Winning

Atemas

Atemas

UK Tour Guide
Location
North Cambridgeshire
Some of you may remember me putting something on the forum about Red barking at the behind us neighbour’s dogs when they do their blood curdling growls right up by the fence. Well this has been a work in progress all summer and it’s not completely sorted but we are definitely winning. We have had all the doors open a lot this summer and both dogs have had a lot of access to the garden. We never know when these two dogs are going to be out in their garden but often I hear the low pitched snarls before our dogs do. If we hear it we can deal with it quickly by speaking quietly to Red, then rewarding her for ignoring it. Sometimes she has been out in the garden, heard them and actually stopped herself reacting. I love seeing her do this as her self control just gets better and better. The blood curdling snarls and growls coming from the other side of the fence are horrible and the woman does nothing to stop them. They even affect Sky who often goes to the fence but of course she never barks. Sometimes, Red just can’t help herself and rushs over to the fence barking furiously. We just stop whatever we are doing and go over, talk quietly to her and gently lead her away. Sometimes she just comes herself. Needless to say we reward her and keep a pot of fishy treats to hand.

This morning, the growls have been happening. I have watched Red trying hard to ignore it but eventually she couldn’t contain herself any longer and went flying over to the fence. I went to her and she quickly followed me, looking up with me and an expression on her face saying ‘sorry couldn’t help it’.

Anyway, good progress being made and we will continue for as long as we need to
 
F

FayRose

Location
Close to Devon/Somerset border
That's good going and well done Red, bless her. We've got no idea what those dogs might be saying to her with their spiteful growls, its is asking a lot to ignore them.
Red and Sky have certainly got more self control than Molly, but we're working on that too.
We're lucky we don't have anything like that to cope with, not sure how I'd manage.
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
Wonderful to hear, Alison. Your commitment and kindness is paying off. I, too, love seeing the dogs stop themselves when they're about to do something. It's a real sign of their wheels turning and the lessons being learned. And when you are using a reinforcer to build an alternative behaviour rather than a punisher to suppress the behaviour you don't like, you can see that real sense of pride at themselves. :)
 
Shaz82

Shaz82

Location
Essex, U.K.
Atemas said:
Interesting just now. Both dogs relaxing in garden, snarling noise from behind back fence. Both dogs leap up. Red stands and looks for me and walks towards me. Sky peg legs it over to the fence at a rate of knots!!! I’ve noticed it’s getting to her now. I just say ‘come away’
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Red sounds very controlled, I'm getting quite conscious about how 'un-trained' Maisy is in comparison - furiously trying to brush up on good behaviour for next week. And poor Sky - it's true, the older you get the lower your tolerance threshold, I say that from experience. :rofl:
 
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