Can't Take The Barking!!!!! Losing our minds!

[Tricia Campbell]

I know we have spoke about barking before but this is out of control. We are losing our minds. Duffy wants to play ball 24/7, and if you don't throw & play ball with him he barks. We have hid the ball - last week in the kitchen drawer, well he barked & stratched at our new cabinit door which is now ruined. I kept opening the door to show him No Ball but what I didn't know was the ball was hidden in the drawer above the door. I removed the ball but he still thinks the ball is there & is still stratching at the door & BARKING, I have picked him up & showed him No Ball. I am at the point that I think I might have to get a barking collar, I don't want to but my family can't function, We can't get homework done, watch TV, eat dinner. I think you got the message. Please if you have any suggestions, we have tried to hide the ball outside in the shed & we have tried to ignore him nothing works. HELP!!!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

An e collar helped my doodle limit his barking, but you need a trainer to help you understand how to use it. Probably a citronella collar will work without a trainer as it is bark activated. My dog, too, is an obsessive ball player. Both of these are hallmarks of high energy dogs. I have not banished balls,etc from our house, as my dog will retrieve anything you throw for him, my house would be bare. Remember that dogs are different just like people and different things work for different dogs. Be consistent ( at least two weeks) when you try something and be careful that you are not giving ANY ATTENTION for ball barking, nudging , whatever. Here is another possible solution to try for your ball chaser. Leave the balls and whatever where you keep them, so that your dog can find his favorite toy and does not become more hyper and frustrated because he can not find it. When he brings it to you, and drops it or puts it in your lap or whatever, CALMLY say "NOT NOW" and place the ball on the floor or leave it there. Then completely and totally ignore him for however long it takes for him to give up - the first time is the worst. If he nudges, barks or puts it in your lap, ignore it -it is not happening. When YOU choose to play ball say "FETCH?" or and then play ball with him - try not to multitask too much - just play ball with the dog even if it is two throws. Then say "NOT NOW" pat him and say good boy and ignore him. Ignoring a dog usually works very well with active dogs as it does not feed their activity level as almost everything else does. Ignoring a dog means no eye contact, no physical contact, and no talking. The words "NOT NOW" "FETCH" can be any word you choose so long it is only that word and no other. Dogs primary communication is through body language, so it is very helpful to attach a body signal in the beginning to "NOT NOW". I use shaking my head no. hope this is helpful

[LLongrtr]

I am a huge beleiver in Cesar Milan's methodology. You get the dog into a calm submissive state before he is rewarded - cookies, patting, or playing fetch, etc. You might want to get his book. Bark collars and citronella collars are really aversion therapy - which in thelong run is not your goal. I imagine you do will want to be able to play fetch.
Just my 2 cents.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Although I admire Caesar's Milan's dog skills a great deal, putting a high energy easily excitable dog in a calm submissive state is not as easy as it sounds for us ordinary dog owners. A great deal of his calm submissive state is his body position, his energy and ignoring all behavior. There are lots of animal trainers who have a unique ability to communicate through their bady language and energy. It is hard to teach and takes a lot of time and commitment to learn. I would go with the dog collar. Also I have seen a birdhouse in a catalogue that emits a high pitched sound when a dog barks. People cannot hear it, but dogs can and do not like it. I am going to get one and put it near my back fence to see if it helps my neighbor's dog to not bark. Caesar uses aversion therapy. Have you ever noticed him flank kick a dog with his heel to get the dog's attention?

[Tamara & Giada]

This bird house sounds neat, do you have a link? We have noisey neighbors too sometimes.

[Tamara & Giada]

Oh, I found a link. VERY neat idea!!

http://www.thegreenhead.com/2008/10/petsafe-birdhouse-ultrasonic-ba...

[Adina P]

I agree with you. I admire Cesar for HIS skills, but it is NOT easy for the average person (me included) to read body language so skillfully AND exude his 'energy' =)

[April]

You wouldn't believe how many lawsuits are pending against Ceasar Milan because that exact thing happens!

http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profession.html

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This doesn't surprise me at all; it's obvious to me when watching the show that the man is doing something or giving off some kind of vibe that the average person could not possibly duplicate; you can almost see the dogs thinking "Just wait until this **#@!!** leaves and then you just watch what I'm going to do!" LOL

[April]

LOL 8) I've totally seen that look too! You know they are just biding their time . . .

[Debby]

My goldendoodle barks when he wants something as well. At times it can be incessant. I have used a little piggybank with a few coins and shake it to divert his attention. It has worked like a charm. Now when he starts barking for no reason I just say do I need to get the coins and the barking stops. I also use it if I'm in the dog park and need to get his attention. Goldendoodles do need a tremendous amount of exercise and attention, so if your dog is getting those 2 things I would suggest the coins.

[April]

Boy! That does sound very frustrating! It sounds like Duffy has learned that his 'job' is to play ball and that if he can't get to the ball, then he is supposed to work to get it. These can be VERY useful skills but he needs to get this drive channeled into acceptable areas. My sheltie went through a period just like this where she became incredibly ball obsessed! If you hid the ball then she was focusing on where it was and trying to get to it, very similar to your Duffy. What I've written here is what we did to get my sheltie to learn self-control, and become a wonderful, calm, and quiet member of our family.
I wouldn't recommend any sort of correction collar for Duffy right now because it won't teach him what it is that he SHOULD be doing. Right now, it is you and your family's job to start teaching him this. I would either start hand feeding his meals or cut back on the amount of food he is given in his bowl. Use the rest of the food to help with training him as many new behaviors as you come up with!
Whenever Duffy starts to become obsessive and scratch at the drawer, bark, etc. Distract him and start having him work. By work, I mean ask him to do sits and downs, teach him to target your hand and have him switch back and forth between your right and left. Does Duffy know any tricks? If not, this is a great time to start teaching him some! The more you can keep his brain occupied doing things for YOU the less time and energy he will have to devote to obsessing about his ball and barking. If you are having trouble getting and keeping his focus, put a leash on him to prevent him from reaching the drawer. Do NOT punish him for getting distracted but physically prevent him from continuing to practice this unwanted behavior. Feel free to use stinky, smelly, good treats to help get and keep his attention.
I would definitely increase the amount of exercise that he gets. Are there any other dogs that you could arrange play groups for Duffy? This can be a great way to help tire him out quickly. Another thing we do a lot with our dogs (we have six plus whoever we are fostering at the time) is to take them to a big field or even just stand in the back yard and have each person stand in a corner of the yard/field then we take turns calling the dogs back and forth. As soon as they reach us they get a high value treat, and lots of praise. This quickly becomes a great game for them as well as helping to cement a reliable recall.
If you do nothing else, make everyone in your family become very aware of anytime Duffy is being calm, and REWARD him profusely for it! If he sits quietly, pet, praise and treat him. If you see him laying down, go to him and tell him what a good and wonderful boy he is! It is so easy to forget and ignore a quiet and calm dog, but if we want them to continue to be calm and quiet, then it is vital that that be the behavior we reinforce and reward.
I am also a HUGE fan of Nothing in Life is Free:http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm I would definately put Duffy on this program for a while. If you ask to do something an he doesn't, don't make it a huge battle, simply walk away from him or ignore him. He wants out and you ask him to Sit. If he doesn't simply shut the door and walk away for about 30 seconds. Perhaps even walk out the other side of the door. This isn't about being meaner, or scarier to Duffy. Instead, we want him to learn to offer calm, polite, behaviors to get what he wants. Or, in other words you are teaching him to say, 'Please'. :)
The times when you are going to throw Duffy's ball for him, do NOT throw it if he is barking, whining, jumping, or just generally being crazy. This will be hard! Take a book to read the first few times so you won't get bored and give in. Wait to throw it until Duffy is being calm and quiet, it is ok if he is standing, but do not continue to reward him for acting like a crazy man. :)

This is an EXCELLENT site with dog training broken down in nice, simple steps. I would strongly recommend starting to use these to teach Duffy new, appropriate things to do. Plus, this stuff is ALOT of fun to do with your dog! http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/%20Dog1/levels.html

While this article uses leash pulling as the example, the advice is still very applicable for Duffy when he is becoming obsessed over the ball: http://www.flyingdogpress.com/selfpg.html
An excellent article on the use of electric collars: http://www.4pawsu.com/shockcollar.htm

This article gives some great insight into Ceasar's 'techniques': http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm

Some other good training articles:
http://www.4pawsu.com/things.htm
http://www.sfspca.org/behavior/top10.shtml

Some ideas to help keep Duffy's brain busy when you can't be interacting with him: http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/intel_diversions.html