My LGD... barking TOO much!?

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

My pup Diego is almost 6 months old now and a WONDERFUL lgd... however, these past 4 nights he is barking NON-STOP, all night long. I mean completely non-stop. I could never have believed a dog could bark so much. I have absolutely NO problems with barking dogs as I know they are just doing their job, but this is beyond ridiculous. We go out every hour and scout around with guns and flashlights, but don't see anything. I did hear a small animal in the bushes, (skunk?) a couple nights ago, so we took the weed whacker up and started clearing around there hoping to get them to move on. BUT it didn't help. Last night he still barked ALL night. We tried putting him in the barn where he slept when he was a pup but he went ballistic and barked even MORE so we had to let him out. We tried letting him out of his pasture but he still just runs around the perimeter and barks. it's only been the last 4 nights, but we're not sleeping and now I'm at a loss as to what to do. I know we have coyotes, but they usually cause more of an off and on type barking, as they come up to the perimeter and then move on... not the constant non-stop kind of barking. I don't mind the warning barks to chase stuff off, but this is so much beyond that. I don't want to correct him, as I know that's what they are supposed to be doing, but I don't know what to do! I'm going to weed whack more today and clear more area in case it's the little animals that's getting him barking. And he is next to my big "seasoned" dog that only barks sometimes so I was hoping he would pick up on what Dakota was doing, but so far doesn't seem to be working. Help?

 

[Southern by choice]

This is a normal stage... he is a pup that has found his voice.
This will continue for awhile. :/ Grin and bare it.
When he is about 9 months you will better be able to work with the incessant barking and bring correction. For now he is just growing into his role. Also this is a very critical stage of development... he is developing his confidence, how you handle this is important. Too many people interrupt this stage and often destroy the confidence and create a skitzoid unstable dog. They start screaming at the dog, locking them up, creating punishments etc. - some go so far as shock collars.

Around 9 months of age you can put him close to the house...dry lot area or something similar. You sleep by the door, everytime their is nonsense barking, you get up, open the door, scold the dog. By scold it is simply "quiet", after a few of those, it is "bad dog" "quiet". Of course you need to be able to tell the difference between nonsense barking and real barking.

 

[babsbag]

I am sorry you having to go through this. I will say that his dam never went through this stage, his sire did. Buddy barked at everything, even the wind, and when he got started there was no quieting him. My neighbor wanted to put a bark collar on him, and of course I said no. I wanted to put the collar on the neighbor. It is a tough time, I finally turned on a fan for background noise and told the neighbor to do the same. I would check on him frequenly and make sure there was nothing really wrong, and would tell him it was ok, but I don't think it helped him much, just me.

Buddy does bark more than Sigume, even now, but not like he did when he was a pup. I almost got divorced becasue of him. Thank goodness he has mellowed.

Background noise, and ear plugs.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

WMR, it is frustrating and I think most of us can understand your frustration. Hopefully this phase will pass soon. One of our LGD's doesn't bark unless there is something to bark at. The other one is an occassional nussance barker and it drives the farmer crazy.

I can drown out, "woof, woof...woof...woof, woof". But I have a hard time drowning out, "woof, woof...woof" "Wisdom! Stop!" Woof, woof...woof" "Wisdom! Stop!" See where I'm going with this?

I hope that this passes soon for you so that you can get some sleep.

 

[Southern by choice]

LGD owners do need to understand and be considerate of their neighbors. LGD's can be trained to stop the nuisance barking. It is just like anything else. It takes work from the human handler.

Same goes for training with poultry, chasing or any other unacceptable behavior.

Most of the time when an LGD owner says "been there tried that" they mean they did it once or twice, or spent a weekend doing correction. IT TAKES DILIGENCE. Until the animal gets it. Consistency is always the key. You are dealing with stubborn hardheaded too smart for their own good dogs!

Often times human handlers do not have the time... they work full time jobs etc. they can still work with the dog, but it still needs to happen daily. You will get out of it whatever you put into it.

The idea that LGD's are just suppose to bark has been widely accepted in the LGD world.... most do not know this would have been a cull dog. Incessant barking was never a good quality and was an undesirable trait. Somehow over the years this serious fault has become the accepted. Not only does it drive the owners batty but really pi**es off the neighbors... that are a mile away! On large land masses with high intensity predator levels... ie. large packs, it allows the coyotes, wolves to organize... they know where the LGD is and will organize a hunt depending on where the dogs are. There is often a bait dog to bring in the LGD away from the herd/flock as those LGD's end up baited, the pack destroys the herd/flock. Barking is a deterrent, incessant useless barking should never be accepted.

Barking is part of the job and "toddler" dogs (young developing dogs) are discovering what their bark is for and how to use it. When you are still up and in the evening hours and it starts up, you can simply tell your LGD, "good boy"... after a few more barks.... "ok, that's enough" ENOUGH should be part of your vocabulary of commands.


Just something for LGD owners to chew on.

 

[MDres]

Am I crazy to believe that I have trained my LGD when to be "off duty"? Seriously.

If I needed her services 24/7, I wouldn't do this, but... at my current property, all I have that truly needs her protection is my chickens. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE her ability to alert me to a strange vehicle on the road, or stray dog, wildlife, etc. But, at night, the chickens are locked up in Fort Knox, so I really don't need her services. Of course, she still offered them, like any good LGD.

What I found out, thru complete accident, is that she pretty much considers being put in the barn as being "off duty". She barks 99% less. And IF she barks, I can guarantee that it is something I need to go out and check on. Like a predator killing the neighbor's sheep - she alerted us to that - but I didn't know that's what she was pitching a fit about until they told us the next morning.

Her entire demeanor changes when I put her in the barn. She totally relaxes and is visibly not "on alert" like when she is outside. The barn has an alley with stalls on both sides, so I installed a cable runner up below the rafters. She can run the length of the barn, and get about 10' out the ends, but that is it. I keep all the stall doors open for ventilation, they just have web gaurds on them. So there is plenty of air moving thru with scents on it, and she can hear noises outside. She either reacts less, or we just hear her less....

We originally put her in there in hopes of muffling her bark a bit. Actually, she was in the horsetrailer first, until I moved some chicks in there and kicked her out into the barn. My husband currently works 12-hr shifts, and is gone a total of 15 hrs a day when you include his commute to DC and shift change duties. When he gets home, he NEEDS to sleep. He can't be kept up by her barking. So we tried this as a solution, and it worked.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Once again...great information Southern! I'm gonna see if that works on the farmer too!!!

 

[Southern by choice]

Once again...great information Southern! I'm gonna see if that works on the farmer too!!!

Sadly... doesn't work on our Dh's. I'm convinced they may just need shock collars!

@ MDers- I am glad you worked your situation out... and the dog is adaptable.

For most of us our dogs are sort of "off duty" in the daytime, they are nocturnal animals and that of course is when our goats and sheep are at their most vulnerable. We lock nothing up here. My poultry, if they choose to go in, does have a door that closes but our turkeys, ducks, geese, and various broodies are all through out the woods. If I had to lock everything up I wouldn't have an LGD. LOL
Awesome that you trained and worked with your LGD for poultry!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Well good to know it's just a phase, and good to know my instincts were right not to correct. He is definitely nocturnal, sleeps all day, lol.

I hope he picks up from Dakota when to bark and when not too, my boyfriend and myself don't care necessarily that he is being extra barky, but my farm partner is an older lady and the constant barking is keeping her up too, she doesn't mind the warning barks, in fact she helped us buy our newest LGD, but I feel bad that she can't sleep!

 

[JoePa]

Boy I'm glad that I don't live near you people and your barking dogs - I hate to say it but letting your dog bark all night is very inconsiderate - to say the least - how would you like it if I shoot off a cannon every few minutes - whenever I do something I always consider how I am affecting my neighbors - that's the way it should be - just because its some kind of guard dog is no excuse - no wonder a lot of people can't get along -