Help! I'm at my wits end

[snowbunny]

This happened to my dogs once, I had two with me and we suddenly came to a fence with two dogs the other side - there was mayhem, they were going to kill each other (or so it seemed!) when suddenly the fence stopped and the dogs' behaviour changed to "oh, how do you do" very politely!

Awesome! It brings to mind people who are so full of fury on the internet, but who are lovely in real life! Just another barrier!

 

[Shamas mom]

@Shamas mom I think probably Shamas is just barking as an instinctive reaction rather than the sort of deliberate bark to ask for something (which is the sort that can be replaced with a chin rest). And in that case I would go with Mag's suggestion to feed every time he barks as a reaction to next door's dog. You are not rewarding the barking (it's just like us squealing/ gasping when something happens to alarm us) but you are building link that says next-door-dog-bark = treats, so that eventually the bark is nothing to be alarmed about.

Sorry, I've been busy with work

Yes, it's strictly reactive. He;ll be minding his own business, and TIKO will bark at the top of his lungs...no matter where Shamas is, he wil stop what he is doing, and run back and forth across the house, barking. Tiko upsets him. Tiko is another rescue from an abusive situation- he's small and mighty and barks at everything, to scare it away from Bob, who is in a mobility chair. Since Shamas is also afraid if the chair...it's a combination that we keep away from. He can handle Bob alone, but Tiko is TOO MUCH!

and on the flip side, he IS being re-enforced, because when he barks, my youngest gives him attention, telling him to stop that, and be quiet..or trying to calm him. Because she's often in the other end of the house from the neighbour's kitchen, and didn't hear the high pitched bark that started the kerfuffle in the first place. She only saw Shamas go absolutely off his rocker with seemingly no trigger. the only thing with a higher distraction value than Tiko is a squeaker. I have to use a squeaker to break up a fence fight, if Tiko enters his yard while Shamas is out(Shamas paces the fence too much for me to simply walk up and take hold of him)The very first thing Tiko does is start barking when his door opens, and run towards us..but Bob can't stop him because he's in a chair

 

[snowbunny]

he IS being re-enforced, because when he barks, my youngest gives him attention, telling him to stop that, and be quiet..or trying to calm him

Honestly, that's incredibly unlikely to be the reinforcer that is perpetuating the behaviour, because it isn't what is driving the behaviour. Barking aggressively is very often (but not always) to create distance, to make the bad thing go away. So, assuming it is that, when he barks, if distance is then created (by Tiko moving/being moved away, or Shamas moving/being moved away), then there is the reinforcer.

First thing I would be doing would be to create a visual barrier between the two dogs. You can use tie-wires to attach screening to the fence so that you're not altering the structure.

 

[Shamas mom]

I'll get some of the dark screen meant for porch privacy.

Yes, barking results in distance being created- because my response is to bring him inside.

I've been working on teaching him "break away" which is the command that I use if I catch him staring that way for three seconds or more. He's been doing pretty well with it, if no dog is outside. It's working with the cats next door, which he likes to chase sometimes.

 

[Lisa]

Awesome! It brings to mind people who are so full of fury on the internet, but who are lovely in real life! Just another barrier!

Are they really though? I kinda think that nasty people on the internet are nasty in real life too, if in perhaps more subtle ways.
(Sorry that’s an aside from the thread).

Re:the fence-lunging...the neighbours dogs were horrible for this. Really got wound up, would bark and snarl and bite the fence (basically attacking the fence -chain link) when Simba was out. For the most part Simba would ignore them but I did notice that he was starting to get wound up at bit, too. Then the neighbour moved, thankfully! But wait, new neighbour promptly got two dogs, too!

Thankfully these dogs seem much nicer. One is a pit-bull cross, still a puppy, and seems really sweet. The other is older and more wary but nothing like the nasty fear-aggressive GSD-X that was there before.

Crossing my fingers that it will be a more peaceful summer, fence-wise.