Quote:
Originally Posted by ShowGirlLola  Please don't squirt your dog with a water bottle, you'll get much better results with rewards than punishment.
You also don't want to make your dog afraid of water. |
Couldn't agree more, especially since there are much more effective and kinder, gentler methods of training the dogs not to bark - why in the world squirt them in the face, nose and eyes with water? It would scare Tibbe and would other dogs as well, I'm sure. Tibbe has a history of a bad, early life and I have to be so careful of how he's handled as he came to me at 9 mos. of age with terrible troubles and fears which we've worked hard to finally overcome. But I trained him not to bark just as I posted here and it works like a veritable charm! He stops any time I ask him to.
I've read in more than one place of those who use squirt bottles saying that every time they pick up a bottle afterward, their dog runs and acts leery of the owner after that. Sure, some won't but other, more psychologically fragile dogs will be frightened or offended by such treatment and may even begin to avoid or fear the person who wielded the squirt bottle.