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LOL--I couldn't find another category that it fit under. If it needs to be moved, that is fine.
You are probably right about training but I do think there are breeds that seem to react much more often than others. For instance, some of the quietest dogs are the biggest ones! The yip-yappers are usually the smaller ones.
Kind of like people...
Not true, we had a chihuahua and a terrier and neither of them barked because they were trained not to bark.
people hear what they want to hear... no different then a child tugging at his mama's skirt chanting.... Mommy, mommy, mama, mommy, mom...... and the Mom totally ignoring him. That makes me crazy!!!! Either answer the kid, or tell them to knock it off! It sure seems to me that Mom just has the ability become deaf!
Dogs barking.. I have been to peoples homes where their dog barks at someone coming into the home, bark,bark,bark,bark,bark..... they never say a word. Oh wait, they may say "Now poopsie, you know SuzieQ" and then tell you to ignore it, she'll stop. Yea? When? Ignore it? How about making the beast stop it right now and then. How about deciding that I, as a human and your friend, deserve a tad more respect then being snarked at for 10 minutes. They simply don't hear it I guess?
People who allow dogs to bark non stop are either totally disrespectful of anyone else within earshot, deaf, or plain lazy. Teaching a dog to be quiet is just not that difficult, but it does involve a bit of work, some energy and actually caring about someone other then yourself.
Guess you can tell non stop barking is a big pet peeve of mine. Please... make it stop!!!
In my neighborhood most of the dogs that bark alot outside are big dogs. But I don't care, the only dog barking rule I care about is the 10pm-7am quiet hours rule.
I think barking is a normal healthy act of expression in dogs, it is satisfying for them. Wanting dogs to be silent or seen-but-not-heard is wrong IMO.
In my neighborhood most of the dogs that bark alot outside are big dogs. But I don't care, the only dog barking rule I care about is the 10pm-7am quiet hours rule.
I think barking is a normal healthy act of expression in dogs, it is satisfying for them. Wanting dogs to be silent or seen-but-not-heard is wrong IMO.
Yes, and those dogs may have a reason to be barking but will the owners get off their duffs and go see what the dog is barking at? NO.
We have 2 dogs, a chocolate lab and a half-shepherd-who-knows mix. The lab rarely barks at anything except other dogs, the mix barks at everything. I joke that she owns the universe. Of course once the female starts the male, the lab, also barks. They quiet once re-directed.
Bottom line is some dogs, like people are more vocal/protective than others but training can help. Where I lived previously my neighbor told me he liked that she barked because he knew something was 'out there.' It could be a turtle, but whatever it was it didn't belong there.
Incessant barking annoys me and I wouldn't allow my dogs to do it and fail to understand how other dog owners do but guess they become habituated to it and don't hear it. If I had a neighbor who had a dog that barked incessantly I'd ask them to train the dog, if they were willing I'd offer to help. If it continued I'd try other remedies - ear plugs perhaps.
In my neighborhood most of the dogs that bark alot outside are big dogs. But I don't care, the only dog barking rule I care about is the 10pm-7am quiet hours rule.
I think barking is a normal healthy act of expression in dogs, it is satisfying for them. Wanting dogs to be silent or seen-but-not-heard is wrong IMO.
Yes,,,, but dogs also poop, pee, chew and bite and we train them to do these things at the appropriate times and places. Or at least many people do... is that wrong to do?
How can so many dog owners get dogs that bark all the time? I am lucky not to live on a block with a constantly yapping dog but I know others who do and it makes no sense. Why wouldn't people want peaceful dogs instead? The high-strung dogs that are totally annoying stress out the neighbors but I would think the owners wouldn't like it either. It also seems very inconsiderate that these same owners have no qualms letting their dogs stay in the yards barking, barking, barking at all hours. It's like "I own a dog and that's it. To hell with everyone else!"
Some breeds are naturally more vocal than others. The key is training.
Those people who are so upset about dogs barking...can you really hear it? My dog is in the house, and while the houses are quite close together it's not like there are shared walls or anything. We moved out of an apartment because it wasn't fair to neighbors to have a dog alert barking at 6 in the morning, but now that I'm in a single family home I feel like it's no one's business if my dog barks (too much, in your opinion). She only goes in my yard to potty, or when we're training/playing together, so it's not like she's barking for hours in my yard where I realize others could hear it. Sometimes she'll see a squirrel/raccoon/cat late at night and chase after it barking, but that's a 30 second thing until I go out and get her.
I disagree with the idea that barking at things outside the house is easy to train out. I teach dog training classes, my dog is titled in multiple sports, she can do some pretty complex tricks and knows zillions of words and hand signals. In short, I consider myself pretty darn good at training dogs. I cannot squelch her barking at people walking past, because I am not home 24/7. Every time your dog manages to practice an undesired behavior and gets rewarded for it, the behavior is more likely to continue. Dog jumps on the counter and finds food? Dog is more likely to jump on the counter. Dog digs in the garden and finds cat poop? Dog is going to continue digging in the garden. Those are preventable though--keep food off the counters (or restrict counter access), and keep garden maintained (or restrict garden access).
What about "Dog barks at mail man, mail man goes away"? or "Dog barks at other dog walking past on a leash, other dog leaves the property". My dog is rewarded with her barking when the offending object/person/critter leaves (she does not know it was unrelated to her barking). Unless I am home every single day when the mail comes, I cannot prevent her from practicing this behavior. I can crate her in another room (she can still hear the truck and will bark her head off--once broke a canine tooth from biting the bars trying to get to the mail carrier), I can train a calm watch behavior on days I am home, but each time she practices barking it is 100 steps back. Barking is actually the only behavior that I will recommend any kind of punishing device, because it is 100% reliable and fair. Dog barks, gets shocked. Pretty straight forward, no room for error. (A lot clearer to the dog than "sometimes I can bark, sometimes I can't, I can't figure out why.") I am not comfortable leaving a device like that on my dog when I am out of the house for long periods of time though--if it malfunctions and I'm not there, I would never forgive myself. Instead, I allow her to bark for a couple minutes (from inside my house) when the mail man comes or another dog is on its walk and I'm not home. I can't imagine that's really bothering my neighbors.
Yeah I can only speak for myself but I like the small breeds because I find them cute and they're easy to pick up. I can't lift...say a Golden Retriever (they have a nice coat though) so they don't make good lap dogs. Also because of their size that means they are harder to direct when leashed. Like I always said I have toothpicks for arms but I can handle Rocky because of his size.
I don't like chihuahuas though. I think the long haired variety is cute but I'm not sure I'd want one because chihuahuas are the yappiest.
Rocky can bark but it's nearly impossible to stop. You can tell him no all you want but it is his job to bark. We all know that are pack animals so they are protective of their abode and their people. The small variety just tends to overdo it because they may not know the difference and think they're doing the right thing. He can listen when it comes to most other things if you keep at it but heaven help him if he thinks he needs to protect. If you tried to stop them from this, they wouldn't bark when they need to and you'd be in trouble. This is partly why I don't believe in shock collars. You can tell me it's safe all you want but I really think it's a harsh way of teaching them. I'm not going to lie and say his bark does not annoy me especially when he'd be crying wolf and I have ears like a rabbit's (so it affects me much more than most people) but it'd be dumb to reject him because of his barking especially since he isn't too noisy at night (just whines and digs in the carpet but only on occasion). No one is perfect so a dog cannot be any different. We make a joke out of it and that helps the experience to be more pleasant.
I can understand your qualm about consistent barking though. That shouldn't happen. I never had a dog that barks for no reason and I will make sure I never will (again that's why I wouldn't want a chihuahua, although it does depend on the individual dog) but like other people said, I'm sure you can train them in this case.
Last edited by Nickchick; 08-06-2013 at 09:17 PM..
Those people who are so upset about dogs barking...can you really hear it? My dog is in the house, and while the houses are quite close together it's not like there are shared walls or anything. We moved out of an apartment because it wasn't fair to neighbors to have a dog alert barking at 6 in the morning, but now that I'm in a single family home I feel like it's no one's business if my dog barks (too much, in your opinion). She only goes in my yard to potty, or when we're training/playing together, so it's not like she's barking for hours in my yard where I realize others could hear it. Sometimes she'll see a squirrel/raccoon/cat late at night and chase after it barking, but that's a 30 second thing until I go out and get her.
I disagree with the idea that barking at things outside the house is easy to train out. I teach dog training classes, my dog is titled in multiple sports, she can do some pretty complex tricks and knows zillions of words and hand signals. In short, I consider myself pretty darn good at training dogs. I cannot squelch her barking at people walking past, because I am not home 24/7. Every time your dog manages to practice an undesired behavior and gets rewarded for it, the behavior is more likely to continue. Dog jumps on the counter and finds food? Dog is more likely to jump on the counter. Dog digs in the garden and finds cat poop? Dog is going to continue digging in the garden. Those are preventable though--keep food off the counters (or restrict counter access), and keep garden maintained (or restrict garden access).
What about "Dog barks at mail man, mail man goes away"? or "Dog barks at other dog walking past on a leash, other dog leaves the property". My dog is rewarded with her barking when the offending object/person/critter leaves (she does not know it was unrelated to her barking). Unless I am home every single day when the mail comes, I cannot prevent her from practicing this behavior. I can crate her in another room (she can still hear the truck and will bark her head off--once broke a canine tooth from biting the bars trying to get to the mail carrier), I can train a calm watch behavior on days I am home, but each time she practices barking it is 100 steps back. Barking is actually the only behavior that I will recommend any kind of punishing device, because it is 100% reliable and fair. Dog barks, gets shocked. Pretty straight forward, no room for error. (A lot clearer to the dog than "sometimes I can bark, sometimes I can't, I can't figure out why.") I am not comfortable leaving a device like that on my dog when I am out of the house for long periods of time though--if it malfunctions and I'm not there, I would never forgive myself. Instead, I allow her to bark for a couple minutes (from inside my house) when the mail man comes or another dog is on its walk and I'm not home. I can't imagine that's really bothering my neighbors.
Apparently you missed what the OP said:
Quote:
these same owners have no qualms letting their dogs stay in the yards barking, barking, barking at all hours.
Why is anyone going to complain that your dog barks IN your HOUSE if they can't hear it???
Quote:
(she can still hear the truck and will bark her head off--once broke a canine tooth from biting the bars trying to get to the mail carrier),
I don't know why you'd be so focused on trick training and not influencing/changing her highly excitable state of mind but to each their own.
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