Barking at other dogs

[Lhamilton]

Thanks! At least I'm not alone.

A few years ago I had a Shi Tzu rescue who barked similarily around other dogs. I got him to become much better by forcing him to stay beside me around the other dogs -- essentially letting him know that he wasn't in charge of handling the other dog. The same technique seems to be making inroads with my older yorkie but not yet with the younger one.

I sure wish his bark weren't so annoying though :-)

Linda

[magicfan]

Originally Posted by Garoto1973

Mine will attempt to fight a german shepard but will freak out in fear when he sees a Chihuaua lol.

I laughed at this because my little Penny is exactly the same! She acts like she is going to rip apart a big dog but id terrified of anything smaller than her.

[Rubye]

We just had two practice sessions. We live next to a path that has lots of people going up and down it on the weekends. Zeke was really good watching people walk by and staying put, even with the kids.
But he totally failed with the two dogs that went by. Oh, I shouldn't say totally failed because he has made a bit of progress in that he didn't get as psycho as usual. I think he still had touch with reality in spite of barking and lunging. We're lucky we have this path of hikers to practice on.
I mostly reward with heavy praise but break out the chicken every 3 or 4 times. I've ordered a clicker hoping he might respond better.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[VPDS]

Our wee Pepsi has 'small dog syndrome' the bigger the dog, the more ferocious he becomes. If he could take of his 'coat' and hand it to us, I'm sure he would get into a fight with the bigger beasts. Yet as previous posters have pointed out, if he sees something smaller than him he's terrified.

Those barks he does - my view is he is one of those mouthy dogs, all talk no action and one day, a big dog will give him the shock of his life!

[handit]

Don't give them access to the front of the house if you know that they will bark at people walking past other than when you want them to prevent a burglary.

Get an outdoor postbox so that the postman doesn't have to come to the door.

When you come home throw a handful of kibble or a favourite toy each from your pocket. They will then get into the habit of putting their head down and eating or picking up a toy, both of which are incompatible with barking.

Because you have two dogs they will be feeding off of each other and winding each other up.

Spend time with each dog seperately as often as you can for walks, play and training so that they look to you for guidance instead of each other.

[mrssabes]

Originally Posted by Rubye

Zeke is the same.
I find that if I stay calm and talk soothingly to him at his level he will stop. Most of the time. Other times there just is no stopping him.

Same here for Fabian.

He didn't get to see a lot of other dogs this past winter, so when the weather improved and we started talking him out again regularly, he starting getting very "assertive."

We kept him on an EXTREMELY short leash, so he'd have to walk at our ankles, then we bent down and comforted him as other dogs passed. Then he got a treat for being a good boy. It took a few days, but he eventually chilled.