May 13, 2011
What do I do if my dog howls when a family member leaves the house?
Full Question:
I have what I believe to be a dominant dog in some respects. I have show dogs (Belgian Shepherds), one of my Groenendaels can be a hand full, most of the time he knows that I am boss and will behave but the thing that is the problem is when any one in the family goes out of the house he barks cries and screams even though there is still someone in the house. Also, this then sets the other dogs off barking and some time it progresses then to a howl. I have tried a number of different things to cure this (playing to distract him, sits to wait for food, putting him in a different room) all of these to no avail. Could you suggest any thing as before long we will get neighbor complaints.Thank you,
Sandie
Ed's Answer:
This is not a dominance issue. From the information that you provide in the email its more of a spoiled or hyper dog issue.
I recently took back a 15 month old male from my breeding program. He was more dog than the handler could deal with. This dog has so much drive that the local schutzhund people screwed him up. They tried to work him the way that they work all of their dogs in drive development. The problem was that this dog started out in drive at the peak level that they end up getting their dogs to after 2 years of work.
This resulted in this dog almost becoming hectic. When he goes into a dog crate in my truck he screams like your dog does when someone leaves. He gets himself so wound up that he throws a fit barking, biting the crate and trying to dig to China. He does not do this when he is in the crate in the house or anywhere else.
I took the approach that this was unacceptable behavior. No amount of pampering or socializing around the truck was going to change it. So I simply put a Tri Tronics Collar on the dog and when he threw a fit he got level 5 stimulation (without verbal commands - strictly avoidance training). When he barks he gets random stimulation - initially if he was stimulated every time he barked he would get constant stimulation and this does not work. Only through time has he learned that if he gets in the crate and is quiet he is fine.
It sounds like this is what needs to be done with your dog.
I recently took back a 15 month old male from my breeding program. He was more dog than the handler could deal with. This dog has so much drive that the local schutzhund people screwed him up. They tried to work him the way that they work all of their dogs in drive development. The problem was that this dog started out in drive at the peak level that they end up getting their dogs to after 2 years of work.
This resulted in this dog almost becoming hectic. When he goes into a dog crate in my truck he screams like your dog does when someone leaves. He gets himself so wound up that he throws a fit barking, biting the crate and trying to dig to China. He does not do this when he is in the crate in the house or anywhere else.
I took the approach that this was unacceptable behavior. No amount of pampering or socializing around the truck was going to change it. So I simply put a Tri Tronics Collar on the dog and when he threw a fit he got level 5 stimulation (without verbal commands - strictly avoidance training). When he barks he gets random stimulation - initially if he was stimulated every time he barked he would get constant stimulation and this does not work. Only through time has he learned that if he gets in the crate and is quiet he is fine.
It sounds like this is what needs to be done with your dog.
50% (2 out of 4)
respondents found this answer helpful
Can't find what you're looking for?
50% (2 out of 4)
respondents found this answer helpful
