Barking dogs

[Dick Whitman]

I have two dogs. Some of you would say that is two too many.

I love having them, except for one thing: They bark. A door slams somewhere in the neighborhood, and they bark. I drop a pencil on the floor, and they bark. The mailman puts the mail in the box, they bark. I come home at night, they bark as soon as the key hits the lock. Bark, bark, bark. Full-throated, uncontrollable barking, well after they've been asked to quiet down.

They didn't used to be this way. It's developed over time.

Anyone have any suggestions? It makes our home feel chaotic, and it can be really, really embarrassing when I'm trying to interview a source, for example, on the phone.

 

[Moderator1]

They're dogs. That's what they do. They bark. To me, it's music even if it does get a little annoying at times. If I'm on the phone with someone important and they're going ape**** over something, I toss 'em outside for a while.

A while back I mentioned on one of the "my dog died" threads that pop up - my old girl Zinger would hear my car pull into the driveway and start barking because she was so excited. After she died and there was no more barking when I pulled in, I had a very hard time for a while even getting out of the car. The silence was so sad.

Our crew now waits until the key is in the door before saying hello.

 

[Dick Whitman]

They're dogs. That's what they do. They bark. To me, it's music even if it does get a little annoying at times. If I'm on the phone with someone important and they're going ape**** over something, I toss 'em outside for a while.

A while back I mentioned on one of the "my dog died" threads that pop up - my old girl Zinger would hear my car pull into the driveway and start barking because she was so excited. After she died and there was no more barking when I pulled in, I had a very hard time for a while even getting out of the car. The silence was so sad.

Our crew now waits until the key is in the door before saying hello.

Thanks. Good perspective.

 

[kingcreole]

Our dog (miniature Schnauzer) barks like no tomorrow. I take the trash out and come back in and she barks like I'm an intruder who she has never seen before. She barks at kids riding their bikes past the house on the sidewalk. We take her to the front door, let her watch us ring the doorbell, and she still goes bat****.

We tried everything - shock collars, putting her outside when she barked for no reason, etc. We finally gave up. At least we know if someone ever tries to burglarize our house, we'll be aware of the situation.

 

[Boom_70]

You can buy a training collar that when they bark sprays a shot of harmless citronella at their nose.

I use them for my 2 dogs when they are outside for a long period.

You could also use spray bottle and every time they bark hit them with stream of water.

Like Moddy I don't mind the barking but I also want to be neighborly.

 

[Machine Head]

You can buy a training collar that when they bark sprays a shot of harmless citronella at their nose.

I use them for my 2 dogs when they are outside for a long period.

You could also use spray bottle and every time they bark hit them with stream of water.

Like Moddy I don't mind the barking but I also want to be neighborly.

I have the same collar for my dog. Works very well.

 

[Killick]

Wish I could find a clip online, but last night I happened to watch the beginning of Fox's "Raising Hope." It featured Kate Micucci (you may remember her from Scrubs as Ted's girlfriend who played the ukulele — she is a fave of mine because she also has a series of songs she calls 'Playing with Micucci'). Anyway, on the show she's caretaker of several dogs. She was singing to them about not barking when the mailman sticks letters through the door or cars go by, etc. It was pretty cute.

 

[cranberry]

I trained my dog to keep it to a minimum when he was a puppy by scolding him and bringing him inside whenever he began barking at people or other dogs walking by. He learned that if he barks, I'll bring him into the house. Now I just remind him, "No barking," when I let him out. He won't bark unless someone he doesn't know is physically at our fence.

I'm sure this won't work for all dogs, especially hounds which take barking to another level, but it worked well for my Irish terrier.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Outing alert: **** Whitman is David Richards.

http://www.theonion.com/video/tiny-dog-has-been-barking-nonstop-for-6-years,14251/

 

[murphyc]

****,
If nothing else, you can tell the dogs that if they don't stop their behavior, they will have their names printed in the paper (/crossthread).
Sorry, I couldn't resist. ;)

 

[Gomer]

Our dog had a huge problem with being alone when we got her, howling and barking like crazy. This was a particular problem because we were in an apartment complex.

We tried sitting in the stairwell for a few minutes, then coming in, then going back out for twice as long, hoping that she'd eventually get used to us not being there. We'd pop in and scold her if she started barking.

Didn't work.

We finally had success with the aforementioned citronella spray collar. It also made the house smell lovely.

That said, as long as your neighbours don't mind, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Better than having them rip your couch to shreds or eat your drapes, as my wife's old dog once did.

 

[JR]

If you're my neighbour, your dogs can bark as often and as long as they want---as long as I can't hear them.

 

[Buck]

I have a friend who used the citronella-spray collar, but it didn't work. The dog just got used to it, I guess.

Our dog barks from excitment at the front gate when the first person gets home at the end of the day, but only if she been home alone all day. If the GF's been home all day and I've been at work, the dog's excited to see me but so much that she barks.
She settles down relatively quickly.

Other than that, she barks when somebody arrives and she's not sure who it is, or if something going on around the porperty and she's not sure about it.
That's good barking. I encourage that kind of barking.

Plus, we live in the country. Barking is copacetic.

 

[PeterGibbons]

I've got four dogs (Mrs G. is a vet tech and brings home strays), the barking annoys me at times, but like Moddy says, when I lost my golden retreiver recently, coming home and not hearing him was painful.

Almost all of my neighbors have them too, so I'm guessing their barking doesn't bother anyone. It's a real pain in the ass at night when I let them out though, because if dogs start barking in one yard there is a chain reaction among the neighborhood.

 

[93Devil]

We have a beagle who barks a little, but the homes in my subdivision have good windows, so we, and others, can't hear too much.

Plus, my neighbor has two dobermans, so I feel better because they bark as well.

 

[SixToe]

You may want to try one of these:

http://www.bestbarkcollar.org/innotek_bark_collar.html

I am not averse to our two dogs barking occasionally. What you describe with yours would drive me insane.

Best of luck with it.

 

[Peytons place]

I have 2 dogs, and one hardly barks at all. The other will bark if anyone comes to the door or if she sees someone walking down the street. I don't mind her warning us but we're trying to teach her when to stop. We usually tell her good girl or thank you when she barks at a stranger, and she seems to realize that she's made us aware and she's OK with that. We also try giving her treats when she stops barking after we tell her to "stop." It seems to be working pretty good.

My neighbor has a dog that barks a lot, and my neighbor is also under the impression that everyone works 9-5, like she does. So she puts her dog out several hours before I get up, and the dog barks pretty incessantly.

 

[Moderator1]

My dogs have been outside for an hour and they aren't barking - that worries me more. Time to step out and see what their sneaky asses are up to now.

 

[Rosie]

My girl barks when someone pulls in the driveway and sometimes when she hears a delivery truck drive down the road.

She never barks at me, she will bark when the rest of the Rosie crew shows up.

She never barks at Rosebud's boyfriend either.

She will bark at animals wandering into the yard at times (and we finally got through a summer without an entanglement with a skunk.) As long as she does NOT bark at the bears and wolves, I'm fine.

 

[HeinekenMan]

Bono goes berzerk when someone knocks or rings the bell. He also barks if he sees an animal outside, if I come in late at night, if he has to go to the bathroom or if his water bowl is empty. Otherwise, he's pretty quiet. He doesn't bark much around other dogs.

I just wish I could get him to stay off the dining table. It's by the window. He climbs on the chair and takes naps on the table. If we're gone for awhile and come home, that's where we find him. He'll stand there and look out the window, too. If the kids or wife leave their school papers on the table, he'll destroy them. He literally ate my son's homework one day. Well, half of it.