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Hi We have an indie rescue (the Indian pariah dog) who's about 1 1/2 years old (we adopted him when he was about 2 months old). The problem is that he has become a guard dog. He barks the moment the doorbell rings. he then goes to the door and tries to get outside, barking the whole time. So we can only open the door marginally to prevent him from getting out. He barks at most of the people who come inside (guests, workers, delivery agents, etc). There is no common thread that we've been able to discern - he seems to be ok with about 40% of the guests. But if he doesn't like someone, he barks the entire time they're home. Which has lasted up to 2-3 hours on some occasions. We've tried telling them to ignore him, letting him out on a leash near them, let them meet him at the door so he can sniff them, giving him a treat to keep him occupied, but nothing seems to work. Now we generally put him in his cage in the living room (where he sleeps at night), but that doesn't stop the barking. We have also installed a baby gate at the entrance to one of the rooms and kept him inside so that he'd have more space but that doesn't have any effect. In fact, on one occassion, he lunged on the nbaby gate so hard that it come off the suction hinges. If we keep him in a room and shut the door so he can't see the person, he settles down but he's still alert and doesn't go back to the normal till he's been let out and he can go around sniffing the whole house and make sure nobody else is at home. Similarly, if the guest goes inside a room and out of his line of sight, he settles down but the moment he spots them, he starts barking again. A third option is that sometimes he settles down with the guest in the living room (same room as his cage), but only if they're sitting and still. The moment they get up or move, he's up with his hackles raised. It doesn't matter if the person is completely new or someone he's met before but hasn't reacted well to. He will bark nonstop. We would like to know what procedure to follow to make him less reactive to guests and/or stop barking every time someone comes into the house. Barking when the bell rings is something we can live with, but not being able to have people over is a problem. Thanks Danish

Hello, we have a 1 year old rescue German shepherd that we have had for a month. Every day we discover new reasons to love him but he also has a new challenge almost every day! At the moment our landlords have scheduled a lot of work to be done by various contractors so I have been placing him in his crate with bikkies and treats before they arrive and having him in there for the duration (1-2 hours) to keep them and him safe. He can open the doors in our house and jump the backyard fence so the crate is the only 100% secure spot and is his place as well. He is otherwise well crate trained and happy to be in there. He goes in by himself to relax during the day. My question is, when he barks at them furiously and snarls and whines from the crate what do we do? I have tried the ‘be a leader’ method telling him I will go look and then checking it out coming back and saying it’s all fine and getting him to go to a down position but he begins barking again a few minutes later. My partner has tried interrupting him by banging on the top of the crate during frantic barking then complimenting when quiet but I don’t want to end up with a fearful dog or make him hate his crate. How do we help him to feel safe and not wanting to bark and snarl and jump around when strangers are in the house or at the door.

Hello all, I would love some advice. My 1 year old cockapoo is so reactive to everything! It’s like she’s on high alert so the tiniest sounds and she has to go investigate, or in the park she wants to chase / greet every dog / bird / squirrel etc! She also struggles to settle in new places so if we visit a holiday cottage she won’t settle, or even in other peoples gardens she won’t settle. If anyone had any advice I’d be so appreciative!! Thank you x

My dog is a rescue Chihuahua and she has issues with barking at this window I have. Closing the blinds doesn’t work out, she just pushes her nose through it. She barks at just about any human or dog that passes by. What is the best course of action for this?

Good afternoon! I have a 15 week old bassethound puppy that sometimes won't stop barking. He doesn't seem to bark at anything specific, though it mostly occurs when he's playing by himself or directed at me and the family. The barking doesn't seem aggressive but simply just annoying to listen too. What can I do to help this issue? Any suggestions would be so helpful!

Hi Adrienne, My 4 month old beagle seems to be getting a bit aggressive. We are afraid if it's something we've done that is causing this or if he's getting anxious. The following were problems/signs that we encountered: 1) Biting us sometimes if we touch his face/ears/back 2) Biting us if we put a on leash him. 3) Excessive barking, growling and howling and pulling when put on a leash. 4) Random biting. 5) Excessively scratching on the door and screaming. 6) Disobedience 7) Peeing on and biting furniture. 😎8 ) Eats all the time. If there's no food around, he finds ways to climb up surfaces and swallow inedible items like wooden frames and plastic flowers. A little background about how we care for him and his schedule: Morning: 7:30am-a short run and some basic training 8:00: Breakfast and a walk until 9am 10:00-12:00: sleep 12:00-2:00- brain training and obedience training and he roams about. 2:00- lunch (mostly home cooked food) Sleeps until 4:30 Roams about in the house for a while (mostly till 6:30) Sleeps for a while 8:00pm dinner Plays until 9 Bed time He is not crate trained. He is stubborn but extremely smart. He has mastered several tricks within a day's time. One mistake we are aware of is that we gave him way too much freedom right from when he was little and still continue to do so because if we don't, he throws tantrums. (Barks, growls, etc) Could you also advice me about how many hours of sleep he essentially requires? We're very worried. Thanks Adrienne.span widget

Hi, We have two labradoodles both 1year old. Prego, the bigger doddle barks and bite Nala when she doesn’t want to play with him while they are by themselves or home alone. At the dog park Prego will do the same but when Nala plays along other dogs that is not him. We don’t know what to do... we have him sit and stay until he calm down while at the park. But when we leave home we cannot control his excessive barking at Nala. Prego, our caramel labradoodle will also jump and bark with high pitch when he sees other dogs when we taking on a walk. Please help!

My lab x collie has recently started getting really bad when I'm leaving the house or going to bed. Shes aggressively barking and nothing will calm her, including a pack of ham, if I turn my back on her shes jumping up and going to bite my arm!!! She is 1 on 31st july, had her 3.5 months. Please any advice.

I have a 2 year old golden (therapy dog) who is perfect except when I take her out front to play she barks non stop. It seems she is just excited to be outdoors playing and this is the only time I have a barking problem with her. I don't know how to get her to stop barking and it's making me, my family and my neighbors crazy. I am thinking about getting a water proof (we have a pool out front she loves) bark collar but I really don't want to do that if there is another alternative. I didn't see anything in the training specifically addressing this kind of barking. Right now I tell her no and some times make her sit and then release her but then she just starts barking again. Please help.

One of my dogs, a Portuguese Water Dog, loves the water and swimming. However, every time we go to the water, he becomes overly excited and starts barking AT me as soon as we get in the water (we believe he is just super excited) for the first several minutes until we are actively swimming. He barks AT me anytime he wants me to swim, walk, etc. I can be sitting on my paddle board and he will bark at me until I actually get ahead of him and he is swimming to keep up. It is hard to get past the first few minutes of him excessively barking and nothing seems to work for him. I have tried ignoring him, yelling at him. rewarding him when he is quiet, and nothing works. I have turned my back on him, waited until he is quiet, and as soon as I turn around, he starts up again.

Hi there, I have a 4 year old Australian Shepherd that loses his mind pulling on the leash and barking at dogs and people walking by the yard. He has even been in a couple fights with dogs, protecting the yard. No matter the distance (we have 3 acres so fence isn't an option but he's not off leash outside), he barks nonstop until they're out of sight- same goes if he sees them through a window. I can't find a way to work with him under threshold and I can't control him on leash. When he sees a dog, his focus is 100% on them and I can't distract him with treats or any commands. It's like a switch gets flicked in his head. How do I train him under threshold if distance doesn't make a difference for him? He's doing great with the brain training, but he's a different dog when something passes by the yard. Thanks! Alyson

I have a problem with an 8 yr old cocker spaniel who belonged to a friend who recently passed away. her biggest issue is with my cat (who is fine with dogs and actually wants to be her friend). but Sasha seems to be a little scared of cats and is mega overpossessive of her food and toys /stolen trophies and acts quite aggressive towards the cat chasing and barking. she even growls or barks when when I call the cat and if he comes into thd room she will immediately search for something to guard. i need to give her some training to stop this behaviour as it drives me mad before I work on other stuff like listening to me etc. can anyone let me know what training I can give her/where to find it please?

Dear Adrienne We are on a campsite, the pitch is about 30feet wide. Herbie a 1 year old Samoyed will rush and bark at dogs walking past. A couple of times his lead has come loose so he is with the dog. He’s very friendly towards them, just wants to meet them. How do I get him to ignore the dogs walking past. Thank you. Stuart

Hello Adrienne Please could you give me some advice on my 1 year old Samoyed. We have only had him 4 weeks and we are his fourth home. He has settled in very well a likes our 12 year old Samoyed. My problem with him is, when I am doing his dinner he barks constantly. When he barks I stop and when he’s quite I start preparing it again, but it’s not really working. He just gets so excited. When we are out on a walk, they walk very well together, hardly pull at all. But when we stop to talk to someone we will get board and start to bark. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Kind regards Stuart

Hi! I just joined and excited to work on my dogs issues. He doesn't have many but the one he has is frustrating. He is 10 months old and a purebred Aussie. I got him at 8 weeks and I know the parents and the home so no issue from that start. Jackman is well behaved in our home, gets lots of walks and ball throwing, he can sit, down, come and a few other things. He walks well on a leash except sometimes he lunges and barks at people and bikes passing and sometimes he doesn't. I always try to anticipate and will have him sit and look at me when someone passes. He will always bark and lunge at children though and forget about having him on a crowded street as the barking and lunging are out of control. It is hard to calm him enough to distract. I can ask for eyes on me and he does that but still keeps barking. I took him to a friends house and she has a 10 year old child who was willing to work with us. Jackman would calm sometimes but more times than not he would lunge and bark at the child. It doesn't seem like he will bite but I can't take that chance. When I take him to the dog beach and we need to walk past a child it is a lot of work to hold on to him and stop him from lunging and barking. Where do I start? Thanks!

I'm starting to go through the course with my new Goldendoodle puppy who is now 13 wks old. She is a loving, relaxed and mellow dog most of the time who just wants to follow us around and sit at our feet. She is my second dog and I did all of this back when my lab Cali was a pup 14 yrs ago. Cali knew more words/commands than my own kids until they were about 4 yrs old. I have clicked around and we are having 2 persistent issues with her that following the notes haven't helped us with progress. Hoping someone can give me some extra suggestions? 1. Crate training: I crate trained my older dog with no issues so have followed all the things like feeding her all her meals in there, nice blanket, cover, never letting her out when she is crying. We basically put her in there overnight and maybe 1 or 2 hrs in the day when everyone is out of the house. My husband works from home, so there are no day long stretches. She resists going in, and then cries like she is caught in a bear trap for 5-10 minutes at night and up to 20 minutes during day stays. She never soils her crate and we take her out beforehand, so its really about separation anxiety I think. We have done this consistently since day one, which was 3 weeks ago. The duration of crying when we close her in has been increasing week by week instead of decreasing. (I've already read "love the crate") 2. Morning play excitement? barking: Since my husband works from home, on teleconferences, etc we CANNOT tolerate barking from a dog. When she gets excited and especially in the morning with the kids when she first wakes up she barks a lot. In the morning routine trying to get them to school and me to work, I have them take her outside and run around, but she continues barking. I've tried distracting her by getting her to sit for treats or other actions, but she can't focus first thing in the morning. The barking has escalated over the weeks significantly and I need to nip this in the bud. (I've already read "excitement whining", all three barking ones, and the "Impulse control / frustration tolerance") Any help or direction would be much appreciated before these behaviors get worse

Since the Furbo should arrive today and that darn Zak George showed off not one, but Three, dogs barking on command when demonstrating the device, I decided to give it a go. I never thought to before because they generally bark only when I want them to and it's short-lived. One of the latest posts got me to thinking it would be a good idea to add this tool to our arsenal, though. We might be getting it, but we might be confused, I'm not sure. When Gertie barks I say, "Speak!" and I give her a treat. When I try to get her to do it when I ask she looks at the window. Now, to me that says she's making a connection, but perhaps not with barking, because every time she barks it's when she's looking out the window. I'm not one who's given to being jumpy, but holy cow when that bark cracks through the silence it gives my heart a jolt every time! It's just one short, loud, and sharp bark, but it's sudden and since my back is turned to her it's unexpected. :eek: Thankfully it hasn't happened, yet, while I'm drinking coffee - I think I might choke! What do you think? Keep on the path I'm on, or do I need to refine the method? Pets to those beautiful pups of yours. :)

Hi All, Shamus is a 1 year old, 18 lb terrier mutt rescue that we’ve had since about 12 weeks old. He has been a great dog, except when he began showing barking at the window to people going by, getting worse as guests (known and unknown) come into our house. I hit the “enough” point last night when we had friends over and he barked all evening, even nipping my male friend in a way that was not playful. I understand at this point that we don’t have enough control over him and he’s running wild trying to protect his territory (?). Barking at people/dogs/bike riders is also an issue on walks. So I don’t know where to begin with correcting him. Here are some details. -I am a first time dog owner, so trying to follow loving instincts with how I treat him but realize I don’t know what I am doing. I am overwhelmed by so much conflicting training advice so I hope this can be the one gentle loving course that will help me train him :) -He took a puppy course at 6 months and is decent with come, sit, stay (sort of on stay). -He is not crate trained and sleeps with us. -There are 4 of us in the house and it’s hard to have consistency with how he is treated. Me, husband, my mother, and my daughter who is 6. -Because of the above, training hasn’t moved beyond basics and those commands aren’t given consistently every day. -I work out of the house 2 days a week so he is home with my mom, who will never be a consistent or strong leader for him. -Obviously we need to be able to leave him home alone without barking however I have strange feelings about creating an animal for several hours. It doesn’t feel right to me. -I believe he shows me respect by sitting in my presence, being calm when I come home and waiting for me to greet him, waiting to eat until I say it’s ok. But he doesn’t show anyone else the same, and it’s very hard to redirect him once he’s worked up from the anxiety of a person coming in our house. Thank you for any help on getting me started. And I realize I have done many things wrong...feeling very badly about that. Ashamed almost :(

Hi, I have a 3 and a half month old male border collie pup. He lives with a 10 month old female chihuahua puppy (scary combination given he is so boisterous and she's so small but that's another issue). The problem I'm having is when I put him outside for any reason like being too rough with the chi, just for him to have outside time or to feed him (as soon as he's finished) he will bark constantly to come back in. He just doesn't seem happy at all to have any time by himself. I've tried to ignore him for a while and then catch him when he's not barking to let him in but there seems to be no improvement. There is always someone at home and he does spend a good bit of time inside. Thanks for any advise in advance, mum and I are going a little crazy

Hello! My puppy is now 5 months and really already made lots of progress but for some reason we just can't find a way to make him stop barking... Whether it is barking at home for a reason which most of the time, we can't see, hear or comprehend or whether it is barking at another dog. He sees dogs pretty much every day, with the dog sitter and during walks, nothing bad ever happened but he just keeps barking very very loudly and sometimes after a little introduction to the other dog he stops, and some other times he becomes aggressive towards the other dog. It can be so frustrating between this and the fact that he is teething so biting and chewing everything and everyone... I am teaching him the heeling and going to start with attention heeling but so far it doesn't seem to get his attention. He is always very active and very distracted. We try to get him as tired as possible but he is not a fan of fetching (even though I used your technique) so we walk a lot, play with toys and also run sometimes (3/4km).