[Lucky098]

Hey everyone.. Quick question...

What's a good way to get a dog to stop barking?

Got a new rescue dog in. He's very aggressive towards other dogs, so he's in a pen by himself all day.

He barks non-stop. He barks all day. He never takes a break, a breath.. nothing.

We have a bark collar on him. And he barks right through it without even a flinch. He's more than likely drained the battery today, because as I'm writing this, he's barking. Apparently, he doesn't care if he gets shocked.

Some people came to look at the puppies, he had to be put away. His crate was covered, yet he barked. He has barked himself hoarse. He stands up on his hind legs, tilts his head into the air and barks... Or, he'll sit in the dog house and look out and bark.

Any suggestions?

[Wondergirl]

He's trying to tell you something. Does he bark when he's out of his cage and walking on a leash?

[kannad1980]

This "birdhouse" stopped our dog from barking: http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Outdoor-Ultrasonic-Bark-Deterrent/dp/B000UZNLGA. We have a beagle that kept right on barking through a bark collar, to the point that she burned her neck. We bought this, and it has been amazing. She has totally stopped. Maybe it will help your dog

[Aurora_Bell]

So, do you think this is an anxiety thing or a territorial barking issue?

For anxiey you can always try some simple relaxation methods, these ones are a bit different for barking.
What you would do is take a treat, stand in front of your dog while he is barking, say good boy (you don't want him to to think the barking is bad, it's the non stop barking that is bad), ask him to be quiet. As he continues to bark ask him to be quiet, wave the treat in front of his nose, (this works best for food motivated dogs. You may have to make him work for his supper!), try to keep him quiet for 3 seconds on the one command, "be quiet". Treat.

Wait for him to bark again, repeat, but try to keep him quiet for 6 seconds. Treat.

And continue, but increasing the wait time by 3 seconds each time.

Usually when dogs bark from anxiety or fear, the best thing you can do is help him raise his self esteem. Does he know any simple commands now? Learning the basics will help him feel confident in himself as well as establishing you as the pack leader.

So dose his barking change when someone enters or leaves the room? Example quietier, lower pitched barking while alone, higher pitch faster barking when someone is in the room?

[Aurora_Bell]

If that does work you can always try to interrupt the negative behaviour with a spray bottle or a noise maker.

[shazamataz]

Did you put the electronic collar on him and leave him in the pen?
Or did you get him out and use it while he was with you?

Sometimes they don't connect the collar with barking unless you are there to tell them "no" as well as using the collar for a physical correction.
He might just be wondering why his neck is getting zapped all the time but not realise his barking is setting it off.

[Alty]

If this has been mentioned, sorry, I didn't read everything. My bad.

Have you tried a citronella spray collar? I find that they work pretty well.

It sounds like this dog is very anxious and a bit aggressive. I hope you can get it all worked out. Poor guy. :(

[JudyKayTee]

This "birdhouse" stopped our dog from barking: Amazon.com: PetSafe Outdoor Ultrasonic Bark Deterrent: Kitchen & Dining. We have a beagle that kept right on barking through a bark collar, to the point that she burned her neck. We bought this, and it has been amazing. She has totally stopped. Maybe it will help your dog

Didn't you supervise your dog when it was wearing the shock collar? It actually burned your dog's neck?

I find this to be irresponsible - sorry, but I do. These collars on unsupervised dogs are painful and dangerous and cause more "bad" behavior.

[Lucky098]

Thanks everyone!

We're going to try the citornella collar on him and see if it works. We don't usually use it because it seems like the collars drain quickly, but we have the collars and all the citronella. Going to try it today!

We also have the ultra sonic bark control device. Its by a different company, but does the same thing as the petsafe bird house. May try that if the citronella doesn't work.

As far as working with him.. Great idea! But we also have 26 other dogs that need attention along with 16 puppies.. Not enough hours in the day! If he gets adopted, that will definitely be suggested to the new owner.

I hope this boy snaps out of this! I also hope is just his way of showing displacement and not his actual temperament.

Thanks again!

[JudyKayTee]

We also have the ultra sonic bark control device. Its by a different company, but does the same thing as the petsafe bird house. May try that if the citronella doesnt work.

As far as working with him.. Great idea! But we also have 26 other dogs that need attention along with 16 puppies.. Not enough hours in the day! If he gets adopted, that will definately be suggested to the new owner.

I hope this boy snaps out of this! I also hope is just his way of showing displacement and not his actual temperment.

Thanks again!

My neighbors have this device for their dog. Every time MY dogs bark, THEIR dog gets shocked.

How does this work with multiple dogs?

[shazamataz]

Mustn't have been a very good brand of collar.

Most will only go off if the dog wearing it barks. We have a citronella collar and if Brody is wearing it and Prada barks right next to him it still doesn't go off.

[Aurora_Bell]

My neighbors have this device for their dog. Every time MY dogs bark, THEIR dog gets shocked.

How does this work with multiple dogs?

It usually works with vibrations from their throat.

Ultra sonic, aren't those the ones that release the high frequency pitch? All dogs would hear it I would assume, but they generally only send off the alarm when the vibrations are picked up from the collar.

[Cat1864]

If it is anxiety, have you thought about aromatherapy to help calm him down? I haven't tried it, but it may be something for you to thoroughly research.

[Lucky098]

Well, the citronella collars don't work. They won't even load the spray! Lame.. One was purchased brand new, the other was donated. They haven't been used in a long time.

We have aromatherapy spray for dogs.. Didn't work. He continued to bark. He barks non-stop. I had to put him away today because he was being obnixious. He just won't stop barking. He fence fights the other dogs, charges the kennel walls at the other dogs.. Ugh.

We don't do manditory dog classes, but we highly recommend it. About 90% of our adopters sign up with some type of obedience class with their new dog.

I'm not sure what we're going to be doing with this boy. We have a hard enough time finding good homes for good dogs, its going to be even harder for a problem dog that has the potential to be very aggressive towards other dogs and apparently clears a 8 ft fence! My mom's making the decision tonight.. The Shetler we got him from offered to do the deed for us.. :( Can't save them all I guess

[Lucky098]

It usually works with vibrations from their throat.

Ultra sonic, aren't those the ones that release the high frequency pitch? All dogs would hear it I would assume, but they generally only send off the alarm when the vibrations are picked up from the collar.

Its not a collar, at least not the one I have. There are collars too. We have the bark box. Spent $100 on the thing! Works for a period. Definitely not a quick fix for a large group! We only have a couple bad howlers at night and the barky boy during the day.

[Aurora_Bell]

Aww that's too bad Lucky. We have a problem child in our shelter right now. Awesome looking dog, but he is going strange.

He even snapped at me while I was walking him. It's almost like something neurological.

Too bad you didn't have more time to work with him, but you are right, hard enough for the good dogs, let alone ones with aggression issues. Sometimes it's the only way, and there is nothing anybody can do to help them.

I use this behaviourist who recommended that I put my old dog Slash down from aggression. She has been in the "business" for almost 30 years. She said sometimes, there really isn't anything you can do.

Best of luck. Does he bark while you guys are walking? It definitely sounds like territorial/fear barking.

[Lucky098]

He doesn't bark as long as you're standing right next to him. Hes very polite for people. He'll sit for his leash to be put on.. He doesn't pull. But who's going to adopt a dog that barks 12 hours a day non-stop? A dog that can't be taken out for walks, dog parks and other activities where another dog may be involved. A lot of our adopters go to dog parks. The only good home he would have would be someone in the mtns... but every mtn dog owner who's adopted from us won't take on problems.

Actually, not too many of our adopters in the past couple of years want to adopt a dog that needs work. I remember when we first started, we got in some true abuse cases, and people wanted to help them! Now, the requirements are these dogs need to be good with kids, cats and other dogs.. House trained, obedience trained with no separation anxiety or any other type of issue. They're looking at a rescue for the perfect dog! Some of these guys are perfect dogs! But they're all here for a reason!

This dog would probably die of old age at our rescue. Which, that's no life either. We can only provide so much!

People make me so mad sometimes! He wasn't born like this! He was made to be like this by irrisponsible dog owners :( This breed is not suppose to show aggression, which is why they're such great family pets... but geez... We get some dogs in because they simply cannot be around kids period. They're tough to get homes for!

One of our dogs, Tucker.. Had him for nearly two years. He was kind of a jerk.. did what he wanted. You'd call him, hed walk the other way. He'd stand at the back gate and bark when dinner time came around. He finally got his new forever home about a month or so ago :) Two boys who love to play fetch! Which was Tucker's favorite thing to do in life! So that adoption really made us happy!

[Aurora_Bell]

That's good to hear for Tucker. Honestly though Lucky, as much as it usually is a negligent pet owner that causes this grief, sometimes it is the dogs genetics.

Well I'll keep my fingers crossed for this boy here!

[Lucky098]

I think its genetic as well! Or the bad egg syndrome.

I remember there was a study in Cali with a litter of pups. One pup displayed strange and aggressive behavior towards mom and the other pups. It was claimed that if compared to a human, it would have been a psychopath. The pup at 6 months was very aggressive and was ultimately put down.

What was done during that study to determine that, I don't know. But I thought that was interesting.

I think some dogs are more sensitive and open for separation anxiety to set in then others.

[Lucky098]

I think we're going to give this boy a second chance! He is just so friendly towards people!

He was out of the pens today. He was tied, so wasn't allowed to roam the yard unsupervised. He was very polite with the other dogs that came up to say "hi". Didn't show any signs of aggression.

His signs of aggression could all be stressed related. He could also have enclosure issues where he felt trapped and therefore felt like he needed to protect himself. He didn't bark much today! He obeyed the bark collar.

I hope he turns out to be a good boy and this was just his displacement! He's such a sweet boy! And very easy to handle! He's a very soft dog and doesn't take much to correct pulling on a lead.