Please help! Bloody dog is driving me nuts!

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

Ok so my wonderfully well trained dog is developing some annoying habits. First, she barks at anything and everything, neighbours parking in their drive, anyone even coming near the house, she even spent most of last week barking at the blind chain moving in the wind.
Ive tried distraction which totally failed, not sure what to try next. The interesting thing is she doesn't bark when we aren't in, when we come home from places we open the kitchen door and she gets up off her basket and comes to us, if Im in the kitchen and anyone opens the front door she goes batshit, barking, throwing herself at the kitchen door etc.
She is starting to get very annoying as she wakes the kids up when next door comes home from work. (late) she doesn't just bark once or twice, she keeps it up for several minutes and then does smaller chuff type barks for ages afterwards.
Second thing, she bolts. If she is in the hallway and kids come in she bolts down the street and pees on the neighbours lawns. She then ignores me shouting completely and if I try to catch her thinks it's a game.
This is starting to get quite trying as she runs flat out so no way to catch her and if I'm in the front room and the kids come in she's half way up the street before I've even got off the sofa. Kids are 5 and 7 so in no way able to stop a determined staffy from doing a bunk.

[oreocrumbs]

She is in charge of you .

If she is barking when you are in, and racing ahead of you she is being in charge of the pack. You need to take back control!

You need to train her to stay behind you. When you walk through a door you go first. Call her to heel and make her wait, walk through the door then allow her to go. Practice in the house. Make sure you go down the stairs first. When you feed her make her sit and stay before she is given the food.

Get a friend or neighbour to help you practice with people knocking on the door. When they knock stand up and call her to heel, make her sit. Make her stay then open the door. If she moves, go back do it again.

Do some recall training too. She should improve with the bolting if she accepts her place in the pack as lower down. She should look to you for permission before making her bid for freedom. In theory.

When she barks at people walking past, again stand up, make her sit and stay. Get the focus on you, get her to follow your lead. At the minute she thinks she is in charge and is leading/protecting the pack. She is warning off intruders. She is protecting the house from invaders and she is bolting for freedom when she jolly well likes because she is the boss .

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

Sadly this sounds like an accurate summary! Right. I am boss mare to the horse I can be pack leader to the dog!

[D0oinMeCleanin]

She's not in charge of you. She is doing these things because she gets rewarded for doing so.

The barking is boundary guarding. She barks the people who are walking past go away. Her barking has been rewarded. Teach a quiet command. It's easiest to do this by first teaching speak. When she is barking give the command speak and treat. Once she will speak on command wait for her to stop give the command quiet and treat.

She is bolting because it's fun and she is rewarded with a game of 'can't catch me'. Teach her wait. Start with her lead on. Open the door. Wait until she stops pulling. Give the command 'wait' and then treat. Once she stops pulling at the door step out and tell her come.

I find mine try to bolt more often if they're not getting enough exercise so make sure she gets out enough with you.

interesting article hree

Also a few good books on Amazon i.e Don't shoot the dog and the cluture clash these both help explain why dogs do what they do without referring to the hugley out dated dominance theory, which was disproved years ago.

[Inthepotty]

No need to be pack leader. She's not a wolf.

Going through doors first won't stop her bolting and then not re-calling. Training will though. It also won't stop unwanted barking, but again, training will.

[Inthepotty]

Sorry posted too soon. Agree with D0in that teaching a speak and quiet command is dead easy and will also keep your dog busy, and therefore out of trouble! Practise a snappy down/distance down and wait, so if the door is ever open, you can tell dog to down and wait whilst you close it, rather than chasing down the street.

How much excersise does she get? My boy is little shithouse bit of a tinker if hes allowed to get bored.

[TheMonster]

Squirty water bottle. After a couple of squirts, just a shake of the bottle is enough to deter them from barking. I put a couple of drops of lavender oil in my bottle so it smells nice too.

[RedwingWinter]

What Dooin said :)

Wait is a really useful command. It's the one that stops my Dog2 from running off to meet new people and dogs. He sits and waits while I catch up to him to put the leash on. He can handle 'wait' in really exciting situations where he's still not so good on recall.

My other dog is an escape artist, so I have taught him that he has to sit before going out of any door. The idea is that if he thinks of bolting, he will know he is supposed to sit first before going out.

[Inthepotty]

Wait also very useful for dodging cyclists!

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

We do have a leave command which i use when she steals toys,
When I want her to drop a toy we are playing with and also when she she gets too excited about greeting another dog I use leave to make her back off calm down a bit. She is generally a real live wire and has boundless energy. Most of my time is spent trying to get her to calm down a bit and stop bouncing off the walls. She gets 2 short walks a day but also I spend half an hour a couple of times a day playing tug of war/squeaky toy which involves her running round our big garden at top speed. It certainly knackers me out and I'm fairly fit and active.