Jo's Old Site

My three year old miniature schnauzer who I name Ilse or Ilsa is an excitable barker and as I was talking to my mum the other day one of the things that I told her is that ignoring the barking doesn’t make it go away as Ilse doesn’t think it is wrong. So then I told mum when Ilse barks for her food when I dole it out instead of putting her food dish down on the floor I should leave it on the table and walk away, and only feed her when she is quiet. And mum agreed that I should try it and so I did.

Then after Ilse has been quiet for a few minutes I then walked back to the table and told her sit, then I put her food dish down and when she looked at me I told her ok. And I found that I only had to do this once as after having done that Ilse hasn’t done any more excitable barking for her food.

I’ve read somewhere sometime ago that dogs don’t bark if their person tells them to sit. And what I notice with Ilsa is that if I tell her to sit sometimes she will go woo at me despite being in the sit position. There’s also an UD exercise that’s called speak on command where a dog has to bark once while they are in three positions. These positions are sit, stand and down/drop. However, when teaching this exercise some dogs are sometimes found to be more confident to speak on command in some positions than others.

But speaking in the three positions can still be taught. Also, another point to make is that some dogs are quieter than others. And what may work for one dog and handler may not work quite so well for another. 

Though a person has to try as we’ll never know until we do. Also another person’s idea to control barking is that if the dog’s person decides to teach their dog/s to speak on their command they can then teach them to be quiet.

Then another person’s idea (that I have seen work) is that we can teach dogs a signal when we want them to be quiet. Then after waiting for them to give the correct response we then give them a tidbit. And then after we have repeated this sequence for a while, the barking dog will then realize the pattern and will get to know that if they see a certain signal they are to be quiet then they will get a tidbit.

The trainer may also find that their dog/s responses to their command will become quicker. And a trainer can also reward more tidbits for the quicker responses and less food for slower responses. Also some dogs learn that if they bark they’ll get tidbits as this is one way to teach speak on comand and so it is important for dog trainers to work out what they want to teach their dog/s.

As sometimes, what a dog learns from their trainer isn’t what their trainer is trying to teach them. And a example of this is if the trainer tells their dog to come the very instant it barks, then reward it for coming when called. As some people’s dogs (but not all of them), may think that they’re getting rewarded for their barking, then coming when called and may think to include the unwanted behaviour into the routine and this is why it is so important for trainers to learn about other ways to teach as there are a lot of different approaches to dog training.

If you have a dog with a barking problem that you’re always trying to correct, then maybe your dog doesn’t understand why it is being corrected. And when a person finds that they are repeatedly correcting, this can be stressful and not only for the dog but for the people trying to correct too.

And no dog can be that naughty! As a matter of fact I’m pretty sure that dogs don’t know what that word means. However dogs bark for different reasons, and one of these reasons is because they are unhappy seeing their person go without them.

So what can a person do? Well if you don’t live by yourself you are in luck as one thing that the people that you live with can do when they are home and you’re not is preoccupy your dog while you go out. Though I’m not talking about molly coddling.

As what the other people who you live with can do is something like: giving your dog a bath while you get out of the house, and if there are other dogs in the household that can play with your dog and they get on well you could use this as an advantage too. As your dog can play with the other dog or dogs while you are out and if your dog can play with other dogs this is something that is very pleasant, and that they can look forward to. Also having back and front verandahs can help disguise the fact that the dog’s person is going or gone especially if you do know that your dog gets upset when they see that you’re going somewhere without them.

Then one other thing that really is important is: that the dog’s owner and also everyone else is really better off making plans that involve their dog, and another thing that can be done is work on the barking problem with other people, and don’t come up with all the ideas yourself as teamwork is important here because dog people are also better off if they allow their dog to mix with other dogs and people. Also having others that have something to do with another person’s dog when the dog’s person is gone away somewhere is far much better than having management problems.

The other day a pen dropped onto the floor from my computer desk, and I told Ilse my miniature schnauzer “fetch” and as she is an observant dog she immediately started mouthing the pen. I then told her “good girl, good girl, that’s it” and I noticed that she got more determined to pick the thing up.

And when she succeeded, it really put a smile on my face as her ability to pick other things up other than a dumbell reminded me of my first sheltie Deena who had that ability too, but this doesn’t surprise me as Ilsa has so many different types of toys, that I guess she is used to retrieving different objects. Then afterwards, when I got the pen from her I rewarded her with pats and some tidbits.

When I came home from my outing in Toowoomba it was so hot mum had the dogs inside; as she had the air conditioner on. And there wasn’t the usual excited reaction from Ilse my miniature schnauzer who is a quiet dog but she does have her moments. And so that’s another suggestion that people can do to keep their dogs noise under control.

Sometime last year mum gave me a vinyl dog bed for Ilse as she knew that I wanted one for her. She had a couple of sheepskin dog beds originally but Ilse wrecked them both when she discovered they had a zipper. And so I decided to try this vinyl dog bed and at first when I put the bed on the floor and told Ilse to get on it originally she wouldn’t have anything to do with it. And so then I decided to put it in her crate as it fitted in nicely and she looked forward to getting a treat at night when I told her to get in her crate.

Well I don’t have this crate anymore as my mother wanted to do a swap. But I told mum that I wanted the dog bed inside it. And as this dog bed that I have is too big for the crate it now has a place on the floor. Also, Ilse is more use to this dog bed now as she now gets on it whenever I tell her to and I then thought that using the crate was a great way to get Ilse used to a dog bed.

I’m very pleased with my miniature schnauzer who I named Ilse, as I think she is a wonderful dog. People have also told me that she is quiet for a schnauzer too.

Although Ilse does have moments when she becomes a bit noisy. However my parents and I have always tried to work out what’s the best thing to do when she did barked? And we seem to be getting somewhere, as she is a lot better now. And as it has been a while since I wrote something about training dogs I decided that I should write another post about dogs that bark. As I understand how upsetting problem behaviours in dogs can be. My mother use to tell me that Ilsa’s barking was separation anxiety, and then I would say to mum that Ilse isn’t a neurotic dog. Also recently I told mum that Ilse may have a bit of separation anxiety, but most of her noise making is because she is a demanding dog. And mum agreed with me.

I also like to stress, how important it is when a problem is re occuring that the dog’s owner should talk about it. As this is one of the things that I did with mum and dad. As I made my parents understand that Ilse doesn’t understand what she is doing wrong, as barking and talking is perfectly natural for her.

And the problem barking occurred whenever I had to go out somewhere and when I returned. And we tried filling a squirter bottle and squirting her whenever she became noisy but this my parents and I found only confuse her. And of course we tried telling her be quiet but that didn’t work either. However, we found that throwing water in a jug is very effective, even if she runs from it. And giving Ilse a meaty bone or chicken wing to chew on as I head out is also effective.

Also other things that work are calling Ilse and bringing her inside, and when mum lets her dogs out and Ilse is reacting we then tell her to sit. As I read somewhere that this is another way that dog owners can control barking.

However, I find that getting Ilse to sit when she barks is more effective with her when there are other dogs about. And it is a good idea to have other ways to deal with the problem with barking dogs.

As we need to try different approaches to find solutions to the problem with barkers. As there are different reasons why dogs bark and it isn’t always a good idea to ignore it. Barking is also an ongoing problem and owners of dogs need to accept the responsibility of managing it better and I hope that some of the ideas I wrote in this post has helped.

When Liss and I went to Bundaberg our parents minded my miniature schnauzer named Ilse or Ilsa for me. And mum went to Ilsa’s toy box and got a few toys out, so that my dog could entertain herself. She spent the days either inside my room or outside as the door was open. And dad or mum came in to see her now and then. Ilse then spent the nights on the veranda with mum’s two dogs. 

But since I have come back I noticed when I go up to have dinner with my parents that Ilse gets a toy in her mouth and shakes her head and acts tuff. I guess it is a good idea to keep some toys around. But as I like to throw a tennis ball for Ilse I don’t leave it out.

As my mother is a dog trainer too she told me yesterday that one lady that she put through a ring runout used food with her dog but didn’t know how to use it correctly. And what this lady used is dry kibble and the dog paid more attention to mum than its trainer.

Particularly when the dog knew that my mum had meat which it thought was more appetizing than what its owner had. Also if people are going to use food they also have to find out how to use it by experimenting and observing how other trainers use it. And then they should judge for themselves whether the way the people they observe methods are effective or not.

And another way to find out how to use food is by watching dvd’s and reading books but if people find it hard to watch television or read books on dog training then I say that the next best thing is to observe how other dog trainers train. Also if a trainer uses food it doesn’t just teach dogs to sit, drop, stand, stay, and come when called but it can also influence dogs behaviour in other ways.

Also some people learn how to use food through clicker training. And clicker training is about waiting for the dog to do the behaviour naturally by themselves and then click it when they do it without putting a cue word on the behaviour as the dog’s trainer should just click to begin with whenever the dog does what their trainer is trying to teach.

And then after the dog catches on and does this clicked behaviour more often then the cue word is added. Also some people that train dogs don’t always use just use one type of food to reinforce their dog. As they might switch from using cooked sausage, to cooked lamb, or cooked chicken. They might even use a bit of cheese every now or then. Or play games with their dogs such as fetching games, or games that entices the dog to use its nose. Praise is also very important in dog training.

When we are trying to reduce the amount of barking that a dog or dogs do often telling them to be quiet or squirting them with water is ineffective. But what I find is more effective is giving dogs food when they bark or react to people going by. As I have read somewhere years ago that food has a calming affect and so it comes in handy when dogs bark as it helps them to regain control. And I have also read that when dogs bark to tell them to sit as dogs bark less when they are in this position.

 Also notice that I said that they bark less, as sometimes they will bark in this position too. And another thing that I’ve read is that we should praise dogs for being quiet but after we done that they might bark straight after we said it.

So then what people should do when they tell their barking dog to sit is go up to them and give them food. And it is always handy for a person to have food on them at all times when they are around dogs. Also after they have given their dog food while the dog remains in the sitting position they can then tell their dog good quiet and give them another tidbit to reinforce what it means.

And another thing that we should do when dogs are barking at people, is instead of getting angry at the dog for barking we should try using our observation skills as all dogs usually do always bark for a reason and it might be something the person is wearing or something the dog notices about the person’s posture when they walk by like hunched shoulders.