# My ears hurt!



## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Well, seeing you posted here I will comment here. 

I have exactly the same problem with my Mini. She barks at everything and nothing. Its really quite annoying. However, she will actually come in now when she is barking. Previously, when she was younger that is - she just ignored us and went on barking.

However, I really would like to stop her. She just gets shut in the house and if I could explain to her that if she didn't bark, she could come outside like the rest of us -- then I would do it.

Yesterday, I was in the middle of watching something on TV. She had been outside barking so I made her come in. Then she started inside - bark, bark, bark . . . I was too lazy to stop watching the show I was just finishing. In the end my husband came in the house and she raced into the bedroom, barking like crazy. He kept saying "Its just me - its just me" but in the end she crawled under the bed to get away from him. 

I have NO idea what that was all about. OK it was dark - but he was talking to her!!

I have had offers of shock collars that my friend used on a Shih-tzu and a Coton - both small dogs - and I would try that as a last resort but I have heard mixed reviews about them. I suppose I could borrow my friend's and see if it worked.

The barking drives us crazy and it results in Lucy being shut in the house when we are outside. And she still barks inside!

I hope someone has a suggestion.


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## EmilyK (Mar 26, 2011)

I am no expert but I'll pass along the techniques that the personal dog trainer we hired told us because of our spoo barking at our cat. In general, she recommends positive training techniques but this is one where she likes a combination of positive and negative. 

#1 - When the dog barks, say "Quiet!" or whatever command you use. If the dog settles down and doesn't bark any more, give a treat and praise. If the dog barks again, use a startle as a punishment. We took a soda can, put 10 pennies in it and taped the top shut. It turns out we can't use this for barking since it also startles the cat, but it has been quite effective at getting him to "leave it" when we're eating dinner!

#2 - Similar to #1 but use a spray bottle with a good jet stream on it instead of the startle can. This also doesn't really work for us because the kids spray him outside as a game so he thinks it's fun. The trainer, however, said that this is usually quite effective in her experience when there isn't some unusual circumstance like ours. She warns to not ever threaten with the bottle or they'll figure you out. Just spray or don't.

#3 - Same as the first two but use either vinegar or bitter apply on the side of the mouth as punishment.

#4 - Same but use isolation as punishment. This is what we've finally settled on for the cat but it's more of a pain in the butt. We keep a leash on him and if he barks the second time, we calmly stand up and take him into the next room and tie him to the door. We return to the first room (where the cat is also) and ignore him for two minutes. If it's been two minutes but he's whining, we wait until he stops whining. Really any break in it and we run in there to let him go. We don't want to prolong time out but don't want to inadvertently reward whining either.

And whatever you try - stick with it! The trainer said it could take a good couple of weeks of consistent training to really see consistent results.


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## Fond of Poodles (Feb 1, 2011)

Here's a link to basic solutions to barking:

Barking Dogs - Why Dogs Bark and How to Stop Excessive Dog Barking

Colina


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## norahl (Jul 27, 2011)

*my ears hurt*

Thanks a lot. Yeah, the penny can ramps him up more and if we throw it to the ground (not at him), he'll grab it and run and I don't want him to cut himself when he tries to kill the can. He LOVES to be sprayed in the face, but the vinegar is an idea (he likes the bitter training spray), The isolation technique would work, but I was looking for a more immediate approach because I can't trust the kids to end the isolation. I find him still tethered and sleeping cause the kids forget. I wanted to avoid back on the leash, but I think it's the right choice.

Purley, My dog has kenneled and trained at a semi-famous training/hunting facility that specializes in labs and standard poodles. Hunters us e-collars. During one training, they used one on my dog because he wouldn't stop barking and told me to save my money. He still barked continuously on setting 5 so they removed the collar. But that was 6 months ago and this barking issue is new, plus he's a standard. I would definately borrow your friend's collar first.


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

Is your dog clicker trained? I recently had our dog trainer to the house for a private session because we were having a similar issue with our mini. He barks at the kids screaming/playing in the street for the most part. As we live in a neighborhood with lots of energetic children, we wanted to get a handle on the barking.

The method she taught us has been working really great. When he starts to bark (or ideally, right when he turns his head and starts to perk up into alert mode), I click and when he looks at me, I give him a treat. This is to interrupt the behavior before it escalates. Then, when he looks back toward the sound or barks, another click-treat to get him to look at me.

It helps to have him on a leash at this time so he can't run over to the window where he sees the kids and get all riled up barking. 

After a few of this, when he barks (or looks toward the sound), I click, then say "shush!" wait one second and give him a treat. I do this for a while, lenghtening the amount of time between the "shush" (one, two, three seconds) and then treat. 

By this time, he's pretty interested in what I'm doing (clicking and treating him), usually moreso than the noise outside. 

Then, when he barks or looks toward the noise, I just say "shush" without clicking and when he looks at me, give him the treat. I continue this until I can say "shush" and count to three before giving him the treat.

This method takes a lot of time, but it's working fabulously! He has quieted down considerably in the past few weeks, and now if he barks and runs over to the window (off leash) I can click from a few feet away and he will immediatelty abandon his "watch" at the window and come to me for a treat. Then I can continue the cycle of "shush," wait, treat.


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## zyrcona (Jan 9, 2011)

norahl said:


> My18 month old Standard mix is very socialized and obedience trained, but has recently developed an annoying problem that I've heard is common to poodles. Barking.


If your dog uses a crate, will he bark when he is in that? My dog went through a noisy phase in which she'd often bark or let off a bloodcurdling baying, either at nothing or at something no-one else could detect. When she was in her crate, she never made a sound. A complete stranger could go up to the window of the room the crate was in and make faces at her, and she wouldn't bark. Possibly it was instinct not to draw attention to her nest, possibly not. If he will be quiet in his crate, it might be an idea to make him go there when he starts barking to make him calm down. If it is just the initial bark at a novel thing that's the problem, PaddleAddict's suggestion of catching the cues before the dog and distracting him sounds like a good place to start.


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## buddyrose (Jul 27, 2011)

*Dog trainer*

My trainer used clickers and positive reinforcement to teach. My dog barks now, after 4 years, when ever I'm home and he hears something. But when I tell him to STOP he does.... Most of the time.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

You've been given some great advice and I can't think of anything to add. I do have two questions though:

- Is he neutered or intact?

- How often do you exercise him and at what intensity? By this I mean do you take him for runs and/or long (challenging/interesting) walks, work with him in back yard practicing agility or other drills, etc.? 

I find that my one high energy poodle will bark a LOT more when he's bored and hasn't been out much--by that I mean both mental and physical stimulation. (He's really bad now as we've been experiencing 100+ degree temps with higher heat indexes and haven't been out much! LOL) Once he's back into his "routine," he'll stop. 

I hope that helps!


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## norahl (Jul 27, 2011)

I want to thank everyone who responded. No, he's not clicker trained, but he is neutered. Zyrcona, he has broken out of two crates and his outdoor kennel so we're a little soft on confinement.

He is very, very high energy. I'm off in the summer, so he has a 20 - 30 min walk in the morning, plays in the yard all day with my 3 kids and their friends (the stay-at-home mommy gets the friends) which includes swimming in our ig pool, then 40 - 50 mins after dinner to the park where he is off leash playing hide-and-seek or baseball with the kids. Occasionally we'll hike, but he's always ready for more (He sleeps like a rock at night).

We've decided the On The Leash Route with a "QUIET!", treat and removal for a second offense. You'll laugh - when we first started (a month ago) we just used "quiet" and treated. He _learned_ to bark at us and then sit pretty for a treat! We had accidently taught him to bark for treats! Removal is the key. He HATES not being with his people and seems to get the point. Now, just putting a leash on him stops him from barking in the first place (he just drags it around, it's not tethered to anything or anyone). But he is smart - he's back to barking the minute the leash is off. We're working on it. Thank you very much to all for the helpful advice.


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

This morning I was in the bath - Lucy yapped almost the whole time. I didn't feel like getting out of the bath to stop her. My husband obviously didn't feel like getting out of bed to stop her. When he did finally get up, he said she was yapping at a wooden bird we have hanging over the stairs. Its on strings so you can pull the cord and the bird "flies" - i.e. the wings go up and down. 

Its been there for a good 20 years - my kids bought it for me when they were teenagers - but apparently Lucy just noticed it moving. I'll try to remember the name of this thread because all the tips are useful. Lucy has had clicker training. Mainly the problem is things like this morning when I am in the bath tub and don't want to get out to stop her barking. I could put her in the crate again when I am busy, but she has been out of her crate now for so long that I don't think she really needs the crate any more and the yapping only happens very infrequently in this situation.

I would like to stop her yapping outside though because when she yaps, she gets shut in the house.


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## norahl (Jul 27, 2011)

Seems like you are making some progress? It feels good to have someone in the same situation. Strange, Russell only barks inside not out. Hang in there.


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