# Barking at Strangers



## Jacklyn Weeks (Dec 23, 2007)

It seems that lately Norah has been barking LOUDLY whenever anyone comes to the door. When the person enters our house she goes into crazy mode. If it is a member of the family she runs up and greets them nicely and everything is ok but if it is someone she doesn't know than she goes NUTS! She runs over and growls and barks and yesterday, she tried to nip the UPS Guy's ankles. (She has NEVER bitten anyone before!) We have been giving her strong NO'S and encouraging her "friend" "friend" to the new people.
I have no idea why she has suddenly started doing this as she was very well socialized and people come to the house all the time. Could it have anything to do with Nick being here? Trying to be protective? I am starting to become a bit frightened and any insight or suggestions would be very greatly appreciated!


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

My best suggestion is to "thank" Norah for letting you know someone is at the door and then ask her to stop. A can with some pennies in it can be shaken or tossed (gently) to help distract her if she continues barking.

A lot of dogs need to be socialized with people in uniform - so it's best if you can get her out to as many people as possible (postman, delivery people, etc). Ideally this needs to be done before the age of 16 weeks.

Another "command" you may want to teach her is "sit to visit." Before she's allowed to visit with anyone, she must first sit. Obviously you'll need lots of treats and may need to start with small steps. Can you get her out to a puppy class - this will help you a lot (and give her a lot of interaction with others.)


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

Uniforms tend to do that. There are lots of training tips for this, I will email you one I got from my trainer. =) The gist of it is to make them realize its more rewarding to be quiet then to go harass the guest.


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## Tritia (Nov 17, 2007)

Cooper barks at the curtains when the heater kicks on :frusty: So yea, he goes nuts when anyone comes in the door.


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## snowangel (Mar 24, 2008)

*Hey there*

I have a similar situation. My havanese when he is on the front lawn (grass) taking a potty he barks at anyone he see's even if they are down the street. I have tried I think almost everything. So it ends up me Running up to him and scaring him. He stops for about 4 seconds then continues. So I tell him "inside" and he runs inside the house. I want him to beable to sniff longer out there and I want him to breath the fresh air. But sometimes our outside time is cut short. HE is fine when we go for walks but its like he is over protective of me or the house.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can get him to stop barking???

I have used a chain colar does not work, and a shock colar. He knows when the colar is on and when it is off. Smart dog.

ANYWAYS SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREAT...... TKS


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

I think time outs would be the best for the yard situation. He needs to learn that is not ok. When he starts to growl/bark, say too bad, and scoop him up/walk him inside to his crate for 1 minute or however long it takes for him to chill out. Then you could start rewarding him for when he is not barking after you start progressing with the time outs. I mean like steak rewards. No little treats, you need a high high value reward. I learned a really good trick for when people come by and Carmen starts getting tense (you can see them lock and load, so dont let the bark come next). I get lots of treats in my hand of good stuff and start throwing them all over the ground right in front of her. Its a big party and now she is too distracted to mind the person. If he starts getting people = steak, people are not that big of a deal. Make sense? You need to try to minimize the time he has with the 'bad' behavior so either avoid the situation or manage. If the person is too close for comfort by the yard and he is too tense, just take him away.


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## snowangel (Mar 24, 2008)

*tks*

Thank you. I will try that.


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

There are at least 20 threads on 'barking' I think, so you might want to do a search in this forum and in General Discussion. Maybe even in 'puppy'. 

I have to disagree about scaring a dog to stop barking as it can easily make the dog jumpy, nervous around you and then aggressive in an attempt to stave off his fear. It could backfire! 

Ricky is a barker and so I know what it's like. When there are strangers involved, then they both bark and go nuts. I work on it all the time, focusing on getting them to listen and look at ME. I jerk on their leash, a quick snap and then release, and say 'no' or 'ssshhhtt' in as loud a voice as their bark is. Standing in front of them and making them pay attention to you and not the stranger is good too, but can be challenging. 

I used to use a citronella collar on Ricky because when he's out in the back yard in nicer weather, he's nowhere near me, who is at the kitchen door or on the deck. It's something I costantly work on.

One thing about doors/visitors to the house, that might work, is claiming that door as YOURS. Dont' allow the dogs near it while they are nutso and barking. Get them quiet first, THEN open the door. anyway..... there are loads of advice in those threads I mentioned. 

Good luck!


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## HayCarambaMama (Dec 8, 2007)

My Bonnie is my barker. She loves to bark at the doorbell ring or the neighbor's dogs or when she can see people walk by the front of the house (from the side yard). What a brilliant little guard dog, eh? *rolleyes*
Right now I take her in when she is barking outside and I work with her with the "chhhhhhht" when she is barking at the door/strangers, but I am seriously considering the citronella collar. LOL, I keep warning her, "You keep that up and it's the CITRONELLA for YOU!" She just looks at me funny.


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## Jacklyn Weeks (Dec 23, 2007)

Thank you all so much for your comments. It makes me feel a TON better...I thought it was something I did. 
Estrella, It was soo kind of you to send me the article. Thank you very much! It makes some great points!
Donna, Can the collars be used in doors? Do they hurt the dogs?
Marj, Thanks for the idea on claiming the door. I will definitely try that!


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## HayCarambaMama (Dec 8, 2007)

Just found one on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Premier-Ant...ryZ66774QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I think these would be MUCH better for outdoors. That avatar is soooooo cute!! I'd love to see more of your Nick and Norah! They remind me so much of my little boy and girl -- since their ages are kind of close and you got them about the same time as I (of course, I didn't mean it to sound that they LOOK anything alike! LOL!!!)


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## Jacklyn Weeks (Dec 23, 2007)

Lisa, 
For sit to visit, do they listen? My hooligans get so riled up sometimes it's hard to break through to them. Any ideas?


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## Jacklyn Weeks (Dec 23, 2007)

Thank you for the image. Bonnie and Duncan do remind me of N & N. It's good knowing that I wasn't the only one who jumped into two close in age. I love watching them gorw up together!


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## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

Barking is my only real issue with Cody. People walking by the house, neighbors walking to their cars, people/dogs on walks. I've worked & worked on trying to distract him - Tess sees somebody down the street and she starts looking for a treat! Cody....clueless! I've tired the "shhhhhh" - sometimes he barks a little quieter  Sometimes he gets himself so worked up barking at people walking by he falls off the back of the couch!

It helps to see others having the same stuggle. I'm going to go back and re-read the other threads.


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## HayCarambaMama (Dec 8, 2007)

Jacklyn Weeks said:


> Lisa,
> For sit to visit, do they listen? My hooligans get so riled up sometimes it's hard to break through to them. Any ideas?


I think you have to be consistent and patient. I've seen Cesar Milan address this really well. They are also really young, Jacklyn, so it will take a little while. For me, my house is NUTS when anyone rings the bell! The kids act out and start running -- how can I fix the dogs with all that chaos?? LOL! I have to use Dog Whisperer on my kids as well as my pups.:brick:


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## Jacklyn Weeks (Dec 23, 2007)

HayCarambaMama said:


> I have to use Dog Whisperer on my kids as well as my pups.:brick:


 Hahahaha! ound:

I've been trying to be consistent and patient with Norah but when the little kids have friends over I'm scared Norah is going to nip them! Nick just smiles and begs to have histummy rubbed so they call him 'the nice one"
Poor Norah She's just misunderstood! :wink:


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

EstrellaVila said:


> Uniforms tend to do that. There are lots of training tips for this, I will email you one I got from my trainer. =) The gist of it is to make them realize its more rewarding to be quiet then to go harass the guest.


Estrella, is this an article you could share with all of us? always looking for answers as we have yet to solve Jasper's problems with the mail man.


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

For the "sit to visit" command - you'll have a whole lot more luck if you work on this in a less exciting environment - like a visit to the pet store or on your daily walks. It's much harder to get control when they are already ballistic with the doorbell ringing. Once they are reliable outside the house, try it every time you or someone comes home - never reward with a hello to them unless they sit. It's hard to be that consistent, but it's really the only way.


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## JanB (Oct 26, 2007)

I had a Sheltie who as some of you may know are notorious barkers. When my kids were little and they and/or their friends would run through a room she would herd them by nipping at their ankles. 

We taught her to sit for visitors and she was so good about it I wouldn't have to give a command; I'd actually have to explain to company that she was waiting patiently for a pat on the head. However, we really never got a handle on the barking. She'd still bark when the doorbell rang, birds flying by the house, or seemingly just to hear the sound of her own voice, etc, etc. It was her entertainment. Luckily we lived on a couple acres at the time so no neighbors were disturbed.

It finally became a non-issue when she got old and deaf 

I wish I had forums and internet info when she was younger to try to break her of the barking.

Good luck to all of you. So far it isn't a problem with Tessa. I guess God thought we needed a break from a barker, lol.


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## Jacklyn Weeks (Dec 23, 2007)

I love having this forum as a place to get all this info. We have such a unique breed it is hard to know what to do most of the time. Thank you so much for all of your info!


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## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

I have a few training articles from my trainer for Carmen. PM me if you would like them and maybe what issues you are having and I will see what I can do. Some are in soft copy already so those are easy, but I have some hard copy and if I have one you want I can scan it and email it. =)


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