Barking

[Elisa]

Can anyone help with a problem we have with Bailey.  We have a cycle path very close to us that we take Bailey for a walk.  We can let him off here to have a run, and he loves going in all the bushes etc.  Its also used for a shortcut, so we quite often run into other people on this path.  Every now and again, not every day, but completely randomly, he will run up to someone and start barking, he also sometimes jumps up at them.  It doesnt matter whether its a man, woman or child, old or young.  I have no way of knowing whether he will ignore the person or bark and jump.  Everybody has been quite tolerant so far, but it cant go on.  He is either going to frighten a small child or get a kick from somebody that isnt quite so understanding     He doesnt seem to be aggressive, but these people dont know that.  It has happened a couple of times too in other places so it isnt just the cycle path.

Ive tried getting him to sit and wait for a treat when I see somebody coming, which has worked a little, however, one time he got his treat then chased the man, barking!    

At home, he couldnt be a better dog.  Well behaved, he hardly ever barks, never barks at the door, and is perfect.  Its starting to make walks quite stressful which I am sure he must pick up on and is probably making him worse.  He never does this to people he knows, just strangers.  He is 2 next month.

If anyone has any ideas/tricks to solve this I would be very grateful.

Thanks.  

[Colin]

Jimmy used to bark at people that spooked him - people talking on mobile phones was a favourite target.

 Do you think Bailey does it because he is frightened or threatened ? Jimmy did, but there's no way he would have got close enough to jump up on the person like Bailey does though, he wasn't brave enough - it seems odd that Bailey would jump up if  he's scared.

 I asked Jimmy's trainer how to deal with it and he said not to chastise him or say "no" to him when he barked at people - he said Jimmy would only relate my anger/negativity to the person he was focussed on and it would just reinforce the barking. Instead I was to call him away in a confident and cheery manner, walking in between him and the person he was barking at. He advised me to try and distract Jimmy before he started the barking and walk in a curve around the person rather than approaching head-on, using a toy or treat to entice Jimmy to follow me - anticipating who he'd bark at was easier said than done though. In Jimmy's case I found that if he had something to carry in his mouth he wouldn't feel so threatened and tended to ignore passing strangers.

If the cycle path is really narrow maybe this is causing him to feel uncomfortable about strangers approaching - the fact he's done it elsewhere could be out of habit. Maybe if you walked him in more open spaces for a while it might break this habit .

I'm not sure if the trainer's advice helped or Jimmy just became more confident and grew out of it but he did eventually stop - I can't even remember the last time it happened now. Hopefully you'll have a similar outcome with Bailey.

[Mike]

In Jimmy's case I found that if he had something to carry in his mouth he wouldn't feel so threatened and tended to ignore passing strangers.

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Daisy can sometimes be the same, barking at people and other dogs, and this is the tactic I also use - if she is carrying something she forgets to bark, or if she does bark, it's muffled - and she wont drop what it is she is carrying!  

[Anita]

Phoebe sometimes does this. Most times she's fine. Even with horses, sheep and deer she will come and sit and ignore them until we let her go. The other day a chap on a bike asked me for directions and she had a little gruff bark at him. I was quite embarressed. I think she does it if she's on a lead too - may be a fear thing going on. So much for getting her used tol ots of things when she was little. Mind you she has had a bark at a wheelie bin too!

[Gilly]

Buttons has only done this once over Christmas when I was on a walk with Colin, Jimmy & Misty and we walked passed a lady who only had one leg and was on crutches, Buttons ran up to her and started barking and even following her barking I was mortified  
Mind you I think it was the 1st time she had seen someone on crutches, thats my excuse anyway  ::

[flossysmum]

My dog sophie does that, Whenever we go outside she starts barking at something wether its a leaf or a person, Its a bit like she wants to be the boss of the street, If someone she diddnt know came in the house she starts barking then too but thats more because she's frightened, sometimes she does that because she's protecting her family, I would try and distract him with something and get his attention on you more than the stranger, call him to you and start to play with him, Make it fun for him too.