Help please - nervous barking

[Cornfedapache]

Hi all

I'm new to this forum and am desperately looking for some help with Floyd and problem barking.
I'm not new to dog ownership but this one has stumped me as I can't seem to improve it after 18 months of ownership.

Let me give you a bit of background...

Floyd is a rescue dog, approximately 2 years old (roughly, ish). We got him at the end of September 2007 from the RSPCA in Brighton and were told that he was appx 6 months.
He was a true inspector case and was removed from his previous owners, and we suspect that he was kicked down the stairs at least once (when we tried to cat-test him, we had to carry him up the stairs as he was freaking out. However, as soon as we got him home, he seemed OK with them!!!), was very thin, had a coat that was dead/lifeless and had dermodetic mange up his legs and face.
While he is short haired, his coat is now quite soft and lovely - when we got him, it was more the texture of a Staffie's. 10 days of good food and quiet-time sorted that out however.

We also have a cat, and we were quite firm on Floyd in the beginning to lay the ground rules that she's small and delicate, her food is her food and that he's not to hassle her. They now get on fine and are really sweet together. She will stick her head down his ear at times and have a jolly good clean - all Floyd will do is just look resigned...

We also suspect that his previous owner was a painter/decorator with a diesel flat-bed pickup truck and had a teenage son who worked for Pizza Hut as a delivery boy.
How did we get to this? Well, on the day we brought him home, we happened to have some friends doing some work on the house. Floyd took a massive dislike to Nick while he was in his painter/decorator gear (plus smelled of while spirit) - however as soon as he changed/showered, Floyd was quite happy. He used to go completely nuts if a Ford Transit-type flatbed went passed on a walk (he's getting better now but still hates diesels).
As for the son, this sort of brings me onto the problem.

There are a couple of different issues that we need to address with the barking.

1) Barking at people.
In a crowd (i.e. in a high street), Floyd is as good as gold. We even took him to a classic american car show last year and he only barked once (at a very fat guy with a walking stick who, without so much as a by-your-leave, bent over him while he was sitting in the shade and started to pat his head). He's not a massive fan of hundreds of people in a tight space, but he doesn't bark, he doesn't pull, he doesn't give off any of the body language signs of agitation.

However, people on their own can be a different story.

This is where the son of the above story comes in. Early on, I noticed (although my partner disputes this a bit), that Floyd was 'funny' with people in sunglasses, wearing baseball caps and wearing red clothes (i.e. Pizza Hut delivery).
Take an example - I was sitting in the town centre one day while my other half was in a shop, and this bloke wanders over with his small kid. Looking like a member of the great unwashed caveman-brigade (we get a lot of them around here), I resigned myself to Floyd having a bit of a bark, while making general soothing noises and stroking his head.
Floyd went truly ballistic and backed out of his harness. Thankfully, I grabbed him by his collar before he got further.
The guy in question was wearing very large sunglasses and, as soon as he took them off, Floyd shut up and sat down like the good boy I know he really is. The child (4 years old, at a guess), meanwhile, proceeded to throw herself at Floyd, cuddling his neck etc - he didn't bat an eyelid.

The other pattern seems to be men - he very rarely will bark at a woman.

His body language is almost cowering - he pulls awy in his harness and drops his shoulders down while barking.

No, we're noticing less rhyme nor reason for the barking. Yes, caps/glass are a bit of a factor, bit some people I expect him to bark at (not expect as in want, but anticipate) he doesn't, and the ones I don't expect, he will.

It's not always big WOOF WOOF, but sub-barking - woo-woo (if that makes sense). However the big woof woof is still there.

Another instance sticks in my mind. We had time off the lead on the beach and this couple came out of the sea and sun towards us. Still around 50m away, Floyd saw them and charged over. He barked (proper big chest barks) at the man while with his nose pretty much on the guy's calf.
Thankfully, the guy was OK about it when I explain Floyd's background - and actually apologised for wearing his sunglasses...

In this instance, Floyd had his nose on the guy's calf pretty much, but his entire body was slanted backwards - as if he was trying to pull away but had his nose superglued in place (am I making sense)?
This is a pattern I've seen since - he hates the guitarist from my old band and will do the same thing (to the point of weeing himself sometimes - classic fear I know, but Vince is an OK guy and actually wants Floyd to come and lick his hand. He is, however, thin as a rake and looks about 16 even though he's nearly 30. By contrast, Floyd didn't care about the other guitarist (who looks his age) at all.

The additional problem is to do with Floyd's body language. While I can tell he's actually scared - not going for the kill, so to speak, because his ears are permanently erect, he does give off that 'I'm going to eat you' vibe to people who can't read his other body signals.
He can move his ears sideways, but they never go down. Picture the way a horse moves its ears and you're not far off!

If there are people walking up and down in our close when we go out for a walk, even the guy at the end working in his garden 20m away, 9 times out of 10 Floyd will bark.

2) In-house sub barking and pacing

The second problem that I really need advice with is Floyd's habit of picking up on every little noise and sub-woofing (woo-woo, not opening mouth). This is often accompanied by pacing.

He's worse if it's silent (as now when I'm writing this, I can hear the neighbours going about their day next door and every now and then I can hear something which Floyd picks up on and does the woo-woo thing), but sometimes when we're watching a film/TV, we can't hear anything over that and still off he goes.

The pacing I appreciate is a sign of nervousness, as is the barking. The signals that I'm interpreting are "I'm not sure about something so I'll make my presence felt on the off chance that I become sure about it and need to act".
However, this is really draining and frustrating and, sometimes, I really can't help just yelling "BED" at him. This is rare, I admit, but sometimes he just won't settle for any reason that we can fathom.

When he stayed at my parent's house, apparently he barked all day (but people walk within a foot of their front door/window so I appreciate this is probably guarding behaviour) and my mum found that really draining.

Especially when it is quite, we can't find anything to set him off, especially if I'm just sitting reading or something.

3) In house guarding/barking
The people barking thing does continue in the house and it's rare that we can get a male through the door without Floyd going nuts. Women, fine, no problem but men is a different story.

My other half's brothers came to stay a while back, and FLoyd hated the older one. I tried everything I could think of but to no avail. It only got better when I, Floyd and Nathan went for a walk together. After that he was better but still not happy.
The younger brother, no problem.

We did get one guy in and Floyd woo-woo'd until Richard gave him a biscuit, after which he was guarded but quiet.

My colleague Steve has a dog and is the most lovely guy you could meet. However, when he popped in one day, Floyd went nuts - big chest barks, but inches from Steve's body (and ear - the poor guy must have been deaf!!).
Steve doesn't fit the general pattern as he's over 60 and bearded...
Steve however took it on the chin and the general pattern was
WOOF
sniff sniff
Lick
WOOF WOOF WOOF
Sniff
Woof
etc etc


So, there we have it.

Other than the barking, Floyd is great. He sits, his recall is mostly very good, he knows Paw and Bed, waits to be told he can have his dinner (even if I'm really mean, put it down and then wash up for a few minutes he won't touch it) etc etc.
He's a lovely dog but the barking is really beginning to wear us both down.

Please, any help, advice or tips you can give would be great.

And, if you've got this far, thank you! As a reward, he's a pic of him and the cat!

[Cornfedapache]

I completely forgot what we've tried to get this to stop.

We've reassured, told off (in the sternest voice), can with coins and now a water pistol (Floyd hates getting wet and this is a good short, sharp punishment for him).

Not much joy with any of these. If he's in the garden and barking at noises, we'll squirt him and he stops barking but starts vocalising (ohh-ohh-oooh is you know what I mean)...

[nick_j007]

Where to begin.

A great post from you with a clear explanation thank you...very good

To be utterly honest (I know I always say this) but you and your dog would very much benefit from a trtainer coming to you that is well respected for behaviour and spend a few hours with you.

Having said that I'd like to poibnt you in the right direction with a few resources.

This will require some work and patience (you sound like a great owner btw), but I'm sure you can accept that.

Scullcap & Valerian is a herbal; calming remedy and it can help clear the way for creatingh a calmer dog that can accept new behaviour. Dorwest Herbs Ltd - Herbal Medicines and Dietary Supplements Since 1948. Double the dose for the first 2 weeks then keep the dog on it for 2-3 months.

People at home. Change the dog gradually to Nature Diet dog food over a one week period. I shall explain why, but rather than to go into depth here, I'd simply like you to obtain a bokk t aht describes the method clearly with images.

The basic principle here is that you tether the dog and feed him a meal through a Kong when a person comes in to distract and change the perception of the event for the dog. You describe a fearful dog that has learnt that certain 'upper level' levels of aggression work for the dog to control its environment.
There are indeed many ways in which one could overcome the problems you describe, but it would really be a more 'hands on' approach which is not possible on a forum.

The Kong and visitor method is described well in a book called Breaking bad habits in dogs by Colin tennant. Amazon should have a copy. p128 will say all i'd like to say here but do not have the time (sorry) to go into it.

People in public. If needed muzzle the dog and introduce it gradually ready for outside work. Then (set it up if needed) take a meal of the already introduced ND out with you, and ask people to feed this to the dog at each meeting. No pressure on the dog, just drop from a distance to begin with and keep it low key. Try to do this as much as possible in a relaxed manner in different locations with people he is likely to dislike. keep it safe of course.

Pacing etc. This should diminish with the S&V, but you can use your fixing point (p126) to retain the dog physically. Control the body and the mind will catch up I find. Do not allow the dog free access to the garden to woof and so on. Access only under supervision. Fixing point is not a punishment ok? Offer a Kong again (you could feed all of his meals through that every day for a time) or a hide chew.

Stop all aversive techniques please. When they don't work don't use them. Your dog needs positive reinforcement and reward and confidence and so on

Hopefully enough there to get you in the right direction?

Best wishes,

Good luck.

Nick

[Cornfedapache]

Hi Nick

Thanks - very interesting info there

We did speak to a trainer today when we collected Floyd from the kennels who also gave us some useful pointers.
They're really nice and have the services of a behaviourist on tap, so I might call her in if the pointers they (and you) have suggested don't get me too far.

I'll look up the book as you suggest and try to work through a few of those ideas as well.


Thanks so much for your time and answers - I really do appreciate it. While the barking etc is wearing for us, I'm more concerned that he's not happy about something...

We'll get to the bottom of it... Thanks again

[Cornfedapache]

Hiya

We're not having much luck - and now Floyd's shown aggression towards someone (my Nan, who he has met several times and really liked).
Yes there were contributing factors to this, but it's not ideal and now my parents won't look after him until we get something done.

Can ANYONE recommend a trainer/behaviourist/shrink in / near Worthing, West Sussex who we could go to?

Thanks
Neil

[nick_j007]

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