my weekly post!!!- Barking

[Huey's mum]

Ok so me again!

Huey is coming on leaps and bounds.....literally! he has toned down the mauling of his mother and actually does what he's told, occasionally.

We have a new little trick he does now. Huey is not allowed in the dining room when we eat. we have a baby gate up so that he can see us, but can't mooch.

He has only recently started barking and crying (sounds like a squeaky toy) when we're in there. We know this if for attention so we've been ignoring him. When he barks it's so loud it makes me blink. I think i'm gonna end up with a nervous twitch.

Are there any ways I can correct him?

thanks again

Frankie


p.s he's back to really disliking the water spray again so he's not been as bad on the worktops.

[heather n luke]

i would probably just continue to ignore him. because if he barks and gets any form of attention either positive or negative he may bark and whine in other situations when he wants something. it may take a while and drive you mad but when he eventually realises that barking or whining gets him no where he should stop.
i can totally understand how annoying it can be i have an extremely vocal great Dane. luke found his voice when he was in the vet hospital as he broke his leg, the vet reckoned that when he barked someone would sit in the kennel with him. so when he came home he thought that when he barked he got what he wanted. although as we kept correcting him luke got the attention he wanted and learned that if he barked and whined he would eventually get attention. so in theory we taught our dog to continually bark and whine for hours. but when we ignored him which was pain staking as it went on for hours he eventually got the picture and now realises that it doesn't work.

[Huey's mum]

Thanks for that!

we thought as much, so we'll stick with it. He did bark a bit less last night so hopefully it will continue to decrease.

it's all about patience with a pup I've learned!

Frankie

[John Thomson]

Difficult one.........to correct him you need to give him attention.and that is what he wants.

John
_________________
John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[lesley]

When Alfie was still in his crate he went through a phase of barking during night for attention. Mum made it worse cos when I was on holiday she watched him and if he barked she took him out and slept on couch with him!!! At first I fell for it and got up and took him out thinking he needed out for pee but he just wanted to play. Tried ignoring him but was worried about neighbours....for a wee dog he has big bark. If I gave him any form of attention it made him worse. Eventually I just came into living room, said nothing, sprayed him with water and left room again (think I was bit grumpy and sleep deprived) but it did settle him. Took week or so of doing it every time.

Think key is finding what works for him but doing the same thing consistently. I would avoid eye contact or talking to him. If ignoring him doesn't work, could try putting him completely out the room and only letting him back in when it's quiet? Alfie hates nothing more than being away from me, That's punishment enough for anything.

At least if you settle it now he will grow out of it. But u don't want him always doing this!!