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Dog Trainer

Ain’t Nothin’ But A Hound Dog, Barking All The Time…

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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.

Was Your Dog Abused?

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Dog abuse is a pretty hot topic these days, especially with stories of dogs being locked in hot cars, of Animal Care and Control rescuing multitudes of dogs from hoarders, and of the Humane Society taking in puppies and dogs with tragic stories.

I hear it a lot when dealing with shy, introverted, or fearful-reactive dogs – “I think she was abused.” Dogs, oftentimes who are coming from the Humane Society or other rescue organizations, seem to have a stigma attached to them if they are anything other than carefree, tail-wagging, face-licking pups.

The reality of the situation is that, yes, maybe that particular dog was abused, but unless there are scars or other kinds of proof to show it, there are so many other possibilities.

Take my dog, Karma, for example. I adopted her from the Humane Society and if you were to come over to my house six months after I got her, this is what you’d find – an energetic, happy dog playing with her toys, running around, or maybe snoozing on the couch. If you were a friend of hers, she’d be on your lap, or bringing toys to you with her tail wagging. Unless you picked up a flyswatter.

The dreaded flyswatter. The change would be instant. She’d go from little miss full-of-playful-energy, into 30lbs of shaking, cowering fear hiding under the table.

If that happened to be all a person saw, “abuse” would be the first thought.

Here’s the real story. Karma came to me with no feelings at all towards the flyswatter. She just so happened to get paired up with a human (me) who hates spiders and who may or may not (definitely does) scream a little when killing one.

After six months of that, and you get a dog who starts to fear the flyswatter – not because she was ever hit with it – but because it makes her leader fearful and, in turn, she becomes fearful.

Luckily, I caught this very quickly and, today, when I pick up the flyswatter, she just continues on with her life as planned, whether that be napping, playing with her toys, or just watching my every move

Other dogs who shy away or flinch from quick movements, especially near their heads, haven’t necessarily suffered abuse. Some dogs are just genetically shy and don’t like to be touched – or they may be feeling stressed out because of being around new people, which puts them into a state of hyper-sensitivity to movement and sounds – some people are the same way.

The biggest reason, however, for canines showing this kind of “was this dog abused” behavior, is under-socialization as puppies. An under-socialized dog will be fearful, shy, stressed, and reactive – presenting many of the symptoms of an abused dog.

The good news is that, abused or not, these dogs can all be helped. They can all learn to manage their fear and anxiety, and they all deserve the chance to learn how to do so.

I mean, truth be told, these days, Karma can eat treats off the (well cleaned) flyswatter, and even follows its movements and commands when it mimics hand signals.  What once used to provoke a sense of fear in Karma, has now become a training tool representing fun and treats.

Dogs are resilient and flexible. Almost any previous life experience can be overcome; it just takes patience, training, and, of course, a lot of love and understanding.

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.