Dog barks and rushes towards dogs on campsite

[s.dilbey]

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

[cammidge]

Have you taught him 'leave it'? That is one of the best cues for this (and lots of other things).

[JMFS]

The Samoyede people lived in tents and huddled for warmth with their dogs on brutal Arctic nights. This unusual degree of dog-and-master closeness forged a tight bond between Sammies and humankind. A Sammy sentenced to solitary confinement in the backyard is a miserable—and destructive—creature. These are smart, social, mischievous dogs who demand love and attention. Sammies need a firm but loving hand in training.

 

Samoyeds enjoy being with their people and participating in family activities. They need some daily exercise and enjoy play sessions with their owner in a safely fenced yard or long walks on leash. The breed has a strong urge to run away and roam, and if loose a Sammie might travel for miles, putting himself at risk.

 

The Samoyede depended on reindeer as a vital source of food, fur, and leather. At first, they used their dogs to hunt reindeer. But in time Samoyede culture shifted from hunting reindeer to herding them. The bold white hunting dogs and haulers found a new role as stock dogs, moving and protecting the herds.

 

https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/samoyed/

 

So you have a social butterfly with herding tendencies. :)

 

From what I've learned you're going to want to find a way to be more interesting than the dogs and desensitize him to the excitement of other furry friends who may be strolling by. Gertrude is still very much in training for this type of behavior. She is a chilled out dog Until certain things are present. The closer she is to me, the easier it is to get her to stay with me. Just this afternoon a girl was walking by our yard and there was Gertie, running back and forth along the fence line barking her ever-loving head off and completely ignoring me. The closer I got to Gertie, the more she'd come to me, but as soon as I'd turn around to walk back to the house that little stinker would start anew with the barking. When we were at Lowe's earlier today, though, she gave us nice sits when people wanted to greet her, and by the end of our trip she was in a down position at the checkout stand. That's the difference between a leash in an enclosed space and no leash in an open yard. Those wide open spaces present a bigger obstacle.

 

To get her to ignore / accept the garbage truck (and giving me heart failure with her sudden barking) I set treats on the window sill every time she looked at them or started to bark. She began to see the garbage truck as a precursor to receiving treats. As time went by I phased out the treats and substituted praise and attention. Now she simply watches them do their thing. That's indoors. When we're Outdoors it's a totally different situation!

 

Outdoors I've been working with her regarding squirrels because we have squirrels coming out of our ears and she delights in chasing them. That's fine and dandy until I have to clean up the remains. Gertie hasn't killed one, yet, but Momo has and it's sad and wasteful since there's no applicable reason for him to kill other than for the thrill of it and I'm not about that. When the squirrels had their drays (I think that's what squirrel litters are called) this Spring it was Quite a challenge and I was going out of my mind with Gertie taking off after them. I finally put her on a 50 ft lead with a martingale collar and fed her treats as the squirrels were twitching about enticing her to chase. Each time I saw her tense up I'd have her sit and when she did I'd give her a treat. Each time she broke the stay she'd essentially clothesline herself if I wasn't quick enough with increasing the tension. I also gave her an outlet for her prey drive by using a flirt pole. Each time she leaves the toy or drops it she gets a treat and praise. She can catch the toy, she can't catch the squirrels so the toy is more satisfying to her. We're 3 months out of the last dray and it's been blissfully squirrel free, but I fully anticipate having to do the training again. It took about 3 weeks of training, but she did get to a point to where I could get her to hold a stay even with 5 squirrels frolicking about. Other dogs should be Much easier because you can enlist their owner's help, or they'll at least understand what you're attempting to accomplish. I couldn't ask the squirrels for cooperation! I have the added difficulty of teaching her to differentiate crows from squirrels and chasing Only when I give the release. I can't stand crows and their damage so I want my dogs to chase those off But only when I tell them to. She did a great job of that today, but I did have hold of her collar so she was more receptive to waiting until I said, "go!"

 

If you can find a friend to help you can start with their dog in the distance and have yours hold a sit. When he does, reward him. Bit by bit you can decrease the distance. Fair warning - it's boooooring training and it's repetitive because there are going to be plenty of oopses. If you do have a setback, increase the distance again and work on that until he's ignoring the other dog, or at least giving a nice sit / stay. I would definitely use high value treats like chicken or jerky for this since he gets so excited about other dogs.

 

Like Cammidge said, leave is another good tool. That's what I generally try before asking for a sit and it does work well. Once she's done the leave I'll ask for the sit.

 

That's the basic method. Adrienne can fill in (or correct) anything I may have missed like touching on socialization.

[s.dilbey]

Thank you, I have started to teach him leave it. I will continue.

[s.dilbey]

Thank you for your very long reply, very interesting reading. Good luck with the squirrels.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

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

 

Greetings!

This sounds like frustration barking considering that Herbie acts friendly and given the possibility rushes to greet his pals. As Jennifer pointed out, this breed is prone to being social and has a tendency to roam, so best to ensure he cannot escape.

 

In a social dog’s dreamland, dogs would be free to roam and greet as many other dogs and people as they want, and everybody would be friends. In a real-life scenario, though, things are very different, and dogs are walked on leashes to keep everyone safe and out of trouble. This may lead to barrier frustration in dogs who are eager to go meet every dog or person they see, but find themselves restrained by a leash or fence. The result is a big barking explosion, a dog’s version of a toddler’s tantrum, which can even make your dog seem aggressive. Yet those who know your dog well know for a fact that he is the friendliest pooch on earth who plays well with other dogs and is eager to make friends.

 

Here's a read on barrier frustration:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barrier-frustration/

 

In such a case, as suggested, you can work with your dog in getting your dog to sit as he sees another dog, but if he struggles with that you can try plain "look at that" exercises and then incorporate a sit once he gains better impulse control. You can find the "look at that exercise" here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

 

Make sure to watch for signs your dog is over threshold so to prevent an inability to respond and too many setbacks. Increasing distance is often needed at first. Here's a read on thresholds:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

Here is a general read on how to train more impulse control and frustration tolerance in dogs:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

 

Since your dog is an adolescent, here's what to expect during these challenging times:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/

 

It's best not to leave him on lead unsupervised (is he tied up?), as that encourages rehearsal of the problem behavior (the more your dog barks and is able to get loose from the lead, the more these behaviors put roots and become more difficult to work on). If possible, invite him in the tent or to stick nearby you on leash. When you cannot supervise, if possible, provide a safe area where he can be restrained without having visual access to other dogs (crate, if he is used to being in one with a stuffed Kong to keep busy)

 

And of course, exercise and mental stimulation can help him stay a bit calmer as too much un-channeled energy may lead to problematic behaviors. Samoyeds thrive on activities so the more the better! Hope this helps, happy camping!

Edited July 22, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[s.dilbey]

Dear Adrienne

Thank you for your reply, I will read through the information you have suggested.

Kind regards

Stuart