Jump to content
BC Boards

Another "Are my dogs weird" question...


Recommended Posts

So apparently my two Holstein....er... Border Collies are normal with their grazing habits, but they have another trait (or I should say response) that is bothersome, and intrusive at times (more on that part later....)

Any time my wife and I hug each other, they go crazy with barking. We have tried calming them and calling them over to pet them while we are hugging, assuring them that , no, the Alpha male is not attacking the Alpha female. When we had just Shadow, we never saw this behavior. Even with the addition of Dustie when Shadow was 5yo this behavior was not present. This was not really present on a regular basis except for the last 6 months to a year, which is about when we moved into our new home. Lately it seems to be getting worse as they display this behavior with ANY hugging of friends or family.


Just an informational side....Shadow is very laid back, and calm, takes to strangers with a tail wag, Dustie on the other hand is rather high strung, barks at anything and everything that moves outside the house ( she barks at the mailman when they deliver the mail to the mailbox at the end of our 300' driveway.) Greets strangers prepared to do battle but so far has never been aggressive with anybody. She almost strike as the type who is just a big blowhard and presents all big and loud just to scare people away because she is actually a great big chicken...

 

So you can see the barking with hugs is getting irritating, where this becomes intrusive is if the wife and I try to pursue a little 'alone time' if you get my drift....even with closed doors they bark up a storm (even howled at one point I think...) which can be, well, distracting... lol

 

Any thought on ways to address this behavior or is it 'normal' Thanks

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would not allow this to continue even the very first time it happened.

 

Your calling them over for petting and reassurance has been rewarding exactly the behavior that you do not want.

 

ie: I bark at them when they do this, and get attention and petting in return. It has now become a behavior-reward situation that you will have to work to change.

 

I would, at the first bark, take the dog(s) by the collar, gently and without any comment whatever, and shut them into another room, preferably separate from one another. Or, if rooms are not available for this, into the crate and cover the crate with a cloth. Leave them there for 5 minutes, (or longer.....wait until they have stopped barking) then let them out and go about whatever you were doing, but not hugging.

 

You may need to budget in the time to do this if, for instance, the hugging is happening as you are about to leave for work.

 

If the dog(s) get isolated instantly every single time that they bark at the hugging they will stop doing it. Might take a while, depending on the dog. Might take longer now that you have permitted them to do this and, in effect, rewarded that behavior. You will have to over ride all that time that they thought it was an OK thing to do. But do not allow it to continue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I vote for D'Elle's response. Everything. Normal human behavior should not be interrupted by rude dogs. As D'Elle points out, now your dogs believe that you're ok w/them interrupting your attentions to your spouse. They will continue to do so unless you let them know very clearly and consistently that it is NOT what you want from them.

 

The advice to isolate them, from you AND from each other, is absolutely correct. A short way of thinking about this is 'Ignore/punish what you don't want, reinforce/reward what you do want.' And by punish I mean the isolation, not beatings. And by reward I mean simply letting them out of lock-up, with no fuss at all.

 

Good luck, I've had to work my way out of tangles like this a few times. It can work.

 

Ruth & Gibbs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. The 'rewarding' is only something (last month or so, and inconsistently) that we have tried. Never thought of it as reward but I guess that makes sense. We do have separate rooms we can utilize. And we can definitely spend plenty of time on the weekends putting them through the new response. Thanks !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes^^^ I do inconsistent rewards thusly ~ when training a new behavior, I always at least acknowledge. 'Good dog,' or 'Attaboy', in a calm, cheerful voice. And tossing in a treat, or a minute or so of tug w/a toy, every now and then ups the interest level. The dog doesn't know what it's going to get, or exactly when it's going to get it. The uncertainty keeps them much more engaged.

 

Ruth & Gibbs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would use a quiet but cheery, "good dog!" You may have to experiment w/this a bit. Too much enthusiasm on your part might get them excited, "WHHEEEEE! IT'S A PARTY EVERY TIME THE HUMANS TOUCH EACH OTHER!"

 

You do want them to know you approve of their quiet demeanor. AND you do want them to understand pretty quickly, that this is really just everyday behavior. They won't be rewarded all the time for simply being well-mannered. At this point, it's a new behavior for them, so you do want to acknowledge and gently encourage it, but you'll fade that, hopefully quickly.

 

Ruth & Gibbs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, I mentioned the power of intermittent reinforcement to point out that you may have rewarded the unwanted behavior even more effectively than you realize, which would make it harder to undo if that's the case.

I would follow D'Elle's plan of noncommittally putting the dogs in isolation and then releasing them with an equal amount of (i.e. no) fanfare.

When you get to the point that they're not immediately barking when you embrace, I'd follow up with a Click to Calm protocol of tossing treats away from you to reward the new, desired quiet behavior. Once you've got that reliably established, then you can begin to phase out the food rewards, remembering to keep them random to keep that anticipation working for you. That's when you're using the intermittent reinforcement to your advantage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, I mentioned the power of intermittent reinforcement to point out that you may have rewarded the unwanted behavior even more effectively than you realize, which would make it harder to undo if that's the case.

 

I would follow D'Elle's plan of noncommittally putting the dogs in isolation and then releasing them with an equal amount of (i.e. no) fanfare....

yup...been doing that now when they get out of the 'penalty box'

 

.....

When you get to the point that they're not immediately barking when you embrace, I'd follow up with a Click to Calm protocol of tossing treats away from you to reward the new, desired quiet behavior. Once you've got that reliably established, then you can begin to phase out the food rewards, remembering to keep them random to keep that anticipation working for you. That's when you're using the intermittent reinforcement to your advantage.

Gothcha....that was the thought behind the casual "Good girl" with the desired behavior.

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the input!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always try to encourage people not to think of the crate or room as the "penalty box". Only because if you think of it that way it may come through to the dogs as a punishment, and I find it is more effective if there is no feeling of punishment involved but rather a very simple and neutral cause and effect. Do this = this happens. As if it were a force of nature, not something you are doing to them. This is my style; I am not saying thinking of it that way is wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Update on our progress... We did the separating  into rooms. Shadow (the older one)  will sit quietly from the time she goes into the room... Dustie...not so much. But Dustie will eventually stop barking (or at least will stop for a full minute or two. )We did notice that Dustie (the younger of the two ) seems to que in on our phrase " Ok, gotta go.." just before we hug and will start barking at the phrase, and Shadow will join in, just because...lol.  So we have been using the phrase out of context, or long before the hug with less barking....although there is still some grumbling from Dustie...I mean literally...lol  Still working on no response...getting there.. thanks for all the input! You guys rock!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...