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I have two young dogs - Romeo 2 yr old Cane Corso and Sophia 3 yr. old 1./2 Cane Corso - they are well behaved dogs except for one thing - they bark constantly. I let them out in the yard to pee and if they even see one person across the street the barking starts - the neighbors have complained so I have to bring them right in - we have a nice yard with plenty of shade and in nice weather I would like to at least leave them out for one hour or so - with me checking on them. I have a privacy fence but they get on the deck and bark anyway -
We tried one of those electronic bark stoppers and it did not work. Nothing seems to work. Any advice.
Don't give up - there is light at the end of the tunnel!
But also let me say thank you - you realise that a barking dog is a nuisance and you are managing the situation so as to minimize disruption to others. Unfortunately, there are lot of owners that just ignore it and it makes for unpleasantness sadly.
At the end of the day, what is making them behave in this fashion is probably going to be complex and/or a combination of various factors. I would suggest that if you are willing (i.e. there's a price tag) you need to contact a behaviourist/trainer who specialises in behavioural problems because he/she will need to assess the dogs at home so as to be able to pinpoint what triggers it.
There are ways and means to training the dog/leading the dog to understand that such barking is inappropriate by using positive reinforcement/desensitizing only. This will entail training both the dogs and also training you - which is why it needs to happen at home.
But by no means do you need to give up. It's a problem yes - but there's also a solution.
Fairfax-- We have the same problem with our dogs when they see another dog. I have been watching Its Me or the Dog on the Animal Channel on Saturday nites and many of the dogs that she works with have this problem. I am picking up some pointers from this show and they are helping, you just have to be real consistant in using them, dogs are really smart and learn quickly.
The bark collars do work. The problem may be that they are not properly fitted. They need to be relatively snug, allowing a finger to fit under the collar. Some collars come with two sets of prongs and maybe you need the longer set. The unit should be at the base of the throat, high up on the neck.
Another thing to try is a squirt gun. Anytime they bark, you squirt them. You'll need a super soaker for any distance.
Some bark collars also spray citronella instead of delivering shocks. Give it a try!
I will strongly, strongly disagree. No shock, no sprays no anything of that nature should EVER be used to correct a dog's barking.
This is tantamount to someone zapping/spraying you every time you tried to communicate.
A) It's just plain cruel
and
B) it will NOT solve the problem because a dog will never understand why he/she is being "punished" for communicating. Other behavioural problems can and will follow out of frustration &/or fear.
The OP's dogs are merely trying to communicate... (due to them being described as far more inside than out, I'll rule out frustration for the time being.) Now it may not be necessary or even desirable communication, but that's all it is.
It's any owners responsibility to teach the dog via positive means (clicker training, counter conditioning, etc.) what communication is desirable and what "news items" can be safely ignored/not barked at.
I agree, FiveHorses, and I don't do any of those things to my dogs, but not everyone is on board with the "I'm going to spend hours and hours training my dog" gig.
Just b/c we are willing to take our dogs to all the classes and spend extra time every day interacting with and training our dogs does not mean everyone else is willing to. And that sucks.
But the ops' neighbors should not have to suffer b/c of it. I've been that suffering neighbor, and it makes your life a living hell.
I say citronella b/c the idea of physically hurting my dogs makes me ill. So no shocking. No electronic fences. No bark collars. No way.
I've been that suffering neighbor, and it makes your life a living hell.
I couldn't agree more. I too have been there and there were times.... well, suffice it to say, it can push anyone over the edge. It makes life hell - normally rational people can and will become totally irrational because of it. Just from reading threads on the various state forums, it appears to be the main complaint when it comes to dog-ownership.
But at the same time I cannot advocate the use of any device to stop inappropriate barking. In the main, they don't work because dogs find a way around it and it's not unusual for a dog to end up with further behavioural issues that just could have been wholly avoided in the first place.
I have two young dogs - Romeo 2 yr old Cane Corso and Sophia 3 yr. old 1./2 Cane Corso - they are well behaved dogs except for one thing - they bark constantly. I let them out in the yard to pee and if they even see one person across the street the barking starts - the neighbors have complained so I have to bring them right in - we have a nice yard with plenty of shade and in nice weather I would like to at least leave them out for one hour or so - with me checking on them. I have a privacy fence but they get on the deck and bark anyway -
We tried one of those electronic bark stoppers and it did not work. Nothing seems to work. Any advice.
You may want to try taking a pop/soda can and putting about 10 pennies in it, when your dogs start barking go out there and shake the can and say stop ! I've used this method with dogs jumping on people or on the sofa etc, I know you know this but for the sake of getting critized on this board, do not shake it by their ears.
No everyone can afford to take their pet to a trainer etc, I'm sure you will get the hang of this.
You know I have a hard high drive little female dog and I disagree about the negative statements about the bark collars.
I went through all kinds of desensitization, correction, etc. to get her not to bark when other dogs came near "her" car. I managed to manage two other dogs using gentle methods as a course of first resort. Click to Calm yadyadayada.
Went to the bark collar - she knows what it is and what it does and calms down right away. Now she would quiet down when I said "hush" without the collar but the barking was when another dog approached the dog at training and I was not there. But she was/is a demon devil dog when another dog comes near her car.
The observation I made with the bark collar was that when she could not bark, she was less "worked up" in general. It is like the barking fueled the aggressive demonstration. She would lie calmly in her crate and watch the world run by. Now, I would never put a bark collar on my other dog because his temperament is softer. Fortunately she was/is sweet as can be concerning humans.
Now, I sure hope you have some kind of serious training program going on with Cane Corso's I would very much worry about them protecting their yard.
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