Offlead barking

[terwish]

I know there have been lots of barking threads - I've scoured most of them - but I need help with Offlead barking - which appears to be pure exuberance /joy and not stress/fear/defensive barking.  Pickle is now 9 months.  In almost every respect she is a gorgeous dog - loving, affectionate, reasonable obedient ... and I love her to pieces!.....BUT...as soon as she is off lead and playing with (or chasing) our other 2 dogs she becomes a yappy little monster and it is causing us a major problem. She doesn’t do it as much if she is off-lead alone – it’s like she is barking at the other dogs to get their attention.

Almost every weekend we go to our caravan which is in an idyllic, peaceful forest campsite in the New Forest.  Our pitch backs onto deep woodland which the dogs absolutely LOVE to race about in chasing frisbee, sticks, tennis balls, or just general rough & tumble.  But, the caravans are only 20 feet or so apart - and the noise insulation in them is almost non-existent - so I am petrified that soon one of our (probably non-dog) neighbours is going to (justifiably) complain about the noise levels and we will lose our "little piece of heaven" because I can't find a way to keep Pickle from going totally NUTS as soon as she is off-lead.

While she is on-lead she is generally OK - but keeping her on-lead full time seems so unfair (and is actually physically difficult with 2 off-lead dogs and lots of trees and bracken around) and it isn't actually fixing the problem anyway!  I've tried saying "NO" then getting her to come back to me when she is barking - and her recall is pretty good - so she will come and I put her on-lead for a few minutes - but as soon as I let her off again the noise explosion reccurs - and we are back to square one.  She doesn't seem to get the connection between loss of off-lead privileges and barking.

OH is now in desperation suggesting water sprays, sonic collars etc which I am really resisting - but I also see his point.... what we are currently doing ISN'T working and it will only take one complaint to have us chucked off the site.

HELP!!!!   Trish XxxX

BTW she has always done this - it's not something new - and she doesn’t really do it at home in the garden - only when away

[mooching]

Almost every weekend we go to our caravan which is in an idyllic, peaceful forest campsite in the New Forest.  Our pitch backs onto deep woodland which the dogs absolutely LOVE to race about in chasing frisbee, sticks, tennis balls, or just general rough & tumble.  But, the caravans are only 20 feet or so apart - and the noise insulation in them is almost non-existent - so I am petrified that soon one of our (probably non-dog) neighbours is going to (justifiably) complain about the noise levels and we will lose our "little piece of heaven" because I can't find a way to keep Pickle from going totally NUTS as soon as she is off-lead.

OH is now in desperation suggesting water sprays, sonic collars etc which I am really resisting - but I also see his point.... what we are currently doing ISN'T working and it will only take one complaint to have us chucked off the site.

Dogs are allowed on the site - yes? So how real is this possibility of being thrown off the campsite? For how long is she barking? Is it all day or just a couple of times a day? And for how long? Is there anything written in the agreement that says that the dogs mustn't bark?

Have any of the neighbours complained before? Have you talked to any of them at all to see if it disturbs them? Or are you just assuming they mind? They might not even be in at these times when you're concerned. So long as it's not really early in the morning or late at night, I would be surprised if anyone minded, or minded enough to officially complain about it.

I live on the edge of the New Forest and probably know most of the campsites in the area. I wouldn't mind betting that nobody is actually at all bothered, especially as you are only there for a couple of days at a time. The campsite wouldn't allow dogs if they didn't want them there (and dogs do bark! it's not exactly unusual!!) (I'm even wondering, from your description, if it's one quite near to me!)

PLEASE PLEASE do NOT use any aversives. Apart from anything else, she is not being naughty, she's just being excited and happy. And if you punish her for being happy, for being full of life and fun, what message is that giving her? You could end up with a very very damaged dog.

(Have you read the excellent thread on "Aversives" by Top Barks in this folder? It's stickied near the top of the folder. You could even print it out for your OH)

[terwish]

Dear Mooching - Many thanks for your reply - we are in Setthorns (near Sway) and it's owned by the forestry commission.  The site is a bit unusual in that it has seasonal pitched caravans (70%+ of whom have dogs!) mixed in with non-seasonal (roughly half of whom don't!)  our contract does specify "dogs must be under control and not allowed to cause a nuisance" and inside the campground itself they have to be on-lead - so in fact her shrill yapping ( ) probably covers 15 minutes twice a day but it is LOUD - particularly as the site itself is SO peaceful   We DO know one of our neighbours was warned by the Warden about their dogs - but you are probably right I am more conscious of her annoying people than they are annoyed IYSWIM!  But it might only take one complaint.....

I had already seen the sticky by Top Barks - and I really get what you are saying - I don't want to kill her "happiness" either!!!  Woe betide! I suppose I just feel a bit powerless to control her exuberance and channel it into a quieter expression of

• the joy of being a cocker spaniel
• with her best-ist mates
• in the forest - which is the closest thing to heaven for a small red-headed dog!

So I think that leaves me still looking for positive strategies to discourage her barking - without quashing her personality.

Trish XxxX

[jujuli]

Interested in this as I have a happy yappy!  Its like they are shouting with happiness.  I largely just ignore it, but it can be a bit embarrasing as occassionally other dog owners look at him and wonder if he is being aggressive, especially when playing.  He has a thing about jumping into the sand holes on the dunes and barking as he does this.   Iive read about clicker training to help this but I havent done this and Im sure someone here will know more about that.

[Karma]

I guess the place to start is to stop the association that off lead necessarily means loads of fun and excitement.

Maybe let Pickle off lead when the other 2 are on lead (and calm and happy) and do some training, rather than letting her build her excitement... ??
Then, once the initial excitement wanes, the other 2 could be let off to join her...
Other than that, use a long line and any barking, just reel her in without any communication and wait for calm behaviour before praising and releasing... the trouble with recalling her is it does break the association... you risk ruining a good recall (every time I come you put me on the lead) and because you are giving a recall command, you do break the association of end of play with barking... 

[mooching]

Dear Mooching - Many thanks for your reply - we are in Setthorns (near Sway) and it's owned by the forestry commission.

I know Setthorns very well - in fact, my husband and I were walking there only two days ago. We live about 3 miles away from there.

Setthorns is basic and primitive, and I honestly cannot see that anyone would mind 15 mins twice a day of barking. Especially since it backs on to open forest/heathland (the walk we do comes right up to the campsite) where anyone and their dogs can run free and bark to their heart's content with no restrictions.

(In fact, terwish, if your dogs are in the open forest/heathland when they are running around, and she is barking (ie and not within the boundaries of the campsite), the Warden has no jurisdiction there. The Forestry Commission would only be concerned if anyone was lighting a fire, driving motorbikes/vehicles in the forest, dumping rubbish or setting up camp illegally, or if their dogs were pestering/chasing livestock - they would not be concerned about noise from animals or even people.

We DO know one of our neighbours was warned by the Warden about their dogs - but you are probably right I am more conscious of her annoying people than they are annoyed IYSWIM!  But it might only take one complaint.....

And it might not.

What were your neighbour's dogs doing, and where?

[laurenollie]

Ollie also loves to yap and bark when playing with other dogs - he makes some wierd grunting sounds too when he is really running!!! I can't offer any help but can only sympathise as it is embarrasing sometimes and other dog owners have often asked me 'is he ok?'  !!!!

L&O x

[Sarah1985]

I agree with karma and doing some off lead training.

My only other thought is does she bark when shes got a ball in her mouth? I struggled with puppy nipping when my pup got excited and i got him to pick up a ball before the excitment began and he then couoldnt sink his teeth into me through excitment. Im wonderng if the same principal might be of use to you. If she doesnt bark with a ball in her mouth and you can convince her holding a ball just adds to the excitment you can use a ball to reduce the barking.

Lots of cockers do this naturally so it wasnt difficult to train. If mine was holding a ball id chase him and add to the fun. If he dropped it i walked off and did something else. Once i reinforced it a few times i found he picks balls up whenever he can even in my absence

FYI it did  make my cocker ball obbessed and in the absence of his own ball he did become abit of a ball theif   so please ensure your dog has a good drop to go along with this. Also it can completely ruin a good retetever.

[mooching]

terwish

Did you come down to the Forest this weekend? The weather was wonderful! I just wondered how you got on (if you did!) My husband and I went for a long walk near Setthorns last Friday.

(And I wondered if you had seen my question in my last post to you?)

[terwish]

Thanks to all for the usueful advice, reassurance and information.

Mooching - yes we were in Setthorns over the weekend (only got back yesterday)- and will try to be there at EVERY opportunity over the Summer - it sure beats being at work LOL - I will PM you my phone number so anytime you fancy a Gobby Red-head CS, a Tufty Liver & White CS and a big bouncy stoopid Springer Pointer wreaking havoc on your walk you can call me!

Re your question.... it was friends of ours who have 3 (very yappy) Shelties - they left them in their crates in the awning and nipped into Brockenhurst for an hour - their neighbouring campers complained to the warden that the dogs weren't properly under control because they were unattended!  In all honesty the Warden kind of gave our friends a heads-up warning but I am still aware that Pickle's exuberance can be a bit ear piercing at times!

I am going to try the ball idea.  Trouble is she just chases Sparky when he's retreiving but doesn't actually try to retreive per se.  But maybe if she has her own high value possession it will distract her - I'll let you know!

Meantime I suppose I could issue ear-plugs to neighbouring campers LOL

Trish XxxxX