We've adopted a new dog – it's a 2 year old stray – and unlike the other one we have the damn mutt starts barking at the slightest provocation – any ideas on how to train it not to?

Dog whisperer books… never had to worry about barking, just my 40 kilo Victorian Bulldog trying to kill my friends. Have learnt so much from the dudes books.

zip ties.

Much of what he covers involves becoming the pack leader. If the dog accepts you as the pack leader, you'd dont see a need to bark, so he wont either. Also a lot can be done by desensitising the dog using cds of sounds, plus proper socialisation.

Our dog trainer used an aerosol spray that makes a noise dogs don't like – every time a dog barks, she sprays it – works a treat. Might need to Google for it though.

Much of what he covers involves becoming the pack leader

Absolutely. I had a rescue dog who was only small but had lived on the streets and was really aggressive towards other big dogs in a 'defensive first strike' way that I guess he'd learned as a survival tactic. I just made sure that I was completely unfazed by them, didn't panic by holding the lead tight, made sure I spoke to the other owner, eventually he got a lot better by I guess learning that I wasn't scared of the other dog so he shouldn't be either.

lol @Cougar

Much of what he covers involves becoming the pack leader. If the dog accepts you as the pack leader, you'd dont see a need to bark, so he wont either

He doesn't bark when I'm around, it's if the neighbour opens the car door, someone walks past the back fence, etc. Basically he's reacting to outside noises.
I suppose it could be either a) boredom or b) the normal period of adaptation, but whichever it it I'd like to get the problem under control before it causes serious problems with the neighbours!

morgrim – my rescue spring does the same – you can use a pet corrector which is an aerolsol jobby but I find that was only a temporary measure.

We went on holiday to a cottage and didnt have the same problem there so it just seems to be in our house – neighbours slamming doors etc and people walking past window.

Lot's of good info from the STW massiv'.

He doesn't bark when I'm around, it's if the neighbour opens the car door, someone walks past the back fence, etc. Basically he's reacting to outside noises.
I suppose it could be…

Usually this means they are being protective over their space, I suggest you go to dog training classes which will help wear him out mentally and bond with you.

There maybe a lot you need to do, or not a lot, it really does depend on you and the dog. As said, you need to be the pack leader, that means, not letting the dog sit on your lap, or on the sofa and should be shut away at night, not let on the bed. Later on you may be able to let the dog do those things, but not until it realises you are the leader and that this is the norm. This will not change over night, and will take a couple of months of hard training.

Make sure you don't place a dogs bed in a place that they can see everywhere, this will only aggrivate the situation as they will be constantly on the look out, and bark at anything/everything that catches its eye.

I've just helped a friend who was in a similar situation. Dog was good, until she moved, then the whining and howeling started, 2 months down the line and she doesn't whine at all, best the dogs ever been.

hopefully, proper exercise, socialization and a secure life will reduce the barking. How long have you had the dog? IMO you would be best to work on the reason for barking and not actual barking. If it carries on and has become ingrained there are collars available that will spray citronella in there face when the bark, not sure how effective they are though. If you adopted the dog from a dogs home you could speak to them and see if they have access to cheap or even free professional help.

PS Cesar Millan is a cock and wolves are not really pack animals and dogs are not wolves

Make sure you don't place a dogs bed in a place that they can see everywhere, this will only aggrivate the situation as they will be constantly on the look out, and bark at anything/everything that catches its eye.

The dog sleeps (with the other dog) in the entrance hall to the house – there's no real external light, the front door blocks most sound (and we live on a very quiet road with minimal nighttime traffic), and he's certainly a lot quieter.

hopefully, proper exercise, socialization and a secure life will reduce the barking. How long have you had the dog?

He's getting a quick walk in the morning, a couple of quickish walks during the day, and a 30min walk at night. We've only had him since last Saturday, so I'm not risking letting him off the lead yet, which means he's getting less exercise than I'd like.

sounds like your doing the right sort of things, give it some time if you can and the neighbours allow

We've only had him since last Saturday

Oh god, so he's barely settled in at all then. No wonder he's jittery. Lots of walks on the lead for him to learn who's boss, he'll soon settle down I'm sure.

Ok so not looking for an argument, but how can you say wolves aren't really pack animals?

Oh god, so he's barely settled in at all then. No wonder he's jittery. Lots of walks on the lead for him to learn who's boss, he'll soon settle down I'm sure

That's what I thought, but if there's anything extra I can do to get the relationship off to a good start…

If there's one thing I've learnt about training our dog, its that he responds so much better when he's physically tired. We have a very dominant dog and he's extremely stubborn, if I keep him well walked and his mind occupied he's much happier and chilled out… I walk him for 40 minutes twice a day, and he sleeps much of the day time.

At the risk of causing offence (nothing personal etc), I really believe in the maxim that it's not the dog, it's the handler. Granted, there are exceptions.

Sound like you & the dog need to spend training time together. Quite understand that this can't be achieved in the first week of ownership though.

OT – I've heard the wolves as not pack animals thing as well. Something to do with a lack of 'loyalty' to the pack.

I'd totally agree with you on the whole 'its not the dog its the handler'
As for Cesar Milan, he knows his stuff, but I dont agree with a lot of his techniques. I for one would never try and dominate my dog, I always try and work out what's goin on. I tried the whole holding him down being the alpha male, and it just doesn't work in the long run. You can be the one your dog looks to by simply being the calm and assertive owner your dog deserves.

Try a DAP Collar, they release Pheromones that makes the dog feel happy and safe, you can also get it in a spray and a diffuser. They've helped with getting dogs used to crates and car boots, just spray the bedding and it should help.

Dog Appeasing Pheromone

I've heard that lavender oil helps calm them down, never tried though.

can you not teach it to sing

noise activated explosive collar, single use so it cuts down on expensive vets bills further down the line?

Thank you MrNutt, but despite MrMutt* digging up all my plants this morning, I'm starting to get quite attached to him.

At the risk of causing offence (nothing personal etc), I really believe in the maxim that it's not the dog, it's the handler. Granted, there are exceptions.

Sound like you & the dog need to spend training time together. Quite understand that this can't be achieved in the first week of ownership though.

As far as I know we're doing things basically right – the other dog is fine, she knows who's boss, and I plan to repeat with this one. I'll get the new one a couple of chew toys on the way home to entertain him. The plastic spade he nicked off my youngest daughter has nearly gone already 😆

* did you see what I did there?

I remember reading a big study into why dogs bark. The conclusion was that they bark because they are dogs!
When we were training our dog, if she barked at a noise outside the door, we'd take her to the door, show her there was no one there, praise her and she stopped barking.
You can also teach a shush command, by the instant they stop barking, put your finger on your lips, whisper shush, and treat/reward. They quickly get the idea.
I don't hold with all the pretend you're a dog stuff. IMO millennia of dog human interactions teaches us that dogs are much smarter than that.

hmmm well the exploding collar did me no harm whilst growing up, sadly I've only able to communicate in frantic waving and inane forum posts since its initial application, can MrMutt type?

Mine responds well to a hard stare and "Shut up". (Shame the wife and kids don't eh? 🙂 )

Seriously though, it did take her a good 6 months+ before only the doorbell (or a bang on the wall in a remote part of the house) were the only things she'd bark at.

Pack of lies

The notion of the “alpha pack leader” dominating all other pack members is derived from studies of captive packs of unrelated wolves and thus bears no relationship to the social structure of natural packs, according to L. David Mech, one of the world’s leading wolf experts. In the wild, the alpha wolves are merely the breeding pair, and the pack is generally comprised of their juvenile offspring and pups.

“The typical wolf pack,” Dr. Mech wrote in The Canadian Journal of Zoology in 1999, “is a family, with the adult parents guiding the activities of a group in a division-of-labor system.” In a natural wolf pack, “dominance contests with other wolves are rare, if they exist at all,” he writes.

That’s a far cry from the dominance model that Mr. Millan attributes to the innate need of dogs by way of wolves.

this makes interesting reading too

Ultrasonic anti bark things – work wonders when you have a street full of strays fighting

A wee bit different, but when we got our rescue dog, he howled all night. Every night. After two weeks of no sleep I was ready to take him back to the home.

The problem was that as soon as he heard me coing down the stairs, he would stop his racket, meaning that shouting at him would be pointless – he wouldn't know why I was shouting.

So I sat on the sofa, in my boxers for almost an hour, at 2 a.m., waiting for him to forget I was there and start howling, which, eventually, he did.

I burst into the kitchen and went absolutely radge at him – shouting and shaking a tin of pebbles at him. He shut the **** up pretty sharpish and never once made a noise at night again.

I can come to your house and repeat the exercise for a small fee.

Joking apart, this really did work for me as a total last resort – he's even stopped hiding from me now 🙂

scaring a scared dog is not right IMO, when our pup was new she cried all night when left, a few nights with me sleeping on the sofa bed with her in cage nearby were all that was needed, within 2 months she had taken to sleeping outside in her kennel over the cage. I felt like a soft **** not leaving her to cry or spraying water/shaking cans at her but it worked.

my mate had a dog he was training to go without food. It was just getting good at it but it died.

Basspine thats the funniest thing ive read in ages.Now im off to wipe the coffee off the key board

How is it that when somebody finds a comment funny on here, they're always spitting or spillng tea or coffee on their computers? S'funny (but quite repetitve) that, innit?

Sorry for enjoying a good laugh.U sound like the type of guy that would have his hand around an appendage rather than a good beverage

anagallis – who said the dog was scared? It was howling, which doesn't link straight to scared. I agree with your puppy being a different case, but I disagree with your outright dismissal of Millan's methods. No matter how they are packaged, some of what he does works very well.

no doubt it works on the telly, but for how long and how applicable to the normal dog owner is it, rather than the so called "red zone" cases he seems to deal with all the time. Apart from the basics of exercise and rules the rest is garbage. Dominating a dog that is aggressive or fearful or both is garbage.

why was your dog howling?

try here

Apart from the basics of exercise and rules the rest is garbage.

No it isn't. Have seen used and have used a couple of his techniques myself to superb effect. Different dogs need different things – same as people.

funny how so many dog training experts disagree vehemently with his techniques