my male german shephard barks off and on in our backyard since they put up a taller sollid brick wall. There is more of a noice barrier and he runs back and forth looking up towards this wall barking to make that no one comes in, I think. We used to have a wooden fense that you could see through kind of and shorter and he never barked. I can I get him to stop barking on command if he ends of barking too much sometimes. It is lucky that we have good neighours and alot of them have dogs. The only other times that my dogs bark is when they talk to our neighbours dog that is usually outside as well. The other time they bark is when my girl dogs tries to get his attention or when someone comes to the house. When I go out for the weekends , very ware, I will probably need the electric collar that Ed and Cindy talk about. Any advise is appreciated from anyone?

Also jumping, my girl german shephard Holly likes to jump on you and gets very excited. Any adise how to stop this?

Maggie

HI Maggie-

The bark collar is a great idea. That should take care of the annoying barking.
To teach him to not bark, many people on this forum have recommended that you teach him to bark on command, then (assuming he understands the word "no') it's a quick transition to "no bark". The collar is still a good idea, because when you are not around you cannot tell him to stop barking. I'm sure your neighbors will be grateful for the bark collar.
Hope that helps. I'm sure you will get a lot of good advice here. Welcome to the forum.
Ben

I'll say that a bark collar may help. But, you have to lay the groundwork for the bark collar to be understood by the dog.

Me, I would start with an e-collar. I would use it during normal obedience training so the dog understands what the collar means. After that you can put the dog out and watch it from somewhere else. When it barks say, "No Bark!" and give it a zap at the lowest level that the dog reacts to. After a couple of times zapping the dog while watching it, then (and for me only then) could you put a barking collar on the dog. You see, the barking collar zaps on the bark, but without the groundwork the dog doesn't understand why it is getting zapped. That is just not fair to the dog.

As far as the jumping up your female is doing, a quick knee to the dog's chest as it jumps up can do wonders. That being said, I wouldn't give the dog a chance to jump up. I would give the dog the command to lay down and stay, then after the dog is calmed down call it over and make it sit in front of me. That way the dog starts by listening and continues to listen (and obey) as it approaches you. After a few times, the dog will understand that when "The Food Guy" comes home, this is how I am supposed to act.

Good luck. Dog training is actually people training.

Thanks Ben
Yes, that helps me alot, I will need get the e-collar for when we go away but I will need to practice the "no bark" command before I do. I will need to reinforce the "no" command when I tain him and her and your right Ben it's how I say it which I will need to work on and try. They listen more with my son because he training him and listens to his voice. They are not around to work with them as much because of work and school. They are very good dogs and I really want this to work because we want to take them camping in the summer time. We took drak camping when we did not have Holly and he was great, did not bark at all at night but now we have Holly. I will defently get the e-collar and practice with the trainging.

thanks Chris
The e-collar advice sounds good and I will need to get very soon, I will use it as I train like to said so they will know and come to understand it.
As for Holly jumping, I will try that and see if it all works.

thanks for your help guys
I will start to work on it.
Maggie

How about next time your dog goes off you redirect his attention. A empty beer can with rocks or pennies in it works great for this. Tape the top and shake it really hard. 99% of dogs shut up when you shake this. As soon as the dog stops barking give the command "quiet". After 3 seconds of quiet give him a reward. Start low and build up to 30 seconds etc. If this does not work get then maybe try a bark collar.

If a dog is jumping he's looking for attention. Why not just deny him that attention. Have someone hold him or tie him to something in your house. Open the door, get excited and walk up to him. As soon as he jumps turn around and walk out the door. Do this until he gets the picture that he needs to stay on the floor if he wants attention. You may be surprised how well this works and it doesn't involve kneeing your dog in the chest.

If there is a way to fix a problem with out using aversives (prong or e-collar) why not try that first? Why is everyone's first thought to shock him or knee him in the chest?

Hi Benjemin

I really am getting to like this forum and the really nice people on it, receiving very good ideas.

I do not know if this make any difference but my dogs are only outdoor dogs:

They have a bedroom in the garage and their food and water and have a dogy door access from the garage to go in and out when they please all day into the very large backyard where I train them as well.

In the morning, around 7am I go into our garage to open the dogy door for them. Holly can hear me coming and gets very, very eager because she is already at the steps wagging her tail and looking up at me as soon as I open the door. She is very excited and paces and tries to jump on me as I get the the dogy door to open it for them while the drak is sitting paciently waiting until I do. Sometimes I give them a treat and sometimes I just let them out and fill their bowls before I leave for work. When I go into the garage and holly is jumpy, should I ignore her and go back inside and try again after a few minutes? What should I do in this situation?
Maggie

I agree with the e-collar suggestions. I disagree with the use of a can with rocks or pennies in it for the following reasons:

A dog may not react to this at all, ever, if in drive (pick one) and the reason for the barking is something other than "just because."

A dog may react at first, but quickly begins to ignore the sound and continue barking.

A dog may be sensitive to loud noises/nervy, I never want to encourage nervousness or provoke a nervous response from a dog simply to get it's attention. Shaking a can full of rocks or pennies could be frightening to a dog with weaker nerves, and you are essentially the source of the sound, the cause of the fearful object/sound etc.

To me, teaching a dog that when it does something a human finds indesirable, it will be frightened or startled, is not a good approach, it may stop them from continueing the bad behavior but every time a dog hears a loud noise or similar sound it will think it is being corrected and become even more nervous.

Teaching quiet on command is great, and I agree that you should redirect your dog's attention to you. If your dog likes squeeky toys, you can get replacement squeekers at a local pet store, squeek that squeeker, which is a sound the dog will be interested in, not afraid of, or startled from.

If the dog is not interested in squeekers, call him over to you, or if he is known for ignoring you under distraction, calmly walk to the dog and attach a long lead or trailing lead - if the dog is known for avoiding you and running away from you, put the lead on the dog when you first come home but keep an eye on him so that he does not become tangled on anything. Trailing leads, ones with no handles or knots, are best as they are much less likely to be caught on anything. Don't leave the lead on the dog when you are not home, not watching, or asleep, for safety's sake.

Also, when going to your dog to attach the lead, never get grabby, do not quickly grab for the dog's collar or lunge towards him as this often causes hand shyness and the dog will avoid your hands to avoid "being caught."

After you have his attention you can do as advised above with marking quiet and rewarding. You can use treats, toys, or affection depending on what the dog responds best too, I like to switch it up, and rarely ever use treats for personal reasons.

For the jumping - put a lead on the dog so you can keep a hold on her if she decides to play, if she jumps up, lead in hand bend over, clip the lead on. You can ignore her, but in the mean time you are still being jumped on. I suggest simply grabbing the lead and directing her into a sit. Don't grab the collar. Only after she sits nicely, give praise and affection without being too excited, you don't want to provoke her into getting excited again and jumping around. A calm, happy "good sit!" and affection. Do this every time she starts to jump up.

Ask for a sit immediately upon seeing her, open the door and call her to you if you have to, keeping your back to the door, etc, and ask for a sit. Only after a sit do you give affection and attention, without riling her up. This is a good start to a "non confrontational" way of eliminating jumping up.

The reason I suggest the can of pennies is that it works well for 95% of dogs. All the concerns and ideas are a completely valid option in my book. For some reason it just appalls me that so many people on this board are so quick to suggest pain as an answer to a problem that is not an emergency. Try everything else and use physical pain/discomfort as a last resort.

I have worked with over 2 dozen dogs of varying ages, breeds, types, and backgrounds where things like the can of pennies, squirt bottles, and the rattle chain have been used - with mixed but overall poor results. A sound distraction either does not affect the dog past the 4th or 7th time you use it (for a dog that does not have weak nerves) or causes the dog to become nervous and makes matters worse.

I will say you can definitely try this and see if it works for you but my bets are not on this method, but, Maggie, you are definitely more than welcome to try any methods you are comfortable with.

There are reasons members of this board use what you refer to as "pain/physical discomfort" in our training, and why we suggest it. We are not abusing or suggesting abuse of animals, far from it!

Sorry if perhaps I am just in a off mood but to me you seem a bit argumentative and defensive in the posts of yours I have read. Nothing wrong with voicing your opinion but perhaps you could do so a little less strongly or choose more neutral words. Just a suggestion. Of course. Not trying to pick a fight here, FYI.

 Quote: benjamin colbert

The reason I suggest the can of pennies is that it works well for 95% of dogs. All the concerns and ideas are a completely valid option in my book. For some reason it just appalls me that so many people on this board are so quick to suggest pain as an answer to a problem that is not an emergency. Try everything else and use physical pain/discomfort as a last resort.

Ben, I'm sorry, but after many years of training dogs, I just don't agree with your "95%" statistic. The first sentence of Jennifer's post explains why it doesn't usually work. The last two paragraphs explain how your method can not only cause the "discomfort," you dislike so much, but also fear as well:

 Quote: jennifer marshal

A dog may react at first, but quickly begins to ignore the sound and continue barking.

A dog may be sensitive to loud noises/nervy, I never want to encourage nervousness or provoke a nervous response from a dog simply to get it's attention. Shaking a can full of rocks or pennies could be frightening to a dog with weaker nerves, and you are essentially the source of the sound, the cause of the fearful object/sound etc.

To me, teaching a dog that when it does something a human finds indesirable, it will be frightened or startled, is not a good approach, it may stop them from continueing the bad behavior but every time a dog hears a loud noise or similar sound it will think it is being corrected and become even more nervous.

"Discomfort" is a part of a correction--FEAR is not. Done correctly, an e-collar should not cause fear in the dog. Some incredibly talented, experienced and highly respected trainers visit and use this board. To imply that they got that way by using painful methods on their dogs is insulting and flat out wrong. If you don't understand why someone uses a certain method...why not ask instead of making nasty implications? You've been here under a month. And I agree with Jennifer, you do seem argumentative and defensive, and rude.

And for the record, anyone suggesting that someone inflict pain on their dogs as a method of training wouldn't last very long here.

To the OP: I would get an e-collar and make sure you know how to use it properly (Ed's video clearly shows the response you're looking to see in your dog at the proper setting. He shows too light of a stim and too heavy of a stim).

But certainly, start out small if you want to. If your dog responds to learning to bark and then learning Quiet (or no bark), or if distraction works, then great. If that doesn't work, or if other methods don't work, then the e-collar is a great solution. And yes, done properly, it IS humane.