I tol youse guys about my new AUSTRAILIAN shepherd dog we got from the same mum and dad that we got Trooper from and then I posted pics of him, fiesty little shit that he is....we are coming to the realization that this little guy is a barker, he barks at you to play mostly, not from anger....but he barks incessantly and I'm yelling at him to shut up all the time.

I was going to follow Major Murphy advice and buy that thing for 50 bucks.  Here is my question.  The little guy is only 3 months old now...is this something he will outgrow?  Why wasn't his older brother (Trooper) a barker?  This guy thinks its a game...he barks till I get upset, then I get up, he runs around the room and I try to catch him (unsuccessfully).

Trooper was so easy to train, and this one is a pain in my ass.

What to do, what to do.

Conventional methods have not worked.

Any idears?

try a spray bottle with water - he barks, you spray (stream setting) - a friend did this with his cat (she didn't didn't bark though), the cat stopped meowing when it would go into the kitchen.  if it works with a cat, i don't see why it wouldn't work with a dog.

hell, it even worked on my old lady, stupid biach wouldn't shut the hell up!!

[}:D]

IMHO you are giving him the attention he craves -- he barks, you chase him, it's a lot of fun.  So the next time he wants attention, he barks, you chase him, and he has more fun.  From his perspective, it might take you a little while to get up out of your chair and play with him, but that's time well spent in practicing barking.

My uncle ruined his dog this way.  Every time the little bastard destroyed something, my uncle would loudly say "NO!" and then instantly bend down and tussle with it.  The dog naturally associated destroying everything in sight with being petted and rubbed.

Get one of those barking-dog electroshock collars and he'll learn quickly.  Then you just have to teach him that it's ok to bark when a chainsaw murderer breaks into your house at 2am!  [chainsawkill]

Have you tried throwing a brick at him? Or maybe approaching him with a belt until he whimpers and pees himself?

With Trooper I was a hard ass.  He came out a wonderful dog...never any deviant behavior.  With Shilo scout dog, I have become a softy,,I guess it's because the loss of Trooper really kicked my ass.  Now I do chase him down and slap his ass, but soon after, I am reassurring him so that he doesnt feel abused...I will try the water trick though,,,before I buy the electronic dealy...that makes sense, I just wonder if at this age (3 months) it will do any good to do electronics...I'm thinking he may grow out of this deviant behavior...

I say give him to Dungus for a little while.

Dungus knows dog.
Dungus knows discipline.
Dungus can teach your dog discipline.

Dungus=[:K]

Hey!  Dont say that name!  He might be thinking of coming onto my thread and threatening me with a FLAME....

How about both the electronic collar AND the spray bottle of water   [:O]

Just kidding.  He would probably enjoy being sprayed with water, cats don't.  Just need to be tough with him.

GovtThug... that was funny.

[b]BWAAAAHAAAAAHAAAA!!!!![/b]  I read that thread this morning G-thug - too damn funny.

Satcong - I'd give him some time to work on that barking problem before I hauled out the electronics.  I've concentrated basically on "Sit", "Come", "Down" & "No" with Serena & at 5 1/2 months she's doing great.

I don't let her barking bother me too much (mostly 'cause she doesn't start it until AFTER I leave for work in the morning hee hee hee...)  The Mrs. says she's got quite a voice though....(hell, after listening to the teenage girls "bitch their way ready" to school I imagine the dog thinks she's supposed to act that way.)

FWIW - most obediance classes / schools say 6 months old is the time to start formal training.  Let the pup be a puppy for a while.  You can always resort to the shock collar later.

-kid