Extremely loud Howl-Bark / barking issues

[gamerguy99]

I’m hoping this subreddit is kinder than the Facebook pages. People are so annoying on there because they feel like every cattle dog is the same my dog is truly a “lazy” heeler. I’ve talked to several other heeler owners who say they have a “lazy” Heeler. My pup is 9, he’s still plenty hyper! But he doesn’t love walking or doing activities for long at all, he has a bedtime like a grandpa at 7 PM lol. anyways, there’s just a few things I would like to work on. He does this LOUD howl/bark. Sometimes at random noises, sometimes if someone comes home. He loves my roommate and she’s lived here the entire time I’ve had him, but every time when she walks through the door he barks so loudly. My neighbors have finally politely said something (we live in an apt., again, please do not tell me he needs a yard he is perfectly fine and happy here) I get it because when he does it at random it’s terrifying and startling. Any advice? I’ve tried everything. Button, shock collar (I gave up quick on that I felt too cruel), spray bottle, vocal training. I really just want to train him out of the extreme howl bark and especially barking every time my roommate comes around. She lives here so it’s excessive, and I can’t have it with work/neighbors.

I appreciate kindness. I have puzzles, I stimulate him daily, give him jobs, exercise him, etc., he’s such a good pup! I’m just hopeful to work on these things.

I have a great trainer who’s worked with him but she’s $500 for 4 hours. I’m trying to get some advice before pulling the trigger and r bringing her out.

 

[kasimira]

@gamerguy99 are you home every time your roommate comes home? you can work on teaching him some sort of protocol using positive reinforcement like when your roommate comes home, your dog goes to it’s bed and if he’s calm you give him a treat?

 

[gamerguy99]

@kasimira Great question! So no, but when I’m not he’s in his crate. He doesn’t bark at all in his crate… it’s so weird. Example: he used to be out of the crate and he never barked when I came home. He was just excited to see me. However, if let’s say my roommate comes home and lets him out of the crate, now he’ll bark when I enter the apt. Any time I get him though from the crate he’s quiet same with my roommate. I’ve had 0 reports of the howling while I’m at work so I’m under the impression he does it whenever we are home.

 

[dlynn]

@gamerguy99

He doesn’t bark at all in his crate… he used to be out of the crate and he never barked when I came home... my roommate comes home and lets him out of the crate, now he’ll bark when I enter... Any time I get him though from the crate he’s quiet

Sounds like it could be a comfort/safety/anxiety reaction. He feels safe in his crate, so no need to bark. When it was only you there or you're the one letting him out, still safe. When roommate is there instead and he is not 'safe' in the crate, who knows who could be entering, therefore on alert or anxious. When you're there, he feels safe enough to not bark even while not in the crate.

I'd try training to get him to go into the crate on his own when someone comes to the door, and the response to something stressful automatically becomes something that makes him calm. Have the roommate reinforce this as well when you aren't home, probably by you both using the same reward like a treat.

 

[gamerguy99]

@dlynn So just to clarify, he doesn’t bark at all for anyone in his crate- not my roommate or even maintenance when they come. It’s strictly when I’m here and my roommate comes home, or I’m certain he does it for let’s say DoorDash if it’s just my roommate there and he’s out with her. He also adores my roommate and vice versa so to me it’s more like he’s just hyped to see her… too hyped if that makes sense

 

[dlynn]

@gamerguy99 That's right, because he's safe in his crate so he doesn't feel the need to go on alert and bark. Since when he's not in the crate he barks even if it's you arriving, he's going on alert and getting himself worked up before he even knows who is there, so it's nothing he has against your roommate either.

 

[gamerguy99]

@dlynn But this is good too to do the crate thing because when we do have guests he’s super jumpy and crazy so that would be good to just be calm. My mom is his favorite person in the world, he goes absolutely feral for her so I’d love to work on that too. The crate idea is super smart

 

[gamerguy99]

@kasimira This is an excellent idea. One thing I’ve done when I know she’s coming home is taking him to my room, shutting the door. It used to work but now he’s barking in there too- a quieter bark but still. I’ve tried vocal praise, both when he doesn’t bark when she comes home or when we’re on the couch and let’s say a package drops but he doesn’t howl bark. It’s just odd to me it’s like if he’s out in the open space and she comes home he’ll howl bark. But my room it’s much less. And then the “noises” he’ll react to. I’ve had someone knock before had he doesn’t howl bark. But 10 mins ago he howl barked at absolutely nothing.

 

[kasimira]

@gamerguy99 you could also try having your roommate do a couple repetitions of entering the apartment and leaving and mark and reward if/when he’s calm. my dog barks when the doorbell rings so we tried something similar to desensitize her to the sound

 

[caplanepourmoi]

@kasimira Mine too! Except we don't have a doorbell When a doorbell goes off in a show I'm watching, she alerts like crazy and we go through the whole process of walking at heel to the door, sit and wait for me to open the door. I go out and talk to myself as if someone is there, and come back in, or let her out to see it's over. She does really poorly with this still, but getting better every week!

 

[gamerguy99]

@kasimira Ooh very good!! I wish I could do it with the random noises

 

[amour111]

@gamerguy99 Maybe politely ask your roommate to come in with a treat for him for awhile? Then he can associate positive?

 

[gamerguy99]

@caplanepourmoi Oh yes totally that’s the plan. That’s why I’ve actually refrained from treats and only done positive vocal reinforcement for noise and 0 reaction from him. I’ve tried the “quiet” command when he reacts to noise but no such luck

 

[caplanepourmoi]

@gamerguy99 This is a bit nit-picky, but the fewer syllables the better, especially for commands used in conflict. "Quiet" is two syllables and ends rather abruptly, it can be sharp if you over-pronounce the 't' with your teeth (which is good), but a really dull second syllable if you use your tounge for the 't' sound, it comes out like a 'd' if it comes out at all. It's not a big difference for English speakers, but dogs don't speak English, hear tones and patterns associated with actions and ideas and we call them commands.

I use "hushhhhhhhhhh" The "hu" at the beginning is low and stern, the 'shhhh' can be as long or short as needed for the moment. It's a single syllable with a lot of room for variation to control the "conversation" in the moment. If she barks over a command, she knows (been taught) that's bad behavior, so the longer the 'shhh' the longer she has to wait for her turn.

ETA: This is from personal experience and various training videos explaining commands. Not a specific trainer or established norm that "hush" is a better command word that "quiet", I'm not a dog trainer, this isn't expert advice. You do you

 

[gamerguy99]

@caplanepourmoi This is awesome!! I’ll try it thank you for being so sweet and thorough it’s extremely let helpful

 

[gamerguy99]

@amour111 So to me it’s like he’s just hyped to see her! He adores her and vice versa. It’s just more like dude she lives here why are you doing this but that’s an excellent idea!

 

[caplanepourmoi]

@gamerguy99 My girl is the same way, we live alone so no roommate issue (yet, don't wanna be alone forever), but she will bark at errant noises in the neighborhood. It used to be worse, but it's slowly gotten better, it's also very mood dependent. But mostly, I've been working with her, to get her as deep into our tiny house (

 

[gamerguy99]

@caplanepourmoi Love this!! Yes he doesn’t bark angrily at my roommate at all, it’s just more like AUNT KK YOURE HERE!!!!!!! lol. But it’s just a lot because she lives here so it’s constant! That’s smart to remain upbeat and walk the pup elsewhere, I will try that as well as adding treats to my positive vocal rewarding!

 

[batiana]

@gamerguy99 i'm in-laws with a GSD that has a barking issue, so i've been working with pup and her family on training it out. she has a 'place' command that sends her to her bed, which is in the middle of the living room away from any windows so she can't see what she was barking at anymore. isolating her from the triggers by sending her to her place immediately when she barks and rewarding her for laying down / settling down with lots of praise and attention and treats has reinforced her behavior over time so she pretty quickly runs over and lays down - no barking from her spot either.

if your roommate is a consistent trigger for the barking, maybe have her do some training with you where you're on the couch with your heeler, she comes in the door, and your heeler gets sent to his crate for some self-soothing / settle down time as soon as he starts barking. i think if you try to only 'reward' him by giving him all the coming home attention of pets and hellos after he's had some time to settle down and stop screaming with happiness, he'll start to understand that making a big scene will mean he gets a 'time out' before he gets loved on, hopefully getting him to calm himself down. :]

 

[gamerguy99]

@batiana Excellent idea!! Thank you