Initial Reaction - Inside the house Help

[krispifsu]

Lily has had some fear/reactivity issues with other dogs that we have been working on for the past year. We went to see a trainer that has helped IMMENSELY. In the beginning as soon as we saw a dog Lily would launch into a full blown barking, lunging, charging, hackles raised, I'm-going-to-eat-you-if-you-come-any-closer attack. Not good at all even though she has never bit or done any damage - it was like a bomb just waiting to blow up.

We started with refocusing her attention and working on finding her comfort level and have slowly lessened the amount of space she needs to feel comfortable passing another dog. Usually when we encounter a dog on a walk I will tell her "Don't worry lily, I've got it under control" in a firm but happy voice and then will make sure I position myself between the other dog and her and if/when she starts to stare, breathe heavier or put her hackles up (her signals that she's getting worked up) I remind her that "I have it under control, leave it alone" and will refocus her through a treat or calling her name to focus on me. It usually works. It has even gotten to the point that I can stop to talk to a neighbor walking their dog about 5-7 feet away and, if we talk too long, Lilly will either sit or lay down and wait for me without an issue or even paying much attention to the dog (She would NEVER have done that before). I never allow the dogs to approach her though because she still shows signs of nervousness (jumpy, tail/bottom tucked, etc.) but I'm not going to ask her to be a kind of dog that she's not. If she doesn't feel comfortable interacting that's fine with me so long as she understands that she has certain rules on her behavior. She was boarded at the trainer's facility when I went on a trip. I knew the trainer woud read her behavior well and be able to match her to the right dogs (she does not do well with jumpy, in your face, hyper dogs) and she did great there around the other dogs.

So I CAN get her under control and the initial reaction has curbed from a full out frenzy to usually just some heavy breathing (an immediate clue to me that she sees something) or possibly hackles raised or some barking. But we seem to have hit a stand still. Her initial reaction is not as well as I would like and I am having problems reaching that next step. Is there some additional advice as to what I can do or a recommended book/website? I am so proud of how far Lily has come, but I know she's capable of so much more if I can just show her.

Also, if I am not right there to catch it like if she sees a dog from a window in the house or if I don't see the dog right away, she will go into a frenzy - but I can get her to calm within 30 seconds or so. The other problem too is that she knows the houses with dogs and will look for them as we get close to those houses. One plus though is that if other dogs act crazy to her I am able to keep her under control and not make the situation worse.

The barking from inside the house is the part that I have not made much, if any progress. Every time she barks I try to get to the door/window she is looking at and tell her "Thanks for the warning, but I have it under control" but half the time the person/dog has walked by and is no longer in sight and te message doesn't seem to get across after they are already gone. It seems like because the people/dogs walk away it is reinforcing that her barking is making them leave...it works so she keeps doing it. Any ideas for this as well?

[Cassidy's Mom]

Can you get her away from the window with a toy or a treat? Keefer likes to bark at the front window too, doesn't matter if it's someone walking by with a dog, or the next door neighbor's dog who he has seen hanging out on his lawn a thousand times, and he especially goes off about neighborhood cats.

Barking at them until they go away is definitely an issue - how is she to know that they would be leaving anyway and she didn't cause it by barking at them? So if you can lure her away before that happens it might help.

With the neighbor's dog I laugh and tell him how silly he's being - "Oh that's just Yeller, he lives there. We know that dog, you don't need to bark at him!" And then I ask him if he wants a treat and we go over to the cabinet and I make him sit for a treat. If he tries to go back to the window I tell him "ah ah", remind him that he doesn't need to bark at the window, and body block him until he gets bored and gives up. If someone was walking by with a dog they're usually gone by then.

With the cats, who will sit there on the sidewalk in front of the house and not budge for several minutes we do the "oh look, it's a kitty - let's go get a treat!" thing, and I don't let him go back and look until the cat is gone.

I keep my voice light and happy, and my demeanor calm and relaxed rather than getting frustrated or tense, so I'm not giving him anything negative to feed off of.

[krispifsu]

I can typically lure Lily away from the window fairly easily by just blocking her view or calling her to me - but it just hasn't seemed to sink in. I am thinking about blocking her access to the window so she can't get to it - but even if she just hears a door slam or people talking or etc. she still barks.

Originally Posted By: Cassidys MomWith the neighbor's dog I laugh and tell him how silly he's being - "Oh that's just Yeller, he lives there. We know that dog, you don't need to bark at him!"

That is definitely Lily too! She barks at our neighbors even if she just saw them and they pet her. It's like the window makes them strangers or something I usually tell her she's being ridiculous!

I have an almost 4 month old baby so we can trying to cut down on the barking even more now since she tends to wake the baby up sometimes with the barking. I like the warning, but the non-stop barking at things/people she knows just drives me nuts. I TRY my hardest to stay calm and neutral with her, but I admit that sometimes I get exaserbated and just tell Lily to cool it.

I think I'm just going to have to be even more active about stopping the barking.

Do you think blocking her access to the particular front window/door would help even though she still barks at just noises and then runs to see what's outside?

She did great on her run with me yesterday when we saw a dog and basically just ignored it, but then this morning was huffing and puffing away at a house where she knows a dog lives --- and the dog wasn't even outside. Two steps forward, one step back....