An Update on Ginny's Numerous Issues.

Ginny had her first advanced obedience class last night and as always, she did really well. We were playing impulse control games and she did very well but really made me laugh as her head bobbed around so quickly. :lol:

I've continued to spray dog/car repellent on our porch and so far the cat hasn't returned and Ginny hasn't had any accidents. I think we just MIGHT be near the end of potty training finally!

She had bad days some times but overall her leash walking is hugely improved. She usually doesn't pull now and I can walk her and Sadie on the same side without tripping over her or her cutting of Sadie. Obedience training has also cured her of her 'Bobble Head' condition. :lol:

Her barking however is getting out of hand. Instead of getting better, its been getting worse. I've been reprimanding her for barking by putting my hand over her muzzle and giving her a stern no. She usually doesn't take me seriously. If she's barked outside and not listening I deposit her inside the house or in her crate for a few minutes till she calms down, which usually works for a while.

The other night she REALLY embarrassed me though. We were at the park with friends and their dogs playing and Ginny went completely crazy with her barking.

"YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!"YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!YAP!..."

She did that the entire time she was running around and even started refusing to let me catch her, she was enjoying it so much. She LITERALLy got EVERY dog in the neighborhood going. People were coming out of their houses and the people playing tennis started glaring at me, Ginny has a REALLY annoying, high pitched bark that's like nails on a chalk board. It was an extremely long 5 minutes. When I did catch her she was immediately leashed and made to lie down. But she, like Sadie, can still bark while lying down. She continued to not only yap, but also squeal, yelped and threw temper tantrums the whole time we were there. I just wanted to crawl in a hole! :uhoh:

I guess there will be no more running off leash with her dog friends until I have more control of her barking. Her behavior was completely unacceptable.

The trainer suggested I start spraying her with water when she barks, which I'm definitely going to do. I'm going to keep bringing her to the park with me, but I'm going to make her lie down and spray her with water for yapping.

I'm also going to talk to my husband about the both of us being more consistent about her barking. Since its gotten worse instead of better I think we're going to have to exercise zero tollerence when it comes to her barking. We're supposed to be going away with family in a little over a month but I might to have to leave Ginny home with the breeder if she doesn't show any improvement before then. I don't want to risk her waking up the 1 year old babies.

Does anyone have any other suggestions I could try? I REALLY need to nip this in the bud.
 
So last night I really started cracking down on the barking with both girls. My husband looked at me like I was nuts at first but he couldn’t deny the immediate difference. He couldn’t deny that I was right, Ginny would have to stay home from our vacation if her barking didn’t improve.

Sadie caught on immediately, as I’ve had to use the spray bottle on her in the past. Ginny was a little more stubborn but REALLY HATES being wet.

I practiced with them being quiet in their crates when we were home, which is a big issue with them. Ignoring them does nothing, they’ll bark, whimper and cry for hours on end if we’re home. I squirted Sadie once (Ginny follows her lead in the crates) and they were silent the rest of the time. I had trouble letting Ginny out because she LOVES excited barking, but she soon realized that I would turn away and leave her there when she barked and was silent.

This morning was very peaceful. I didn’t have to spray anyone with water. Sadie, who has an annoying habit of announcing her presence every time she walks outside, was completely silent. Ginny only let out one small yip and was quiet the rest of the time. I’m going to have to start handing out more treats but I tried hard to give them lots of pats and praise for being quiet.

I’ve realized that Sadie is more of an instigator than I originally thought, in the house anyway. She’s been sprayed more times than Ginny has for her incessant yipping at every noise she hears and barking for attention. I think I’ve also realized that its less of the nervous habit and more of a way of getting attention from us, even if it is negative. Boy, these shelties are WAY to smart for their own goods.

I haven’t had a chance to try Ginny at the park yet. Not really looking forward to it, Ginny is going to be extremely unhappy.

While the quick improvement has given me hope, I’m worried that they’ll start getting used to the spray bottle or start recognizing that they can bark when I don’t have it.

Again, if anyone has any other suggestions for me to help with their barking I’d really appreciate it. I’ve tried all of the positive methods I could find before resorting to the spray bottle.
 
Question (because I'm looking for ways of dealing with Indy's barking too)...when you spray her, is it obvious that you are the one doing the spraying, or do you try to make it seem like some "unknown source"?

I'd always read that if you are going to use negative reinforcement techniques, you don't necessarily want the dog to equate them back to you, but rather "when I bark, something bad happens".
 
Hope you can get the barking under control and really enjoy your vacation. The more I read of problems and concerns with shelties, the more I realize I am blessed with the dogs I have. Noah used to bark outside usually at the squirrels but if I yelled and told me to stop he would or if I wasn't home, he would be brought it. Emma is a quiet dog. For the longest time I wondered if she would ever have a bark and it is a very quiet bark. With them, I get a tone in my voice that works with them. It works with the kids too - they know when they've gone too far. Their parents always threaten to leave them with us to learn to be polite, etc.
 
BarbV said:
Question (because I'm looking for ways of dealing with Indy's barking too)...when you spray her, is it obvious that you are the one doing the spraying, or do you try to make it seem like some "unknown source"?

I'd always read that if you are going to use negative reinforcement techniques, you don't necessarily want the dog to equate them back to you, but rather "when I bark, something bad happens".
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Yeah, I've read that too. The trainer didn't really say but that's probably what I'm SUPPOSED to do. But I've been giving a stern 'NO' when I spray them. Yeah, I guess that is punishing them, but I'm getting very frustrated with their barking and am tired with them not taking me seriously. They understand what 'HUSH' means and choose to bark anyway. I'll talk to the trainer about it tomorrow night.
 
OntarioSheltie said:
Yeah, I've read that too. The trainer didn't really say but that's probably what I'm SUPPOSED to do. But I've been giving a stern 'NO' when I spray them. Yeah, I guess that is punishing them, but I'm getting very frustrated with their barking and am tired with them not taking me seriously. They understand what 'HUSH' means and choose to bark anyway. I'll talk to the trainer about it tomorrow night.
Click to expand...

So its been about a week now that I've been using the CORRECT training method of correcting the barking. What I was supposed to be doing was keeping the spray bottle hidden so that they couldn't anticipate it and not say anything when we spray them. That way they're not supposed to associate the barking with me.

Surprisingly, its Sadie that's getting sprayed, not Ginny. Sadie is still trying to bark at everything. Just last night she was on the porch with us, when we said hello to someone walking by. Sadie was asleep till she heard our voices, then she jumped up and went crazy barking, scaring us and the people on the sidewalk. I didn't have the spray bottle with me. I'll have to talk to the trainer about that. :rolleyes2:

Ginny is only yappy when she gets too excited. I had her at the park the other night and leashed her repeatedly for barking, but her barking wasn't nearly as bad as before and she didn't throw any temper tantrums when she was leashed. Although her bark is VERY annoying, if she stays the way she is right now I'd feel much more able to deal with it.

We'll see what happens, if I'm not satisfied I may have to try an ultrasonic or citronella collar. She's not of a personality that I think it would scar her if I have to try it, she's a pretty tough, stubborn little pup. :rolleyes2:

At least I feel comfortable about bringing them on our family vacation now.
 
Lucky is the barker outside, and stops, when he knows I am tired of the yapping, its a stern NO NO NO. Lady has been a little pain in the house at times. Last night she had us up how many times, I know there was a deer out in the back. She hates the deer in the yard. Well so do I cause they will eat the flowers if I forget to spray with some Deer Out.

This morning EARLY, she barked for me to get up, I said NO LADY, so what did Lucky do, he was tired of hearing her demands. He takes his whole face goes under my head and lifts it up, NOW GET UP. Well I have to say I laughed so hard at him. Lady used to brush her whiskers up my nose back and forth, oh what a horrible sensation that is, TICKLES like the dickens she can be.
 
I broke Ginny at Obedience Last Night

For a sheltie, Sadie is a fairly bomb proof dog. She's confident and brave and can take just about anything I challenge her with. She has her moments of spookiness just like any sheltie, but in general she's great.

Ginny on the other hand is much more sensitive, which I stupidly keep forgetting because I've spent so much more time training with Sadie.

We were practicing stays and Ginny as always was doing beautifully. We were dropping toys, squeaking them and throwing them into the middle of the room and Ginny didn't budge. Then the trainer asked us to throw the toy by our dogs. Not even thinking, I threw the toy over her head, which freaked her out immediately. Me, being not too bright last night and not realizing how much is scared her, gently placed her back in position and did it again. The trainer laughed at me and teased me (in a good natured kind of way), pointed out what I did wrong (duh!) and made some suggestions.

Poor Ginny acted spooky and confused for the rest of the evening. It took the whole class for me to work through it with her and make her realize that everything was ok. At the very end she was finally acting like her old self again, had her confidence back and was trotting around like she owned the place. :lol:

I didn't coddle her or act differently in anyway after she got scared, but I did feel badly for spooking her so much and will be much more careful not to push her too far in the future. Silly girl, like I'd EVER throw something at her!

btw, Ginny's barking stays bearable so long as I keep her excitement levels down. She was being too yappy at the park the other day so I had to keep her leashed. She has good days and bad, but lately we've been having more good days than bad.

Sadie still gets sprayed daily for barking, but she too is slowly getting better. :rolleyes2:
 
Ginny is so cute!!! She has such a sweet and innocent face. I love how she crosses her front legs. My sheltie angle used to do that too. Bailey is very unlady like. She never crosses her legs.

She still looks so small. How much does she weigh now?
 
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