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| Help and advice needed....; Barking at planes and more | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 25 Jul 2014, 11:44 AM (559 Views) | |
| CarolineM | 25 Jul 2014, 11:44 AM Post #1 |
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Posh enough for a Skateboard
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Hi all, Not on here much these days but I know there is a wealth of experience on here.......... Bear is now approaching 2.5 years and I need some help with some of his behaviour. 1) Barking at airplanes - with an increase in air traffic at Farnborough airport this is now getting out of hand. He will rush outside and bark at any plane flying over the house. He will also dance around and bark if out on a walk when one goes over. How do I modify this behaviour - if I am quick enough to throw in a "leave it" command he will not bark, but I cannot always be there. 2) When off lead walking he will notice a timid or vulnerable dog and rush up to them/stand up to them/chase them - pretty much being a bully. In this situation I cannot get his attention or recall him until he has made sure the other dog knows he is the boss. I have been walking him on the lead for 4+ weeks and this has prevented the behaviour but this morning we tried off lead and were back to square 1. 3) There is a man who walks his 4 dogs locally to us - they are a pack (the man is pack leader) and make a true howling noise in the car when approaching the car park. Then he opens the back of the car and they are baying with excitement for their walk - generally this stops when he lets them out and they are generally under control. The difficulty is that if we are in the woods when they arrive, Bear will hear them and it takes all my strength on the end of the lead to contain him. If off lead he will belt off to face up to them - the noise really fires him up. I believe Bear is an anxious dog for all his boldness - he is fantastic with humans - just wants a fuss, but seems to have difficulty knowing how to interact with other dogs on first meeting. (Once met he is fine and with dogs he knows he just plays chase or ignores them). I would welcome any help or advice on these issues. |
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| Sucker4browneyes | 25 Jul 2014, 12:11 PM Post #2 |
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Annie & Max
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Hi Caroline I'm about 20 minutes away from you and have an enclosed acre - if you ever want to bring him over and have him interact with my two to help his socialisation you are very very welcome. It would be nice to see you :) Heidi used to be overly confident too, but this has changed since she got bitten on a BIGGSD walk. I would like an opportunity to have her mix more with dogs that won't hurt her - she's still very friendly but I can tell from her ears that she's wary and sudden movements do send her scuttling off. Lars just woofs first and then runs to hide behind me :-) Regarding the aeroplanes - why not walk at Harmondsworth where the planes go every 11 seconds? Plenty of opportunity to practice "leave" |
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| Pamela | 25 Jul 2014, 01:27 PM Post #3 |
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Caroline , Think we all have had similar problems along the way , some well known by the Gsd make up .. I dont know how long you've had him , or his history ... But no quick fix , back to basics , long line for recall practice ... does he have a toy/ball to distract him from other dogs or noises ...what about treats ... Is the aircraft a sudden thing ? whats changed ? Is he frightened ?or just doing a barking thing ? Consider a day at the airport Lol Your very lucky if you have a perfect Gsd with no issues .... A bonus being great with people ,dont people dont have that |
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| CarolineM | 25 Jul 2014, 09:58 PM Post #4 |
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Posh enough for a Skateboard
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Here's a recent picture of Bear (on the right) with Royston, taken while out on a walk!![]() and another - Bear lying on the left ![]() Annie - that is a great idea - would love to catch up with you. I'll PM you when I have the calendar in front of me. Pamela - to answer some of your questions. Bear came to us aged 5/6 months. His story is that he was handed into a police stations as a stray (yeah right!) at approx 12 weeks of age. He went into rescue with Chris Denton in Swindon and then was rehomed to us. Looking at some of his behaviours it is possible that he was removed from his litter mates to early, before he could learn proper action/reaction. The barking at planes is relatively recent - since the fine weather and we have the back door open all day. I think he is warning them off - he used to lunge and bark at faster moving cars. Would it really desensitise him to subject him to loads of planes eg at an airport or at Harmondsworth? He is treat and toy oriented but once he has an idea in his head it is very hard to intervene.(For instance, once he hears those other dogs he is off like a shot!) As you say - back to basics. Thanks |
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| Pamela | 26 Jul 2014, 12:19 AM Post #5 |
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What a handsome chap , and lovely pictures ... Very strange that its suddenly started ,maybe hes been listening to too much news ! its not such a bad thing that he barks at them Caroline , Lucas chases & barks at pigeons , as if hes every going to catch on in the garden .. Lets us know how you get on with Annie |
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| benja | 26 Jul 2014, 10:13 AM Post #6 |
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Dalmatians
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I agree with Pamela some of us have had similar problems with our rescue dogs. Are there any experience dog walkers that you could walk with? I found that a good 2 hour early morning run burned off his energy and calmed him down.You will get there in the end,good luck. |
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| moorgal | 31 Jul 2014, 08:15 PM Post #7 |
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GSD Addict
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a one stage my lad thought he should take on the world....I found the book 'Click to Calm' and put the advice in to practice...and it works!! Luckily my lad has one or two very favourite toys...which he now only ever gets when we see other dogs...in fact he sees a dog and then looks at me for "squashy ball"...so I would recommend it as a method...you have to start at a distance so that they stay below threshold...another training method I've read about is 'BAT...behaviour adjustment training'......goodluck.ps we met once in my local village,when you were on your hols...i've two more sheps since then!! total now 4.5!!
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| CarolineM | 31 Jul 2014, 09:35 PM Post #8 |
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Posh enough for a Skateboard
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Hi - yes I remember meeting you in the Chagford - we now have a house on the outskirts of South Zeal so may well bump into you again! Thanks for the advice - I'll look up that book, it sounds a good one to have on the shelf. I just found an article by Karen Pryor with some helpful stuff too. |
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What a handsome chap , and lovely pictures ...
1:34 AM Jul 11








