Someone just came to complain about the barking.

[SirBoobAlot]

Our dog barks. I know he barks, because I live with it, and it drives me round the bloody bend. He has been especially bad recently; there is a yappy dog moved in nearby that is irritating him, and I suspect there are rats again (they use our line of gardens as a through way from the Downs).

We all do everything we can to stop him; if he barks excessively outside, he is brought in. If inside, he is sent to his bed. Either way, he is "threatened" with a water spray bottle (on the advice of the RSPCA).

A lady round the corner has just come to complain about him being outside all night, and that her daughter has to wake up very early each morning and the dog is disturbing her sleep. I apologised, but said he wasn't outside, he was barking from inside, and that if he was bothering her, and waking her up, she must understand how much he is irritating us, and disturbing my baby. She said she wasn't trying to cause trouble but wanted to make me aware he was barking. I told her that the RSPCA had (unintentionally, I'm sure) misled us about him; they told us he didn't bark, was good with cats and didn't play with toys. Wrong on all three counts.

I'm doing everything I can (as are my family when they are here, they've been away this week) to control his barking, as I'm sure it must be bothering the neighbours, as its bothering me. Has anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks (and sorry for the rant but having someone knock on my door at 10pm is not my favourite thing).

Nah, well.. yes.

My childhood dog, I got him when I was 10 and he died when I was about 23. I appear to have tears rolling down my cheeks

I'm 32!!

Bless! He was a good age too then. Roxy was starting to loose her dignity slightly by the end, and it just wasn't fair. Even the vet was in tears when she put her down And Roxy still managed to lick the vets face as if to tell her it was okay before hand...

Booyhoo, yes, some dogs are especially determined to get them off. I can't speak for anyone else's dog's, but I have never known a dog that couldn't be trained not to wear and accept one. I'm sorry to hear bout your dog, how awful.

sirboobalot, halti's are not cruel. They work in a similar way to a pressure halter on a horse. They apply pressure, which the dog doesn't like, when the dog pulls, but it doesn't hurt the dog and when used correctly can not cause any harm to the dog. When the dog walks in the correct position the halti loosens, which is more confortable for the dog, so it prefers to be in thecorrect position. Walking to heel or on a loose lead can be further enforced by also using treats to lure the dog into the correct position and reward the dog for walking in the correct position. They are far kinder to the dog than allowing it to pull in either a choke chain or a normal, plain, flat collar, which can both cause serious damage to the neck if the dog pulls enough.

midori - just as an aside, any encouragement to walk to heel for our rescue dog was seen as threatening by our collie. We can just tell he's been beaten, so things like treats to walk to heel, and punishments for not just don't work.

sorry to hijack OP - any ideas mid?

jareth, in my experience (albeit small) punishment really never works. i have never ben a fan of it but i have seen others use it and it usually ends up with a damaged dog. i would strongly discourage punishing a dog. use reward and encouragement for a behaviour you want to see more.

Jareth, I got up to o early this morning, so bear with me...

Are you saying your rescue dog, which is a collie, is threatened by you (presumably because of previous treatment in another home) when you try and ask him to walk to heel? Or are you saying that your collie is threatened by your rescue dog when you attempt to get the recue dog to walk to heel?

I'll assume it's the former until you confirm, as I think that's most likely...

I am not sure if you have tried it, but simply stopping whenever the dog pulls and only walking when the dog is on a loose lead/in the correct position works very well, but it is absolutely painstaking and at first it might mean you having to stop every step or other step for weeks on end. Literally stop when the dog is pulling, then I would usually ask a dog to come to heel, then walk again once it is in the correct position. However, if our dog will not accept this, then if you stop and wait, the dog will eventually try different things to get going again and when it gets in the correct position, say 'good' and walk off quickly. Walking very fast helps the dog get it right. I cannot say enough though that you have to stop every single time the dog pulls and never allow it to pull or it won't work at all.

How does your dog react when you offer it a treat to lure it into position? Hve you tried doing the same with the dog off lead? (in a secure area of course) Does th edog react in the same way then?

SirBoob, our neighbour called Social Services on us a couple of weeks ago because he was annoyed at our dogs barking.

we had some behavioural issues with our dog back in the day - our vet gave us the number of a doggy psychologist. he only needed one session and some advice to us.

midori that is the method i used when micky showed his displeasure with the halti. it was very monotonous but it really worked. i couldn't recommend it enough. and yes you have to do it every single time they pull. at the start it can take 15 minutes to get 100 metres but it does work.

We have a harness for our doggy. We used to have a halti and used it for a number of years but got pretty pissed off at other folks reactions to it. It kind of gives the impression that the dog is muzzled - I was always really really annoyed when my wagging and clearly happy dog who loves to talk to people was being avoided by everyone because they thought he was a vicious killer!! I was so fed up saying 'it's not a bloody muzzle, it's a halti!' and then explaining the difference!! Ridiculous people!! Lol!

We use a harness now though - goes under his arms - and works a treat. He doesn't get choked and folk don't think he is evil (clearly the least evil dog ever). Really cuts back on the pulling.

You should totally clicker train your dog Boob - he would love it! It really does help with the pulling and so many other issues. Plus keeps him stimulated. You could even train him to help you around the house if you clicker trained him!! That would def keep him busy Think of all the washing you could get done, lol

We stopped our rescue colllie from pulling using a check (not choke) chain.

It looks like a choke chain but is a lot bigger and has larger links. The idea is that it makes a terrible noise when rattled which startles the dog (same idea as the bottle full of peas etc).

1 week of walks and she doesnt pull any more. We also used it as a training aid for recall etc and she picked it up really quickly.

I also think clicker training is a great idea and something you should look into.

Re the walks - our collie/pointer cross is walked for 40 mins in the morning, an hour at lunchtime and an hour in the evening - and this is only just enough. During the walks she is off the lead running herself into the ground and whilst she is at work with me she is play fighting with 3 other dogs pretty much all day. Any less and she would be distructive and noisy.

Previously had a JRT that ran to work with me (3 miles) every morning, went with a dog walker for 2 hours every lunchtime and ran home again.

My friend has 4 dogs (2 rottties, 2 spaniels) and they get 3 walks a day - longer than mine.

I say this because this is what you should be looking to if you are keeping this dog - and you realy cant be missing even a day - dogs are a serious tie, but they have specific needs - exercise is one of them. If you really cant manage the time/ability for walks then have you thought about a treadmill? If you can train the dog to go on it that is - they can be scary to some dogs.

LED - Treadmills are often used as a training device by dog fighters - that doesn't make them wrong, but might send out some strange signals to anyone who sees you using it. Also, a dog gets a huge amount of stimulation from sniffing and interacting on their walk - although the exercise itself is important, and I endorse what you say about the importance of exercise, both dog and owner benefit from the interest of a change of scenery. My husband runs with one of our greyhounds and is keen to try Cani - X which is where you do a cross country run with your dog, while itis attached to you via a lead from your waist. Growing rapidly in popularity and runs come in different lengths from 5K (ample for our grey) to 20K (perfect for a collie or other dog with plenty of stamina)

Dog fighters? Really? I never knew that! We had a treadmill some time ago to give our collie/lab some extra exercise (I was injured and couldn't run for a while). We found it invaluable to keep up the exercise when I was biffed (so neither of us got lazy ) - I never even thought about dog fighters doing it - or people thinking I could be one!

I was really into the idea of Cani-X and the JRT would have loved it, except she probably would have tried to eat the other dogs, great dog, terrible temper! New dog would be perfect but unfortunately I'm biffed again, and wont repair this time so it's walks only - hence so many of them.

On a related note to Cani X, there is also a similar sport which you do on mountain bikes with your dog - mind you that looks pretty hardcore. But depending on the nature of your "biff" might be easier to do, than running.

My neighbours' dogs bark and its soo annoying, especially as one of the neighbours thinks its funny. However, I found the best way to stop mine barking was not aversion therapy but the total opposite. If the dog is barking outside, call it to you and give it a biscuit and then you calmly lead it into the house saying good boy/girl. The dog associates getting a treat and praise for coming to you, not for barking. Keep it up and in time, the dog will simply come to you when you appear at the doorway and you won't have to say anything.

Inside, the same applies, have it come to you and sit at your feet, and give it praise. Also, act completly calmly at whatever is causing the barking as if it doesn't bother you.

I highly recommend you buy the Dog Listener by Jan Fennel as it deals with exactly this. Key reinforcements in everyday life are:

Ignore the dog when you get home. Do your own thing and when you are sorted, unpacked, tea in hand etc then call the dog to you to be petted. Don't let the dog dictate when it gets petted, you're in charge.

Gesture eat. when making the dog's breakfast and dinner, put a cracker by the dog bowl on the work surface and eat the cracker in front of the dog. It looks to the dog like you're eating its food- effectively as pack leader, helping yourself to whatever you want then he'she has the rest. if the dog leaves its food, pick it up and take it away, no food until the next meal. If food is left out for constant access the dog thinks its in charge.

Exercise exercise exercise. 2 long walks a day.

It works for me and mine don't react when the neighbours' dogs start going loony.