# Barking At Other Dogs



## Doodles (Mar 23, 2016)

Hi!


I have a 2 year old toy poodle bitch named Sadie, she is unspayed but is getting the OP done mid-May. I bought her two weeks ago from a breeder who was 'getting rid' of all of their toys in favor for miniatures. This little girl has had two litters back-to-back already at such a young age, she was mostly kept in a garage in a crate, so I don't think she has had much love because she is still quite nervous.

She is a little darling, but her only flaw is that she barks when out on a walk. I like to let my dogs run free in the park, I have two others who are well mannered and she has learned a lot from them. 

If she sees another dog while off lead, she will run off toward them and completely ignore my recall commands (something she is excellent at) - barking all the way toward the other dog. She doesn't differentiate between stranger dogs or ones she is very familiar with that we see on a regular basis - she will still run off and bark at them before we have a chance to put her lead back on.

I want to clarify that I do not think this is aggressive behavior, as soon as she reaches the other dog she'll greet them very gently and politely and then invite them to play; but it is still very embarrassing to have a 'yappy dog'. She has not shown any hostile or worrying behavior other than barking.

She's not interested in treats when out on a walk, I've tried her favorites including CHEESE which she goes nuts for. I don't want to keep her on a lead because she likes to burn off steam and gets more enjoyment off lead.

Any suggestions? :ahhhhh:


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Others will give you detailed instructions on how to work with her, but I will just tell you that in general, you have given her too much, too soon. Two weeks ago she went from spending her entire life locked in a crate in a garage, her only job protecting her little puppies from the rest of the dogs, to running free in a park?! That is a HUGE change, and clearly you did not take much time to slowly acclimate her to her new world at a pace that she is comfortable with! She does not have an "excellent recall" as you say, because she ignores you when she is distracted. I think that you need to back up to a level of stimulus and "freedom" in which she is comfortable, not reactive, and able to focus on you, give lots of positive reinforcement and practice at that level, and slowly build up her ability, staying just under her threshold of reactivity and distraction, taking as much time and effort as needed to build to your ultimate goal of having her be well behaved off lead in the park.
You skipped some important steps with this little lady, and there is no "fixing it " where you are at - you need to go back to where she is comfortable an unfocused, and start from there, going at HER pace!


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## Doodles (Mar 23, 2016)

She didn't live in a crate her 'whole' life - she had had three homes in total now, her 2nd being one that actually trained her well (I am in contact with her). She was sold to her third home at 7 months where she was bred straight away. She knows all basic commands, and her recall *is* good. She comes on command and sticks to me like glue, it's only when she sees another dog. This is the only problem she has; otherwise she is absolutely perfect, loves to play and is incredibly happy.

Actual advice instead of criticism would be appreciated.

I do have a clicker, is there any-way of using it to take her attention away from other dogs?


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## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

The only way you could use the clicker to take her attention off of another dog would be if you can give her another behavior to do before she takes off, and then reward that behavior. Whatever you do, don't just click the clicker while she's running away in hopes that it will distract her. If you do that, you are essentially reinforcing the running away.

I think you do need to go back and practice recalls in less distracting situations, and work up to a good recall when she is off lead and sees another dog. Obviously this is a very challenging distraction for her, and every time you call her and she ignores you and runs to greet the other dog she's being rewarded for ignoring you and her recall is being weakened. So I would either avoid having her off lead or avoid calling her when she's doing this until you've done some more training with her. 

This article might be somewhat helpful for you:
On Shoddy Clicker Training and the Importance of Premack | Dog Star Daily

Also, I'm copying this from a post I made in another thread, but this is how I taught Hans a recall that is reliable enough to call him off of a retrieve (his "ultimate challenge"). 



> Another thing we did was the way we taught recall. It's called a "Premack Recall" in the book I have, after psychologist David Premack. It is a little complicated so I'm reading the section in the book while I try to explain it.
> Phase one is this:
> 1) Get a super awesome reward that your dog has never had before. I mean really awesome.
> 
> ...


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Doodles said:


> She didn't live in a crate her 'whole' life - she had had three homes in total now, her 2nd being one that actually trained her well (I am in contact with her). She was sold to her third home at 7 months where she was bred straight away. She knows all basic commands, and her recall *is* good. She comes on command and sticks to me like glue, it's only when she sees another dog. This is the only problem she has; otherwise she is absolutely perfect, loves to play and is incredibly happy.
> 
> Actual advice instead of criticism would be appreciated.
> 
> I do have a clicker, is there any-way of using it to take her attention away from other dogs?



So you are her fourth home in two years?!
There was great advice in my post, but you did not hear it because you perceived that you are being criticized. Perhaps somebody else will be kind enough to reiterate it for you.


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

No matter where she has spent time in the past and who trained her, the bottom line is she does not have excellent recall if she doesn't come EVERY time you call her, with or without distraction. Please don't let this dog off leash until her recall is without fail. I am not being critical. I am coming from a place where I had a toy dog killed instantly by another dog. One of my greatest fears is a small dog running up to a larger dog it is not familiar with.


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## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

Also, I just wanted to add that there's no shame in backing up a bit and refreshing her training. It doesn't mean she isn't well trained...it doesn't reflect poorly on you or the dog. It is just something that needs to be done with any dog from time to time. It would be nice if we just trained them and then they were done, but that isn't how it works. Training is an ongoing process that really never ends. If we don't continue to reinforce behaviors we want, or if we start reinforcing things we don't want, then dogs get rusty. If her second owner put work in to train her, but then she went to another home where her training wasn't used for over a year, she's certainly due a bit of a refresher.

Heck, I work with my dog almost every day, and I still find things I need to go back and fix occasionally because we've gotten sloppy. I just took Hans back to a very basic retrieving exercise he learned as a puppy - pick the dummy up off the floor and put it in my hand - because I didn't like how he was handing things to me. Probably my fault for letting him slide on occasion, but I'm not ashamed to say we went back and seem well on the way to fixing it.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

It is vital that your recall is perfect because your dog's life may depend on it. I also think a long distance down or sit can be just as important. I am glad your dog has the start of a good recall. You can work by slowly adding in distractions. Swizzle has a great recall but it is something not to be taken for granted and I routinely work on this and a bunch of other skills. For the barking I would keep him a lead around other dogs and work on desensitizing. For Swizzle I took him on a walking trail and found a distance he was not making noise, reward and the gradually get closer to what would make him bark. In the beginning it was other dogs, bicycles and roller skates and skateboards. He will occasionally bark at another dog but on the whole he just trots along. Your dog sounds like a quick learner with a good temperament. Have that kind of early upbringing and so many owners would ruin many dogs. Let us know how she is coming along.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Just wanted to add the reward does not have to be food. It can be your attention, petting, a toy ecetera.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

You've gotten some very good training advice. My Standard is not quite two, and even though his recall is very good, I wouldn't trust him off leash on a walk. I work on it and work on it for that emergency situation. I don't think I'll ever be ready to tempt fate on a daily basis.

Humans bred dogs to bark according to "When Pigs Fly" by Jane Killion. If your Poodle isn't vocalizing all the time in the house, that's a win. If she seems anxious and barks on your outings, CT Girl's desensitizing suggestion may help. I don't believe it can be completely extinguished. It sounds like you got a nice little dog with a good training foundation. Another win


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

My Bella within 3 weeks of the time I got her at 18 months would never leave my side, comes immediately, walks just behind my right leg, never approaches another dog, in fact gets behind me if another dog is near. 

Cayenne I have had for a year, her recall is good if I hand chicken or cookies, but without them I did not trust her. Three days ago is the first I have let her walk from the car to the house, now she is walking just like Bella, even without Bella there. Even after 1 year I do not trust her if another dog, cat or squirrel was around. As soon as it warms up I will put her on a long lead and take her out in the yard, with my other dogs I used a 20 foot lead and they were quick to pick up. She was so tiny 3 pounds that I let her get away with more than I should have. There is always hope it takes a lot of work


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