You don’t say what breed or how old Bourbon is, but this sounds like two different problems. The barking is the symptom you’re hearing, not the cause(s). To stop it reliably you need to identify the cause – with the open windows he might be hearing things outside approaching his territory, or he might be reacting to smells wafting in or he might be doing it to get a reaction from you! Start with teaching him a “leave it” command so that you can teach him to ignore it. I would advise looking up clicker training to do this – as it helps allow you to move away from where he is. If you haven’t trained a dog before then I’d suggest getting in touch with your nearest qualified dog trainer who uses clicker methods – look up www.apdt.co.uk.
As far as screeching at other dogs, again it is important to identify his motivation. The two most common are fear or frustrated play. As this is such a difficult one to deal with due to the social embarrassment (for us!), I would suggest seeking a qualified behaviourist to help. They should be able to help with the diagnosis and then work out a specific plan of campaign to help Bourbon to get over it…and the shorter time he has been doing it the better the likely outcome.
Sally
Sally Sanford BSc MSc CCAB
Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist
To find your nearest qualified behaviourist look up either
Expert answer
Hi Sharon and Bourbon
You don’t say what breed or how old Bourbon is, but this sounds like two different problems. The barking is the symptom you’re hearing, not the cause(s). To stop it reliably you need to identify the cause – with the open windows he might be hearing things outside approaching his territory, or he might be reacting to smells wafting in or he might be doing it to get a reaction from you! Start with teaching him a “leave it” command so that you can teach him to ignore it. I would advise looking up clicker training to do this – as it helps allow you to move away from where he is. If you haven’t trained a dog before then I’d suggest getting in touch with your nearest qualified dog trainer who uses clicker methods – look up www.apdt.co.uk.
As far as screeching at other dogs, again it is important to identify his motivation. The two most common are fear or frustrated play. As this is such a difficult one to deal with due to the social embarrassment (for us!), I would suggest seeking a qualified behaviourist to help. They should be able to help with the diagnosis and then work out a specific plan of campaign to help Bourbon to get over it…and the shorter time he has been doing it the better the likely outcome.
Sally
Sally Sanford BSc MSc CCAB
Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist
To find your nearest qualified behaviourist look up either
http://asab.nottingham.ac.uk/accred/reg.php or
http://www.apbc.org.uk/