Quote:
Originally Posted by tesswood5
(Post 4568245)
Hi all I have had Lexi for 7 months now I do not believe the previous owner did not love her, I believe the owner gave into her so much that she always wants her own way, my husband is not like me in fact he hates her and says he is going to get rid of her she is such a lovely dog but wants her own way all the time please help me
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I feel your pain and I’ve tried many things to stop or at least gain control over barking, coins in a can works for a while, along with barking genie. Unfortunately, they get used to these punishments and the barking urge is very strong. I’ve also tried positive reinforcement, and it’s also is somewhat successful, but takes lots of time to see results, there’s a thread on it here, but basically you are giving them a treat for being quiet after a few barks, and sometimes they get distracted by the treat enough that they forget what they were barking about. We live overlooking a park where people walk by daily and if they had dogs with them my dogs would bark non-stop, the positive reinforcement didn’t always work. Forget about it when the door bell rang, I could not get them to stop for quite a long time.
We have been working with a dog trainer and he taught us a very suitable punishment. Remember, in behavior modification, the word punishment doesn’t mean “something bad”, it only defined by whether or not the behavior will increase or decrease after you apply the punishment. It’s usually somewhat aversive, in other words, not pleasant, but it doesn’t have to be painful. Coins in the can, and the barking genie which emits a noise only the dogs can hear, are somewhat aversive. Some people use a spray bottle and you have to spray them in the face to get their attention and let them know you want to stop barking. The punishment the trainer suggested we use is a rolled up towel held together by thick rubber bands, it’s called a bonker and they are supposed to be hit every time you use the word you’ve chosen that means “stop”. I chose the word “halt” because it’s not something I use normally and I don’t want them to get use to the word and hear it all the time. For a dog the size of a large Shih Tzu, you need a bath size towel, rolled up pretty tight, but for a small yorkie, I use a hand towel rolled up fairly loosely. The idea is not to hurt them, the idea is to get their attention and let them know you are the boss. You hit on the back of the head, not the face, practice on your arm, so you know the force. The way you do it, is say your chosen word, and then bonk them. They are going to look at you like you are nuts, but you can do something like ring the doorbell and see if they bark again, if they do, you bonk them. The thing I like about the bonker, is you don’t have to chase them with it like a water spray bottle and you can throw it and you don’t even have to hit them, just the idea that this flying object is near them is enough to make my two pay attention. The important thing to remember is positive reinforcement for good behavior. Have someone ring the doorbell again and when he is finally quiet, say, “good quiet” and give a treat. So next time the doorbell rings he’s thinking bark and get bonked or quiet and get treat. You are allowing him to choose. Since I believe warning barks are natural and good, I allow mine to bark once and will say thank you, but if they continue I say “halt” and I bonk them if they don’t immediately stop. You have to continue to practice and don’t forget to reward good behavior.
I know some people are going to hate this post and I probably would have thought it was horrible a year ago, but my two dogs are now so much better behaved, it was horrible to have anyone new over to the house and I couldn’t take them many places anymore either. I feel like they are so much more relaxed knowing I’m the boss and I feel like they can now be around my granddaughter without showing any aggression what-so-ever. I wouldn’t have posted, but it sounds like you are desperate, and this is a very humane and effective punishment. Here’s some more information on the trainer we used, he’s made such a difference in my life, I always loved my dogs, but now others do too!
Inhibitions
I just remembered an important part to this, don't ever ever ever use the bonker for house breaking and or accidents they make. You should never punish a dog for accidents they make, only use positive reinforcement for success and ignore mistakes.
