Trying to stop my dog from barking at...

Dam2007 · 06-16-2007, 12:27 AM

...other family members in another room. I keep him in my basement (which is also my bedroom), and while I am down there with him, if he hears the voice of another family member, he barks once or twice. If he hears someone besides me actually coming down the stairs, he actually leaves his crate, moves forward a few feet and starts barking rapidly.

So far all I have been doing is telling him "Quiet!" "Shush!" or "Shut Up!" in a gradually louder voice. If he doesn't stop, I shoo him into his playpen (its quite large, don't worry) in an angry voice. I have no idea if I'm doing the right thing.

Any ideas on how to stop this?

btw, I got him a week ago from a rescue group - he is half Chi and half Dachshund.

and no, moving his crate or bed upstairs is not an option.

Curbside Prophet · 06-16-2007, 01:31 AM

Written by Elsa's coach...
ClickerSolutions Training Treasures -- Retraining Manic Alert Barking

DogAdvocat · 06-16-2007, 06:59 AM

What your dog hears when you're telling him to be quiet in an ever louder voice is you joining him in barking, especially since he's new there and hasn't been trained (and therefore understood) what you're asking of him. Your anger has to be confusing - are you angry at the sounds he's barking at, and therefore barking with him - or are you angry at him, and why since he's only doing what dogs are supposed to do, bark at potential threats. And it is a potential threat since it's new to him.

And when you angrily chase him into his crate, you're using the crate as punishment again, and that's not what crates are for. Crates should be a bed, a safe place, a haven. Otherwise, if you leave put him in the crate for the night, how does he know he's not being punished again?

Start teaching him to sit on your command. Require him to sit before you give him anything he wants, like food, treats, a toy, affection. Then praise and/or give that treat. When he completely understands the concept of sitting (and staying) on command, then you can use that to distract him from the barking, or whatever else he's doing that you don't like. That way, instead of saying no all the time, you can praise him for obeying. And while he's being praised for obeying, he's not doing that thing you don't like.

This, by the way, is called positive reinforcement.

Dam2007 · 06-16-2007, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogAdvocat

What your dog hears when you're telling him to be quiet in an ever louder voice is you joining him in barking, especially since he's new there and hasn't been trained (and therefore understood) what you're asking of him. Your anger has to be confusing - are you angry at the sounds he's barking at, and therefore barking with him - or are you angry at him, and why since he's only doing what dogs are supposed to do, bark at potential threats. And it is a potential threat since it's new to him.

And when you angrily chase him into his crate, you're using the crate as punishment again, and that's not what crates are for. Crates should be a bed, a safe place, a haven. Otherwise, if you leave put him in the crate for the night, how does he know he's not being punished again?

Start teaching him to sit on your command. Require him to sit before you give him anything he wants, like food, treats, a toy, affection. Then praise and/or give that treat. When he completely understands the concept of sitting (and staying) on command, then you can use that to distract him from the barking, or whatever else he's doing that you don't like. That way, instead of saying no all the time, you can praise him for obeying. And while he's being praised for obeying, he's not doing that thing you don't like.

This, by the way, is called positive reinforcement.

Ok, I'll try that...but what I've been doing as of this morning is this...if he starts barking, I say "Sh!" and start to pet him slowly to calm him. While the people in the other room are still speaking, I continue to lightly pet him and calmly and quietly say "shhhhhhhhhhhh"...and when he is silent for 10 seconds straight, I say "good boy" and continue to pet him.

Is this a good idea or no?

Amaya-Mazie-Marley · 06-16-2007, 05:18 PM

I think the attention diversion is good, but petting him and telling him shhh in a comforting voice is reinforcing the behavior. He thinks that its okay to bark like that when you comfort him.

DogAdvocat · 06-16-2007, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dam2007

Ok, I'll try that...but what I've been doing as of this morning is this...if he starts barking, I say "Sh!" and start to pet him slowly to calm him. While the people in the other room are still speaking, I continue to lightly pet him and calmly and quietly say "shhhhhhhhhhhh"...and when he is silent for 10 seconds straight, I say "good boy" and continue to pet him.

Is this a good idea or no?

That's certainly better than what you were doing, but I agree with Amaya, you need to make sure that your petting him is not signalling to him that he's good for barking. That's why it's good to command him to do something else (distraction) and praise him when he does that. But of course he has to know how to comply first. Start teaching him sit, and when he barks, command him to sit (or come, or lie down, whatever), and then praise him when he does it. A dog can't do two things at the same time, and you can take advantage of that.

You're definitely doing better. You just need to fine-tune it a bit. Keep up the good work.

Dam2007 · 06-16-2007, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogAdvocat

That's certainly better than what you were doing, but I agree with Amaya, you need to make sure that your petting him is not signalling to him that he's good for barking. That's why it's good to command him to do something else (distraction) and praise him when he does that. But of course he has to know how to comply first. Start teaching him sit, and when he barks, command him to sit (or come, or lie down, whatever), and then praise him when he does it. A dog can't do two things at the same time, and you can take advantage of that.

You're definitely doing better. You just need to fine-tune it a bit. Keep up the good work.

Thanks...I am learning to be less adversarial, and to start with the small stuff (in terms of training and teaching him patience) and slowly build up confidence and trust. I hope it works.

So far my biggest problem is the separation anxiety - he cries constantly while I am out of sight. The next problem is the growling and snapping when I try to give meds - but I am postponing handling that problem, and putting it in his food for now. Lastly, barking at "intruders."

Amaya-Mazie-Marley · 06-16-2007, 07:58 PM

Do you know how old he is or if he was with any other dogs before? If he's young then that plays a big part in whining when left alone, as does being with another dog before. Also if you are really the only one that interacts with him and you leave, he will be upset for a while. He just has to get used to be alone sometimes. It sounds like you are doing alot better, keep up the good work and in the end it will pay off. You just have to always be consistent, thats they key. You can't tell him its bad to chew on something, and then he have access to it when you are gone, because that makes him backslide on what you have been teaching him..Make sense?

DogAdvocat · 06-17-2007, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dam2007

Thanks...I am learning to be less adversarial, and to start with the small stuff (in terms of training and teaching him patience) and slowly build up confidence and trust. I hope it works.

Just to be clear, it's not him that needs to learn patience. What I've been saying is that YOU have to be patient. He's not going to learn it (whatever it is) overnight, and it seems from some of your posts that you are getting frustrated when he doesn't "get it" right away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dam2007

So far my biggest problem is the separation anxiety - he cries constantly while I am out of sight. The next problem is the growling and snapping when I try to give meds - but I am postponing handling that problem, and putting it in his food for now. Lastly, barking at "intruders."

Separation anxiety also requires patience. First, consider life from his point of view. Even if his former owners were wonderful to him, they still disappeared from his life. You said he came from a rescue, and whether that means he was housed in a foster home, or in a kennel, he may have bonded with his caregiver, and now that person is gone too. If there were more people involved, then that just will have increased his abandonment issues. And the only way to solve that problem is to build his trust in you. So once again, we're back at the trust issue.

There are a lot of posts in this forum on separation anxiety, and you may have read them, or may do so in the future. Leaving for short times and then increasingly longer times as the dog does well with it, is the basic method usually used. Toys or kongs filled with treats can help keep his mind occupied when you are away. Leaving a radio or tv on can help too. Leaving him in his crate when you're gone, where he's comfortable and feels safe, can also help. All this takes patience and won't happen overnight, and he needs to learn to trust you first.

I'm glad you mentioned "consistency", Amaya. I don't know how I could forget that. Consistency is essential in training dogs, or children, or even husbands.

And that's not always easy to do (be consistent, not train husband -- or?? hmm ), because we tend to get busy with other things and forget what our goal was. Dogs just aren't going to learn what you want them to learn if you keep changing the rules on them. Decide a plan of action, and stick with it. If you find that it's still not working after weeks and weeks of trying, then the situation needs to be reevaluated, a new plan of action developed, and be consistent to that new method. Dogs are adaptable, but not to daily and hourly changes in training methods.

Dam2007 · 06-17-2007, 10:32 AM

I understand your point, but just to clarify, what I meant by "teaching him patience" is teaching him to wait for my OK signal instead of bolting out of a door I just opened, and stuff like that.

DogAdvocat · 06-17-2007, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dam2007

I understand your point, but just to clarify, what I meant by "teaching him patience" is teaching him to wait for my OK signal instead of bolting out of a door I just opened, and stuff like that.

Ahhh, ok, sorry. Yes, that is a good thing to teach.

dachlover · 06-18-2007, 08:13 PM

We have a dachshund and one thing I learned as that they were bred to alert their owner of prey or something like that.. translation: they tend to be barkers. Not that that means you have to put up with it. The distraction is definitely a good idea. Plus once he's familiar with the noises in the house he might get used to them and not bark. We have a problem with ours barking when he hears people outside. Some times I clap my hands loudly and it snaps him out of it.

As for the separation anxiety, Jackson barked and cried when we were crate training him for the first 2 1/2 wks every night. We thought we were going to loose our minds, but we were consistent about not letting him out when he barked or giving him attention and eventually he got it. Consistency is definitely the key. Don't coddle him when you leave and he cries. If you try to comfort him you'll just reinforce the anxiety.