Calling All Dog Whisperers. Need Big Time Help (long).
 

I have never had issues with any of my pets. But my 7 year old Brussels Griffon (Vita) has a horrible barking issue. My wife bought Vita prior to our marriage so I was not fully involved her early development - yes, I blame my wife for not letting Vita be handled by lots of people at an early age and for not allowing Vita to hang out with other dogs.

Vita listens to 99% of what I say. She is very well trained and very well behaved. If she starts chasing a bird or something I can make her stop in her tracks on command. I can make her sit, stay, come on command, etc. I am sure that I am her "pack leader" in every sense. I don't cater to her requests - petting, scratching at door to go outside, etc. She does things on my terms.

However (the big however), she barks at strangers when they come to our home or to our office (she comes to work with me every day). She will even bark at me if she sees my siloutte in the distance.

There is NOTHING that I can do to stop it. She simply won't quit. I have tried spraying water in her face, putting her on a down/stay, leading her to her crate, citronella bark collar, etc. We even hired Bark Busters to give it a shot - they throw bean bags and say "Bah!" in order to stop bad behavior. They said it works 9 out of 10 times. Doesn't work on Vita.

Vita is not agressive. She will charge a stranger but then run away and bark from a distance. Seems fearful and protective at the same time.

We are preparing to move to a new office. It is wide open and 10,000 square feet. This is going to be a bad situation b/c Vita will bark non stop b/c she will be able to see the entire office - clients coming and going. My bosses will surely ban her if I don't correct her behavior.

Does anyone have any suggestions? My last resort will be a shock collar but I really don't want to go that route.

Here is a pic of Vita and Brutus (Parsons Russell). Brutus is an angel and has not picked up on Vita's bad habits.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1247689649.jpg

Trade for a greyhound :p

But seriously, do they have a shock collar that zaps them when they bark?

my friend went thru the same thing. she watched that show, "it's me or the dog" with that trainer victoria stilwell. whatever she did worked wonders. i have seen the show, (she is kinda hot), and i think 80% of her clients have your problem.

no shock collar....they dont work.

I feel your pain, one of my three barks like that. Solution is a bark collar... battery operated shocks when the dog barks. You can set the level, there are some that can be set to a beep and no shock once they've learned.
Ours has not learned to stop barking, but she has learned not to bark with the collar on.

Jay

Do you suggest a particular brand?

The citronella collar was a joke. It smoked us all out of the room except for Vita. She didn't care at all.

Training is the way to go... but there is in fact such a thing as "de-barking" a dog, done surgically.

dont be afraid of the shock collar. the one that detects a bark might work.

saw a show with ceasar using one on a ranch dog...the owners werent using it correctly to corect the behavior. took ceasar only a few times to correct the dog and the owners reported back later all was good.

I disagree I have trained hunting (bird) dogs mostly Labs to do many things with a good professional training collar.


Saved both me and the dogs from alot of aggravation they are quite effective if used correctly as a correctional tool. If done the right way you will not need it for very long.

You must have the training fundamentals down first.

That said I know nothing of the Brussels Griffon Breed of dog.

Stopping a dog from barking with a training collar would be fairly easy.

Bark = Voltage repeat as necessary, will not take long.

In my experience the automatic shock collars don't work and they tend to break. I would invest in a professional training collar, that will run you about $350 or so for a good one vs $100-150 for a cheap one. The difference is that the professional one will last you for years while the cheap one will break in 6 months.

The downside to the professional collar is that it comes with a remote that you have to manually activate to use the collar, so you sit there with the remote on your belt, dog barks, press the button. She'll get the idea in a day or so.

I have also used citronella collars and they don't work at all.

http://www.tritronics.com


This Dog, the finest hunting dog I have ever had would almost deal cards in the duck blind with a dummy collar on.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1247704045.jpg

Collars work !

rick nailed it. spend the money..my purchase came with unlimited trng . sessions
collar on means work..
off...play
but I need to ask..just how loud could those fellas be..

thats it..


Rika

that is a fine looking fella...
my Jack..1 yr. Blk Lab. wears it now..

Rika

+1 on the shock/bark collar. Tritronics bark collar is inexpensive and works wonders. I too train hunting labs and only use a collar to reinforce commands. Rarely need to use it. I have had great success with barking using the tritronics collar.

+3

I've used these on three of my dogs, and they know to clam up when the collar is on. Unless your dog is dense, it won't get shocked more than a few times.

We had a German Shepperd that was great with the family and people that she really knew, but she was also a barker. We got a bark collar for her. The collar had 3 levels of "shock". The lowest level didn't phase her. The medium level sort of worked for a while, but eventually she barked any way. The highest level.... Well, she barked 1 time with the highest level, and never barked again. The batteries could be dead, and she still wouldn't bark. If the collar was on, she was quiet.

A bark collar (good one) definitely works on the most stubborn of dogs.

That's the brand of the collar that we used. Ours was bark/sound activated. Worked very well. I actually tried it on myself (inside of forearm, not neck). It got my attention. I figured if I was going to use it on the dog, I had to be willing to experience it myself.

I can't believe he's asking for a dog whisperer and only the dog shockers and dog de-barkers speak up! :D

I am no dog whisperer, but I would try it with training. Don't take the dog to the office until it is better.

Here an attempt at a training sequence:

Outside of your home, up front:
Get the dog off the ground at chest level (Table)
Make the dog lay down, leash on with the "stay" command.
If the dog can't do stay for at least 5 minutes distracted, train stay before even starting this.
Stay close to the dog, holding the collar.
Let stranger / neighbor etc. come close.
Anticipate the barking.
Before it even starts, when you see the dog will go off any second give command "stay - quiet". Do so in a calm voice.
This is also where stranger stops if there is any barking or nervousness of the dog.
If the dog starts barking, calm it down with "stay - quiet".
Only when the dog stops barking and does look calm, let stranger come closer.
Repeat.

Work this in sessions, 2 times a day 10 minutes. The goal is that the dog equals "stay" with "quiet" and the stranger can walk up briskly with the dog remaining calm. Once you are there, transfer training to inside the house with the stranger coming in until you get it too.

Then back to the outside, dog to the ground, still on leash, you still very close to it. Repeat above. Any relapse - go back to very beginning.

Once it works on the ground, get further away from the dog. Enforce stay command. Quiet command. Still on leash.

Move inside. The goal is to get it where the dog does "stay" and will not bark with a stranger coming in.

Finally go off leash.

Then transfer to office. Starting out holding the dog w/ leash and work your way forward.

I think you can get it there if the dog has a strong "stay" command. It needs to know that "stay" also means "quiet". I do not think you want to just shock the hell out of the dog every time it barks. It will not make the connection. If you feel you want to use force, pinch the ear of the dog during the table exercise / floor exercise when you are holding it's collar. You wil pinch it when the dog is starting to want to bark and do not stop until the dog stops barking.

My two cents. You will see quickly if the above works. If you can't get it to work on the table outside with a stranger coming in to 30 feet even with a week worth of training, it is time to leave the dog home and call it "tough luck". ;)

George

One more thing. Always stop training on a positive note (when dog is not barking) even if it means stranger has to be 200 yards away. Do not do longer than 10 minute sessions, rather do them more often a day.

George

Ever hear of "The Can?" It's as powerful as a shock collar, but without the physical trauma. My current GSD is terrified of the The Can, and cowers at the mere mention of the name.

An empty, clean aluminum drink can with several pennies in it, and keep several around the house close at hand. Every time the dog acts up, bean it with the can. It weighs nothing, so it's just a glancing blow, but the noise and light impact scares the bejeezus out of the dog. Only have to do it a couple of times, and yell the word "can" every time you launch it. The third or fourth time you reach for The Can, the rattle alone before you throw it will control the dog's behavior.

Don't f***'in shock that little peanut of a dog.