Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeyP  Dogs hear many more things than we do
What you might think is nothing might be very easily heard by them
My two pups constantly get up and bark together at things I never hear
The other thing is that you said you scolded him
Don't do that
That might be why he's getting scared
My guys will often bark when they get frightened
and all it takes to make them stop is a pet and me telling them that it's ok
and they quiet down
other times if I go to the door with them and then say ... It's ok no ones there and walk away they will stop too |
He doesn't get overly scolded - and not in the dictionary sense. He gets a ah-ah, and a "no" in a calm tone, simply to try and re-direct his attention. Usually it works when we're dealing with people going in or out or when we have maintenance coming in the apt or anything else other then this. He stops, and comes to sit near me. He's usually very well behaved. From the first time he's done this and it had no effect I abandoned it, and unfortunately it hasn't helped either way.
The big problem with this is its at an entirely different level. Barking in itself isn't the issue. Its not just a "I am upset and reacting to it" its an "I am very very very upset and I So determined to get whatever this is". Calming doesn't work. Yesterday I spent over two hours trying to calm him down after another situation like this - he just doesn't calm. No amount of holding, coddling, pets, soft talking or treats will do anything to re-direct his attention. He just continues to bark, growl and shake uncontrollably. It went so far as to cause him to nip me yesterday. He really is that incredibly frightened and upset. The ferocity of it escapes me. If this happened on the street... I'd have animal control at my door. (It really
is that frightening.)
I've dealt with a lot of nervous and frightened dogs in the years I've fostered... but none of my training tools have any effect on him.