In My Search For Help....

[shelly]

I posted this in the Anxiety group as well as on the main forum, but figured I'd try and reach as many as I can...

     While looking for behaviorists/trainers to help us with Tori's barking craze when visitors come, someone gave me a friend's card.  After the woman's name it said "ABCDT" .  Does anyone know if these initials truly mean something?  I get a bit guarded with all the people out there who claim to be trainers.... it just seemed funny to me that the letters happen to be the first four of the alphabet followed by a "T".  sorry if I am being too skeptical!  .

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I've only heard of APTC (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) and AKC certified CGC (Canine Good Citizen). Peri's trainer has a degree from a University in Psychology with an emphasis on behavior modification and animal learning. But I haven't heard of an Animal Behavior College! As others have said...

[Linda and "Toby"]

Hi Shelly! I'm going to share an email with you that I sent to a bunch of my DK friends about a quick solution to my Toby's barking habit....

Toby barks and barks (and BARKS) in our backyard when he hears the neighbors and their dogs in their yards. (They all have dogs, and in Las Vegas our houses are a stone's throw from each other.) One of my neighbors has a hot tub near our wall and it makes Toby nuts to hear them in the yard. (I'm sure it makes them nuts to hear him, too!) It's really bad when I let him out at 5am and something triggers a barking spree.

So, I ordered one of those citronella spray no-bark collars from Amazon. It came in the mail today. Knock on wood, but so far it's working like MAGIC!!! On four separate occasions he began to bark then stopped IMMEDIATELY when that orange scented spray shot into the air. (It's so funny how he spins around and looks at the ground as though he thinks there's an air hose or something shooting at him.) I like that it has an on-off switch so I can turn it off when he comes in the house. The smell is quite pleasant - it reminds me of Pledge or something. Keep your fingers crossed that this will curb his barking habit!!!

Here's a quick little video I made so you could see his reaction to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7opnqR5Fmcg


You may want to try it before hiring a trainer. Here's a link to the one I bought: http://www.amazon.com/Premier-Spray-Sense-Anti-Collar/dp/B0002D31QU...

It's been a couple months now since I bought it. (I wish I bought it a year ago!) I'm soooo pleased with how quickly it helped us to break Toby's barking habit. I only put his collar on once in awhile now, just on occasions when I see that my neighbors are having a get together in their backyard with friends, etc, just as a precautionary measure. It works like a charm!!!

[shelly]

Thanks Linda! So glad it's helping Toby... I think I do remember you posting something regarding the barking....I will definitely look into it... when I mentioned to the trainer that I have used a squirt bottle, she said that Tori learned that the people coming... making her uncomfortable or afraid was now associated with the unpleasantness of the squirt bottle, so perhaps that's adding to her barking??? But I really haven't used it that much for her to truly make the association - IMO... who knows... but I will definitely look into it... it beats what my DH said - about using the zap collar - I think I'm not ready for THAT!