Barking At My Other Dog

[WinGus]

Hi, I hope I can get some help or just some advice.

I have two mini-foxies, a 11 month old and an 18 month old. The younger one has developed a really annoying habit of barking at the older dog whenever she has something he wants or if he wants to play. The older dog then whinges really loudly until I tell them to quiet. Unfortunately, I can tell them to shut up when I'm at home, but I'm sure they do it when I'm at work and it can go on for some time, annoying the neighbours no doubt.

Can anyone give me any hints as to how to control this?

Thanks in advance.

[percyk]

it is going to be hard to break this habit if youre at work because the younger one is doing it without a chance of being corrected - a bit like toilet training that is not being picked up - every accident is takingthe dog further away from the goal of going outside

so what to do

the goal is to break the habit and this has to be worked on when youre at home

stopping a dog from barking is hard - it is such an inherent behaviour but it isnt impossible either

you have to catch the dog before it gets into the frenzied state so devote your home time to watching the behaviour and being ready to stop the dog from barking

you can try a long leash and just watching for any potential situations that will lead to excitement

terriers are notorious for barking excitedly so you will get that opportunity to correct quite frequently id imagine

have some cans or plastic bottles with a few pebbles etc and get ready to peg it close to the dog when it barks - to startle it

it has to associate the act of barking with something unpleasant

call the dog to you ( hence the leash if it wont come - you can try a really long one like the one you use to train horses)

you have to be around and you have to be determined to break the behaviour - the more hit and miss the more likely your dog wont get the message

the more consistent you are - the more deadly your surprise attack is, the more likely you are to be successful

with some dogs you can squirt water but this may delight terriers

you have to work out what will deter him

as soon as he stops then you have to reward him and timing is vital so he doesnt associate the reward with the act of barking

line up a fav toy or ball just for that occasion or some really high value treats

make him sit or focus on you - ask him to do something and then reward for performing an alternate behaviour

we have trained one of our barkers to 'speak' by saying the command when she barks - then saying shhhhhh to stop her - now she understands the difference between silence and barking and will stop mid bark

this was an accidental discovery by the way - i thought i was a genius til i read that others were using this method to control barking!

terriers are busy dogs for the most

so in the meantime id try to keep them separated when youre not at home - you dont want the dog practising all the wrong moves when youre away

can you ask the neighbours if he is annoying them? at least theyll know you care and are working on it

maybe they could even cooperate and do a bit of throwing over the fence to startle the dog or at least distracting it ( big ask for most people i know - they usually prefer complaining lol)

good luck

im sure youll get plenty more advice and handy tips!

[WinGus]

Hi percyk, thanks so much for your reply, it was really helpful!

I will definitely try to catch his behaviour BEFORE he starts. I have been doing it whilst he is barking or even afterwards and then forgetting to treat him. I'll try both the water squirting (both my dogs actually hate water!!) and then the rocks in a can if the water doesn't work. I have a whistle too and might try that - hey, I'm willing to try anything at the moment!

I've also tried the "speak" command when the older one is barking, but maybe I haven't timed it right as it's never worked out. I'll keep trying.

Thanks again for your help!