hi folks

A brief history of our new dog, Esperanza. She's a lab/shep/chow mix, 45 lbs, about 11 months old. Really never been trained at all. She was a street dog, taken in by a family who didn't train her at all. Then she was fostered for a month, and now we have her.

I use a prong collar on our walks and she responds very well. (As I've mentioned in other posts, my wife Elaine does not like the prong and won't use it. That's another "story".)

Espy likes to bark. She's very aware of every small noise outside and let's us know how aware she is by barking. Then she goes out the dog door and barks more. This isn't a good thing at all.

Of course, I can't get to her fast enough to correct her with the prong collar. Is there anything I can do to correct this behavior other than the remote collar?

Thanks so much.

Chuck, Elaine, Bosco and Esperanza

I have used a bark collar for two of my dogs. My lab (for barking in his crate) and my GSD for barking outside.

The bark collar did wonders for my lab. I did use the method of not letting him out unless he was quiet, but for a time when he was barking at odd hours of the night and TOO early in the morning I started using the bark collar. I still will not let him out of the crate unless he's quiet and don't reward the behavior, but it cut him down from a horrible bark to a whine that lets me know he's about the crap in his crate, but doesn't wake up the whole family or neighborhood either.

The bark collar didn't work consitently with my GSD and she became used to it-barked through the shocks, eventually. I use a remote collar now with my female GSD for excessive barking, but it is more of a recall tool to get her attention back on me. She barks at strangers walking by and the neighbors dogs. I don't mind her barking some, but I don't let her get fixated.

I would also look for advice using the search function on teaching the bark command and quiet command if you don't want to use a collar. It will just take work and time.

One thing I noticed about your post was that you can't get there to correct the unwanted behavior (barking) by using a prong collar. If the dog doesn't understand what it's being corrected for then there is no point.

I would start with teaching him "quiet" and rewarding that behavior.

Is a bark collar a remote collar?

A bark collar is different. It reacts/shocks the dog when they bark and sits over their vocal cords basically.

The remote collar is something your in control of with an actual remote and the collar is on the dogs neck with electronic prongs that give a shock, or can vibrate. When my female GSD barks outside (I have two acres keep in mind) she only does this when I am in the house. Otherwise she doesn't bark and I take that as a guarding behavior. What I don't like is when she gets fixated or fence barks with my neighbors dogs. The remote collar is my way of communicating with her when I can't be right there. The bark collar was not an effective tool for this because she became immune to it.

With a remote collar I can get her attention until I can get back outside when her attention will be on me. I've had to adjust and use different tools as she's gotten older.

Using drive I was finally able to teach her the bark command after she turned two.

Thanks Lisa and everyone who's assisted us. Unfortunately, I may have to give Esperanza back to her foster home. My wife is just not going to change her attitude or mind about Espy. I have to make this decision. We've had her here for about a month now. She's progressing well, I think, but not well enough for my wife.

We lost our 8 year old lab mix about 5 weeks ago. Maya was sweet and gentle. Esperanza can be at times, but she's a relatively large untrained puppy who nips, barks, chews..all that stuff. Elaine's just not ready, I don't think, to cope with the behavior.

I guess I'm asking for ideas or just plain ol' support with this tough decision.

Thanks for any reply.

Chuck S
Los Angeles

Years ago I had a rescue GSD. She had a lot of issues and many homes before I took her in at 2 1/2. She was car sick, HYPER, nervous, afraid of storms (we lived in South Florida at the time), had periods of not being house broken and was dog aggressive. She also was a chewer into her old age, but it was never predictable and it was anything from socks to the lawn mower cord and even the wheel cover on our Ford Bronco.

Needless to say she drove my husband crazy. I learned a long time ago that things are not the dogs fault.

Some positive things were that she became less nervous, stopped getting car sick and eventually things got better. What didn't help was my husband's reactions to her behavior (yelling and getting angry-never hitting). He made her more nervous and a lot of the things she tended to chew on were HIS things.

It at times affected our relationship and we turned to trainers, using dog crates and lots of exercise. My husband was really good about taking her and my other GSD for long walks 2x a day. She was never perfect, but she loved us and we gave her a home for the last 7 1/2 years of her life. If we hadn't taken her in, who knows where she would have ended up.

It can take a lot of time and patience. I understand where you are coming from (relationship wise). I would try to give it time because it might just be what the dog needs.

 Quote: Lisa Simms

.... What didn't help was my husband's reactions to her behavior (yelling and getting angry-never hitting). He made her more nervous ....

What a huge observation there. What a difference it can make when we stop, breathe, and think like a leader, instead of reacting.

I should add that I have never had a perfect dog (Rommel came close and he was adopted from a breeder by myself at 1 1/2 years old), but she did have good qualities to start out with. She was great with my kids and cats and loved my sisters dogs and could get along with them.

She was found as a stray and adopted out 2x before I took her. It was before Cesar Milan and still during yank and crank training times. Too bad for her sake.

There were 7 1/2 years of learning with her and trying to figure her out. My husband has gotten better, but since I am the "dog" person in the family he I still get the brunt of my husband's frustrated reactions. He knows at least now not to take it out on the animal.

Marker training has been huge for me, with my adopted adults and seniors.

Huge.

New confidence, tiring brain-work, eager-for-training dog, clarity about what the handler wants, greatly enhanced bond.....