Help with behavioral training

[corbinam]

Lexi has always barked when excited, and is further amped by Bentley barking, the cat moving, agility, etc...and I've been okay with that. Recently, however, it has gotten worse and I'm not sure what to do. My two main issues are detailed below and I would love any suggestions!

1--Lexi barks like crazy when we get home. She is not allowed out of the crate until she is quiet. But, she still barks one or two times, I go to open the door, she barks another time, then is quiet. Then once I let her out she barks more! She gets no attention when she is barking, but she still runs around barking and excited. I don't mind her getting excited but I wish she'd be a bit quieter about it. I also feel bad ignoring her because then I have to ignore Bentley (or she squeezes in) and he is quiet.

2--Lexi goes absolutely crazy when we say "NO!" We don't typically say this to the dogs unless they're being really bad, but we say it to the cat all the time. She has learned to associate the word "no" with the cat running and she gets to herd him, so now if I say no, she turns around, searches for the cat and herds him (in other words, torments him) while barking. He is very tolerant. The other day I told Lexi "NO!" when I caught her chewing on our coffee table. She got up and ran happily and excitedly after the cat! This is going to be a problem if we get a puppy.

What can we do?

 

[Calliesmom]

Lexi has always barked when excited, and is further amped by Bentley barking, the cat moving, agility, etc...and I've been okay with that. Recently, however, it has gotten worse and I'm not sure what to do. My two main issues are detailed below and I would love any suggestions!

1--Lexi barks like crazy when we get home. She is not allowed out of the crate until she is quiet. But, she still barks one or two times, I go to open the door, she barks another time, then is quiet. Then once I let her out she barks more! She gets no attention when she is barking, but she still runs around barking and excited. I don't mind her getting excited but I wish she'd be a bit quieter about it. I also feel bad ignoring her because then I have to ignore Bentley (or she squeezes in) and he is quiet.

2--Lexi goes absolutely crazy when we say "NO!" We don't typically say this to the dogs unless they're being really bad, but we say it to the cat all the time. She has learned to associate the word "no" with the cat running and she gets to herd him, so now if I say no, she turns around, searches for the cat and herds him (in other words, torments him) while barking. He is very tolerant. The other day I told Lexi "NO!" when I caught her chewing on our coffee table. She got up and ran happily and excitedly after the cat! This is going to be a problem if we get a puppy.

What can we do?

oh sorry - laughing down here.
no cat so we don't have that problem.

Dixie starts all the barking unless we're at agility - then it's Cran.
She barks as soon as she hears me get home- I do not make them be quiet to get out of their crate but they must sit first. and Callie gets out first anyway
Dixie goes outside on perimeter patrol and barks at anything moving out there. My neighbor has asked why she barks at him when he's in the backyard but not when he comes over to the house.
She also barks at the neighbors out the front window and anything that moves out there too.
but she does stop and she is more willing to listen when she's barking than Cran.

so guessing you'll have to use aahhh or something similar instead of no to stop Lexi from whatever....

if she's barking in her crate and Bentley isn't- then he gets out and she doesn't. she'll probably catch on to that pretty quick

sorry no other ideas- I have yet to figure out how to get Cran to be quiet at agility.........

 

[mellie]

Sorry, but I have noticed an increase in barking around here too lately and was thinking of asking for some thoughts on this too...we have the cat control freak THING going on here big time. She will be quiet in a sit and stay that way until I release her. But before long she's back at it. In our case i think a lack of enough exercise could be a factor(due to the heat and work schedules) and she just has excess energy...ignoring doesn't seem to help with the barking as you mentioned.Can you put her in a down while in the crate or will she still bark in a down ?

 

[DPSheltie]

Lexi has always barked when excited, and is further amped by Bentley barking, the cat moving, agility, etc...and I've been okay with that. Recently, however, it has gotten worse and I'm not sure what to do. My two main issues are detailed below and I would love any suggestions!

1--Lexi barks like crazy when we get home. She is not allowed out of the crate until she is quiet. But, she still barks one or two times, I go to open the door, she barks another time, then is quiet. Then once I let her out she barks more! She gets no attention when she is barking, but she still runs around barking and excited. I don't mind her getting excited but I wish she'd be a bit quieter about it. I also feel bad ignoring her because then I have to ignore Bentley (or she squeezes in) and he is quiet.

2--Lexi goes absolutely crazy when we say "NO!" We don't typically say this to the dogs unless they're being really bad, but we say it to the cat all the time. She has learned to associate the word "no" with the cat running and she gets to herd him, so now if I say no, she turns around, searches for the cat and herds him (in other words, torments him) while barking. He is very tolerant. The other day I told Lexi "NO!" when I caught her chewing on our coffee table. She got up and ran happily and excitedly after the cat! This is going to be a problem if we get a puppy.

What can we do?

Sorry I totally understand though!

You just described Riley!! If you find any solutions let me know too!! Lexi and Riley are really like 2 peas in a pod.

 

[SheltieChe]

When two animals interact, one is always shaping another. Bob Bailey's pearls of wisdom. So Lexi shaped you
Dust off that Crate Games DVD and follow rule of blanket cover.
Why are you allowing her to run crazy after you let her out of the crate?
Get your training tools and ask for short trick shaping session or even simple puppy push ups once you let her out of crate. Or if nothing else put her on the leash, let her out of crate and ask for alternative behavior like a long down in the bed. Or put her in the down on top of the sofa edge so if she barks she inevitably falls?
Stop using word NO?
Put on cue when Lexi can and can not chase the kitty?
Do you have Ruff Love? Fascinating read and big eye opener on self reinforcing behavior.
But best, thanks for good laugh!!!!
correction- I do not mean laughing at your expense, but the picture of you telling No to kitty and Lexi taking it as sign that fun times are to begin is just hilarious IMHO

 

[mellie]

Our cue to chase the cat is to say "Pumpkin" or "get off there" taught to Sally by DH who finds the cat herding amusing...me, not so much.

 

[labgirl]

Merlin does the excitement barking when it's walkies and will start if I so much as look at my shoes. So what I have been doing is letting him out of the kitchen only when he is quiet and then, if he barks he goes straight back into the kitchen and I go out of sight until he is quiet again. If he has his lead on and barks I take off the lead and hang it back up as well. Within a week he had pretty much stopped barking.

I wonder if you put Lexi back in her crate if she barks when you let her out to give her the idea that she has to greet you quietly?

Btw, does 'no' work on your cat? It certainly doesn't work on mine.

 

[Diana]

I don't know how to help (sorry) but story #2 made me crack up. "NO" = "Get the cat now!" That reminds me of the Sheltie on this forum who learned "come" = "I sit down and my owner will come to me now."

Maybe you need another "bad" word or sound to use when she is misbehaving? I dunno.

 

[Caro]

I had to switch to ah-ah rather than no because Tully would look like a beat her every time I said it. I'm afraid I'm not the greatest to give advice on barking because Deska has proved to me that some dogs are just incurable. One thing that helps with his outside barking is to tell him no (in a really deep, serious voice) before he barks, because there are certain times when I can tell he's going to bark. Plus I always say "Deska - no" because for some reason he is more likely to respond if I say his name first.

One of Deska's favourite times to bark is when I open the front door. If I'm coming inside then I make sure there is a squeaky toy nearby and shove that in his mouth - he seems to just want to make noise from excitement and the squeak satisfies him (and me). He also runs outside to bark at the sky every time I open the door. So in the last few months I have a bag of treats near the door so he has to turn around and sit to get the treat and then forgets to bark (as long as I take my time to give him the treat). Of course if I don't have treats handy he will go and bark so I figure I will have to keep it up forever, but small price to pay for peace.

 

[corbinam]

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

Lexi is smart--so she seems to know when she can and can't get away with barking (yes, I've been properly shaped ). Bentley, on the other hand, seems to be of the "incurable barking" type. I don't think he even realizes when he's doing it.

Like Caro mentioned, I can usually tell when Lexi is going to bark, and I can ask her to be "quiet" beforehand and she will (this is what we do as we fill up their food dishes--I tell her to be quiet multiple times and it usually works). If I ask for an alternate behavior, she is great. She knows when she is working and when she is not.

The problem with that is that I don't think it translates to being a long term solution (I would have to ALWAYS ask for an alternate behavior, or she would go back to it)

I do like the idea of giving her a squeaky toy because I think part of it is her wanting to express her happiness noisily (it's not just that she wants attention because she runs around the house barking happily). I may also try the leash thing.

Thanks again--I'll keep you all posted!