Barky, jumpy dog - please tell me, can it get better?

[Pleasehelpmehelpmydog]

Hi all,

our dog is almost 2. We’ve had her from 10 weeks old, but she was behind on her jabs, so she couldn’t go for walks (on the ground) until all her jabs were done. We still took her out and about carrying her, so she could see the world, and she’s been to puppy and adolescent training, and has lots of enrichment activities and at least one off-lead, sniffy walk a day, usually a run with one of us or a play with DH’s family’s dogs as well.

She just doesn’t seem to be able to settle properly. In the house, she barks at the slightest noise, at car doors or voices outside. If she sees anyone out of the window, she goes crazy, so we’re getting film for half the window.

I’m doing lots of training with her - we’re back at school for Obedience Level 2, and she does so well there - focuses on me, doesn’t bark at the other dogs, settles on the floor happily, properly relaxed. The trainer doesn’t seem to realise how unsettled she can be at the slightest noise at home because she doesn’t show it at ‘school’.

I work from home and it’s so hard to focus on my work because we live in a terrace and I’m constantly trying to distract her or calm her. I really really don’t want to be that neighbour and I also feel so guilty towards our dog.

I’m working really hard on our training and she’s having a calming supplement each day too in her lickimat as part of her enrichment. Can anyone offer reassurance that this will get better in time, if I keep working at it with her? I feel constantly on edge and I’ve cried today because I just don’t know how we can live like this. TIA.

Generally speaking dogs do what gets rewarded. You say, 'I'm constantly trying to distract her or calm her'. When she barks, you get up from your work and pay attention to her....so you're rewarding her with attention for barking...she thinks she's doing the right thing.

You need to reward her when she's NOT barking. If she's quiet for a few minutes, praise her, give her a treat or a toy she likes. If she's barking, ignore her. Then when she goes quiet again reward her again. Gradually reward for longer silences.

This has worked with me and I was amazed how quickly it worked. My dog used to bark at the vacuum and stopped within a couple of days realising that doing so didn't get my attention.

Worth a try, but if you don't have any success could you ask the dog trainer if she will come to the house, witness the barking and see if she has any good ideas.

You will be able to get over this I'm sure, but it won't just go away on its own...well it might do, but it might take your dog getting old and tired to do it.

@BunnyBettChetwynnd thank you, that makes sense. I’m trying to do more of the rewarding for settling - so dropping a couple of little treats down to her when she actually does settle herself. The other thing we’re working on is ‘focus’ - so if she can look at the distraction and then look to me with eye contact and without barking, she gets a tiny treat for focus. In time, I’m hoping she’ll just look to me for the treat automatically (or because she’s been trained/conditioned to do that).

Sounds like you're all over it and that you're building a great relationship with a clever dog. She'll get there.

When dogs are young they often have these issues and the getting over them together will be something you look back on with great pride and fondness. Hard to believe on days like the one you've had today, but it's true.

My old dog is lying quietly at my feet as I type and I have to admit that some days I'd give anything to turn the clock back to when she was full of mischief and we had all the years ahead of us to look forward to.

Karen Overall relaxation protocol
how’s her tummy? Ears? Possible allergies?

Gosh @BunnyBettChetwynnd that’s so so kind of you. I think my natural reaction is to be really hard on myself and feel like it’s my fault she’s like this, but I really hope we’ll get there. She’s definitely very clever - I think part of the challenge for me is working her brain properly to tire her out mentally and get her to settle that way, rather than being on high alert all the time!

love and scratches to your lovely old dog 💐 thank you for your kind words

@dinmin it crossed my mind that it could be her tummy upsetting her - she’s had a bit of a sensitive tum since she was a pup, and I’ve just put her on a probiotic to see if that helps at all. She can get grubby ears (she’s a spaniel), so we have to keep on top of that too. Otherwise, she has a full bill of health from the vet.

I hadn’t heard of Karen Overall. Thank you for the recommendation!

Gut issues can massively affect behaviour and prevent settling, so if the probiotics don’t work I’d try (slowly) switching over her food. Chicken is a common culprit for example. You could even try a gastro or hypoallergenic food

@dinmin thank you. She’s on Millie’s Wolfheart countryside mix at the moment which is without chicken (I’m 90% sure!). We had her on Burns grain-free for a short while but that upset her tummy so we switched back again. It’s absolutely something I’d be willing to explore though if it will make a difference!

Definitely look at the quality of her diet. I saw an improvement very quickly with our rescue when I changed his food.
Adaptil plug ins help a bit too.
Spaniels can be a lot of work!

@Sarfar45 thank you! Can I ask what your pup eats? Thank you re. Adaptil, that’s reminded me to get a new refill 😊 we did have one ages ago but it ran out and I think it probably did help. Do you think it’s worth trying something like Butternut or is that just expensive marketing? She did have Forthglade trays mixed in with her biscuits when she was a pup which always looked to be good quality so I’d go for something like that again if that would be beneficial.

I suggest a few things that worked for me:

When the noise happens and you get a reaction you can just leave the room - quietly. Return when silent. This works for some dogs as noise/bark = the loss of you.

You can also train a 'come' when they bark - I have a GSD and he is pretty barky (thats the breed chatacteristic a bit) so as soon as he barks and I'm there he comes to me immediately and sits. This I trained over a few weeks - 'Max, come' once the reaction started. I gave a super treat each time. Now he will bark, run to me, sit and then watch. At that point you can ask for a down stay and ignore.
Its important you dont react, get up, stop him, shout etc. Just let him bark then get the return.

I would train a down sit where he does not break the down - easy to do in house - start tiny increments with more distance/ distraction etc as time goes on. We are now doing this outside and he is shaking with excitment in some downs but knows he has to wait for release.

Finally, I use 'Settle' as in go to your crate and lie there - it was the very first thing I taught and it is instant - skids into the crateb at high speed as a great treat will follow.

All commands have a release which I use - 'free' means its over.

Maybe these might help.

@Gardendad thank you, that’s really helpful. DDog loves learning commands so that sounds right up her street. She learned ‘roll over’ really quickly and loves it so much that it seems to have overwritten ‘lie down’ in her spaniel brain, so sometimes if she’s excited, you get a full roll when you’ve only asked for a lie down 😄 she’s adorable really, just a hard work teenage dog. Thank you, all, this is so reassuring

Mine is a lot better after a 1:1 with a trainer/behavourist a couple of weeks ago. Before he even came he said to make sure he has a dog tag that doesn't clang against his bowl when eating. They don't like the noise and it becomes part of trigger stacking.

I knew you were going to say she's a spaniel OP, sounds a lot like our dog! She also used to bark at everything, drove me and probably the neighbours nuts. She is very clever so needs stimulation, lots of physical exercise and sniffing but also enough time and quiet to sleep. She is just over 2 and so much more settled now - you do sound like you're all over it, so do hope the barking stops for you too.

I've got a nervy sprocker and she spends all day at work with me quietly under my desk now she's used to it. We leave a radio on low so she's not constantly listening out for noise, she has Yucalm supplements and we're extremely careful to watch the protein in her diet (she's on Forthglade). I found the protein levels of Millie's Wolfheart sent our other spaniel (working cocker) a bit mad and he was constantly hyper. May be worth checking diet especially if her ears are grubby sometimes.

@Bluebells1970 that’s so interesting about the protein content of Millie’s. Is your pup on wet or dry Forthglade, or a mixture of both?

@Discwriter I’m so glad yours calmed down. Fingers crossed for our DPup too x

No problem.
If you want to fix the roll over you can use a new command for lie down - that could be 'place' 'down' etc. Mark the new command with treat and behaviour. About 6 weeks to proof, daily. Then NEVER use lie down again. ( Lie down is not a great command as its two things)
If you want to keep 'lie down' but correct the roll then use 'oh oh' as in 'thats not right' or 'clever' as in 'good effort but nearly there'. Mine almost screams when he hears oh oh as he knows he made a mistake! Once they present the right behaviour mark with a 'yes'! This might help with the barking stuff also. ONLY mark what you want.

I’ve just had a quick look at the protein content - Millie’s Countryside is 30% crude protein and Forthglade turkey dry pressed is 24.5%. Is it worth slowly changing over to try the Forthglade? I’d heard before that too much protein could make them hyper, but I stuck with the Millie’s because it seemed such good quality and Burns gave her a bit of a dodgy tum. Maybe now with the probiotic, she’d be better on Burns?

Thank you, @Gardendad, I’ll give that a go 🙂

Keep us posted. You are doing great!

Thank you so much, that means a lot 🙏

Our springer just turned one and he's the same, he also has gut problems. He's on butternut box and tribal kibble. Can't have chicken. Also on daily pro-pre-biotics. For treats he gets carrots, duck strips and chicken free things. The heat isn't helping. We've been doing clicker training which only goes so far as he hears stuff before we do. He's got used to us when we're working and just sleeps and only barks if someone actually comes to the door.

Spaniel? Working line?

If so, try and do something to engage her brain that works with her genetics. Spaniels are bred to hunt and retrieve, so there is quite a lot you can do. Hide tennis balls in long grass or weeds and get her to find them and bring them to you. Do structured retrieving exercises - start simple, work up, and look on places like YouTube for inspiration. Look for suggestions for seen, marked, blind and directional retrieves - that will cover all of it.

I have working line gundogs and I know what pains in the arse they can be if they don't get the brain work that they need, so I feel your pain.