Advise needed on barking problem

[dee0486]

Hi Everyone, I have a 5 year old German Shepherd barks intensely if anyone goes in or out of the house or walks by (I think he does this because of serperation anxiety and as for the passerbys im thinking its a warning for protection), this barking only lasts for a few minutes, but it's an intense bark where hes either standing in front of the door so we can't get by and then running to a window and destroying the blinds so he can see us outside. He doesn't bark throughout the day inside the house, unless he senses that one of us is getting ready to leave (he barks if he hears us get our keys, jacket, or even say certain trigger words). Anyway, it's become an increasing problem and we recently just moved into the neighborhood 8 months ago and there's a lady that works from home that has come to our house serveral times complaining about the barking. I agree that it has become annoying and am trying to do something about it. I started attaching a leash to his collar whenever he starts barking and pulling it until he is relaxed and submits.. This method obviously doesn't work though if im coming into the house or for the passerbys. Does anyone have any reccomendations with how I can correct this behavior quickly? I got approached this morning by the same neighbor and ended up getting into an argument with her because of how she was approcahing me and insisting that I get a bark collar (which i dont believe in ). I told her that I would do my best correcting his behavior but that I couldn't guarentee her that he would stop all together. And I think she is exagerating the situation seeing as though my dog never barks for more than a few minutes at a time and never at night. Regardless she threatened to call the police!! Does anyone have any recommendations for methods that i can try at home? or do you think I should take him to a trainer? MY dog seems to have gotten progressively worse since he's moved into the new house. Any help is much appreciated!

[adas]

The thing that comes to my mind is to catch him before he starts barking by getting his attention just before he goes into this "mode' and give a "shhhh" or "quiet" and reward and/or praise with a treat. Get him to pay attention and look at you.

And give him more exercise. He wants to do stuff with you!

The trigger of going for the keys gives you a good vehicle to let you break the habit of "there go the keys and now it is time for me to bark routine", even though your dog may not really want to bark then, but that is what he has been unwittingly taught/allowed to do.

Or you may have to do some "force" things with your dog because of the neighbor situation until your dog respects you as being the boss.

And it is YOUR door not his, so he has to be taught to not possess/control the door.

francis

[kiya]

My oldest dog, Apache barks a lot. Before I brought Lakota home I had to prepare for my "home inspection" from the people I got her from. So I did long down stays while ringing the door bell, getting the leashes, popping outside of the door and pretending I was talking to someone, anything I could think of. If someone comes to my door and hes barking like a lunitic its hard to get him calm, hes not agressive hes just LOUD and he doesn't stop. Working below threshold is the key http://functionalrewards.com/BAT-basics.pdf He has learned that quiet gets cookies. Now I can get the leashes out and he doesn't react that way, don't get me wrong the 3 of them see the leashes and they get all excited, but Apache doesn't think hes getting the leash on for any other reason than were going for a walk.

[doggiedad]

first thing you do is make peace with the neighbor
because your barking dog is causing the problem.
let the neighbor know you're working on the problem.
the next first thing you do is find a trainer.
the 3rd next thing you do is consider a muzzle.

[johnquantran]

If your house in an HOA community, neighbor can complaint and you might face fine if problem NOT resolve. I felt bad for the dog because there are specific time dog can bark (7AM to 10PM) and there are quiet time that dog cannot bark (10PM thru 7AM).
That is funny.
--JT