Barking / growling

[Kev&Kel]

Think ive asked this before, and im sure as hell not getting a behaviourist involved again, utter waste of money! spent 3 hours with the guy and he didnt even see my dog, because he was barking at him. so sam spent 3 hours locked in the spare room. £100 later im still no clearer in what im doing wrong.

Sams barking at anyone who walks past the house, when i say barking i mean his heckles are up, and he's up at the window going hell for leather at the passer by. when he eventually listens to me, he'll sit in his bed and growl / wine n cry for ages!! before we start again! Ive tried squirting him, giving him a stern NO, while i shake his scruff, ive tried distraction.... pretty much everything. but the stubborn git is adamant hes going to do it. Ive now found out that he hates his miki mussel, so when he barks the mussel goes on, if he continues he gets put in the kitchen until he stops. Is this right? because once again its not working!

While out and about Sam is also lunging towards people / barking, he pulls like a train on lead, and refuses to listen to anything i tell him. ive tried being calm, ive tried raising my voice etc etc... this problem is getting worse and sam is becoming a worry to me. Again! im going to start on his socialization, im going to take him back to dog training in big groups, and also try and get him to meet new people. does anyone on here live local that we could perhaps meet and just let sam say hello? its difficult for normal members of the public to want to say hi to say when hes jumping and barking... Also are there any meets that you have? that Sam and i could attend? again this is to get sam more involved. does this sound like the right thing to do ?

oh, Sam also jumps up and barks / trys to bite new people that come into the house, he seems to jump up and try and bite the face?? just to add... he is ALWAYS muzzled when we are out, and when new people come in.
Clicker and whistle training is also something im going to try... getting desperate for a solution now.

walking is a nightmare again as im a nervous wreck everytime i see someone walking towards us cuz i know whats coming. and walking sam in the woods we dont see a soul. simply put Sam has no manners, Sam does what he wants, and Sam wont listen! thats the most annoying part... anyway im going on and sorry if ive asked all this before. but i feel worried

Kev

[Tedsmum]

Hi, where do you live?
Does he work for food?
If he does then you have a good way of making yourself more interesting than barking at strangers.
Start very simply by sitting him down and when he is quiet feed him treats and tell him "Quiet" at the same time.
You must find what he likes better than misbehaving. Does he have a toy he is obsessed about?
This could be h is reward for not barking, a play with this toy. You must not play with him with this toy at any other time. You can employ the same tactics when he is on the lead too, make him sit and feed him treats while someone walks by or distract him with his toy.
It is all about giving him a reason to behave well, ask yourself what is in it for him?

[LOVEGSD]

Good advice from Gill there

[Kev&Kel]

i live at bourton on the hill, 10 miles from Evesham. Just got back from a walk with Sam, He pulled to the point hes hurt my shoulder, Again wouldnt listen, and we came across some walkers who wanted directions, sam barked and started jumping up. we were about 10-15 ft away so might have seem a bit stand offish? anyway we turned around and came home about 40mins into the walk, because i had enough.

thank you for the advice.

[kita]

Originally Posted by Kev&Kel

Sams barking at anyone who walks past the house, when i say barking i mean his heckles are up, and he's up at the window going hell for leather at the passer by. when he eventually listens to me, he'll sit in his bed and growl / wine n cry for ages!! before we start again! Ive tried squirting him, giving him a stern NO, while i shake his scruff, ive tried distraction.... pretty much everything. but the stubborn git is adamant hes going to do it. Ive now found out that he hates his miki mussel, so when he barks the mussel goes on, if he continues he gets put in the kitchen until he stops. Is this right? because once again its not working!

Everything you have tried is negative and he is simply learning that he gets your attention every time (even if it is negative attention).

Does he do it when you are not in the room?

Have you tried totally ignoring him? Even walk out of the room when he starts barking.

The other option is to have some treats on you and when he starts to bark at a passer by say 'good boy' and call him to you and give him the treat. Then get him to settle down beside you. That way you are telling him good boy for alerting you to the 'danger' (which is how he sees it) but you are dealing with it now and he can settle down. It might be a good idea to have a short lead on him in the house so that you can get hold of it and make sure he settles (but don't grab it when he is in the 'alert' mode as that would be negative again).

Originally Posted by Kev&Kel

While out and about Sam is also lunging towards people / barking, he pulls like a train on lead, and refuses to listen to anything i tell him. ive tried being calm, ive tried raising my voice etc etc... this problem is getting worse and sam is becoming a worry to me. Again! im going to start on his socialization, im going to take him back to dog training in big groups, and also try and get him to meet new people. does anyone on here live local that we could perhaps meet and just let sam say hello? its difficult for normal members of the public to want to say hi to say when hes jumping and barking... Also are there any meets that you have? that Sam and i could attend? again this is to get sam more involved. does this sound like the right thing to do ?

When he pulls you need to go back to basics. Every time he pulls you turn the other way. Only take a step forward when the lead is slack. Takes time and a bit of patience but it is worth it. Every time he pulls and gets to his destination he has reinforced his behaviour.

Originally Posted by Kev&Kel

oh, Sam also jumps up and barks / trys to bite new people that come into the house, he seems to jump up and try and bite the face??

When people come in put Sam in another room. When they are settled in their seats bring Sam in on a lead and only allow him to 'greet' people when he is calm and has all four feet on the ground. If possible give them a treat and get them to tell him to sit and give him the treat.

If he is being excitable they must ignore him totally.


Sue

[Kev&Kel]

Sue, thank you very much.

[Kev&Kel]

and yes, he does bark / growl when im in or out the room.

[sami]

Aww Kev you sound really fed up. Try not to let it get you down. Its a matter of finding what works for the 2 of you. It is really hard when you are getting frustrated as to why they wont just listen and walking them becomes a nightmare. I am sure we have all been there at one time or another.

Take a deep breath do something to take your mind off it for a while and then make a plan.

I think sometimes when you are getting to the end of your tether you end up bombarding the dog with too many different training methods. It takes quite a few days at least I would say to see if you are getting anywhere with a trainig method, so you have to give it chance.

You also have to remember that GSDs are a natural guarding breed and they nearly all go made at people walking past the house my too certainly do.

Tracy

Hi... it is difficult not to be negative; that has such an effect on the dog - they pick up on it. Go back to basics with obedience training too - give him commands like sit and down. Re-affirms your position to him. Dogs find it difficult to bark when in a down position. Also as previous posters have suggested he needs to be calm when he greets visitors. My pup likes to jump up to say hello so I make her sit to greet visitors. Does he get praise if he's good? This is vital or the dog won't know what he's supposed to do! Doesn't have to be anything major but if you say Quiet! And he shuts up then a Good boy! tells him he's done right. I see a lot of owners who focus on the negative, 'don't do this, stop that' etc, yet never praise their dogs for doing the desired behaviour.

[ianock]

has he had the 'snip'?