I’ve got a 5 year old hound who barks like crazy at other animals. He doesn’t bite or fight with them, but goes nuts with the barking and whining when he sees or hears them. If he is around another dog he calms down after about 30 minutes, but in the meantime he is crazy and not paying attention to anything I say. How can I help him get better so that we can at least walk around the neighborhood?
Great question! Since hounds were bred for hunting, they have an acute awareness of other animals in their general area and can often times smell them before they ever see them. This can lead to barking for several different reasons.
It is important to understand what is causing your dog’s behavior in order to choose an appropriate training method. While there are ways to stop the barking, if you do not tackle the underlying problem, your dog will continue to feel stressed/excited/fearful/anxious or whatever other cause it may be.
It sounds like we can rule out aggression for your dog since he does not bite or fight with the animals. Other possibilities include:
- Excitement – characterized by a sharp, short bark, a wagging tail, and interspersed with whines of frustration
- Fearful – characterized by a wavering bark, often times higher in pitch than a typical bark, and the tendency to back away from the animal if approached by it
- Attention Seeking – characterized by constant, demanding barking if the object of their barking is not performing as they wish
- Alert/Warning – characterized by barking to let the owner know about the “intruder” (other animal) being in the area
When treating the root cause of any kind of barking, it is important to make sure that your dog learns to look to you for behavior cues, and that he has a strong understanding of the meanings of commands. Practicing basic obedience cues (Sit, Down, etc.) in your house may not be enough. Dogs are not good at generalizing and will need to be re-taught commands in areas that they may run across other animals or distractions.
Start working with your dog on basic commands outside, around your neighborhood at “off-hours” when other animals and people are not likely to be outside. This will reinforce that these commands hold, regardless of location.
Be sure to take plenty of treats with you on walks, and if possible, walk your dog before he receives his morning or evening meal. A hungry dog is a lot more likely to listen!
And, finally, try to find your dog’s behavior threshold (the distance between the dog and the animal where he can still reliably listen to your commands) and do not push him closer to the animal than he can reasonably tolerate without getting out of control.
With some time and patience, you should start to see great improvements and will be able to have enjoyable walks with your dog at any time of day!
If you have any questions you would like to ask a Certified Dog Trainer, you can submit them right here at Naptown Buzz. Every week, Elizabeth Wilhelm, Certified Dog Trainer will tackle one of the submitted questions. For more information about Elizabeth, you may visit her website at www.TrainingKarma.com.