Help me make her stop barking

[saturnfire16]

Ok, I'm finally ready to put some thought into this.

I can't leave her inside all the time. She is a cross between a heeler and something we don't know, but she'd make a great ranch dog. She runs insanely fast for having such short legs. She really needs time outside.

Which brings me to someone else's suggestion of getting her more exercise.... yes, I need to do that. Walks are just too slow for her with all the kids in tow, though it's better than nothing of course. For the last few days, I've tried (again) taking her to the field by our house. When I tried before, she'd just take off and not come back. She did pretty well the last few times, until she found a skunk and then got sprayed.

I wouldn't really call her anxious. Just noisy.

And time and energy to train... yah. That's tough.

Ok, here's the plan:

More exercise.
And if that doesn't help, I'll try committing a whole day to using the suggestions of shaking a can or spraying her with a water bottle.
And leaving her inside when we leave the house.

She already knows she's not supposed to bark though. She will bark and as soon as I open the door to bring her in, she looks all ashamed of herself and grudgingly comes inside. She just seems to lack the impulse control to stop herself.

[kiloyd]

Good plan.

Could you or your husband try and get in a 10 minute fast walk with her with no children each day?

I take a walk with my dog after I get the toddler to sleep. It is usually 15 minutes but sometimes 5 minutes to the corner and back fast is good enough.

Yes, a little/slow walk is better than no walk.

Does she like to play fetch?

How about chewing on bones? Sounds like she needs stimulation.

And yes! Leave her inside when you are not home!

[saturnfire16]

No, dh is out of state for work, so it's just me and the kids. She does get *something* most days, whether it's all of us walking or one of the kids walking her or going to the field, but I feel bad for her, because she really would love to be a ranch dog and be running after sheep all day.

[ShangriLewis]

The breed really is your issue. My husband used to have our Border Collie pull him on a skateboard to get that out. She probably needs the field twice a day. She needs a job. She needs Frisbee or balls and things to play with. We successfully kept a border collie in a variety of homes. But, he always had a job and plenty of exercise. I would encourage the running and chasing something or returning for something. Then her play in the field is a job and not just an opportunity to get in trouble.

[kiloyd]

If she doesn't already fetch, you could teach her to fetch. that would be a way to exercise her in the back yard.

[saturnfire16]

She fetches, she just doesn't return. Well, kind of. She wants to turn the returning part into tug of war and hasn't ever gotten the concept of "drop it." Then sometimes she wants to turn the returning part into a game of chase. At that point I just walk away and then she comes up to me so confused about why I won't throw the ball for her again. Um, because it's still in your mouth!

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

what about a citronella bark collar? We used oen when our dogs went through a barking phase and it worked really really well. And I didn't feel it was cruel, just unpleasant.

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[saturnfire16]

How do the citronella collars work?

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

Every time the dog barks, there is a mist of citronella from the box on the collar. I find the smell unpleasant personally and dogs find it even more so unpleasant.

I was nervous both dogs would get misted when only one barked, or when there was a loud noise, but we found the only time it misfired was when they whimpered. They learned within a matter of hours not to bark with them on.

---------- Post added at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 PM ----------

This is the brand we have, they have dropped in price by half, it looks like...

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Anti-B...lar+citronella

ETAh that one is for small dogs, that's why its cheaper....the one I have is for dogs about 70# so it will not work if your dog is too small I guess. I imagine the box on the collars I have would just be too bulky for a little dog and maybe they dose the citronella differently too.

[saturnfire16]

But what about when they *need* to bark, like to let you know they want to come inside? I also don't want to entirely discourage her from doing her guard dog duty, I just wish she would actually alert us to real threats, not bark viciously (and she's not really vicious) at 5 year old neighbor kids.

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

We only put ours on the dogs as needed. They still bark to alert to danger.

[twoplustwo]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

Take an empty soda can, put a few pennies in it, tape it shut.

This worked GREAT when we moved here. My dog isnt a huge barker but she would go out & run up & down the fence with the neighbor dog and they would bark non-stop.

My neighbor wanted to put the dogs on a "schedule" so they were never out together, but it was such a pain so I did the coins in a plastic tub trick & it worked!

Every time they ran & barked I shook it & they finally got there they stopped doing it.

Originally Posted by JoyfulMom

I have tried the can of pennies and the spray bottle and neither of them phase her

But of course YMMV as always!

[kiloyd]

Originally Posted by saturnfire16

She fetches, she just doesn't return. Well, kind of. She wants to turn the returning part into tug of war and hasn't ever gotten the concept of "drop it." Then sometimes she wants to turn the returning part into a game of chase. At that point I just walk away and then she comes up to me so confused about why I won't throw the ball for her again. Um, because it's still in your mouth!

That's pretty easy! Give her a treat when she releases the ball when you give the word. I used "give" when I wanted it in my hand and "drop it" when I wanted it on the ground/floor. Then give the ball back.

Can also try using two balls and when she gives you the ball, giver her another.

You could work on that in the house for just a couple minutes a day.

[Soliloquy]

I taught my dog drop the same way. I applied gentle pressure to the very back of his gums and said, "drop ball" and instantly gave a treat when he dropped it. Instead of the word "fetch" I use "ball come" because he already knew the words ball and come.

When I say, "ball" he goes and finds a ball.
"Ball come" and he brings it to me.
"Ball drop" and he drops it.

I cut up lunch meat into small pieces. He'll do anything for them.

I have a German Shepherd so, like a heeler, he wants work to do. I am working on teaching him the names of all of my kids. He's starting to get it. I also taught him to instantly go to a crying child (we have a lot of wild animals around and I want him to go scare one away, if necessary). The kids really enjoy it when we do training.

[kiloyd]

Speaking of barking. My dog just ran down the hall barking at some random sound she heard, outside maybe. Almost woke Jason. She was laying on her bed near me in the dining room. Does she have to bark at every noise that is different to her????