Guys: Our dog Bindi had the squirt bottle used on her at her foster home whenever she barked in her kennel. It worked very well. However, whenever she sees the squirt bottle she crawls around and hides. WHen I first got her she was afraid of the hose and water. THis could have been from being at the shelter where they wash the kennels out before removing the dog. I don't know.
Lately she has been barking alot more. (our neighbor dog had puppies and they are kept outside and cry alot-now that they are separated from mama.)
I have been frustrated enough to use the squirt bottle. My husband suggested using a squirt gun and hiding it within his hand so the dog couldn't see the gun and then squirting her. I wonder...
Anyway this is our experience with squirt bottles, they work but the dogs are smart enough to notice when the squirt bottle is not around, or when you are carrying it. Just sharing our experiences with squirt bottles.
Aren't dogs great? and challenging? I bet they think we are quite the challenge as well. My dog regularly tries to train me.
I bet I seem so stupid to her. What a joy to share your life with a good dog. I've only not had a dog when I was first married and couldn't cause we lived in an apartment. A house seems so empty without a dog. Rambling....its early.
ANyway, God bless you all.
Sharon Empson

 Quote: rick miller

Question: Do you stim the dog every time it barks in the crate, or do you only do it when you know the dog is trying to be a butthead? For example, my dog sleeps in the crate; I would like her to be able to bark at someone scratching on the window.

I had to think about this for my dog too. So I corrected only when he was barking at ME. It's still too early in the process for me to really know if he is able to make the distinction, however there have been 2 times that he barked because he heard something outside. I made sure not to correct him for that, instead I said my usual "I'll check it", got up and looked out the window, hoping that would encourage him to continue that particular behavior. Time will tell if he is able to make the association, but I think he will. Since he is no longer barking at me at all, I'm confident that as time passes he'll understand.

 Quote: rick miller

Do you stim for whining or barking only? Or is it the sign of disrespect or the level of disrespect?

I didn't stim for whining because correcting for the barking stopped the whining and the couple of times he did whine I just ignored it and that was enough to stop him. A couple of times I did tell him "quiet" which stopped him also. But even telling him to be quiet tends to encourage him to whine. So I try not to use it often, just wanted to make a point with him . I personally don't consider the whine disrespectful, annoying yes, but don't think it's a "leader of the pack" type behavior. I prefer to ignore it even if I have to listen to it for a while. Eventually he stops on his own when he sees it gets him nothing. If he hasn't gone potty for a while, I'll wait for a few short minutes after he stops whining and then take him out, just in case it's potty he needs. But mostly, any whining he used to do has stopped, I rarely hear it anymore.

This discussion re: stims, timing ecollar stuff makes me want to comment.

Timing of course with that method is critical.

And, I found with the method I chose it was critical that I used the same tone and command "quiet" with accent on the T. (the stare glare helps alot too). Because earlier, when I didn't know exactly how I was going to train this...it was "SHUT the #^$* up! and shhhhh and a myriad of other things...no wonder he kept on barking. But when I got *my* act together on it and was consistant, he was (of course, as always) much more willing to obey, and finally know what "quieT" meant.

 Quote: sandy moore

I personally don't consider the whine disrespectful, annoying yes, but don't think it's a "leader of the pack" type behavior.

I agree.

Thanks again...