use of bitter apple to curve barking

[Goggle]

I have been doing alot of reading about clicker training recently and one of the suggestions to stop your dog from doing something undesirable is to train that behaviour and then never use the cue.

I haven't tried this so I have no idea if it works and I am just learning about it myself but i just though I would throw it out there. Maybe someone else has tried it?

 

[RonandJan]

I have been doing alot of reading about clicker training recently and one of the suggestions to stop your dog from doing something undesirable is to train that behaviour and then never use the cue.

I haven't tried this so I have no idea if it works and I am just learning about it myself but i just though I would throw it out there. Maybe someone else has tried it?

It's the Bark, No Bark Command. You teach the pup to bark on command and then teach them No Bark. It is tough with shelties because they LOVE to bark. It can backfire on you.

My thoughts with this one is teach it early and firmly teach it. Once the pup gets into the teenage months, I think it would be like teaching a smart mouth human teenager to SWEAR AT YOU AND THEN TO NOT SWEAR!

 

[Caro]

Dogs with long noses have whats called a 'visual streak'. We have central vision which allows us to focus on things in front of us, but makes the periphery unclear. Dogs with a visual streak see things as they move across their peripheral vision clearly but dont focus well on static objects. So while shelties can see the tv it will be very blurry to them (like watching tv without your glasses), but they can still see colours clearly and things that move across the screen on a larger tv. They can clearly hear the sounds though, add to that flashes of colour and it can be exciting.

Have you tried using flooding techniques? I watch a lot of dog docos and mine used to go silly when they heard a dog - now they dont bother they got so used to the sounds. Flooding using the same approach. Tape whichever shows Keely reacts to - dog whisperer and sports for example, and play them a couple of hours a day every day with Keely in the room (you dont have to stay in the room). You can start off by playing them in the background while she is eating or even sleeping. Dont worry about starting off quietly with this approach - it should be at the normal level you would have the tv. The idea is she will get so used to the sounds they wont bother her. Try this for a couple of weeks so they just become everyday sounds to her.

Another technique is controlled barking. Let her bark at the tv when it first comes on then she has to be quiet. If she tries to bark again she gets time out in another room. I use this with Deska for most appliances and I must say nowadays his initial bark is only half hearted then he forgets about it. I say 'ready' then 'okay' when I switch it on, he has his bark and then its over.

 

[Justicemom]

Yea. Its a big screen. But she is reactive to the SMALL screens in bedroom and kitchen. I have tried the bowl of Kibble when we watch but as soon as she swallows it... she then barks.

My friend Rachel's dog Pike was a neurotic barker. She tried everything to get him to stop , holding his muzzle, spraying foul things in his mouth, correcting with a pop of the collar, spray bottles(which he loves and barked more at) , shake cans and many more things trainers told her to do. The barking just got worse and worse because it was a stress response and excitement based. He just got into a cycle and couldn't stop. Excitement, correction, stress, more barking, more corrections ,more barking, more stress and excitement and so on. It was pathetic a small yip yip yip all the time. He would do an entire heeling pattern and bark the entire time ducking his head because he knew he should do it but couldn't help it. Sad.

What finally helped was whenever he barked she would put a long wooden spoon with peanut butter in front of his nose and he would lick it. The peanut butter was sticky so he could eat it and couldn't bark so he was quiet then she praised him like crazy for being quiet and gave him more PB and thus more quiet time followed.

He still barks about as much as a normal sheltie but not in a neurotic manner and if he does,she can say quiet and he stops immediately. she followed with the PB for some while but doesn't need it anymore. He is also a joyful worker now. No more head ducking. Yeah

I don't know exactly what dogs see but they can see TV, espeically movment. Diva likes watching dog shows on TV and was really into the blue collie at Westminster last year. I think she was getting pointers.