Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:20 pm Post subject: Overcoming nervous barking
Hello. Do you have any tips for stopping a dog barking at outside noises when at home?
My young dog, although friendly & affectionate, does have a nervous streak and will bark at new people that come to the house. I have a strategy for this: new people feed him a treat so he associates new people with good things.
He is also easily startled by occasional noises made by the neighbours or by outside noises (which I don't often hear!), jumps up and starts barking. At the moment I deal with this by distracting him. I wondered whether anyone had overcome similar nervous behaviour in their dog or if anyone had any tips?
Bella is exactly the same in many respects, but I have never viewed it as nervous behaviour. She will bark if she hears a noise (normally a noise I can also hear), sometimes she will raise her hackles at a noise and appear a bit nervous, but as soon as she realises it is nothing to worry about she is fine.
She will sit on the chair and look out of the window and will bark at people walking past, but always with her tail gently wagging, which I don't view as a nervous response. She will also bark at anyone that comes to the door (again with tail wagging), but as soon as they are in the house she keeps quite and goes into her wriggly bum routine as a welcome. If I leave her in another room while I open the door, she carry's on barking.
My point is, are you sure it is all nerves, or is some of it just excitement and the anticipation of someone coming into the house. Maybe it is just a warning bark of there is someone there.
I'm sorry I don't have any tips, but I just take Bella's barking as part of her behaviour, as in she is warning there is something/one there. If she can't see it (i.e. a noise), she can be nervy, but everything else appears to be excitement/anticipation. Is this possibly what you are seeing in your pup?
I will be interested to see other's responses. If there are any tips to stop the barking I would love to know as it can be a bit of a pain sometimes
____________ Owned by Bella, Shadow & Cats ....
Never forgetting Harry : 18/01/11 - 14/05/11 RIP
Thank you for your response, Mel. If I describe Chester's body position, it may give more of a clue as to whether his response is nervous or excited. If, when lying down, he is startled by a noise, he lifts his head in a tense/alert way, eyes looking left & right, his ears go up at the top yet back, his top lip goes puffy and he will give a 'harumph' noise or a growl. When he is more startled, he jumps up and runs forwards towards the noise, stops with feet placed quite wide so his body is stocky and square, tail back and up, ears up and forward, neck and face forward and makes a 'roo, roo, roo, roo, roo' kind of bark.
I have a feeling it is territorial behaviour but I still have a feeling there is a nervous element.
Any insight regarding behaviour or tips to help with barking would be most appreciated. I hope you are able to get some helpful tips for your barking dog too, Mel.
Whenever poor Luna moved house - 6 times in 3 years bless her - I knew that she would go through a period of adjustment to the noises outside. I know there are certain triggers that will always set her off eg the sound of gravel set her off alarm barking when we were camping once because it used to be the sound indicating my ex was home, the sound of the letterbox banging will always set her off because it is someone at the door, the sound of someone knocking on the door because it is someone at the door. The latter 2 I have no problem with at all it happens at most a couple of times a day and in fact I tend to praise her when she alerts me to this things.
Other regular noises from outside or a neighbour take a couple of weeks to adjust too. I will stay relaxed, I will always look for the reason she is barking and then I will say ' it's just the bin men' or 'it's just next door's door' or 'it's just next door getting in their car' and then go back to what I am doing. Ignoring her would make her barking worse but if I recognise and seem to act on her alarm she's happy. When she was a pup I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees next to her peering under the curtain, out of the floor to ceiling window with her at some 'danger noise'! She would stop barking as soon as I was sticking my nose next to hers and after a while I'd look at her, she'd look at me, I'd give her a kiss and tell her she was a silly pup and scamper off to get a toy! It's fun acting pup-like!! Tucker spent a few days settling into the noises around the house when he came home and then spent a few weeks adjusting to the noises happening around the house when outside in the garden. The same techniques worked for him too. He doesn't alarm bark as much as Luna - postmen etc don't bother him. When he barks in the night I investigate as it is rare for him too!
Tucker will sit in the window and bark at dogs going by and horses and sometimes people - he isn't alarm barking IMO as he doesn't look to me to act at all. It is a 'trying to get their attention' bark as he is wagging away and not taking his eyes off them incase they decide to bound towards him to play!! He won't stop using the strategies that work above. I keep the curtains closed when I'm not home and I praise him whenever he quietly watches someone pass instead of barking at them and the calmer he has become and more used to them passing by he has become the less he barks.
Well my boy Sam is a mix of Luna and Tucker really and I do the same as Laura except if its the door I say to Sam "I'll get it" or if he's allowed to go (i.e. I know its Mum or Dad coming home) I say "Who's that Sammy?" and he'll run to the door wagging his tail to greet them, sometimes he will bark but only an excitment hello bark then will pick up a toy or shoe if no toys are handy to present to the person coming in so that's it really, everything Laura said plus maybe having a toy handy because he can't bark at the same time as holding a toy!
We get much the same from Mischa, she will bark if someone walks on the gravel out front, the others also jump up to have a look but don't bark, as they seem to think she is managing to make enough noise on her own.
I do the same as Laura and have a look to see who or what it is, and just say its ok, or its dad, kids, postman and carry on with what I'm doing, then they all go back to their snooze, I don't discourage it as prefer to have them alerting me.
If its someone at the door they are asked to sit and wait in the Kitchen while I open front door, the person is asked to ignore them all completely till they are quiet or if they start bouncing, I don't ask visitors to treat them as I have found they start to associate new people inside and out with treats and it means they pester till they get one, and then it can be embarrassing.
I also prefer it if people ask me if they can give a treat when we are out for the same reason.
Other reasons for the barking has been squirrels teasing from the back fence, fox's taking a short cut through the garden, kids playing next door, security lights going on, hackles an tail go up and pacing back an forth till I respond with its ok, if door is open then Mischa fly's out at with the others following to chase intruders away, then they all file back in with a job done look on their faces, and back to snooze.
She is age 3 now and done this since quite young, I think it is pretty normal and have'nt found a solution other than taking little notice and it is usually done and dusted much quicker than if I try to stop it.
The latest barking from my newby Suzie was last week when hubby took Mischa and Bruno for a walk and left her behind, the first 2 days day I responded by going to see what the fuss was about, she was quite agitated, the third day I ignored her completely, and since then she has not barked, so my theory with her barking was attention seeking as she now just comes to me with a sad look 'I've been left behind', then settles down and accepts it.
Another thing we have had and others have told me of similar occurances in the first couple of years, is if there is a plastic bag flying about, or an object where previously there was nothing in the distance, plus other wierd things then Mischa would bark and go into a bit of a panic until she had investigated it, all this is quite normal but usually lessens as their confidence grows.
Thanks all for your comments. This is my first dog so there may well be elements off me reading more into behaviour than there needs to be. I am learning as I go along. Just to let you know, Chester is 34 weeks old and will be 8 calendar months at the end of this week.
The helpful tips that I have gleaned from your posts are:
a) dogs bark at noises (some more than others)!
b) to be relaxed and to reassure a dog (I do try to do this when I know the source of the noise)
c) to use a toy as a distraction (or mouth muffler!)
d) barking is normal behaviour
I think what concerned me was his body language and the fact that noises disturb & stress him when he's relaxing in the lounge in the evening.
Hopefully, as he matures, he will gain more confidence and will be able to ignore noises more?? He's actually a calm dog, and has been a very calm puppy. It sounds like a contradiction to say he has a nervous streak but it is what I have observed. I wonder whether this is his individual character and something to be accepted rather than shaped? If the barking could be tackled, I wanted to do it now while he is young.
I think perhaps there may be territorial elements as he barks when at home or in the car but doesn't tend to bark at noises or people when we are out and about; although he did bark at the gundog club chairman when he walked over!
On that note, we have started training classes again (regular & gundog) and had a really enjoyable gundog basic obedience class today. It was nice to chat to other retriever owners with dogs at the same level and to realise our dogs are as good and as bad as each other in different ways.
I think what concerned me was his body language and the fact that noises disturb & stress him when he's relaxing in the lounge in the evening
Wilmington, your description of Chester is very like Mischa, she has from very young been a very laid back girl and spends most of her day snoozing or pretending too in her bed or on the sofa. She is up in a split second the moment boots go on for a walk, or if there is a noise outside, I put this down to being lazy or nosey, if there is nothing better to do .
If the other dogs in the house are up for a play she will drag herself up to join in, I consider myself lucky as she is a calming influence on them, and has taught them lots, as they are both rescues and she has made them a lot more confident and helped them lose a lot of their fears.
Well it's good to know there are other dogs like Chester around and that Mischa has been a good influence on your rescue dogs, Fiz.
Chester too will jump up in a split-second if he hears a startling noise. He also has a tendency to follow me around the house; I don't actually mind this but feel he is unnecessarily disturbing himself if he drags himself up (when supposedly asleep) to follow me into the kitchen when I have just nipped in there for a second. I have tried closing the lounge door to encourage him to remain asleep and not follow but I find him up and behind the door when I come back. I think this is just his nature and am not overly concerned about this.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
so that's it really, everything Laura said plus maybe having a toy handy because he can't bark at the same time as holding a toy!
.
