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Post by AnnaAmber on Apr 1, 2013 17:08:57 GMT
Amber has started to bark whenever visitors come over. She gets excited when she hears the doorbell, and normally people will greet her and pet her. She will then calm down! However, once people sit down and want to talk, she begins to bark & won't stop.... We've tried ignoring her (but that's hard when you've got visitors :  As well as trying to let her outside or give her attention. This only solves it for a few minutes - eventually she'll settle down but it takes a while (and then after a little while she'll start to bark again and we have the same problem all over again!) & now it's turning into a real pain! Especially as she starts the other two off barking too! Any tips or advice would be much appreciated  |
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Barking!
Apr 2, 2013 7:57:03 GMT
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Post by charlottte on Apr 2, 2013 7:57:03 GMT
First off, paying her attention will only teach her that barking gains attention. Ignoring should work as it should teach her that she doesn't get attention from anyone while she's loud but obviously that depends on how long you can deal with a barking dog as its quite irritating  You could try and teach her a 'quiet' cue. When there's a break in her barking and she's quiet, reward her with a toy or treat or praise so she learns quiet is good. Then when she seems to be getting the idea, add your chosen cue It sounds like the doorbell and prospect of visitors is quite arousing for her, probably because she's worked out that visitors pay her attention. Could people knock rather than ring the doorbell to see if that makes a difference? Also I'd get visitors to ignore her if she's barking when they come in and only fuss her when she's quiet. Could you also not play a game with her or do some training with her when you know people are coming over to keep her occupied? My Poodle gets frustrated when people leave and he air humps next to their leg, I've found that playing a game of tug (although I imagine tug with a Bernese if fun lol!) or doing some trick training keeps his mind off the frustration and humping. Barking can be quite difficult to change as its self rewarding although its not impossible. I'm sure other people will be able to chip in. Smokey ear usually has really good advice and links to good training articles etc |
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Barking!
Apr 2, 2013 10:01:52 GMT
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Post by BorderTerrier on Apr 2, 2013 10:01:52 GMT
This is exactly like my own problem.
See 'Over excited with people!' Thread by yours truly.
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Post by AnnaAmber on Apr 4, 2013 21:50:29 GMT
charlotte; thanks for the advice. I agree ignoring her would be the best way to solve it, we have tried ignoring her, although it doesn't really work as my parents don't feel it's acceptable for her to be barking at all our visitors, and the visitors don't like it (to be fair she's quite loud) Your idea of teaching her to be "quiet" and rewarding her would probably be the best way to go - she is a clever dog though and I wouldn't put it past her to figure out if she barks, she gets told to be quiet, gets rewarded and it turns into a cycle!! It's worth a try though - I think I'll use one of her favourite toys to reward her and then she has something to play with to keep her busy BorderTerrier; I've been looking through that thread, there is some great advice there too! It all starts when visitors arrive so if we could solve that it would really help the issue. We tried getting people to ignore her as they walked in and it just made her more crazy, she started to jump up on people (which, with her being such a large dog, they weren't pleased with, understandably) I'd love to teach her to stay in her bed whilst people arrived, which would be a challenge for her at first, but a worthwhile thing to train  |
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Barking!
Apr 5, 2013 7:11:09 GMT
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Post by charlottte on Apr 5, 2013 7:11:09 GMT
I understand not wanting a mountain of Bernese barking at your visitors lol! We get one in at work and he walks through your legs and makes you straddle him. He even tried to jump out the hatch when he saw his owner once (he would have managed too if his owner hasn't pushed him back lol) And once she got the quiet behaviour you'd be able to slowly fade out the toy or food to a pat or a 'good girl' Most dogs don't go AS crazy for verbal praise than they do for a toy. But I know what you mean, jasper flings toys at me whenever people come in the house haha (and he's about five times smaller than a Bernese  ) |
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Post by BorderTerrier on Apr 6, 2013 13:47:42 GMT
AnnaAmber; the soloution to our problem is progressing. Every time someone comes to the door, I put Earl in the down position on his blanket and give him a stuffed Kong. He still kept barking and whining until I simply pulled the treat out, grabbing my greedy dog's attention, then shoving it quickly back in! This occupied him, and after around 10 minuets, he only wagged his tail at visitors. No harm done! This excersise will have to continue until it well and truely sinks into the dog's brain. |
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Post by AnnaAmber on Apr 8, 2013 13:21:19 GMT
Well we had our grandparents visiting yesterday and Amber was much better. She started barking a few times but I asked her to be quiet and when she was, I played with her with her toy. Once I had given her her dinner then she fell asleep and was no bother. I think if we are really consistent then we will see an improvement. We were also less worried about her barking as we had a plan as to what we were going to do, so it worked well Good to hear Earl is doing well too! |
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Post by charlottte on Apr 8, 2013 15:56:26 GMT
Glad to hear she's progressing |
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Post by charlottte on Apr 8, 2013 15:56:49 GMT
Glad to hear she's progressing |
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Post by BorderTerrier on Apr 8, 2013 16:50:05 GMT
Double post charlotte, how naughty lol Glad to hear Amber is progressing! |
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As well as trying to let her outside or give her attention. This only solves it for a few minutes - eventually she'll settle down but it takes a while (and then after a little while she'll start to bark again and we have the same problem all over again!) & now it's turning into a real pain! Especially as she starts the other two off barking too!
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