stmartinfan
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I didn't want to hijack the thread about dog breeds, so decided to start a new topic. I'm hoping some of the posters on that thread that sounded very knowledgable about breed characteristics and training can help with my question.
We've got a rescue mixed breed - combination Westie and Schnauzer, we think based on the physical appearance and probably about 2 years old, based on energy level. He was abandoned and ran for several months before being rescued and placed with a foster home for 3 months before coming to us. He was completely housebroken and came when he was called. We took him to a basic obedience class at the pet store and he successfully learned the routine commands, like sit, stay, leaving a treat until given permission, etc. He's pretty "needy" in terms of being very attached to me, wanting to sit touching me, following me around the house and getting into a bit of a panic when he doesn't now where I am. But he can be trained, because he's learned that he has to stay on a small blanket placed at the foot of our bed and cannot sleep where he wants - with this nose in my face!
The behavior that's annoying is his furious barking whenever someone rings our doorbell or even walks past our yard when he's outside. I think some of this is the terrier in him, but I'm trying to figure out how to deal with it. When the doorbell rings, he throws himself at the door (it's partial glass, so he can see the shape outside), and barks continuously until the person comes inside, and then will finally calm down if the person invites him to approach and make contact. When he's outside and not on a leash, he will rush at the person walking by and bark furiously. Again, he'll calm down when he makes contact with them, but it's pretty intimidating to a poor neighbor walking by! I don't let him out by himself now and he will come back when called but he's still barking like crazy.
When we're not home, I don't mind his barking at the doorbell, because he sounds fierce, but I'd rather he not throw himself at the door. When we're home, I'd be OK with him barking but then stopping on command and greeting the person calmly.
I've seen the dog whisperer programs, and it looks like they start by finding the "place" for the dog to go and teaching a command with treats to go to that place, and then moving on to doing it on command when the door bell rings. But I'm not sure how to get rid of the barking part. For the outside walkers, again, I'm not sure because it's somewhat instinctual to protect his turf from outsiders?
I am willing to take him back to the second training class, which covers more advanced behaviors if that would be a better way to teach this.
Thanks for any insight from dog experts!
We've got a rescue mixed breed - combination Westie and Schnauzer, we think based on the physical appearance and probably about 2 years old, based on energy level. He was abandoned and ran for several months before being rescued and placed with a foster home for 3 months before coming to us. He was completely housebroken and came when he was called. We took him to a basic obedience class at the pet store and he successfully learned the routine commands, like sit, stay, leaving a treat until given permission, etc. He's pretty "needy" in terms of being very attached to me, wanting to sit touching me, following me around the house and getting into a bit of a panic when he doesn't now where I am. But he can be trained, because he's learned that he has to stay on a small blanket placed at the foot of our bed and cannot sleep where he wants - with this nose in my face!
The behavior that's annoying is his furious barking whenever someone rings our doorbell or even walks past our yard when he's outside. I think some of this is the terrier in him, but I'm trying to figure out how to deal with it. When the doorbell rings, he throws himself at the door (it's partial glass, so he can see the shape outside), and barks continuously until the person comes inside, and then will finally calm down if the person invites him to approach and make contact. When he's outside and not on a leash, he will rush at the person walking by and bark furiously. Again, he'll calm down when he makes contact with them, but it's pretty intimidating to a poor neighbor walking by! I don't let him out by himself now and he will come back when called but he's still barking like crazy.
When we're not home, I don't mind his barking at the doorbell, because he sounds fierce, but I'd rather he not throw himself at the door. When we're home, I'd be OK with him barking but then stopping on command and greeting the person calmly.
I've seen the dog whisperer programs, and it looks like they start by finding the "place" for the dog to go and teaching a command with treats to go to that place, and then moving on to doing it on command when the door bell rings. But I'm not sure how to get rid of the barking part. For the outside walkers, again, I'm not sure because it's somewhat instinctual to protect his turf from outsiders?
I am willing to take him back to the second training class, which covers more advanced behaviors if that would be a better way to teach this.
Thanks for any insight from dog experts!
