[Twinney]

Kola, my white, cute and cuddly looking dog is really obedient...normally. We can have her off the chain and she won't leave the yard, and she comes when called if she does, because she's normally off chasing and killing rabbits. But, when people walk by she chases them down the road, not really biting them, more like herding them away from the house. I'm supposing she's protective of the house, but I'm not sure....since dogs can't talk. She practically was raised in a bar, and even though it was exactally populated all the time, she has been around humans since she was about a week old. When she turned 6 months old she started getting mean. People she was raised around couldn't get within 15 feet of her before her teeth would be showing. Lately she's just been doing that to the people I don't like, so I guess she can sense it or something or other, but I would love for her to figure out there is't a person in town thats going to hurt her or anybody else so she can be off chain again. Any ideas (besides getting a 'dog whisperer') to calm her down a bit?
Shunka likes to bark. All the time. I'm constantly chewed out by my dad, and brother to "Shut her the bleep up," before they go out there and rip her head off. When I go out there I look around and there are no rodents or birds, or other dogs, just air and the other dogs. When she sees me she stays barking. About 6 months ago we got a muzzle for her, and that works for maybe 5 minutes before she gets the muzzle off. I have looked at barking collars, and I've found one that would work. It's a sonic collar that lets out a high pitched beep when she barks, but they are expensive, and wal-mart quality. She only stops barking when I take her off the chain and take her inside or take her for walks, but I can't do that when I'm at school. Has anybody had this problem with one of their dogs, and if so, what did you do to stop it?

I would love it a lot if I got a responce for this. ^__^

[briteday]

Your dog is incredibly bored. What breed is she?

Most dogs need to be with their human during the day, at least part of the day. You need to make time to spend at least (depending on the breed, maybe more) and hour in the morning and later in the day with your dog doing something. Take her on a hike, play games, fetch, anything that will stimulate her. Don't leave her chained all day without companionship of her human. And when you are home, why is she being chained up? Why isn't she with you?

Remember to take her to new places when she is out with you. She needs the mental and physical stimulation to keep her body and brain healthy. She needs to see new things and experience sights, smells, other people so that she can see they are not scary. When you are with her and she starts to growl remind her verbally that it is not ok.

I would also suggest that you sign up for an obedience class.

[Curbside Prophet]

It sounds as though you've allowed your dog to form his own habits. You can't blame him for this, nor will tools like a no-bark collar be effective. What the dog needs is a leader in his life. Someone who is willing to institute NILIF and give him structure. Is that person you?

[Twinney]

They are mutts, in the picture section I have the 3 dogs and their breeds.

Yeah, with Shunka I go out in the morning and see all the dogs, but I only get a minute or two with each dog before I have to go in and start getting ready for school. When I get home I bring her in and play fetch with her, (since taking her off the chain will make her run off for a bit) and then I let her up on the couch while I write, then we play fetch again, go for a walk, and I take her outside and she starts to bark again. I could probably start waking up earlier to go outside with them longer, but after school is pretty much what the schedule is, since when she gets chained up again she is fed and normally goes to bed after some time of barking after that.

With Kola, she was kept to be a lap dog, and to pretty much go everywhere with us until she did start getting mean. But for those first six months, she went, literally everywhere (except school) with me. She was always having random people comming up to pet her and cuddle with her for awhile, and nobody ever really hurt her. We stopped taking her with us when she did start getting mean, because my parents feared she would hurt someone, so we stuck to going up to the bar every now and then until that closed down. Now I take her inside (after Shunka) everyday and train her and so on and such forth.
Last year she started as my 4-h dog but after the third class I took her home. She was getting along fine with the other dogs, but she was always going after the other humans, so I switched to Shunka. Lately, as I realized, she has been getting alittle better about her growling, but people that she used to love, still can't get to close before she bristles, though she doesn't growl at them any more. I just realized that today actually, when I was walking her and bumped into some people from the bar.