Door Bell Update

So it looks like Basil has the ringing of the doorbell to sitting to treat thing down now. "Stay" still needs work but at least they aren't in a frenzy anymore. He doesn't even bark when he hears the doorbell ring when we do our training. He remains rather unfazed.

Now, it's time for the true test...a REAL life situation. Mommy not at the door. Boys are lounging. Someone comes to the door and rings the bell.

(((((DING DONG)))))

And the frenzy begins.

*BARK BARK BARK* * BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK*

GROWLLLLLLLLLLL

*BARK BARK BARK* * BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK*

*BARK BARK BARK* * BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK*

GROWLLLLLLLLLLL

Guinness is excited that someone is here. Jumping around. Bouncing off the walls.

*BARK BARK BARK* * BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK* *BARK BARK BARK*

Both are scratching at the door.

Mommy throws her hands in the air!

Be calm. Mommy breathes. Basil "Go to your spot". Use the body block to make him back up into "his spot". Keep doing it and don't get stressed out. Keep doing it until he calms down and goes to his spot. Then approach the door, but keep the boys in their spot at "Stay"...even if they approach the door, don't let them approach it before you do or do it over again.

After 3 tries, the barks became less and less and I was able to check them into their spot much quicker. I see hope. On a positive note, it tired them out and they fell asleep immediately.

*In addition, we put a sign on our front door asking people to please be patient while we answer the door because we're training our dogs. This takes the pressure off a little to answer the door quickly and gives us the time to train the boys.*

No alpha rolls

From our experience with Basil, we just don't think alpha rolls are effective or necessary. We won't be doing it anymore. We love Cesar Millan, but some of his tactics include domination (while being the pack leader) and that really isn't something we feel is necessary with our frenchies. Basil knows we're the leaders. I have read mixed reviews on alpha rolls and most people say they are not effective in the long term. We agree. If we're still not seeing the results we want, then maybe it's time to try something else to achieve the behavior we want.

Day 1: Door Bell = Crazy Dog

Basil's mom (& disciplinary) here.

Today, I read all sorts of information online as to how to train your dog to stop from getting all kaaraazy when the door bill rings or when someone knocks on the door. One thing I read that was interesting is that some dogs don't get all barky until they reach adolescence. Here I was blaming his cousins, but maybe it was a coincidence. It's about the same time that Basil was becoming a teenager.

Goal: After one bark, we want Basil to back down away from the door. We want him to "stay" away from the door until we "release" him and then he can appropriately greet the visitor. We don't want him to get into a frenzy everytime the door bell rings or if a neighbor knocks on the door. One difficulty is that we really didn't train him to "stay" very well so we need to work on that.

Treats: I didn't understand the whole giving him a treat thing at the door. That to me sounded like you're reinforcing the undesired behavior. Then I read that you treat him when he is quiet and calm. Use little pieces of dry food or training treats.

Today, we started with knocking on the door. That seemed to be the less severe of the two. I did as I the information I read online. I sat with Basil and ignored the undesired behavior. When he was quiet, praise him for being "good quiet" and then give him a treat immediately. Keep repeating. Keith kept knocking at the door every 20 seconds or so and I would just keep praising Basil when he was quiet. If Basil ran to the door, I would gently and in a calm voice call him to come back to me and away from the door. If he barks, acknowledge and thank him for lettting you know that someone is there, and then point him away from the door.

We changed up the severity of the knocking but always knocked the same way ie. "knock knock knock" as most the neighbors do. The treats seemed to distract him enough that he didn't care as much about the knocking after a while. I could tell he acknowledged the knocking but then immediately looked to me for the treat and stayed sitting. Excellent!

We will keep doing this for another couple of days (Basil picks things up pretty fast).

Does your dog get all caarraaazy when the door bell rings? Do you have any other tips?

Tough Love: Barking II

We take Basil out with us as much as we can. We go for coffee or pop into the store to rent a movie. One of us always stays in the car with him, but when the car is idle and people are around that's when the barking starts.

Of the 5 Tips for handling barking, this is what Cesar says that we think applies to us:

"Correct and follow through! Tell your dog to stop barking using a look, a sound, or a physical correction. But don't stop there. Your dog may pause and then go right back to what he was doing. His body relaxed, but his brain was still on alert. Be patient. Wait until your dog completely submits before you go back to what you were doing."

We decided to park at a Shop Rite. There's enough people, but no one would think I'm crazy for being there. I left the car running because it's freezing out! As men walked by, Basil jumps up and begins barking, then it winds down to a sound that an otter makes and then into a whine.

Immediately, we threw him a fierce look and made a "tsch" sound. That's the sound to get him to stop whatever it is he is doing and that we don't like it. Right away he backed down. I stuck with it, continuing to look at him in the face, and then commanded that he sit and lay down in the car. We kept doing this as another person went by and another. Keith left the car. Someone came by and he was "ferociously" barking and jumping all over the back seat following the person from window to window. Again, I made the "tsch" sound, stayed calm, and quietly told him to sit down and I stuck with it continuing to face him. He wasn't as quick to calm down as when it was with both of us in the car. I had to use the "two fingers" and tap him to get him to chill out. When he laid back down, I praised him.

It worked! 4 more people went by and he didn't bark at them. A man came right next to the car and Basil was really upset by that (understandably) and began barking. Again, we just repeated what I mentioned above. We forgot to bring treats with us so next time we'll do it again with treats. Betty's mom gave Basil these training treats when he came to join our family and he LOVES them! It's real pieces of salmon too!

Next time, we're going to run him around and give him lots of exercise before going for a car ride and see if he still barks at people. If barking is pent up energy then we'll see if this makes a difference.

Tough Love: Barking I

Tego's parents are big believers in Cesar Millan's methods. We've learned quite a few things from them and they work! So I began listening to Cesar Millan's tips on youtube through my phone while I'm at work. One of his big things is "Being the Pack Leader". Be a leader, be alpha and don't forget that your dog is a dog, not a human. Basically, Cesar Millan tells you the dog's perspective so you can understand where they are coming from and you can treat/train your dog accordingly.

Our latest priority is getting Basil NOT to bark at people while we're in the car. He loves his car rides! He knows the word "Ride" and he gets very excited about it. While we're driving he "sits" or curls up into a ball and doozes off. But once we're parked and one of us leave the car, he barks feriously at anyone who walks or gets too close to the car. At first, we thought he was being protective of me (which can still be part of it), but then it just got annoying and frenchies don't typically bark. If they are barking, then there's something going on. We don't want to be THOSE people with the annoying dog.

One method: My friend S trained his 13 week old German Sherpard this way. GS are a different type of dog all together. They are incredibly smart. It takes S 30 minutes to teach his dog anything! Amazing! He said to cover the back windows of your car, then allow your friends or whomever is crazy enough to help you to walk by and when your dog barks, hold up a sheet or towel to block his view. Then bring it down, let him see the person again. Repeat if he keeps barking. When he finally stops barking, give him a treat. This takes a great deal of patience! And I don't have any friends willing to stand outside in 32 degree weather right now.

Another method: Simply make a sound or a look to let your dog know this behavior is unacceptable. Stay calm, don't yell, but take control of the situation. Repeat. This is what Cesar suggests and what Tegos parents suggested as well.

This is what Cesar says about Barking.

We are going to try it out and see how it goes. To be continued.