Barking!!

[Braddock]

Hi there,

I have a 22 month GSD, who is super high energy. He suffers from pretty severe hip dysplasia, but overall is a great dog. He is a good guard dog, but the barking has gotten excessive. He will bark at any little thing, in the nuisance variety. When this occurs in excess, I scold him, I have tried spray bottles with lime and lemon water, bark collars, everything. I bought a Tritronics caller, and paid about 120 dollars for it, and even that achieves negligible results. The collars don't seem to re-inforce the negative consequence of nuisance barking. Don't get me wrong, if someone that does not belong around our home, gets barked at, I certainly give praise for that.

I am at a loss for what to do. I have a small child now, so perhaps some of this is boredom, but he does get stimulation and exercise daily. I can't seem to wear him out there. He always has food, fresh water, toys, bones, whatever. I would like the nuisance barking to stop, so he does not begin to wake my little one from naps, and me as well (shift work).

ANY help or tips would be great.

[KZoppa]

he's 22 months old with severe HD? Has he been xrayed to determine this?!

The excessive barking is most likely due to extreme boredom. How much physical and mental exercise does he get DAILY?!

I understand having a dog with HD. My heart dog has pretty bad hips. When she was living here with us (she lives with my inlaws now) she was around my daughter and my son. My daughter was 2, almost 3 and my son hadnt even started crawling yet. I still managed to get Zena out for walks and runs. Because of her hips, she would self limit but if she didnt get the exercise she needed to maintain her sanity, she tested my sanity by getting into the trash, counter surfing, and basically doing anything she could do to get attention and exercise.

Boredom barking is a problem. Its also one of the highest causes of death for dogs in the US because instead of stepping up the physical and mental exercise, many people choose to just leave the dog at a shelter. If he's high energy and he's still young, i dont see any problem limiting him from jumping but walking and running to burn off the energy thats built up will more than likely lessen the barking.

Have you also considered REWARDING him for being quiet instead of punishing him for barking. Positive reactions on your part when he's quiet can have a lasting effect on him learning he gets better attention when he's quiet and only really barks when necessary and not at every little thing. When he's quiet, give him a treat and say "quiet". Work on that for a little while and use every opportunity he barks to say quiet! and reward him when he stops barking.

A lot of HD dogs will self limit when they're hurting. have you thought about surgery to correct the HD?

Even with HD, these dogs need ways to expend energy. His way happens to be barking.

[~trusty~]

my dog also has barking problems. My GSD HATES small dogs with an absolute passion- and unfortunatly our next door neighbors have 3 small maltease dogs, that trusty cant stand. every time he hears the next door dogs bark, he starts. but he doesnt stop for like 20mins AFTER the next door dogs have stopped. His 9 yrs old, and for a supposedly 'old' dog, he doesnt seem to have settled down much. hellp???

[KZoppa]

trusty, perhaps it would be best for you to start your own thread so you can get advice tailored specifically for your problem.

[Braddock]

Originally Posted by KZoppa

he's 22 months old with severe HD? Has he been xrayed to determine this?!

The excessive barking is most likely due to extreme boredom. How much physical and mental exercise does he get DAILY?!

I understand having a dog with HD. My heart dog has pretty bad hips. When she was living here with us (she lives with my inlaws now) she was around my daughter and my son. My daughter was 2, almost 3 and my son hadnt even started crawling yet. I still managed to get Zena out for walks and runs. Because of her hips, she would self limit but if she didnt get the exercise she needed to maintain her sanity, she tested my sanity by getting into the trash, counter surfing, and basically doing anything she could do to get attention and exercise.

Boredom barking is a problem. Its also one of the highest causes of death for dogs in the US because instead of stepping up the physical and mental exercise, many people choose to just leave the dog at a shelter. If he's high energy and he's still young, i dont see any problem limiting him from jumping but walking and running to burn off the energy thats built up will more than likely lessen the barking.

Have you also considered REWARDING him for being quiet instead of punishing him for barking. Positive reactions on your part when he's quiet can have a lasting effect on him learning he gets better attention when he's quiet and only really barks when necessary and not at every little thing. When he's quiet, give him a treat and say "quiet". Work on that for a little while and use every opportunity he barks to say quiet! and reward him when he stops barking.

A lot of HD dogs will self limit when they're hurting. have you thought about surgery to correct the HD?

Even with HD, these dogs need ways to expend energy. His way happens to be barking.

He did have x-rays when he was eight months to confirm this, while he was being neutered. We do everything we can to make life comfortable for him (supplements, metacam when needed, comfy beds, lifting him into the truck, etc).

I have tried the rewarding for being quiet, many times, with no real success. I have tried keeping at it, and being consistent. It doesn't seem to work. He STILL nuisance barks. Keep in mind this is after intense exercise, or playing with other dogs or me. I have time for him, but with shift work, an eight month, etc, I don't have hours a day for him, so don't suggest three walks a day as a remedy.

Currently, after doing some research on the forum, I trying the zero tolerance approach. When he barks at nothing, I bring him inside, into the garage into his kennel for a timeout (10 mins or so). He WANTS to be outside, and has had no problem with this, until we recently moved. He would be content outside for the day, and would entertain him. He enjoys being on 'patrol' keeping an eye out. I let him out when he is quiet, and praise him if he is quiet. If he is not, I bring him back inside. We have tried having within the house, but he won't settle and paces the house. He is kennel trained and does not mind being in his kennel.

The bark collar I bought some time ago (Tritronics), was working, but has since stopped functioning properly, leading to my current dilemma. I am really at a lose for what to do. Everything I have tried is not working, and I don't know what else to do. I live in a small isolated community (less than 800), and I do not have access to training etc.

[KZoppa]

if the bark collar isnt working, you should probably look into a different model. i dont know much about bark collars as i've never had the need for one, but i do know some batteries wear out faster than others in the collars and while wearing the collar, the no barking has to be reinforced with some dogs. Some dogs also require the highest setting on the collar for it to be effective. When we considered getting one, it was suggested to shave the area on the neck where the prongs sit so the shock would be delivered correctly but with doing that I would be worried about the shock burning the skin so wouldnt recommend that.

As for the No Tolerance approach, that will definitely take some work, especially since it sounds like he's being extremely stubborn about it. Basically keep at it. You have to outlast his determination to keep barking. Keep rewarding the quiet. I've heard of people training the dog to bark on command simply so they could teach an effective quiet command but i'm not sure i could explain it easily. Our dog who would be a barker outside is an inside dog and only goes out to potty and the occassional walk when he's feeling social. For the barking on command to teach the quiet command, i'm not sure how effective it would really be given you would essentially be telling the dog to bark and then punishing him for it by then telling him to be quiet which can confuse him. check out Leerburg.com. They have tons of information on training and common problems and they also sell some pretty effective training tools you might be interested in looking into.

[LouCastle]

Originally Posted by KZoppa

if the bark collar isnt working, you should probably look into a different model. i dont know much about bark collars as i've never had the need for one, but i do know some batteries wear out faster than others in the collars and while wearing the collar, the no barking has to be reinforced with some dogs. Some dogs also require the highest setting on the collar for it to be effective. When we considered getting one, it was suggested to shave the area on the neck where the prongs sit so the shock would be delivered correctly but with doing that I would be worried about the shock burning the skin so wouldnt recommend that.

Dogs bark for many reasons. Much, but not all, of it can be stopped by the use of a bark collar. It depends on the dog's motivation to bark. I'd suggest that you send your collar back to TT so it can be repaired. The advice to shave the dog's neck is something that's fairly common but it's very rare that it's necessary. Instead, get contact points that are the correct length to penetrate the dog's coat. GSD's usually need longer points than the standard ones. The contact points must sit against the skin for the collar to work. The strap must be adjusted "snugly" so that this occurs.

No modern Ecollar (or bark collar) can cause "burns" through "the shock" that they apply. There's just not enough current. But if you leave them on for too long sores can develop from friction and pressure. After the dog has been wearing the collar for a few hours move "the box" so it rests in a slightly different place on his neck. After a while it will settle back to its "default position" as determined by gravity. Move it again a few hours later. I suggest not leaving the bark collar on for longer than 10-12 hours at a time. If you see sores developing I recommend that you put some antibacterial cream on them when you take the collar off. If you don't and sores develop they might get infected.

In addition to using the bark collar, I'd suggest teaching the dog to bark on command. Then when he's barking on command reliably, teach a "quiet" command. Give that command when you want him to stop barking.