Barking Problem

Yes, another barking question.

We have two German Shepherds (male and female) who are both young and
very active. They tend to spend a lot of time outside in the back
garden, and barking was not really a huge problem in the past. A few
months ago the people who live behind us got two husky puppies, and
when the four of them are outside together, they run up and down either
side of the chain-link fence between the gardens barking at each other.
They are not at all aggressive, and that is not the issue. At the
moment the way we deal with it is pretty much to make our dogs come in,
and try to only let them out when the other dogs are not outside.

Now, the real problem here is that the two old people who live to one
side of us are growing increasingly angry about the dogs barking. The
wife calls up and screams at us, and they will shout insults at us even
if the dogs bark once. Obviously they are being totally unreasonable,
but our city by-laws say "persistent barking, whining, calling" etc.
are banned at all times, and there is a rather hefty fine. I am going
to call the city and ask how they define "persistent," because our dogs
are not barking for hours at a time or anything like that. As soon as
they start, we get them in, but it sometimes takes a minute or two
because they are not well trained and have a very poor recall (it does

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Question: What are you planning to do about *that*?

chrisbirkett...

I asked for advice at the bottom of the post.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

I gave it to you (albeit in a confusing manner) throughout my reply.

OBEDIENCE TRAINING.

not help that the back of the garden is quite far from the door). This
is becoming very stressful and quite a point of friction between us.
They believe the dogs bark for at least two hours every morning (7-9)
and often throughout the day.

I have been looking into some training devices like citronella collars,
but I'm afraid they will not work particularly well in this situation
as there are four dogs involved. Even it it's not possible to
eliminate the barking completely, training them to stop when told would
be very good. There are other situations where barking is undesirable,

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Question: But what have you been doing about TRAINING for these dogs?

chrisbirkett...

They have not received training beyond basics, so training classes
sound like a good idea.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

All of your "problems" are associated with your dogs' *lack* of good
OBEDIENCE TRAINING, Chris.

like when people come to the door. I am also hoping to be able to
improve their recall so they will actually come when called, as that is
also an issue.

TOTE...

If you truly believe that barking is undesireable when people come to the
door WHY did you choose a German Shepherd? Their every ounce of being
tells them that they should warn you of those strangers at your door. A
well trained German Shepherd should quiet when asked, or when he discovers
the person is a friend. But while you CAN teach them not to bark at all
when someone comes to the door I don't think that is a good use of your
training efforts.

As for the yard barking - thousands of people own dogs but live in
circumstances where they don't have a yard to simply turn a dog loose in.
They go out with the dog to bodily relief and exercise. That is your first
step in breaking the pattern. Then you can learn how to train your dog
and eventually get the advantage of your fenced in yard.

chrisbirkett...

Yes, stopping the barking at the door is pretty much a pipe dream (I
have lived with several shepherds). They are fine when people come in
(very friendly, they have been socialised a lot), but my male dog goes
all out when the postman comes to the door, and I'm afraid he may
actually go through the glass.

They are not left in the garden for their primary exercise. They're
walked regularly, and visit off-leash areas often, not just at the dog
park, as there is a large fenced-off wood where they can run around as
much as they want.

Can anyone suggest a product, training method, etc.? Do any of you

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Question: Have you discussed this with your vet, who can usually tell
you where to find a good OBEDIENCE TRAINING class in your area?

chrisbirkett...

Nope, I will have to do that.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

You might check with any local dog shelters and/or rescues, too.

have problems with noise complaints and neighbours?

diddy...

a communal barker breaker..

Paula...

I had a problem with getting notices from animal control about my dogs
barking. It helped a lot that I could invite them to come by my house
at any time day or night and they would see that my dogs were not
outside unless I was out there with them. I also was able to let them
know that I heard the barking as well and it was really annoying at
night and I would be thrilled if they found out whose dog it was and
got it to stop. Don't let your dogs out unless you are with them and
correct them if they bark. None of the bark collars completely
eliminate barking. They are set to go off with repeated barking and
smart dogs, which German Shepherds tend to be, figure out they can
bark, pause, bark, pause and have their fun without consequences.

TOTE...

Some bark collars can be set to completely eliminate barking. It just
isn't a good idea to force a dog to only have the choice of silent attack
- which is what you do if you teach him he isn't allowed to warn.

Paula...

That could be a bad thing, all right. I sometimes wish I could stop
the barking all together, especially when they all join in every time

Rocky...

If Friday would stop his sudden and loud alarm barking, I'd be
happy. And go through less underwear.

the doorbell rings. But I do like that they give people pause who
might want to cause trouble and they do knock it off when I tell them
to, so it's okay. Animal Control can learn, too. They stopped
sending me notices. It's nice dealing with the neighbors, too, when
you are always one hundred percent sure that it is not your dogs that
are out there disturbing people.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

I'm not sure that I even understand why a person would ever want a GSD
that didn't at least sound the alarm.

What he does after that can be determined by his TRAINING.

Handsome Jack Morrison...

Question: Can you guess why I don't have those problems?

chrisbirkett...

Sorry we can't all have perfect dogs...

Handsome Jack Morrison...

But we pretty much can have perfect dogs (or close enough to it for
government work), if we'd just OBEDIENCE TRAIN them. And then interact
with them appropriately.

You can learn how to do that in a good OBEDIENCE TRAINING class.

Forget about the gadgets.