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Barking distressing me

estelle

Well-known member
Just when i thought charlies constant barking when I leave the room was getting better it now seems worse than ever :sl*p: :sl*p:.
I'm finding it really distressing and have been trying to ignore it and stay out the room untill he stops but as the kids just keep coming in and out of the front room (where he is) I think he thinks when he barks someone will come in :sl*p: .
What's everyone's opinions on the anti bark products??
I've been swatting up but must confess I really don't like the thought of the shock or spray ones, however there's one where you plug it in and it emits a high pitch noise (I think) when they bark which they don't like??
I know he's only a little boy but things seem to be getting worse not better and i don't want to end up with charlie thinking it's acceptable to constantly bark when I leave the room and like i said before with the kids always going in and out the front room I can't see how i can train him to stop by ignoring it :?
As I type now he's in his crate constantly watching me to make sure I don't go anywhere!!
Any ideas....Please
 
Have you tried leaving the radio on when you leave the room? I know Holly's good as gold overnight (I've had hearing friends stay, and we usually stay at my mother's every weekend) and has been since she was tiny. She'll usually settle down if she's told to go to bed and be good, but if I just randomly leave her and she knows I'm still in the house.... cue banging the door and barking. Sometimes I do take my hearing aids out for a while, and then replace them and she's usually settled down by then.... but I do find a radio to be invaluable. Holly was brought up on Rodger and Hammerstein musicals! :D If it's a little puppy, the sound is comforting. When I get my ruby pup, I intend to do the same thing again.
 
Did you try a crate and an xpen? To be honest this sounds like a human management issue with the kids and overstimulation, not a dog problem.

He needs a quiet place he can be put where he doesn;t see all this back and forth of traffic. And you do need to ignore the barking and work to praise when he doesn;t bark. Also you can work to teach a 'bark'; command and then a 'no bark'.

Bark collars in the opinion of many trainers are cruel (and I think especially cruel for cavaliers) and not an appropriate method for handling barking, especially not if he is being asked not to respond to constant stimulation that is being placed in front of his face. You need a combination of 1) controlling his environment in a way that reduces his desire to bark and 2) working to train him to not bark.

While he is young, accomplishing 1) may mean having him in an xpen near you where he can see you but not a constant flow of kids and activity. Or it may mean the kids take a different route. Or that he goes into the xpen for quiet time and kids play elsewhere to keep the environment calmer, and then interactions with Charlie are controlled, with kids on the floor and quiet.

Imagine sticking a 5 year old into a room full of active kids and the TV on, games to play etc -- and expecting the child to sit quietly in a corner and ignore the activity. You'd have a hyperstimulated kid going nuts because he isn;t allowed to interact. That's the equivalent for Charlie at the moment. :)
 
Thanks Karlin, he's absolutely fine playing with my 6 yr old if he's in the mood! if not then he'll just lay in his crate watching! the problem is as soon as I go out the room he starts, then my daughter will come into the kitchen (where I usually am) to get something etc and then go back into the front room while he's still barking :sl*p:
He'll stop for a second, then continue for me!!
 
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