Calling all dog trainers!

[gui_tarzan]

We have a serious problem with the dog my daughter and her fiance have that they got when he was six weeks old. The dog stays with him during the week and comes here when he does on the weekends. The dog is supposed to be a German Shepherd/hound mix and he just turned two recently.

The problem? The dog barks incessantly when the two of them aren't around. Nothing we do to shut him up works. When he was young he stayed with us for a week twice during his first year and we worked very hard to try to train him to not bark with voice, treats, etc. and nothing is working. We tried to get him to bark quietly like my dog will if you tell her to. We worked and worked and worked with this dog for the last two years and my wife is about to go insane from his barking. To top it off she has bad head and neck aches every day from arthritis in her neck and the barking only makes it worse.

The only relief we seem to get is when I command the dog to lay down and stay, which he only does until I leave the room. I am beginning to hate this dog and that's not right. I don't want to drug the dog but that's starting to be a very real option for me.

He has been fixed, we've tried a device that emits a sound when he barks, we're running out of options. We have the dog for a week right now while her fiance is on a school conference (he's a 1st year teacher) but she works 9-5. So from 2 (when my wife gets home) until 5 or if they leave on the weekend the dog barks. And barks. And barks. I've tried everything I can find online and I'm out of ideas. Our two dogs don't bark like that although mine did until she was almost two years old. She's a Lab/English Pointer mix.

HELP!!!!!

:argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh:

 

[SurpriseMVP]

Friend of mine had the same issue with her two dogs. Shock collar did the trick. Idk if it's inhuman but they do have their sanity back. My neighbor had his dogs bark surgically fixed. Don't know what they did but when the dog barks now you barley here it. It's actually comical to hear it bark. Again I'm not condoning either of these options, just throwing them out there.



Mike

 

[MoJo]

I am nowhere near a dog trainer, but if it helps I'll throw in my two cents. The fact that the dog listens to you and stops barking when you tell it to lay down and stay I think is a very good sign. It seems like the dog is willing to obey, but might be overcome with anxiety and does not understand your commands to stop barking. A couple things I would suggest doing if you haven't tried already is to put the dog in a nice cozy crate, not as a punishment, but dogs (especially young ones) tend to feel safer and calmer when they are in a snug space like a crate. Also, excersize does wonders for dog anxiety, nice long routine walks can really help (especially if he is not getting a lot of excersize during the week). Another thing you can try is to work with your daughter to help condition the dog to be alone. You should probably research this one a little bit more before you try it cause I am not sure of the proper way, but I think it is done by leaving the dog alone for short periods of time while the dog behaves and keep increasing the time. Exercising the dog before doing this will help alot, but stubborn dogs are stubborn and might take a lot of patience and work before it starts to improve. Lastly, do not comfort the dog when he is misbehaving, this might be slightly painful to dish out "tough love" but comforting the dog when he is misbehaving just reinforces the bad behavior.

This guy has some videos out there that might help, probably some posted on you tube as well.

http://www.cesarsway.com/tips/problembehaviors/5-tips-for-handling-nuisance-barking

 

[Alwayslit]

http://dogs.about.com/od/dogtraining/qt/barkingdogs.htm

Pretty comprehensive article. You might have to go the medication route if it can't be cured with other methods.

 

[el_guapo13]

try out the thunder shirt, google it, works wonders i hear.

 

[daniyal]

I think one of the brothers here may be James (Vegan) or Trev (TNT) tried out the thunder shirt for their barking dog and it stopped immediately. Apparently makes the dog feel cozier like its being held or something. No harm to try it out.

 

[CAJoe]

My buddy had a problem with a barking dog. Used a barking shock collar and it worked perfectly. He let it shock the dog until the dog figured out what was happening. After that he used the vibrate function and that was enough. Soon if the dog barked putting on the collar was all that it needed to keep it quiet. His neighbors were sure a lot happier about that.

 

[Alwayslit]

I think one of the brothers here may be James (Vegan) or Trev (TNT) tried out the thunder shirt for their barking dog and it stopped immediately. Apparently makes the dog feel cozier like its being held or something. No harm to try it out.

Really like that idea.

 

[Cigary43]

I am nowhere near a dog trainer, but if it helps I'll throw in my two cents. The fact that the dog listens to you and stops barking when you tell it to lay down and stay I think is a very good sign. It seems like the dog is willing to obey, but might be overcome with anxiety and does not understand your commands to stop barking. A couple things I would suggest doing if you haven't tried already is to put the dog in a nice cozy crate, not as a punishment, but dogs (especially young ones) tend to feel safer and calmer when they are in a snug space like a crate. Also, excersize does wonders for dog anxiety, nice long routine walks can really help (especially if he is not getting a lot of excersize during the week). Another thing you can try is to work with your daughter to help condition the dog to be alone. You should probably research this one a little bit more before you try it cause I am not sure of the proper way, but I think it is done by leaving the dog alone for short periods of time while the dog behaves and keep increasing the time. Exercising the dog before doing this will help alot, but stubborn dogs are stubborn and might take a lot of patience and work before it starts to improve. Lastly, do not comfort the dog when he is misbehaving, this might be slightly painful to dish out "tough love" but comforting the dog when he is misbehaving just reinforces the bad behavior.

This guy has some videos out there that might help, probably some posted on you tube as well.

http://www.cesarsway.com/tips/problembehaviors/5-tips-for-handling-nuisance-barking

Good advice here as my wife and I do work with Dog Rescues....this is a typical story of a canine that is anxious and will bark to show it's emotion. Shouting at him will only serve to have him continue the barking and for one thing...dogs need exercise and lots of it at the stage and breed you are talking about. During the walk the dog needs to know that you are in command...a dogs desire is to please his handler...discipline is a dogs way of life and for them to have enough will calm them down. Use treats to keep the dog in line....use them after they do something good..rewards are necessary for them to associate action and response. Play with them and get on their eye level....I tend to use hand signals for training and when they do something wrong use a verbal command like QUIET! If they obey the command you give them praise and a treat. Within a couple of days they will associate the command with treats. At night if you can crate the dog in your room so he knows that he's safe...that you are nearby and this way he's getting two things....you are nearby and he associates his crate as a safe place. Good luck!