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~*Barking Issues!!*~

Nisha

Well-known member
Lately we have been some trouble with excessive barking with Milo..it used to be Monty but things seemed to hve settled down with him.

Anyway we have one of those doggy doors so that the dogs can let themselves out into the backyard to do there business night or day..lately Milo has been going out in the night and barking his head off for no apparent reason. also in the house he seems to suddenly start barking at any little thing plus there is a dog that lives in a house behind us and if he ever barks Milo will start and then theyll both bark and egg each other on..i dont mind it but im very scared that the neighbours (the neighbours are a bit touchy) are going to complain especially during the night...i have tried getting him to stop by straight commands etc etc - nothing out of it.

i spoke to lots of different people - 1 being a dog trainer. She told me that for her dogs (border collie and a g. lab) whenever they started barking she would dump a bucket of water on them..she told me to do the same whenever he started up but with a smaller amount of water..just enough so that he would get pretty wet but not overly soaked...
i was just curious on what you guys thought of this way of stopping him from excessively barking - too me it sounds rather mean to chuck water on my poor little (very devilish ;) ) cavvie.

anyway would appreciate any responses on the matter :flwr:
 
Oh god don't dump a bucket of water on him or you will have one terrified dog very mistrustful and fearful of you for the rest of his life. Can't believe a trainer would do that rather than just use a spray bottle.
-- or actually training not to bark! IMHO that's not training, that's terrifying a dog. Especially not the right thing to do with a little cavalier.

Don;t have time to offer some links on this but try searching under barking as there are a few threads already on this topic in the past. (y)
 
I agree with Karlin on this one that is terrible advice, I use a water spray bottle on the finest mist for my boys, a lot of the time I don't even have to spray them they just see it and stop. My boys really love to bark too.

One thing I would recommend is closing the doggy door or shutting it off somehow at night. Once they have been toileted before bed they should not need to go for a while. Mine will wait at least 8 hours (unless of course unwell) during the night.

I do not know how true this is but I have heard a cavy breeder (ethical I'm sure) say who has multiple cavs that some of her cavaliers form habit behaviour and will do things out of routine often rather than actual communication. Based on this it is a problem you should get on top of asap.

If the neighbours dog barks thru the night and it still upsets the babies try putting a stereo on softly ??

Have fun.
 
Sounds exactly like Busta - who likes to talk to his friends each night about 10pm...... I have filled up a plastic bottle with small pebbles and shake that at him when he starts, with a NO...... if he is quiet for a few moments then treat.... he is getting better but it did mean me standing in the garden or running up the garden to be near him.
 
I would put Milo on a lead and go outside with him at night. This way you can get his attention and reward him for paying attention to you rather than to whatever is making him want to bark.
 
Mine also at times will bark, I was advised the same as what Karlin has already advised.

I also just have to get the water bottle out and they stop.
 
OMG I can't imagine what throwing a bucket of water over a Cavalier would do to him/her :yikes .

I've always taught the 'QUIET' command and now when Charlie starts on his nightly woof and sees me approaching the patio doors he's immediately quiet :lol:

However, hubby tells me I have got to start letting him bark a bit more. We had one of the cars broken into on the weekend and a load of stuff (all hidden from view) stolen. They also came into our garden and stole my youngest son's bike so now I am letting him bark a little bit - he obviously slept through it all on the weekend :roll: :(
 
OMG, who dumps a bucket of water over their dog?!?! Yeesh!

Everything I've read/seen suggests using a spray bottle. I remember a few years back there was a very vocal Schnauzer in our obedience class, and his owner carried a squirt bottle around. By the end of the class he was always soaking wet, LOL. I thought even that was mean.. surely there's a more effective way.
 
hey guys, thanks a lot for all your advice..i also thought it was a bit harsh and not right to dump water over a dog..i guess she did that because her two are such big dogs..she did say a smaller proportion on ours..but anyway i can take that idea totally out of my head..

.i think ill try that pebbles in a bottle idea and see wat i get out of it..ive been speaking to another trainer (though how much i can rely on them i really dont kno :roll: ) and he said that i should put him in a time out corner if he does bark and leave him there for a minute or so..and repeatdly do that if he doz bark..ive been trying that idea for the last 2 days and i really think its working! i hvnt heard a peep out of Milo since noon till now (10 pm)..i kno it will definetly take much more time to perfect it but its a start i guess!!.how long this will last i really hve no idea...but anyway..if it doznt work out ill try the pebble-bottle idea.

thankyou again for all your advice! :flwr:
 
yea well hopefully it will work and my mind can be at ease again - omg just then i went out because Milo barked and i saw two little girls (abt the age of 10) glance at milo through the fence and run of screaming!!! :yikes wat in the world???!!!!!!! my dog isnt scary!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Also do just shut the doggy door at night. They definitely do not need to be let out during the night when they are just sleeping; my three easily last 10 hours or so between the time they get last walks, a good nights' sleep, then getting out first thing in the morning. One of the best ways to control barking is to work to eliminate the situations that enable the barking to start. Neighbours will get very annoyed, rightly, at barking dogs in the middle of the night. My inclination would also be to put them inside and lock the diggy door when you are going out during the day without having access to the yard by themselves thru that door.

All this can be hard to manage once you have two dogs egging each other on -- it is one reason why that old advice that getting two dogs will solve boredom probelms like barking that one dog alone might have, isn't necessarily the case. Sometimes you get twice as much of the problem you don't want. They definitely do teach each other new habits. Lily is very barky at other dogs on walks -- and this now regularly starts off Jaspar and Leo. Leo hardly barked at all and Jaspar has taught him to bark at cats and other things outside.

Just some other thoughts -- a solid recall is one way to start to directly address any problem where you want the dogs to come to you right away. Also a look command to get them to refocus to you from whatever they are barking at. If they haven;t done obedience they are the age to start doing a class. The more you form a close training bond with your dogs, and work with them, the more likely they are to gain self control generally, as well as respond to you so that you can easily control these types of situations. It's the usual answer I know -- there aren't easy answers, they all require time and effort and some modification of the way things are currently set up to try and minimise the triggers that cause the unwanted situation.
 
Nisha said:
yea well hopefully it will work and my mind can be at ease again - omg just then i went out because Milo barked and i saw two little girls (abt the age of 10) glance at milo through the fence and run of screaming!!! :yikes wat in the world???!!!!!!! my dog isnt scary!!!!!!!!!!!

:roll: Typical little girl behaviour :roll: Where we used to live, there was a large contingent of little girls. They were all a bit screamy :roll: Little boys would more than likely bark back - don't know which is worse :lol:
 
Thanks Karlin for your advice. i will start shutting the door..ive noticed they never actually go out to do their business so it wont matter - anyway they know not to do anything in the house. They have been obedience trained - but just the beginning/basic puppy class things like sitting, lying down, shaking etc etc..i was just wondering should i put him in his timeout pen if he barks when someone comes past the gate?? because its not really that bad if he starts barking little then but then again if i dont do anything he will kind of be getting mixed instructions?? :?
 
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