It was hard to imagine as I sat with Cocker Spaniels George and Rupert that the problem is alarm barking. Having had a sniff of me they simply settled down for the evening.
These two dogs have a very good life! They want for nothing. They go to a very good daycare while the couple are at work. They are taken on holiday with them and are very much loved.
Barney barks with alarm at any sound he hears that could mean someone is approaching the house. It can be a car or footsteps on the gravel.
If outside in the garden, he barks with alarm as someone he doesn’t know approaches the gate. As deliveries or the postman let themselves into the garden, he may sound more fierce.
Barney
Once someone is in the house, they find a delightful, friendly three-year-old Cocker Spaniel. Barney is simply doing what the majority of dogs would naturally do. That is, to alarm bark when someone approaches their territory.
He has unintentionally been ‘given the job’ by his humans, by their allowing him to be out in the garden alone when someone comes through the gate.
It will be quite scary for him when a stranger approaches him, possibly carrying something.
Allowing him access to ‘look-out’ points at the sitting room windows isn’t good either. If he barks for long enough the person will eventually go away.
Success.
Both having him in the garden unsupervised and barking at people from the windows mean that he is rehearsing the very behaviour that they don’t want. It’s being constantly practised – so it can only increase.
Being very alert and responsive is in Barney’s genes, very like my own Cocker Spaniel, Pickle. Although I will never make Pickle a quiet and placid dog (I could wish!), how I deal with it is very different. He is never left to feel that alarm is his responsibility. It could never get to a stage where he might feel it necessary to growl or even bite in order to feel safe. I would either have intervened immediately to help him out, or he would be safely out of the way somewhere.
Barney’s young couple have four things to do.
The first is to avoid stirring him up unecessarily. The calmer he is, the more able he will be to cope. Like many young people, they find it fun to wind him up in play and even tease him. They think he enjoys it. Possibly he does – in the way we might enjoy a scary ride at a fun fair.
There are plenty more constructive things they can do with him that will help him to be less reactive.
The second is to prevent rehearsal by removing opportunity in every way possible – drawing curtains, going outside with him and so on.
Thirdly is getting him to feel differently about people approaching. For instance, if they are outside in the garden and a delivery is approaching the gate, they can throw him his ball. He loves the ball. They may also get the man to throw his ball to him.
For the ball to be effective they will ‘ball-starve’ him! Whenever he hears or sees an approaching person he gets to play with his ball. Whenever they go, ball play stops.
‘QUIET!’ won’t help him. He is alarmed and scared!
Cuddling and comforting won’t help him. ‘Don’t worry about the man that has come to kill us all, have a cuddle instead!’.
They need to work on every little sound that causes him to alarm bark. They will condition him to come straight away when called brightly – for either special food reward or the ball.
When he barks they need to react immediately. ‘It’s Okay!’. Then call him. Even if he doesn’t come, he should be getting the message that people walking past or approaching the gate or door are not his responsibility.
He has back-up.
Getting him to feel differently about the things that alarm him should gradually get him to behave differently. He may well continue to bark, but not for so long or so urgently. He should never be put in a position where he could feel compelled to bite.
It would be a good idea to put a bell on the gate and lock it so people simply are unable to just walk in – maybe a combination padlock? Friends and family will know the number.
Prevention is a whole lot better than cure. Belt and braces.
I could only catch a back view without him rushing to me!
The Miniature Wirehaired Daschund charged about barking, agitated whilst at the same time as ecstatic to see me. He flew all over me.
It was relentless. At my request we were all doing our best to ignore it.
I continually turned away and tipped him off.
I then asked the lady to show me what they usually did when someone came and he was barking like this. She pointed her finger at the agitated Monty and shouted NO a couple of times.
Monty stopped. Briefly. Then he focussed his barking on her.
Monty was also ready to bark at the smallest sound outside, but this time a different kind of bark. An alarmed bark.
He scooted around the carpet – he has recurring anal gland problems that can only add to his stress (he has an appointment with the vet who will check him all over too). He chewed his feet.
Then he was flying around again. A stuffed Kong later on gave him and us a short respite.
It is so very hard for people to deal with this sort of thing and I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that, much as they love their adorable little dog, he is driving them nuts. They have spent money and they have taken advice. They are at their wits’ end.
The humans are agitated and the dog is agitated. A vicious circle.
Monty barks at people, he barks at planes or helicopters. He barks at church bells and things on TV. They can’t have friends round because from the moment he hears the doorbell he is jumping up, flying everywhere, agitated and barking frantically.
Some months ago an old-school dog trainer advised spraying him in the face with water. This did stop him – briefly.
Trying to terrorise an agitated dog does nothing for the underlying reasons for the barking. It undoubtedly makes them worse, whatever the cause of the barking.
The other very wrong thing is that the dog quickly gets immune to water spray, so then what?
They were advised to move on to an ‘anti-bark’ collar and other remote-controlled anti-bark devices. Here is my favourite video demonstrating how aversives can only add to stress and confusion.
Things have progressively got worse. They are people doing their very best with the information they can find. How do people know where to look? They are at their wits’ end.
They feel they have really tried everything.
Not at all.
For a start, they haven’t tried doing everything they possibly can to cut down on Monty’s general arousal levels using only positive methods. Nobody has suggested that.
They’ve not tried helping him out with the alarm barking – basically thanking him instead of punishing him. Yes – thanking him – and using food!
The usual question then is, ‘am I not then rewarding my dog for barking?’.
Not if he’s alarm barking. They are addressing the fear that is causing the barking. Already with me being there they could see how that worked. A plane went over. He pricked up but didn’t bark. If they are sufficiently on the ball and can spot when he first hears something, they can catch it before he even starts – pre-empting barking.
People coming into his house cause a sort of total meltdown in Monty, to the extent that he may lose control of his bladder.
He did lie down a few times briefly. He lay in front of me on a stool and now that he wasn’t clamouring for attention anymore I slowly touched him. He lay still. I did it again and he charged off around the room once again.
Now when Monty is calm, instead of gratefully letting sleeping dogs lie, they will sometimes initiate activities. We looked at things that would both fulfill him and help to calm him down.
Getting to the underlying reason why he’s barking and dealing with that is the key. Any punishment is like putting a plaster on a festering wound. The wound continues to get worse underneath.
Now they have the tools for dealing with their beloved dog’s barking and agitated behaviour in a kind and positive way, they will be much happier.
And so will Monty.
Just one more thing – Monty is perfect out on walks. He doesn’t bark, he doesn’t pull and he loves other dogs!
Meg
Fin
A dog can find a park full of people easier than a quiet field with a lone person or dog. She becomes hyper aware of them and feels unsafe.
We are the same really, aren’t we. In a busy place we feel less exposed. It can be more comfortable to be on a crowded tube train than sitting alone opposite one lone person. In a crowd we feel invisible. There is no attention on us so it can be far less stressful.
Meg is quite extreme in this respect. They can take her through a busy town or a country show and she is fine with lots of people and dogs – accepts being touched even. But, if they are out in their quiet village streets, Meg feels unsafe. She is very reactive to any approaching dog or person. It starts with growling and then she will become very noisy. She is scared.
Meg is a beautiful 8-month-old Belgian Shepherd and she lives with Australian Shepherd, Fin, age 6. She is yet another Shepherd-type breed who is skittish and scared of people and other dogs – but not in all situations.
If they are out in the fields and she spots an approaching person, Meg will panic. If someone stops to talk to her owner in the street, she becomes very noisy. When a person comes to the house and into her presence, Meg backs away and growls. Even when she gets used to them, a sudden movement can start her off again. She doesn’t like approaching hands.
Meg goes to dog training classes where she is stressed and uneasy around people and dogs – growling at them when they come near her. I feel, because she is trapped in a situation where she feels unsafe, this won’t be helping her at all. If classes had succeeded in ‘socialising’ her, she would be okay by now.
However, when she goes to watch Fin’s agility classes where there is a lot of commotion and activity, she is fine.
It’s a bit puzzling. She was alright until about three months old. Her breeder was careful to introduce her puppies to everyday sounds and household objects. Maybe there weren’t enough new humans and other dogs in the mix? Their other dog, Fin, is a big alarm-barker at people passing or entering their house, so perhaps this is infecting the young Meg?
Meg has had plenty of training – but that as such isn’t the answer. ‘To alter the behaviour we need to alter the emotion’.
They have a good starting point with Meg being OK in crowds. I would suggest dropping out things they know stress her like the classes and do a lot of work just within her comfort zone. Firstly they will work in comfortable crowds, and gradually places a little quieter, always associating the experience with good things.
For her to trust them, they themselves need to behave appropriately in a her doggy eyes.
Dogs, for a start, don’t walk directly towards another dog or person they don’t know, unless it’s a friendly welcome or stalking. They would arc around them, leaving space. If frightened, a sensible dog would take evasive action unless cornered.
The bottom line is – Meg feels unsafe. Just why is a mystery, although I have found it is very common in Shepherd dogs, bred to guard and often highly sensitive, intelligent and reactive. A Shepherd’s socialisation and habituation to people and other dogs from a very young age, just a few weeks old, is especially vital.
