a few questions

[stace1319]

Well, I have a few questions.

the first one is about Brownie, one of my outside dogs. He came as a stray and we have pritty much adopted him. He was really skiddish at first but then one day when I came home he ran staight to the car and was a completly different dog. He is really loving with my family and me, but he started barking at everything now! He barks half the night. I try to adress it as often as I can but since he is outside it's hard. He usually will hush up and go do something eles after I get onto him, but a few minutes later it will start agian. I'm afraid my nieghbors might start complaining. He is also afraid to walk on a leash, but without it he will run after my neighbors and bark at them. I don' think he would bite anybody, but he makes me wonder sometimes. Expecially with strange dogs, which is weird bacause he gets along so well with my other two. Although I have cought him trying to dominate Shy by holding her on the ground. I've only caught him doing it a couple times and stopped it quickly. When I put him on the leash he gets scared and doesn't want to move. I pull a little then let up and he will take a few steps. I don't know what eles to do. Maybe he just needs more practice. Also, when I let Harley out, he is too buisy playing with brownie to do his buisiness. That's all they want to do. Even now! lol! I justy gave Brownie a bath so he is drying of in the house and all they have done is play the whole time, they won't calm down nomatter how hard I try. If Harley isn't starting then Brownie is. I'm also having trouble getting both of them to come back when they are out. The only time Brownie won't come is if he is barking at some one and headed towards them. Harley won't come untill he wants to nomatter where he is or what he is doing. I love all my dogs, and I want to get these things fixed, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about it. I'm also worried about taking Brownie to my moms house. I want to take all three dogs trail riding. Shyanne loves it. But her dog is agressive toward other gods that challange him. HE is fine with Shy and Harley, but I worry that Browing might get agressive towards him, causing Cedrik to want to fight. Any suggestions would be great! Sorry I typed so much, I didn;t think I had so many problems untill I started posting this

[Seravieve]

I'll try and help you some... from what I've learned from our three.

Barking at night: I'd say he's lonely and wants in to be with his family, assuming that the other two dogs stay inside. I'm really not too sure how to deal with him barking though, other than bringing him inside at night. Our three are definitely house dogs, and sleep inside in our master bedroom. Zeke has his own bed, and Bunny and Eli sleep in an over-sized chair and snuggle together. I know some people do crate their dogs at night as well.

Leash: He's probably just not used to a leash. If he's rarely experienced using one, then its understandable. Eli did a similar thing when we first got him. I use a Y coupler when walking Bunny and Eli. It helps to keep them orderly and also I think it helped Eli learn how to properly walk with a leash. You might look into one, and this way he'll not only learn what to do from you, but also with the help of your other dogs. Also, bring along some tasty treats to help lure him into following you. Maybe some cooked chicken or something else that's just extra tasty to really draw him in.

Reactions to other dogs: I think this sounds like classic pack behavior. Our three do it too. Eli is the most relaxed dog, goes to the dog park alone with no problems. But at home, he is guarding his family. Zeke used to be friendly with other dogs when J first got him, but since Bunny joined the family (and Eli later on), he gets along with her and no one else.

Playing outside: I would suggest using a specific word to instruct them when its playtime and when its potty time. We use Outside and Potty. If its time to eat, they go out before and after. I open the door and say Go Potty. If its just in the middle of the day or whenever and they need some outside time, I say Lets Go Outside. Also, again, rewards after they've done their business is an option.

Intro to other dogs: Using muzzles works well when first introducing dogs to each other when you dont know how they'll act. Also, introducing them on neutral ground helps. When we brought Eli home, we introduced him to Bunny first. We muzzled both, I had Eli on one leash, J had Bunny on another, and she met me across the street, in a common grassy area that's neutral territory. We let them sniff each other and walked around some until they were comfortable. Then B went back in and out came Zeke and we did it all over again. Then we brought them all in the house and kept Bunny and Zeke muzzled until we were all comfortable and adjusted. Dogs are all different, and will take different amounts of time to get used to others.

Hope all that helps! =)

[stace1319]

I'll try and help you some... from what I've learned from our three.

Barking at night: I'd say he's lonely and wants in to be with his family, assuming that the other two dogs stay inside. I'm really not too sure how to deal with him barking though, other than bringing him inside at night. Our three are definitely house dogs, and sleep inside in our master bedroom. Zeke has his own bed, and Bunny and Eli sleep in an over-sized chair and snuggle together. I know some people do crate their dogs at night as well.

Hope all that helps! =)

Thank you for all your advise! it was very helpful. Shyanne stays outside as well. But, she has been inside for the last 2 weeks recuperating from her surgery (she got fixed) and will go back out this weekend when the weather gets a little warmer. I don't want to put her out in the snow since she has been used to the house. Brownie was staying here and had his barking issue before I brought her in though. He will also bark all day at everything. He was barking at the tv a little bit ago. Just for kicks, I would bark and he would go flying thorugh the house barking his head off! haha! maybe he's just crazy.

[Seravieve]

Lol... Well he must just like the sound of his voice. =) It's probably related to being away from you (and any other family members for that matter). We've left Zeke outside on our patio a few times because he's either sick or he's gone after Eli. He'd be fine until about 1 am. Then he'd start barking. This was in the fall, so he wasnt cold.. he was just lonely.

I would definitely look into doing something to curb the barking though.. I wouldnt want neighbors complaining. We have a family two doors down that leaves their dog out to bark bark bark all the time. She'll be out there for an hour at 7 am, just barking and crying. It's sad really. I told J I was going to steal her.. hah. She'd the most beautiful Amer. Bulldog. White with brindled patches. But I'm sure they'd find her here.. lol. =)

[stace1319]

well, the barking seems to have subsided a little more since I've been trying to address it more and spending more time freezing my butt off outside working with him and Harley on recall. They have been doing great. I call them and they come flying towards me then they get praise and a cracker.... no one likes she dog treats I bought them. They are doing great, but Browine is a little harder to get to come back when he is distracted. I'm having fun working with them both. Shyanne, my beagle, likes to sit up on the hill and watch the caos. I'm guessing she finds it amusing, lol. I still havn't gotten to work with brownie as much as I would like on the leash. If I don't have to go into work early today then I'm going to try to get at least a few minutes in.

[Karen]

I am glad to hear you are making progress! Keep up the good work!