Erratic Barking

Hi, I have an 8 month male German Shepherd who barks a lot at other people. There doesn't seem to be anything in particular that triggers it or anything that these people have in common. He barks at some people in the street, men, women & children, and he barks at some people in our home and in other peoples homes.

For example, I took him to my parents house and he was fine around my family, then my uncle went into the garden he followed him outside and barked at him. Or the other day I was walking him and a couple was walking behind us. He kept turning back to go see them and he came back to me every time I called him. Then I turned round to go back the way I came, so we walked past the couple, that was fine, then once we had passed them he chased after them, barking at them, and stood in front of them to bark at them. They weren't noticbly bothered by his behaviour and walked round him, he came back to me, then ran back to them, barking all the way and again stood in front of them and barked at them. He repeated this 3 times until I got him on his lead. He doesn't lunge at people or have an aggressive stance, he just stands there and barks.

Does anyone have any experience of this behaviour and what it means?

Any advice is appreciated
Thanks
Lisa

[Stuart]

Hello Lisa,..welcome to the forum.

Your dog is clearly not being aggressive, so it is a little unusual,..the way you discribe the three times he confronted the couple was almost as if he was looking for something,..treat or effection,..can I ask have you ever given him attention when he barked before?,.. have you ever encouraged him to bark in any way?

Its so difficult to give an oppinion without knowing what leads up to it

When he does this next time, try to antisipate his barking and divert his attention away from the couple, keep him occupied for a few minutes untill the people have past,... maybe have him on a long lead for a while, and if you miss to catch him in time try calling him, reel him in, and make him sit and treat him.

Anything else you can help us with, would maybe help you

[Bonniesmummy]

Bonnie 7mths is very much like this too.... I think that she is in protection mode when she is barking as she barks when anyone comes near my garden/front door - when Im out in the park with the kids if someone walks by us she barks too unless she is otherwise distracted by a ball or stick.

I have found that the best way to get her to stop is to walk away.... she always follows me as she doesnt like to be too far from me.

At home is a different matter, its really hard to get her to stop!
I have tried ignoring her, taking her away from the situation, giving her a time out. No matter what I do she still barks... I guess I dont have to worry about anyone trying to break into my house lol - they wouldnt dare!!!!!

[super D]

Have you tried teachin the "quiet" command, I teach this early on, so they know the differnce between shouting and being quiet.
xx

[Nash]

Basil, this is insecurity in the dog coming to the surface (not protection at all), it is genetic and you can help to a certain extent. If the dog is male and unaltered, chances are that by the time he is over a year/year and half old testosterone will help a little bit.

In the mean time you need to discourage these insecure barking fits. Only encourage the secure barking for example if he is in the back yard and someone makes a noise outside that causes suspicion and he barks at it.

So in short for now, discourage the "social" barking and either ignore or encourage the "suspicious" barking. By discourage I mean 2 things,

1. Definitely do not reward this behavior.
2. Say "No" and put him up (kennel or where ever his secure resting place is). Sometimes just you standing next to him will give him a secure feeling and he will stop. You just need to experiment.

[Otto 's Mutter]

Otto is 18 weeks old, has discovered his bark and don't we know it.

Tonight, for example, I took him outside to the front garden for a pee & he started barking at a car parked in our close. I took him to the car to show him it wasn't a threat and he stopped until we walked away when he turned back and barked just the once - obviously to make sure he had the last say. He has also barked at a neighbour's mop in their front porch recently and sometimes I haven't got a clue what has made him bark!!!

He doesn't bark when the postman turns up or if anyone knocks on the door though. In fact he has been asleep by the front door when the post has come through the letterbox and landed on him and he didn't even bat an eyelid

Any advice on how to teach him the quiet command properly would be really appreciated. I don't want to fall out with our neighbours!

[Bonniesmummy]

Originally Posted by AUDREYSPENCER2003

I read on an earlier post (cant rememer which one and cant find it lol) that you should try to teach your dog to speak/bark before trying to teach them quiet. That you should woof along with them and praise/reward and then try quiet when thats mastered.

Well I just tried it with Bonnie... when my doorbells rings or someone knocks on the door she barks. Behaviour Im trying to stop, well at least get her to stop when commanded. I got my son to ring the bell to get her going and said 'speak' when she barked and gave her the reward/praise..... it took me only 10mins to get her to speak when commanded!!! How proud am I of my girl

My baby girl is a wee barker! As I mentioned above I had read earlier.... yesterday I think it was that you teach them to speak 1st then the quiet. I tried it earlier and she quickly picked it up.... going to do this for a few more days before I introduce the quiet

[Otto 's Mutter]

The postman is probably our fault as we made sure they met as soon as we got him and now the postie knows him by name and always says hello if we are outside when he turns up. Otto can be quite the charmer when he wants to be. Other people think that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth

As for other people knocking on the door, we work from home and we get stationery deliveries etc turning up on a regular basis but he doesn't bark when they knock on the door - not interested - even when we try to encourage him.

When he barked at the mop for example it was 11pm - not exactly endearing to the neighbours. I did apologise to them and thankfully they didn't hear him. For a little man he has quite a deep bark now!!

Oh yes, he does bark when I am using the milk frother on my coffee machine - little monkey

[wildmoor]

To be honest they sound neurotic, certainly not mentally stable: I would follow Nash's advice

[Otto 's Mutter]

Originally Posted by wildmoor

To be honest they sound neurotic, certainly not mentally stable: I would follow Nash's advice

Of course Otto isn't mentally stable, he is still a baby at 18 WEEKS OLD! He certainly isn't neurotic though!

He is learning everyday and this is why people like me come on forums like this as we value the constructive advice from like minded people who have the experience of what we are going through.

We love our dogs and want the best for them. We want them to grow up being well rounded and happy.