# Barking at Strangers



## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

Alright everyone, I want to thank those who have recommended training books to me, I plan on putting in an order before the end of the week for several of them-including the one on seperation anxiety to help Tucker.

My husband and I have been going disc golfing several times a week, the parks around here are beautiful and we take the dogs with. It is great exercise for us all. 

This is also great for socializing the dogs, and boy do they need it. It is embarassing when they go off on a barking spree every time we run into other disc golfers. I'm looking for some advice on how to stop that. They look like they are so ready to rip someone to shreds but when people get close enough they turn into wiggly butt puppies who like to get petted.

Yesterday when we went, and came accross others, I would ask the boys to do simple things for me to distract them, sit, stay, down, gimme that paw... or for Rocky  to do his little hop up dance that is so adorable, he hops up on his back legs and spins in circles. I also treated them heavily when we were close to others.

Is this the right way to go about it? Any other books I should add to the list that can help us with this issue? My husband gets so mortified every time it happens. I keep thinking maybe I should ask the other disc golfers if we can come over and meet them...


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## dntdelay (May 27, 2011)

I would love to hear these answers myself. Jasmine is 5 years old and she is barking constantly. We are actually signed up to go to Petsmart for some training. I will be checking this thread for some more information!!!!


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## Rocks (Jul 9, 2012)

Curious about this too as Louie barks at anyone walking down the street. I know he isn't thinking attack, he is thinking "hey you! come play with me!"


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## SicilianRose (Jun 8, 2008)

I had this issue with Miss Daisy after my surgery. In the beginning she was so quiet that I could sneak her into a movie theater and watch a movie with her on my lap.... after the surgery, she would bark at anyone who would come within 6 feet of me. Go nuts if they touched me, etc.... It was really stressful taking her out after my surgery. I did contact a trainer about this and she told me distraction ,refocusing and staying with the training is key. 

I took Miss Daisy to Home Depot and did a lot of my retraining there. I started at night because it was not as busy but then during the daytime, early fall it would be super busy and I took her at that time after a few times of the night time training. 

Always have their favorite treats with you. Make sure that they are smaller than normal. I made sure that Miss Daisy's reward treats were pin head sized... she didn't mind this, lol, because she was getting rewarded alot. Anyways, when a stranger comes within a close proximity to you and looks like they are going to walk by you, make noise or come closer to you, call Tucker's name. Have him sit and look at you. I used the sit, stay and look command. After the sit, I gave Miss Daisy a treat. In the beginning, during the stay/ looked at me commands I would keep a small amount of the treats in my hand tightly, making her work for getting the little bits that were available. I also made sure that there were enough there so that the person would have time to walk by without incident. She would move her eyes following them but would still be focused on her treats and trying to get as much out from my grasp as she could. When the person walked by me with no incident I would reward her with plenty of praise, petting and another treat. She would get so excited about her praise that she would wag her tail so hard that her whole tuckas would wag with it, lol! 

During the other days of this exercise, she would be able to sit, stay and look at me without having to work to get the treat out of my hand because she knew she was going to get a treat after each command. I continued this for a week and now she can go out and about now without any barking incident because she feels comfortable knowing that I am safe and that she does not have to protect me, and that she was safe as well. I do still continue to carry homemade dehydrated chicken with me when we go out, to keep doing this and I think in the last year or so, I only had a few incidents but those were my fault because I was distracted and didn't start the sit, stay and look commands. 

Let me know if you have any questions..... I am always here to help if I can.


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## lmillette (Apr 23, 2012)

My two would and sometimes still do bark like crazy on walks with Daddy at people, kids, and other dogs. They never do it on the walks when I'm there because I tell them to "mind there own business" and they know what that command means and they only listen to me. So my DH started bringing treats on the walk and making them sit and give them treats (not a whole one but a piece) when he sees anyone/dogs and after a few times it started to work. So now this is what he does on every walk he goes on without me and it works out good. Once in a while one of them will act out a bit but he is able to get them back under control with the sit/treat method. I would continue with this Shelly and see how it works after a few times. If regular treats don't work then try boiled chicken.


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

Thanks guys, sounds like I'm on the right track with this  and Debbie I'm going to try making him work to get it out of my hand, that will hold his attention for longer too!


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