barking at certain noises.

[Susan Brown]

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Hi
Have a 5 month old border collie puppy who barks at certain noises- coughing /sneezing even when i stir my tea or get cutlery out of the draw- she starts to bark/jump up and down and scratch- sh e will go to one specific area in the house- if i block this area off she will start on living carpet- i originally thought this was due to having a house rabbit- but they were kept apart and i moved my rabbit upstairs - behaviour has been like this preety much since bringing her home 9 weeks ago.
have tried different commands- removing her to cage/ myself leaving the room but nothing seems to work. attending training classess but trainer can not offer a solution.have spoken to my vet who feels this is a behavior problem and i should consider referal to behavioarist but there is a cost of approx £350 just for consultation h am at a loss as what to do as i carnt keep stirring my tea with a plastic spoon !!
hOPING THAT THERE ARE DOG OWNWERS ON THIS SITE THAT CAN ADVISE.

 

[JudyN]

I have some thoughts, but I wonder if she could be generally understimulated? How much training/exercise/play does she get? Do you give her plenty to keep her mentally active? Border collie brains need to have something to work on and if it's not provided, they'll invent their own 'quirks', which can become obsessive.

Does she seem stressed by these noises, or is it more like 'this is when I bark'?

 

[Susan Brown]

Hi Judy
Thanks for reply- she does appear to be stressed -bark is very high pitch- as for stimulation- walk twice daily anywhere between 3-4 hrs a day- gets plenty of play time - tug of way /throwing etc -have recently retired and live on my own so she gets lots of attention- getting quite concerned as you stated can become obsessive which is what i am concerned about-

 

[Biker John]

Susan Brown, I would add to JudyN's comment. Border Collies love to work, this could be anything but please train her, physical exercise though essential will not exercise her brain and Collies need to use their brain.

 

[JudyN]

Yes, I'd find her a 'job' - or rather several. You could take her to training classes, or think about agility. She's too young for agility, but you could teach her some of the skills that don't involve jumping. Teach her to put her toys away, play hide and seek... teach her to bring you 'accidentally' dropped hankies, empty the washing machine for you, teach her the names of her toys so you can say 'Find duck' and she'll bring you her duck... There will be loads of info online, and other members might have suggestions.

As for the behavours you're worried about, I'm wondering whether you can teach her some positive associations to these sounds. e.g. stir your teacup and immediately throw a treat next to her... repeat, repeat, repeat. Do this even if she barks - you're not 'rewarding' her for being 'good', you're building a positive association. You could probably practise with very quiet fake sneezes doing the same, gradually building up to proper sneezes. While she's learning, you don't want her stress levels to build up so do use plastic spoons for now when not actively training. I'm not an expert though, so hopefully someone will say if they don't think this is a good approach or they know a better one!

 

[Dibbythedog]

She might be sound sensitive.

 

[Janer]

They are very clever dogs and learn exceptionally quickly, their brains need to be kept occupied otherwise they will find things to do themselves and will train you if they can lol. I had a border collie crossed with a spaniel, oh the madness of that cross! Best dog ever but so clever, had us all trained to do his bidding so all I can offer is ‘good luck’ and look forward to the fun times ahead. A sense of humour is a must with these dogs plus a strong sense of what it is you really want them to do and sticking with it. X

 

[Stark1951]

My dog is naturally loud and barks at some noises (to alert me but sometimes just out of excitement). What works is to reassure him that everything is OK. I use a really calming tone of voice, and say "It's all right, there's nothing there" and he stops barking. I should say that it took me several years to work this out, but he is my first dog and is a Norwegian Elkhound (known for barking and being stubborn!) I found a very good little book by a Norwegian behaviourist - Turid Rugaas "Barking: The Sound of a Language". This helped me enormously to understand what was going on in his head. She's also written a book called "Calming Signals" which is great (both books are tiny but give a lot of good advice). I bet your collie will catch on a lot quicker than my dog did!