Curbing insecure barking at people and other dogs - Page 1

Hi everyone,

I have an 8 month old GSD bitch that I'm having a hard time curbing her tendency to bark at people for no reason, with hackles up, but not showing teeth, as well as being shy-insecure when meeting other dogs.  She's been through basic obedience and is nearly done with her advanced basic.  She gets along great with the other dogs in the class.  But taking her to a dog park or coming across people walking their dogs in the neighborhood...ugh.  As soon as I see her start to get intensely focused on something she's not supposed to, I give her a sharp tug on her leash (I use a prong collar on her for walks and training, really keeps her from pulling and getting in my way), give a loud "Sssh!" sound, and try to keep walking and not paying any attention to the other dogs or people.  If that doesn't get her attention back to me, I'll poke her on her flank.  That has about a 50/50 success rate.

I'm not sure how much socialization she had as a puppy, or if it was good socialization, before we got her at 3mos old.  The breeder told us her mom died shortly after the birth of the puppies due to an infection from not expelling all of her placentas.  So the puppies were hand-raised.  She started being protective of us within a few days of bringing her home!

I've been taking her for a mile walk early in the morning when it's pitch black out before I go to work.  There are no streetlights, so visibility is poor.  She is in "alert mode" as soon as we leave the house:  checking back over her shoulder to make sure there isn't anyone following us, ears up, keeping an eye on any high school kids walking through the neighborhood.  She actually does better at not barking when it's dark out!  Since we're alone in the dark for the most part, I appreciate her alertness and protectiveness, as her eyesight is much better than mine and she'd see or hear someone coming at us before I could.

So I don't want to completely eliminate her barking at people, but I'd like to know if the pros here could offer any advice and tips on how to get her to stop barking immediately on command.  Also, what would be a good confidence booster for her?  I'd like her to be more sociable with other dogs.

Thank you in advance!

Zoe's Mum

To be quite honest, better obedience will fix it. Heel is heel, whether you are walking through a grassy, quiet field, or a crowded street at night.  Class is a good start, but perhaps you should look around for a trainer more experienced in resolving your issues with her.  By using a training collar correction you are doing exactly what I recomend to my clients, but if it is not working, something is going on with your correction itself or your timing.  Focus on structured commands when she shows the slightest inclination toward a person, and lavish her with praise when she puts attention on you. Without seeing it firsthand its hard to say what's going wrong. Sadly, interent advice is only as good an the bandwidth it's entered on.

Thank you, KCzaja!  My boyfriend and I were discussing taking her to another trainer after she's completed her current class, hopefully one that could address our needs a little better.  I've also started bringing treats along on the last couple of walks, and I praise and treat her when she calms down quickly and is more relaxed and at heel.   When a dog gets overly excited, should I forcibly put her into heel position or a put her into a sit until she calms down, then praise her?  Not hurting her of course, just a firm grip on her collar and pulling her hind end to my side.  Or should I keep walking, head straight, and wait until she has lost interest in what we passed, like I've been doing, and treat her when she calms down?  I don't want to send her the wrong signals!

I completely understand, it's like a patient asking for a diagnosis from a doctor over the internet!

I will try some variations tomorrow morning if we run into a problem, and see how she reacts.

Thank you again

THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY...

YOU BECOME THE PACK LEADER.  PERIOD.

I don't think this is a matter of who's boss. Despite what alot of people think, even if you are "pack leader", your dog's gonig to try and give you shit. My female is like how your female sounds. She merely grew out of it. Don't be too harsh, it's a good thing she wants to check out what's going on, IMO. If you don't like it, just be very stern with her. THEN you might need to enforce your status as "pack leader". This doesn't have to be you choking her out with the pinch. Just harshly tug her around to face you, grab her muzzle roughly in your hands and stare into her eyes, telling her "No!" In a wolf pack, to enforce their dominance, the superiors will often do this, grabbing the subordinate's muzzles in their teeth. Wolves will go belly up to show their submission, at home, your dog will probably just look away and keep her ears back unless you really go to town on her. My little girl will only show aggression if someone, or some dog, gets too close. But she knows if I tell her to shush, she'll shush.

-Emily.

Thank you Emily,

Her and I had an excellent walk today, with her heeling perfectly with minimal pulling (which was corrected).  She started to woof when we left the house, but I cut it short before she got worked up about the people across the street.  Reinforcing her heeling and the speed of her calming down after her "grrrrr moments" with treats seemed to work really well.  I'll try a muzzle grab on her the next time she goes off in public and see how long it takes her to become submissive.  Then I'll be sure to give her lots of cookies for it when she chills out.

My boyfriend and I definitely appreciate her "on guard duty" presence, as we're not also entirely comfortable with random people coming up to pet her without permission (like in the couple of other threads here--stupid people with no respect for a large, smart animal!).  So we don't really mind when she barks at them like Cujo, we just need to work on stopping her when we want her to quit.

Emily, how old is your female?

Cheers,

Kim

It's great you're trying a more positive approach! Especially if she's responding well to it.

My girl is about 16 months. So, not much older than your Zoe. :)

-Emily

don't rule out hormones.  my bitch had a period of time right around the age that coincided with her first heat cycle where she seemed a little jumpy.  i had never seen her show fear towards anything and then one evening just after dark in a parking lot she started growling/barking at a bag that was blowing in the breeze.  we walked over to it and she calmed down but that kind of thing happened several more times within a couple of weeks and then never again.