| Author |
Across the Fence:  Barking dogs  |
|
|
showthemlove
True Blue Farmgirl
50 Posts
Vanessa
Vermillion
SD
USA
50 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 06 2012 : 1:30:50 PM
|
Hello! I enjoyed my MJF magazine already today. I admit, I was a glutton...ate it almost all up already.
I am interested in the actual model barking collar that Mary Jane referred to in the article about barking dogs. I, too have two darling Great Pyrenees. We only have 3.7 acres on the edge of a covenanted community. Our dogs currently sleep indoors at night, but I am looking into getting geese and might want them outdoors. I would like for them to bark only when they are serious. I know that they bark to warn, but generally we are safe.
They currently wear two collars daily: electric fence collars and a remote zapper. Both work wonderfully. I did not get the latter for the barking concern but to enforce the fence when cars drive by. Now my male runs with the cars but not at them.
We do have babies in nearby homes who nap during the day, etc. I would like to reduce the dogs' barking at least.
Thanks for any info? Also, how do I figure out my member number again?
Vanessa
I love the upper Midwest! |
|
|
oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Jul 06 2012 : 1:44:47 PM
|
LGD's usually only bark at what they perceive as danger or intruders, breaking that habit will stop them from their job and a natural warning system will be gone, my very strong advice is fencing your property, or at the least where your dogs patrol, also most LGD's do not guard birds as a general rule, and if your dogs are adults, training them to guard animals they were not raised with is tuff...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
 |
|
|
showthemlove
True Blue Farmgirl
50 Posts
Vanessa
Vermillion
SD
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - Jul 06 2012 : 4:00:38 PM
|
Thank you. I have a lot of experience with LGDs and so that's not the issue. This is the first time that I adopted them as puppies and have not had actual livestock. We love the breed. I do see that they need a job.
I will not fence the property. Although I might fence an area for said livestock. These are not rescues. I would fence for older rescues, but not these, we have bonded with us and they are obedient, amazingly enough. They were born in a barn with horses and chickens, but have not had these animals around them, so I do realize the concern. More training will be needed. I have trained rescues to work with their instinct again, even after being fostered in interesting situations.
My issue is the barking and that is my question as well. Did you read the article in this month's magazine? That article is what is getting me to request more information regarding the GP barking.
Best regards,
Vanessa
I love the upper Midwest! |
|
|
|
MaryJane
Queen Bee
16374 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16374 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2012 : 06:56:50 AM
|
Hi Vanessa,
Thanks for reading my magazine! The bark collar I use is a Deluxe Bark Collar from PetSafe.
It's almost as if the collar gave my dogs an early retirement from having to bark (even during the day) because now I only put it on when I have B&B guests and don't want barking during the night BUT they no longer trigger it when I DO put it on. They know what it is and they are silent all night long. And overall it has minimized their barking when it isn't on which can be a month at a time. I feel like now they'll bark when we really need them to but NOT bark just for the sake of barking.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
 |
|
|
|
YakLady
True Blue Farmgirl
652 Posts
Natalie
Montana
USA
652 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2012 : 10:02:36 AM
|
I have an LGD who is 1/2 Pyr, and it is a breed trait to perimeter bark. This is walking the fence line and barking outward to tell other predators that he is there and ready to take them on should they present themselves as a threat. He does this about 1/4 of the night on/off. He also alerts if there is a disturbance in the barns, no matter if he can reach them or not from the pen I put him in. Any foreign movement gets alerted to but in a test sort of way. His serious bark is much different than his "Hey, what are you?" bark.
I can imagine with neighbors so close that the barking could become a problem quick- On top of a collar, have you tried reward driven training for a one-bark alert method? I know some Pyr owners who have had good success with that. The dogs still bark, but far less and only when they 'need' to.
Good luck! Guardian dogs are wonderful critters :)
And if you're in the sisterhood, I'd email to let them know your forum name so you'll get that little hexagon, and I'm sure they'd tell you your # :)
~Natalie~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana. http://mtnme.blogspot.com
Starting a family and raising Tibetan Yaks, Highland cattle, Laying hens, Muscovy ducks, Silver Fox rabbits, and a few dogs. |
|
|
|
showthemlove
True Blue Farmgirl
50 Posts
Vanessa
Vermillion
SD
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2012 : 12:01:08 PM
|
Thank you, MaryJane and Natalie.
I have worked with LGDs for the last 2 decades but I am open to learning new successes about this breed so I was excited to learn about MaryJane's success. PetSafe is a brand that I have looked into. I think that my local farm supply carries these, but maybe not big enough.
N...your description is correct of the ancestral barking trait. It's "I'm here and if you want anything of mine you gotta come through me first, but if nothing is there then I was just talking to the moon anyway". Normally, this would cause me to sleep like a baby, knowing that they were guarding, but we are in a social situation on the backside of our property. Their discernment when they SEE something is great, it's just the other guardian bark.
I am very interested in the one-bark alert method. This is not in any of my books. Could you refer me to a site that you know about or something? I am an inactive member of several groups, so I'm sure that I could find something.
How are your ducks doing in MT? I thought that Muscovies were a warm weather duck. Do you have special warm housing?
Thanks again, all of you ladies.
I am still waiting to hear back from the MJ group. I registered Jan. 8, 2011, according to my profile, but have not received e-mails or anything yet. I'm not even sure if I'm on the list. :(
I love the upper Midwest! |
|
|
|
YakLady
True Blue Farmgirl
652 Posts
Natalie
Montana
USA
652 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2012 : 2:15:27 PM
|
The one-bark isn't on forums that I know of. I heard about it/learned it from a GP breeder here in MT. She uses it to start pups that are going to be family guardians instead of stock guardians. It is basically your traditional positive reinforcement training but limited to the first bark.
You get someone (I use out-of-town visitors/family) to approach/run along the property line and when the dog barks once, you shove a treat in their mouth, and the stranger moves away out of sight. They'll keep barking, and you completely ignore them until they settle and then you give a treat. (I use the "off" command if I want them to stop barking normally.) You repeat this at different points around the property until you get tired of it. After a few times, They figure out that one bark = treat, and stopping also gets a treat. I don't use any commands doing this training because if I'm not home, there's no one to give the command! You want them to do it on their own (like they like to do most things, anyway). If your dog isn't food-oriented, you can give a scratch or something equally rewarding. Some people use clickers, I don't because I lose them like no one's business.
You can set different rules to different zones- my front door is a 'hot zone' so my dogs have freedom to bark as loud and as much as they like at people at the door. However, a jogger running by the front fence line on the road is a one-bark candidate.
I'm still working on this method with my dog, but I'm not working too hard since we're on acreage in the country. None of the neighbors care that he barks all night- they can only hear echoes on occasion.
My Muscovies do wonderfully, actually. My duck is setting on 13 growing eggs right now, and my drake is pretty happy. We have our artesian well backing into a pond for them and the yaks, and Ducky stays in the pond the majority of the winter as long as it doesn't freeze over! She's a little... insane, I think. I do have a duck house that they have been inside... maybe twice each. They snuggle in with the yaks in the winter. Very strange birds! But I love them.
Oh! To join the sisterhood, you have to actually buy the membership @ http://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/store/p/236-Annual-Farmgirl-Sisterhood-Membership.aspx It's on sale for half off this month, so that's good timing :) I'm going to get mine, too. That's how you get a sister number. Joining the forum doesn't come with a number. The Sisterhood membership makes you eligible for the badges for various farmgirl skills, and it also sets you up in a *hopefully* local hen house so you can meet up with other farmgirls on occasion :)
~Natalie~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana. http://mtnme.blogspot.com
Starting a family and raising Tibetan Yaks, Highland cattle, Laying hens, Muscovy ducks, Silver Fox rabbits, and a few dogs. |
|
|
|
showthemlove
True Blue Farmgirl
50 Posts
Vanessa
Vermillion
SD
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2012 : 4:30:33 PM
|
Yay! Everything I needed to know.
I will buy mine as soon as I get back from collecting beans from my CSA. Don't know what kind they are...I've already been trying the one-bark training. I use a "hush" command in the house. I will try to praise first, then hush, maybe? I have one food motivated, one LOVE motivated.
6 pints of beets up, 4 pints of basil/garlic/olive oil mix which I just learned that I can seal in my Food Vacuum canister...with the Tattler reusable lids.
In what gardening zone are you? I am in 5a, I think. We do see some -20 cold on a regular basis.
Thanks again!
Vanessa
I love the upper Midwest! |
|
|
|
YakLady
True Blue Farmgirl
652 Posts
Natalie
Montana
USA
652 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2012 : 12:58:12 PM
|
Oh you're very welcome :) We're in 5b I think... We are West of the Divide, in the "banana belt" of Montana :) So It's not nearly as bad here in the winter as Eastern MT!
I'm buying my farm girl membership now :) I am excited to earn some badges!
Good luck at your CSA :)
~Natalie~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana. http://mtnme.blogspot.com
Starting a family and raising Tibetan Yaks, Highland cattle, Laying hens, Muscovy ducks, Silver Fox rabbits, and a few dogs. |
|
|
|
heritagehunter
True Blue Farmgirl
207 Posts
Julie
La Salle
Co
USA
207 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2012 : 4:39:06 PM
|
| My 8 year old welsh corgi/australian cattle mix is a barker. We live in an apt and he would bark at the neighbors when they would come and go. I was worried that they would start complaining (even though their dog is a barker too). My vet advised me against the bark collars. He told me to see what he was barking at, acknowledge it and that he would learn to not bark as much. It worked. I wish my neighbors would do this with their dog, their yelling at the dog is worse than the dog barking! |
|
|
|
crittergranny
True Blue Farmgirl
1096 Posts
Laura
Lindrith
NM
USA
1096 Posts |
Posted - Jul 09 2012 : 08:46:30 AM
|
Very cool advice ladies. I just use the ole shutup or I'll get the broom method. LOL....My dogs have pretty much learned no not bark at silly stuff. Mine don't bark during the day unless someone pulls up, or there is a predator around, but sometimes they get a little carried away at night, going out into the woods. They sort of get on a jag. Sometimes I will tie them at night for a couple of nights and they will knock it off. But when they see mom come to the door with the broom in the middle of the night they know they've overdid it..LOL. Just show it to them, thats all they need. I can tell the difference between a silly barking jag and if there is really something out there.
Laura
Horse poor in the boonies.
www.nmbarrelhorses.com |
|
|
|
showthemlove
True Blue Farmgirl
50 Posts
Vanessa
Vermillion
SD
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - Jul 09 2012 : 2:14:05 PM
|
I have been trying to acknowledge the first bark this weekend, and it is already fort of improving. Such smart dogs, these GPs. Laura, sometimes I pick up the remote and hold it up to my female dog, and say, "You know what this is?" and she lowers her eyes and is quiet. I only set the shock to a one or two usually anyway, and after showing her the remote, I don't even need to use it. Although I didn't really buy the remote for the purpose of bark control. I've tried the settings on my children, so I know the settings are not deadly (JK). Sometimes one look at the "broom" is all it takes. It sounds like overkill, I'm sure to people who have little dogs, but these are giant dogs, and although so sweet, there is a need to control them right away because they do know how to "protect".
I do wish that I had done more with them when they were even younger, because now my female talks back to me. She grumbles under her breath, but it has always cracked me up. I can't help it. It is so funny!
I am trying to teach them to whine when my husband or the children come home, because, that's the other thing...their "I'm so happy you are home, I am glad to see you!" and their "I am going to bite you and drag you through the cornfield so that no one ever sees you again" barks are the same. There is NO variance. Also, according to them, all burglars must come to the front door and use the doorbell. No burglars sneak into the garage and come in the side door. (Which, we all know, is the door that friends and family use).
I actually whine for them to try to teach them and they look at me kinda weird, not to mention how my family laughs. I have caught them whining, though, sometimes when I kennel them and we are still in the garage getting ready to leave. Boy, they sing then. Oh, and when I sing, they sing (whine) with me, too. LOL. Wish me well, then.
I love the upper Midwest! |
|
|
| |
Across the Fence: Barking dogs |
|
|
|
Barking dogs
