incessent barking

[shelsnsaus]

All righty, quick question and I'm looking for suggestions. I have a new foster dog and I've had her about a week. She is an Australian Cattle Dog mix to the best of my knowledge. She is about 5-6 years old, completely housebroken (she'll hold it until her eyeballs float), sits, stays, downs, gives paw, rolls over, goes to her mat and fetches frisbee like a wild woman. She is an all around really cool gal, except she barks constantly. She has her excited high pitched bark, her worried lower bark, her some ones here bark, her I gotta go bark etc. She wines when she wants something; she's just extremely vocal, however it may prove to be a big issue despite her awesome other manners in rehoming her. We have tried the squirt bottle, the penny can, telling her to quiet, ignoring her until she's quiet etc. My other dogs have never had this type of run on barking and I'm not sure how to get her to at least stop when she's told its ok. I appreciate the warnings and her vocalizing her need to potty to some extent, but the duration of the barking is nuts. In all other ways she is a wonderful dog and doesn't have half the issues some of my other fosters have had. Any suggestions, besides a no bark collar?
you can see pics of her at www.shelsndawgs.com, I can't figure out how to upload them here. Her name is Cammy.

[shelsnsaus]

ok, I think I've figured out how to upload the pics, now to see if its worked. In the last pic she's doing what I'm trying to get her to at least tone down...barking.

[WashingtonBay]

Well, if you know any people who won't shut up, maybe this would be a good dog for them. :)

When she's barking inappropriately and you're trying to stop her.... can you discern what it is she wants then? Anything? Is she just spoiled in thinking if she' keeps barking she'll get it?

You say you've tried various means for correcting it... have you tried the Cesar Milan "PffffffffT!" Neck pinch thing? Seems like a good dog for his methods.

[shelsnsaus]

This dog came into the shelter as a stray so her first five or so years of life are unknown. She never barked at the shelter, she huddled in the corner and wouldn't come out, she didn't do much of anything - which is why she was probably overlooked so much and didn't get adopted. She didn't bark when she first came to me either, it seems as though the barking got worse as she got more comfortable. Is this a learned behavior from her previous life? Thats my guess. Most of the time there is some sort of stimulus that is causing her to bark. She needs to go out, she's excited to play Frisbee, some one is in/near the yard etc. Sometimes I can't figure it out...she gets in my lap or near me and wines at night. Are we going past what she determines her bed time should be and I'm still up? Sometimes she'll be laying down relaxing and just start barking for reasons I can't determine. Does she hear something? Are the noises of my home unfamiliar to her? I've only had her here a week so I'm sure there is still some adjusting going on, but the barking seems to be getting worse not better.

All my other dogs bark at the same stimuluses that Cammy does, but they quit when I tell them to. Cammy won't quit until she investigates the situation herself. What is this Caesar Milan neck pinch thing? Sorry, I'm not up on all of it, and the first few hits on google just gave reasons for nuisance barking. My tried and trues to get her attention on me aren't working. I should also mention that if she thinks she is trouble or you are going to do something unpleasant (bathe, medicate etc.) she hides. This is improving as well, just physically catching her can sometimes be a bit difficult if she thinks she's in "trouble". My guess is her past may have been a bit abusive. She responds wonderfully to positive reinforcement, but seems to "shut down" and withdraw if she thinks she's done something wrong.

[WashingtonBay]

You'd have to watch his show on National Geographic for awhile to get how his methods work. The "Pffft!" and the neck pinch are just his way of interrupting and short circuiting what he calls "an excited state of mind" so they can settle. The rest is leadership by example... be the confident quiet leader, if you're not excited they shouldn't be.

I sympathize with some of this dog's behavior, our neurotic dog Homer does the quiet whining sometimes, and we just don't get it either. Other times, 30 minutes later I discern he really just wanted fed, or wanted out, and he was moping about it, just not communicating it very well to us.

[shelsnsaus]

ok, thanks WB, found it. Basically in a huge nutshell, the noise (consistant, shhh, pfft, or ssst) accompanied by a "pinch" to simulate a dog biting. Calmly and by presence force the dog to submit. Hmmm. I'll give it a shot tonight, since that is when she's worse.

She really is a cool little dog. She gets plenty of exercise, several walks a day, plus 3-4 Frisbee throwing sessions for a half hour or longer. She plays with my other dogs as well. Someone is home here most of the day, so the dogs aren't expected to entertain themselves for hours on end every day. Maybe its just a carry over behavior from her first home?

[IrisGreen]

Queensland's are yapy dogs because of there alertness, energy and need to be the focus of your attention or be in control of the situation.

The high pitched yip they do is what just kills me. I can't stand that bark, it just gets under my skin worse then a little dog yapy bark. I know you don't want to use a bark collar but they do have sonic (sound) bark collars. They let out a sound that only the dog can hear and they don't like it. So, every time they bark it goes off and makes them stop barking. They learn to communicate in other ways or to keep the barking for times that it's necessary not just all the time or at every little thing.

They also have citronella type spray bark collars. They have a little can that sprays at mist up when the dog barks and they don't like the smell up there nose so they stop barking.

Queensland's are bad about barking and they will get your other dogs to start doing it too if you don't get it under control. It's contagious and pretty soon they will all join in on the bark fest and learn to use it as a release of energy. Then it's very hard to brake them of it and they all love getting in to bark fests even after the thing they were barking at has left.

Good luck with the training. She will always be a barker but you can curb it so it's only when necessary and she doesn't start learning to use it as an energy release. They will learn to just stand there barking instead of burning off there energy by running or learning to calming down. You want her to learn how to calm down and how to burn energy with out the barking.

I would try the idea that WB has and if that doesn't work I would try the sonic collar. It distracts them with out hurting them and they learn to only bark if it's important.

If you adopt her out make sure the family is active because she will need an active family with a dominant figure that can keep her calm and listening. Queenslands need a strong leader or they can be hard to handle and get under control. They are very smart dogs but need a good leader to keep them in check.

I'm just summing up the breed but not every Queensland is like this or needs a dominant leader, but most do or they are just to hyper and don't listen to people they don't respect as a good leader.

[WashingtonBay]

Maybe its just a carry over behavior from her first home? Who knows... We also got Homer with no history, he was a stray we found on Christmas eve out wandering.

So we don't know why he's neurotic.

One thing Cesar stresses all the time is that dogs live in the now. They shouldn't be given special excuses due to past traumas, if they are given what they need, in the right order, they'll become balanced. And the right order is Exercise, Discipline, Affection. Giving affection first leads to an unbalanced dog.

But I always wonder how he'd handle neuroses like our Homer has... the dog has demons he's afraid of, in his head, or in his past, I don't know which.


On edit... shelsnsaus, I don't know if you saw what I did above, but I messed up. I'm still not used to having both an edit and a quote button for posts (I have too many buttons!)... and I hit the wrong button and messed up your post above. I think I've restored it to what it was. ~fingers crossed~

[WashingtonBay]

ok, thanks WB, found it. Basically in a huge nutshell, the noise (consistant, shhh, pfft, or ssst) accompanied by a "pinch" to simulate a dog biting.

And yes... the pinch is right at the top of the base of the head on the neck. It simulates a disciplinary nip from momma.

[shelsnsaus]

She really is a very neat little dog, except for the barking. I've never met a dog from a herding breed that wasn't a bit annoying with the barking. As a matter of fact, aside from my basset / border collie mix (who is much more bassetty in personality), I'd have never thought I'd actually have one in the house. While incredibly interesting dogs, I just never thought I'd be able to live with one. Cammy is changing all of our minds, even my hubby's who finds her intelligence and alertness very appealing. We are NOT in the market for another dog permanently right now; 5 is plenty! However, 2 of my five are or are nearly 14 years old, so its a possibility for in the future. The barking we are working on, however, all my guys are a bit stirred up today because of the wind. It gets really windy up here on top of our hill, and the noises the wind makes as it whooshes down the chimney and through the eves is a bit creepy. As the windy seasons moves along everyone adjusts, but right now, they haven't heard it in nearly 8 months and they're all getting worked up. Quit is working for now, and Cammy is following their suit, so hopefully we'll at least get it a bit more controllable.

During our Frisbee sessions last night and this morning, I refused to throw the Frisbee until she stopped barking, she seemed to get the point, and was only vocal for the first 2 throws this morning. Thanks

[Hobo]

I have a new dog also who was a rescued stray. He barks constantly at anything that moves. I ended up getting a bark breaker that you hang on the fence. For the first week or so I kept in on 100% of the time. and then I started turning it off and on at different times. It has really helped him from continuous barking all the time.

[shelsnsaus]

Ohh, Cammy has a potential adopter coming to meet her on Monday. They are prior ACD owners and just recently lost their pet to renal failure. They are coming quite a distance to meet her. I really like them and I've been as honest with them about her good points and bad that I know how to be. I hope she is what they are hoping her to be so that I don't waist their time and gas.

[lovesfortune]

No tips about the barking, but I hope the potential adopters love her and her barking and give her a great home! Let us know

[shelsnsaus]

Just an update on my latest foster Camille or "Cammy" for short. Well I met up with her prospective adopters. I had sent them a ton of pics and short video clips of Cammy being Cammy. We all met this afternoon, and Cammy fell in love with them immediately. She went right off for a walk with her new mom and never looked back. She hopped right into their car and laid down and waited for us to finish things up. I've heard from them already, and she is settling in beautifully. Her barking doesn't faze them, their last pup did the same. Their last girl was also an ACD mix, so they are pretty familiar with them. They had wonderful vet and personal references. They even showed me the provisions for their last pup in their will, in case anything were to ever happen to them. I am very happy with the home Cammy has gone to, and they seem pleased as punch with Cammy and Cammy with them.

We will miss her here, as she was a very funny and sweet little dog, however, she should thrive in her new home. Guess now its time to get to know Petey. Not my usual type, but I'll be getting her latter in the week. She is a 10 year old Peke who is microchipped. She came into the shelter as a stray. They traced her microchip to the breeder who bred her, who gave them the name of the petstore who sold her. The petstore in turn gave the name of the people who bought her. They have since moved with no forwarding info. The best the shelter could discern she was abandoned. Anyway, she is older, but healthy and sweet. She is my next project. We've already voted at work to change her name from Petey to Gracie. The only pics I have right now are pics that the shelter sent to me. I put them in my next post.

[vicklynn]

Glad that Cammie has gotten a new home. Sounds like a perfect place.