barneysmom2510

So the last two days Barney has started barking at my dogs whenever he is awake he does this. I know it is probably because he wants to play ut he is bigger so he will paw them and they just snip at him. He is particularly fond of barking at my 4 pound chihuahua he tends to knock her over with his body when he tries to get her to play. When I walk them together on a leash he will not do that. I know he just does not realize he is so much bigger than they are plus my doxies are ten and are not into puppies.Should I just ignore this barking and he will eventually get the picture that if he behaves this way my dogs will not interact with him? I know barking to them is him trying to communicate so I don't want to stop him if this is just stressful to me because I am a person and maybe it is not the same for my dashunds. Lord knows my dogs bark alot at everything.

__________________
-LISA


Mini daschunds Sadie Lou & Daisy dukes
Chihuahua Lola
Bassett Hound Barney

Mikey T

see the following recent thread Barking

barneysmom2510

Thanks. What I have read about it says this is common with puppies and many times they become used to the older dogs and settle down. I was not concerned with it during play my dogs don't play with him.I was talking about the times it goes on for 1/2 hour or more when he is laying there doing it . From what I have read if it was ticking off my dogs they would let him know so it must not bother them because they just pretend he is not there when he does it. Probably just more annoying to me than the dogs but i am used to barking so I will deal. I do however work on reducing my dogs barking or they would do it alot which would e bothersome to my neighbors no one's dog barks around here except mine and the same dog when he drives by in his owners car. I was not sure whether I should work wit him so he does not do it for s long or not.

__________________
-LISA


Mini daschunds Sadie Lou & Daisy dukes
Chihuahua Lola
Bassett Hound Barney

Mikey T

Al depends on what the plan is. Keep in mind stoping the barking does not solve the problem Thake the place of the other dogs and engaging the pup in play does. but if you do not want the puppy to learn that barking is the way to get someone to play ie you or the dogs then you need to teach him a more appropriate behavior that works. It does no good to teach the dog to sit quitely in front of you to intiate play if in the end that does not work as well.

The other dogs by ignoring the barking may teach the pup that barking does not work to get them to play however it does not change the basic desire. The pup is likely to try a vairiety of different tacts to see if one will work some are likely to be even more annoying for either you or the dogs involved.

barneysmom2510

I have been just ignoring it you can tell he is just trying to get their attention. He seems to be assimilating very well into my little pack. It's funny how my daschunds would never put up with another dog especially one who barks and follows them for attention but they seem to like barney. I have a feeling his barking at them for long stretches will taper off because they do not give him the attention he wants. His bark is alot less annoying than my doxies and chihuahua so it is not as aggravating their bark is yippy.

__________________
-LISA


Mini daschunds Sadie Lou & Daisy dukes
Chihuahua Lola
Bassett Hound Barney

Mikey T

unless of course the ocassional give in in which case he is variably reinforced making ending the behavior via extinction nearly impossible. Also if the extinction does work I doubt his desire to play or engage them in play will deminish so he will simply seek out other behavior that might be more effective. ie humping, the big paw, squashing etc.

Whether you can tollerate the barking etc is what it comes down to however with all attention seeking behavior I find it better to be proactive than trying the extinction route if the ultimate goal is to end the behavior. For a human child perspective it is rather like the Comfort the crying baby vs ignoring it debate. Boith can if dones consistently however most can not follow the ignore/extenction protocol so it fails when the behavior is occiasionally rewarded.

Just trying to give you some ideas to expand your options and be more successful if you decided you want to stop the behavior.

barneysmom2510

What are some things I can do because odds are I am going to try and stop the behavior. He has started pawing and body checking my 4 pound chihuahua and follows her endlessly around. My other dogs he baks off of if he tries to paw them or invade their space they will snap and bark at him and he backs off. Maybe because my chihuahua is only 2 he does not take her a seriously plus she is much smaller. I am really new to this situation so any tricks would be appreciated.

__________________
-LISA


Mini daschunds Sadie Lou & Daisy dukes
Chihuahua Lola
Bassett Hound Barney

Mikey T

1. schedual time for play sleep eat etc on a schedual it is prefectly ok to confine a single dog to maintain that schedual.

2. be proactive in providing the plya the dog need so instead of looking toward the other dogs he looks to you, He need to learn this up to this point his outlet for physical stimulation has been littermate other dog so naturally this is where he will turn first even if rebuffed.

3. look at training a default differential behavior. shuch as sit or down which is reward without being asked for so the dog when in a guandry what to do to get attention is going to lean to behavior s that worke din the past and when that is an acceptable behavior you have done your job but that mean making a concious effort to reward such behavior wihich is easly ignored. It is very easy to ignore the good behavior if you reward it you will get more of it.

4. Look into interactive games for the puppy. When confined you can use thing like stuffed kongs and buster cubes or other treat dispensing toys to keep him self entertained. These thing in multi dog household can be problematic if multiple dog try an use thes toys at the same time.

5 reward the the behavior you do not want with a reward the dog does not want

Insights into Puppy mouthing


I forgot how old barny is but I thought he was a young ie under 16 weeks if that is the case the adult dogs are likely to be more tollerant of his boorish behavior for a while but that will change and sometime dramatically

see Puppy licence and its Loss
Puppy license and adult behavior–STOP SEPARATING PLAY.


also to some extent it is in the chii's hand it may learn from the other dogs how to handle barney but I say as well how a dog and cat get a long is not so much the dog but the cat and how it reacts and acts toward the dog not the other way round and that is the case here but I would not hesitate to reward the chi for telling barney off if it happens to help incourage the behavior. bu if barney is young the chi but be giving him more license than he will get latter on in life as well.

barneysmom2510

Thank he does bark at my cat but she does not get nervous. My dogs adore her whenevr she comes in they run up and sniff her she is a big time hunter of all small animals so they probably like the way she smells.It is funny as far as the ones my other dogs can get quite territorial when they have a bone so he backs right off. I have a whole bunch around so there is always extra.I have been taking turns walking my dogs with him and they interact alot outside so he is barking less today because they are hanging around him more.

__________________
-LISA


Mini daschunds Sadie Lou & Daisy dukes
Chihuahua Lola
Bassett Hound Barney

Mikey T

that what I mean by being pro active over time hopefully it will become even less still but a lot depends on how the other dogs react to the barking. If he is rewarded for it it will continue Husbands and children are not the only ones to sabotoge training how the other dogs react can as well