BARKING!

Dear God help me ... what do I do? This dog is an uncontrollable barker, unless he has the bark collar on. I'd hoped to use it to train him not to bark, but he just knows whether it's on or not, and barks like a madman when it's not on. He looks out the window and barks at an empty street, at the wind, at a car. He'll stand on the patio and bark at cars driving by on the street behind us - there are 2 fences, trees, and about 20 yards inbetween him and the street. He just BARKS!

We've had complaints from the jerk caddy corner behind us - which is why we got the bark collar in the 1st place.

Is there anything else I can do? I hate the idea of shocking him to quiet him down.

[alison]

What kind of dog is it?

he's a rescue - primarily a lab though. I've been told lab / shepard mix or lab / chow? (his tail curls).

[Michele]

Can you put a different collar on? Does he know the difference in the weights of the collar? You can try praise when he's good (no barking) and ignore him when he barks...but that's really hard to do...and it's hard to control when you aren't home. The citronella collars seem more humane than the shock ones, but some dogs aren't phased by the citronella and the shock is the only thing that works.

Maybe Kris can say what helped with Molly....right she used to bark alot?

[alison]

Maybe Michele has some tips, but I think it's just one of those things you have to live with. I say this, because a lot of people in my neighborhood have the voice boxes of their dogs removed! And I feel sorry for them. Your dog (Bruce, was it?) is just barking for all the city dogs who have have been stripped of their doghood.

Sorry. I have no advice.

Yup! Cross-post! Michele came to the rescue!

[Michele]

because a lot of people in my neighborhood have the voice boxes of their dogs removed! And I feel sorry for them.

It's a crazy surgery that I wish was illegal. My uncle had it done to his dog when I was a kid and I didn't quite know what I know now...and it was so pathetic the way the dog would try to bark, but this raspy noise was all that came out!

It's not a quick fix. It often requires several surgeries....they just mangle up the vocal chords so they can't vibrate and produce sound...

Do I think it's (the surgery) worse than a dog constantly wearing a shock collar?....yes.

[SuzySunshine]

Jenn, how old is he? We had problems with Molly but she has grown out of it some. She doesn't wear her bark collar anymore, except in the summer when she's out more and hence barks more. Its a citronella collar.

Michele might shun me for this one but we use a squirt bottle when she is in the house. If she barks she gets squirted, she stops. It really has calmed her down quite a bit with the barking.

I will second what people have said about the shock collars, I have friends who have had to resort to them and they do work. They don't really hurt the dog just startle them. Just make sure it is activated by a movement in the vocal cords, not sound - then they will get shocked if another dog that is close enough to them gets shocked.

Good luck, hopefully he will grow out of it too.

[alison]

Michele's going to be mad about this one too... My parents have a lab and whenever he'd misbehave when he was a puppy, we'd whack him with an empty 2-liter pop bottle. He'd stand there with a WTF look on his face. It didn't hurt him, I swear. It was just this loud noise that stunned him!

[Sheherezade]

I've found that our dog calmed down with lots more daily exercise. I take him on one looooooooong walk each morning in the woods. I think he does better if he stays on the leash. (That Dog Whisperer may be on to something!) We go for about an hour. It has paid off though -- he's no longer a total manic ball of energy in the house all day. Unless I skip his walk for a day or two.

My neighbor used the bark collar for her lab --- it worked for his barking away from home, but he still does barking to protect the house. I think that's never going away. :>

It's too bad people complained. I'm sure the stress of *making him stop* isn't helping matters.

[PrincessFiona]

The bark collar really has been good for Molly (which reminds me, it needs new batteries...it's not working anymore).

I don't feel bad about the idea of the collar anymore (I used to feel guilty). Her barking became such a nuisance that we all would constantly be screaming at her and mad. A barking dog can get really annoying. Molly also will bark at her shadow, bark at your shadow...bark if she thinks she sees a shadow...bark to ward off any shadows...you get my drift.

We're all much happier with her being less barky and so now I don't feel an ounce of guilt.

kris

Thanks guys.

He'll be 2 in the spring ... I can only hope he'll grow out of it, but it seems like it's getting worse. This may mean he has to wear the collar all of the time. I like the idea of trying to fake him out - but he seems to test it. For example, he'll start to bark more when the battery is going low -- he'll give a yelp and if it doesn't shock as expected, he goes to town.

I honestly don't care if he barks when we're not home. And I wouldn't even consider that operation. Besides the fact that it's inhumane, I WANT my dog to be able to bark if there is an intruder at night.

[SuzySunshine]

I second the exercise. I walk Molly two miles every day (unless its colder than 20 with the wind chill).

[Stella]

Ignoring it was the only thing that worked for me (and lots of attention when she is being quiet.) Now she just barks when she is being protective, which I love.

It's too bad people complained. I'm sure the stress of *making him stop* isn't helping matters.

The guy that complained is a total jerk. He lives diagonally back from me, and I have a very big yard. It was never a "The dog is out at 6AM or 11PM and barking, I'm trying to sleep" kind of thing. It was a 7PM, the dog barked outside for 10 min or so while I was giving the boys a bath kind of thing. He complained 4 times, never bothered to introduce himself -- so I just call him "Mr. Happy". If you want total silence, don't live in a neighborhood -- across the street from the pool. He's well known for complaining about kids cutting through his yard to the pool, too. Sadly he retired about 1 month after the 1st time he complained, so I've been kind of a wreck about it.

More exercise would do both Bruce and I lots of good. Hard to take the boys along, though. But something to think about.

[Michele]

Squirt bottle is good and an empty 2-liter is ok, too. No complaints here.

More exercise is a great idea! Do you have stairs? Russ and I used to 'fake out' Pula by pretending to go up and down the stairs...she was sooo puppy that she would bound up them before us and only realize we didn't go up after she got to the top, then she would bound down again....we could keep it up for 10-15 minutes! She was a MUCH better pup afterwards! Of course, it might not work for Bruce as he sounds smarter than Pula...testing the batteries, etc.

If he's a battery tester, you might not ever get him off the shock collar. I've known dogs that 'take the shock' just to get out of the yard with those electric fences...even on the highest setting.

Oh and in the vet behavior world, the Dog Whisperer is a quack. From my limited exposure, he turns most all things into a dominance issue which is usually NOT the case. Most animals AREN'T trying to dominate their owners. His method of fear/intimidation and forcing issues is counterproductive to the emotional well being of the dog. The vet behaviorists have tried to get him off the air for years. I haven't seen all of his stuff...but I've had the unfortunate experience to be in a room of boarded vet behaviorists when his name was mentioned. :!