Barking

[Honey12]

Honey is very good at barking at men and people with disabilities, which can be quite embarassing!

We tell her off when she does it but just doesn't seem to listen! even if we have treats!!!

Any ideas on how to stop this?!

Thanks

Nina and Honey the very talkative dog! xx

[waggytails]

Sorry no im no help,  Hattie likes to sit in the window and bark at old women.

[Karma]

Telling her off won't work.... in fact it probably reinforces the behaviour...  

It is most likely that she is barking because she is nervous (or warning you of a threat).  What you need is a good "quiet" command - perfect this away from the triggers before attempting it near her triggers... we had a similar issue with people coming to the door (and men entering the house)... when out Honey started barking at first I got up quietly stood between her and the object of her barking with my hand out behind me... after a while she would quieten down fairly quickly (we would then praise her for the quiet behaviour) - once she was quietening quickly I introduced a "hush" command with the body position and hand signal.. Now we normally only needs a hand signal and hush (I don't need to get up!) though if the perceived threat is big, I still sometimes need to stand between her and it... it's still a work in progress, but she's at least stopped trying to kill the post!!!!

The other thing which might help is to reduce her fear of these triggers.... get to a point where she can see one of these triggers but before she reacts and reward calm behaviour... gradually do this closer and closer to the trigger, but never getting to the point where she feels she needs to react.  Don't push it, and (once you are close enough) allow her to approach the person (if they are willing) in her own time... once she is happy to approach them, she may accept food from them (but only do this once she is happy in their proximity) - at first they may need to drop it on the floor rather than feed her directly.

People with disabilities is a tough one, as there are so many disabilities, and they do affect how people move, interact etc.  We thought we'd done so well with Honey introducing her to different disabilities - as a pup she visited my old work which included 3 people in very different styles of wheelchair, and people with other mobility impairments.... she saw people with walking sticks and frames too... however she had never seen people actually walking with either walking sticks or frames, and she panicked when she saw these strange contraptions actually moving!!!    

Hope all this makes sense.... my brain is a bit fuddled lately...  

[SkyeSue]

I'm not very experienced but I think what Karma said is really good advice.
Chloe is a little madam, she NEVER barks outside, but in the house she will bark at anything or nothing. And when we're in the van she goes completely balistic if she sees another dog, yet if she sees the same dog outside she turns into a little wuss!!!

[pupdaddy]

Jarvis has started barking at the post man, Alan. Alan knows Jarvis' name and always tries to stroke him. He's got worse since the baby arrived and it's getting annoying

[Karma]

Don't let the postman stroke him for the time being....

He is most likely barking because he views the postman as an intruder and he is a) warning you and b) warning him away.  If the postman approaches and tries to stroke him it will mean to Jarvis that he is not giving enough warning and he will try harder next time....

Using the method I explained earlier has been the only way we have reduced Honey's barking at postman/delivery people... it has steadily improved and she is now at a point where she will bark a couple of times, but will then quieten down and accept a treat from someone stood at the door...

It takes patience and consistency, but it is possible to overcome this!! 

[pupdaddy]

OK, we'll try that. Do you think the postman giving Jarvis a treat might work?

[Karma]

Not while he is getting stressed by his presence... what it would do is put him into more conflict - he views the postie as a threat, but wants the treat... this is likely to make him more stressed.... once he is able to be fairly calm (or at least responding to you taking control of the situation) then the postie should be able to give him a treat (as I said previously - it may be worth starting by him dropping a treat, rather than giving it).  We made that mistake at first with Honey thinking that if someone gives her a treat she will associate them with good things, but it didn't work and Top Barks explained about the whole putting them into conflict thing... 

[LizH]

It is most likely that she is barking because she is nervous (or warning you of a threat).  What you need is a good "quiet" command - perfect this away from the triggers before attempting it near her triggers... we had a similar issue with people coming to the door (and men entering the house)... when out Honey started barking at first I got up quietly stood between her and the object of her barking with my hand out behind me... after a while she would quieten down fairly quickly (we would then praise her for the quiet behaviour) - once she was quietening quickly I introduced a "hush" command with the body position and hand signal.. Now we normally only needs a hand signal and hush (I don't need to get up!) though if the perceived threat is big, I still sometimes need to stand between her and it... it's still a work in progress, but she's at least stopped trying to kill the post!!!!

Karma - can I ask do you stand with your back to her - looking at the object of her barking? or facing her?

[Karma]

With back to her... I think the theory is that is shows the dog you are dealing with the perceived threat, so they don't need to worry about it... so you kind of get between the dog and what they are barking at and look at the thing they are barking at... 

[LizH]

Thanks