Looking for some ideas.

All five of my dogs train in agility...we go to a weekly class at a training facility and have a private instructor. I run with all five dogs (one at a time), so while one dog is running, the others are crated on the sidelines of course.

My problem is the Corgi, Fanny. She absolutely LIVES for this class. She loves agility, and runs full out—she’s really good at it too, and I love her enthusiasm for the sport. But when she’s in the crate watching/hearing the other dogs run the course she barks incessantly. My turn! I want to run! Let me out!

When it's her turn, I do wait for her to be quiet, sit and wait before I open the crate, and give her a release. She runs the course a couple of times, and then goes back to the crate to wait her turn again...and starts barking.

I do have a helper with me at class, other than the instructor. So far, here are the things that have been tried, none of which have reduced the excited barking at all:

Covering the crate

Squirting her with water (trainer’s idea)

Treating her for intermittent moments of silence

Verbal correction (Sh! Fanny, shut up!) or a bang on the crate

Not crating her, but allowing her to wait her turn on leash

Obviously, removing her from the over-stimulating situation (being crated and watching her housemates get to engage in fun) would stop the barking. I could have the helper take her outside or put her in the car...but that’s sort of a hassle, and it feels like giving up.

This is sort of a tough one for me because it’s not a behavior she does at home...she’s not much of a barker except in this one situation. And during class I don’t have the ability to focus on her when I’m running other dogs on the course.

I have not tried a bark collar. But I'm open to it.

Thoughts?

My thoughts Tracy, are gonna probably seem like mostly non-answers because I think it depends on her. If she can handle being corrected for it, thats fine. You have to watch how she reacts. If it settles her down and clears her head, ok, but pay attention to whether its working or not.

Removing her from whats overloading her isnt really what I would think of as giving in. Its just recognising what she can handle.

Corrections aren't working. At least nothing has so far. Even a collar correction with her prong doesn't get her to stop the excitement barking for more than just the instant of the correction.

This barking *almost* seems involuntary (if that's possible)...as if she cannot help but release this excited energy by barking.

As soon as she is released from the crate onto the agility course, she shuts up, and uses that energy on the obstacles. She's one fast and focused Corgi when she's going.

Yeah, involuntary is right. With the other corrections not working, I'm not sure about the bark collar correction Tracy. I would worry about her getting so worked up, she starts losing her head about the course and the training.

I really don't think its wrong to crate her where she'll settle. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.

Sorry if I missed it - did you try running her before all of the other dogs at any point.

A friend of mine tried a 'husher muzzle' for something similar and had good results. It wouldn't be my first choice but might be worth investigating as an option.

She is always the first to run.

Then she goes to her crate and waits for the other four to run...then she gets another turn...then back to the crate. In an hour-long class, all the dogs get 2 or 3 runs with me on the course.

Tracy, I have a similar problem with my Aussie when our house gets amped up in play mode. We chose the "pick your battles" method after all else failed (bark collar just made the barking more frantic) We now remove him from the room/yard when things get him to the point where the excited barking has taken over. In all honesty, it does not stop the barking all the time, but it does damp the sound for us.

Yeah, I'm thinking that the "pick your battle" strategy is the right idea here too. I honestly don't think she can help herself in this situation.

I'll think about options for removing her from the class in between her runs. I think she could just sit in the car. If she barks out there, at least she won't be a distraction to the other dogs running the course.

One thing you might try is to have the helper engage her in other activity/OB when the other dogs are running. I recently began training with MES and one of the things I have been doing with my guy during his down time in Agility is instead of putting him the crate, I engage him with tug and other behaviors while the other dogs are running. It has helped tremendously. The instructor noticed a huge difference in his engagement and focus, and now when we are walking the course I can put him in a down/stay with no drama. She is even starting to do it with her dog instead of tying down.

this might seem out of the box , but have you taught the dog how to speak , and how to be quiet ?

it astounds me that dog owners will train their dogs to do all kinds of other behaviours , but overlook the "vocals" .

i see people yelling at their dog to be quiet , when the dog has no idea what the command could mean .

i learned this from a previous career as a coach : " what is not taught , is not learned " .

you have to train the dog to do what you want for you to have any reasonable expectation of him to comply .

if you can train him to speak , then you can train him to be quiet .

and even following that path , i'd expect it to be a while before you could expect success in such a high energy distraction environment like the one you describe . . . it's gonna take a while .