cheers.

I feel for your neighbours having to put up with the little fecker barking all the time, I have next door neighbours who have taken in a rescue dog who also barks at anything and everything and its driving me to distraction, I have spoken to them about it and they seemed sympathetic at first but do nothing about it, so having kept a diary of the dogs behaviour I have informed the council who are taking action. People should be more considerate about there neighbours when taking on dogs like this and in the same token the rescue center RSPCA should make sure this type of dog is not housed where it can cause a nuisance. Just another prospective but as nice as the dog is his barking is unacceptable, hope you can find a solution.

Try some Oinkment!

Oh sorry wrong joke

With regards to your wife being below the dog(in his eyes)in the pack
Try these tips:
When you come into the house make sure you greet everyone in order
of importence first. I.e the wife,kids and friends. Then and only then the dog.
Make sure other members of the famliey feed it (be it it’s main meal or treats).
HTH

You could have his lips removed, then he’d just go ‘ark’ a lot.

In seriousness, it sounds like it could be something trainable. Consult the experts?

flippinheckler – Member
I feel for your neighbours having to put up with the little fecker barking all the time, I have next door neighbours who have taken in a rescue dog who also barks at anything and everything and its driving me to distraction, I have spoken to them about it and they seemed sympathetic at first but do nothing about it, so having kept a diary of the dogs behaviour I have informed the council who are taking action. People should be more considerate about there neighbours when taking on dogs like this and in the same token the rescue center RSPCA should make sure this type of dog is not housed where it can cause a nuisance. Just another prospective but as nice as the dog is his barking is unacceptable, hope you can find a solution

I am doing everything I can, in my first post I said that he wears a bark collar, I also leave a radio on when we are out in order to comfort/distract him.

The thing is it’s the neighbours that have caused the problem, although obviously not intentional, but our previous neighbour was next to silent, the new one have had non stop work done since they arrived & they also have a dog that wonders on to our property quite a bit, & obviously the back garden only has a fence to separate them.

I have ordered a new front door & window in the vain hope that he can’t hear or smell the dog outside, I think that shows how committed I am, but I’m still not optimistic.

Cheers.

Our trainer chap said our dog was barking at outside noises because she was scared. Advice was for us to react calmly to the barking – eg. if she runs to the window barking, go to the window, look out and calmly say “It’s ok, nothing there”, so she knew there’s nothing to fear. Shouting at her will make her think we were joining in and it was the right thing to do.
I’m pretty sure these days she doesn’t bark when alone. (I did secretly record her once and she seemed ok!)
She does bark like a nutter when someone comes to the door, but I just tell her to SHUT UP! 🙂

yeah dezb is right, calm reassurance that everything is ok. dogs only bark to speak to humans- wolves etc whine or growl. my lab came off a farm at 3yrs old and it took ages to stop her barking at anything thing that scared her. i foolishly tried to train her the same as other commands -stern for bad praise for good but this didnt work and after a while i realised she just needed re-assurance that living in a city was ok and all the strangers werent going to hurt her.

Interesting, it seems different people gain the correct response through different methods, I guess my problem is as the alpha male I’m just not there for him, one of my kids adores him & will do anything for him, the alpha female has no time for him, makes me wonder…

Sorry to say it but if any dog attacked mine like that it would be take flying lesson courtesy of my left foot. Not constructive for the dog though.

Instead of guessing what the problem is just go for good professional help from the off before anything happens. Ask around for reputations and look for some kind of reference etc.

Debarking is illegal in this country and often they still can make a squeaky noise anyway. Sure you knew that already though.

Seriously there are lots of professional dog trainers out there. If you have him insured some of the poilicies will cover this.

As above there are a variety of possible causes, fear, dominance etc that could be making him react like this and the trainers wil come to your house and assess it. Speak to your vet for advice on who is good locally as if covered by insurance you often have to be referred by your vet anyway.

Good luck

Interesting, it seems different people gain the correct response through different methods, I guess my problem is as the alpha male I’m just not there for him, one of my kids adores him & will do anything for him, the alpha female has no time for him, makes me wonder…

You’re not the Alpha male, and your wife is not the Alpha female. Your dog has no grand plan to rule your life – e.g if you go for a walk and your dog is pulling on the lead, it’s not because he wants to be your leader and be in front so that you must follow – it’s because he’s excited and wants to go faster than you.

You can be a benevolent leader, and teach him that acceptable behaviours are more rewarding than unacceptable behaviours, e.g. if he walks nicely besides you, he then gets to run free. It takes time and patience, and initially it may only be a few steps before being let loose on a long line, but the idea is to build up both the behaviour and the reward.

Taylor player, your way sounds crap. Those long leads are for utter morons. I feel sick when I see someone with one of those long leads. It just screams “My dog does not respect me as an authority figure because I am to moronic to train him. So I’ll just use this stupid lead to take him for walks.”

Those long leads are for utter morons. I feel sick when I see someone with one of those long leads. It just screams “My dog does not respect me as an authority figure because I am to moronic to train him. So I’ll just use this stupid lead to take him for walks.”

That’s what our dog trainer said – but in a more polite form of words 😆

feel for your neighbours having to put up with the little fecker barking all the time, I have next door neighbours who have taken in a rescue dog who also barks at anything and everything and its driving me to distraction, I have spoken to them about it and they seemed sympathetic at first but do nothing about it, so having kept a diary of the dogs behaviour I have informed the council who are taking action. People should be more considerate about there neighbours when taking on dogs like this and in the same token the rescue center RSPCA should make sure this type of dog is not housed where it can cause a nuisance. Just another prospective but as nice as the dog is his barking is unacceptable, hope you can find a solution.

This bit is interesting, and I sympathise – but would also like to pick at the edges a little…

My question, is where does normal behaviour end and nuisance start? Our dogs do bark, but they do not bark all day long. They bark if people are sniffing around the property, making a noise nearby or sometimes if other dogs are barking. They very rarely bark during “unsociable hours”. So, is ten minutes of barking unacceptable?, and hour, all night?

Part III of the Environmental Protection Act covers statutory nuisance, but it is difficult to get any useful guidance on what the legal threshold for nuisance might be. I’m concerned that “nuisance” might be whatever the neighbours opinion deems it to be…

Our neighbours don’t like our dogs barking, and (to our way of thinking) have come across as fairly aggressive, ie – You’re dogs are barking. You don’t keep you’re dogs in the same way as we keep our dogs – therefore do something about it.

Any sympathy or strong desire to try and resolve the issue has been diminished. We get the feeling it’s a question of you keep your dogs like we keep ours (locked in all day) – or get rid… which is obviously a very emotional position to be put in.

If our dogs are causing a nuisance, I want to resolve it, but I get the feeling that there is an element of if the neighbours want to complain vociferously we’ve just got to roll over, which is upsetting if it means getting rid of the dogs or drastically changing their lifestyle.

Taylor player, your way sounds crap. Those long leads are for utter morons. I feel sick when I see someone with one of those long leads. It just screams “My dog does not respect me as an authority figure because I am to moronic to train him. So I’ll just use this stupid lead to take him for walks.“

That’s what our dog trainer said – but in a more polite form of words

I didn’t say anything about a long lead. I suggested letting the dog run loose using a long line. There is a difference.

Sorry to say it but if any dog attacked mine like that it would be take flying lesson courtesy of my left foot

Really? “Any dog”? Even a little border terrier? Weird, I just let my dog get on with it – they are dogs after all.

I didn’t say anything about a long lead. I suggested letting the dog run loose using a long line. There is a difference.

What’s the difference?

Really? “Any dog”? Even a little border terrier? Weird, I just let my dog get on with it – they are dogs after all.

I agree to an extent people moddy coddle the hell out of their dogs. Dogs are supposed to have a little rough and tumble. That’s just what they do.

And I really don’t see the difference between a long line and a spaz lead.
http://www.spottiedottie.co.uk/ekmps/shops/spottiedottie/images/flexi-comfort-reflect-extending-dog-lead-1109-p.jpg
Example of spaz lead ^

and teach him that acceptable behaviours are more rewarding than unacceptable behaviours, e.g. if he walks nicely besides you, he then gets to run free.

Tell a dog not to do something properly and he’ll stop doing it. Ask him politely to stop and he’ll ignore you. You have to set boundaries for a dog. A dog with no rules is confused, and more than likely unpredictable.

The shakey thing is a distractor and usually stops them in their tracks, not sure why but was always the default / starting point for training good behaviour in the TV series ‘Dog Borstal’ where they could turn around pretty much any dog’s behaviour with even the most hapless of owners.

It would seem that the blind use of a shakey bottle isn’t such a great idea

http://www.thedogownersclub.co.uk/extra/db_faq.html