By Admin on Mar 15, 2010 in Dogs
I adopted a dog from the SPCA and she is so sweet to me and the family. The only behavioral problem she has is she barks at older men. How can I break this behavior? I have had the neighbor take her on walks, giving her treats, etc., but she will not quit barking at him. What can I do? The neighbor has had enough of it and really wants to get along with the dog.
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Continue to associate your neighbor in a good way with your dog. If she’s food motivated, continue with every time the dog sees him he tosses some tasty treats her way. Slowly move to the interaction, don’t force it on your dog as it may be too fast for her. She may have had a bad experience with older men in the past, so with treats, calmness and only good things associated with him are your best ways of curing the barking.
Heather | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
Shoot it
Gurton Badger | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
Barking is an evolutionarily valuable response to territorial threats, and as such, your dog’s barking may serve to deter potential threats to your security. Barking scares away other animals and lets scary people know that someone with teeth has noticed their presence. A well-timed bark can be very useful.
But if your dog doesn’t know when to stop, it’s a problem for you and for your neighbors. Most towns have ordinances against excessive barking, deeming it a noise nuisance. Different towns and cities have different specific remedies, and they all suggest contacting the owner before filing a formal complaint. As a dog owner, it is to your benefit to listen when neighbors contact you about your dog’s excessive barking. It’s much better to prevent the situation from escalating than to face repeated complaints, Animal Control or police investigations, or even fines and jail time. In general, people are encouraged to report nuisance barking to Animal Control, Public Health or the Police Department, by telephone, letter and by completing a form. In some cases, complaints are investigated the first time; oftentimes it takes three or more complaints before they send an officer around. Continued offenses are considered misdemeanors and may be prosecuted by the local District Attorney. In Foster City, California for example, offenders may face a fine of $1,000 or a year in jail. Aside from legal remedies, hostile neighbors may take the situation into their own hands, poisoning or shooting noisy dogs.
It’s frustrating to be responsible for someone who doesn’t even speak your language, but since you are the human, you have to go the extra mile in helping your dog to stop barking. The first step in quieting your dog is discovering what is making him bark. Once you have an idea of what your dog is barking at (or barking for), you have a much better chance of teaching him to stop.
TEDDY WONG | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
Well there is one thing that I know of. There is this collar that you put on the dog and it has these electrode things in it. And whenever your dog barks at the neighbor just press the button on the remote that comes along with the collar and it will give your dog a little zap. If you do this enough times the dog will stop barking. I know this because I had the same problem.
Mr_Awesome | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
your such a great concerned person i im so happy to hear some one wants to have some concideration for the neighbors. im in the philippines and no one here cares about how there dog is no one i meen one one they just dont care at all. my neighbors let their dogs screach for about 6 hours a day like clock work and ive went to the barangy to get it settled and they just lie and dont care at all and no ones ever on my side cause im white. they chain their dog to my fence at 4 am to 8 am and let if bark and the other neighbors let their dog sreach 6 hours a day cause they wont feed it and every one here has dogs locked up in little cages and never let them out and they lie and say they will get rid of the screaching dog and they give it to the neighbor next to me so they can bother me with it to get me out of their neighborhood i go back to america in 30 months and i hope your my neighbor thank you so much to hear of some one who cares about their neighbors i know your not here in the philippinjes no one cares here well if your brown they might just being honest plz dont violate me ok?
Mark | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
Correct the behavior where it happens. Is it when he approaches, or when she is let out on her own, or when he is just on his porch?
You don’t say how long you have had her or how long you have worked on this. If it has been only a short while, I would work to eliminate it by repeated exposure. Have your dog on lead (don’t hold the lead, just keep your foot on it. Have your neighbor come over to you and have a pretend conversation for a few minutes. Let the dog bark, ignore her completely. If she quiets after the few minutes reward her. Repeat this (if you have a willing neighbor) and she may understand that neighbor can be near and she can be quiet.
If it has been a long time and she is just persistent, try a startle can. A few coins in an empty soda can with the opening taped shut, and when she barks either shake it or toss it next to her with a command of "quiet!".
I would also recommend training classes to get her exposure to strangers so you can practice.
ECS | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
Give it something to eat..
Kenwoodlennon | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply
Are you ever lucky to have such a nice neighbour. If you haven’t been to an obedience class or had a trainer come to work with you with the dog, you need to do that. It will teach you how to eliminate unwanted behaviours. If the dog is outside by herself when she barks, there’s no one there to tell her she can’t do it so she will continue to do it, so keep her inside unless you are outside too. You break a behaviour by consistently, each and every time it happens, telling the dog firmly that you won’t accept this kind of behaviour. You don’t ask it to stop, you tell it. You don’t try to comfort its fears because comforting behaviour allows the dog to think it’s getting this nice treatment because it barked.
Karen L | Mar 15, 2010 | Reply