Barking & Self Harming

[chubbypup]

Our 7 month old male has a barking problem which i think i have commented on in another post, but the problem seems to be getting worse. He is reasonably quiet inside the house and also when he is on walks. However, let him out into the rear garden and he goes wild, non-stop barking, even when sternly reprimanded and also he now is launching himself, in an act of rear garden acrobatics, against the fence on either side of the garden. It is annoying the neighbours and also concerning me that he could damage himsef....not to mention my fence!!! Any advice please?????

[kayharley]

Hmmm....is there somethng on the other side of the fence that causes this behavior? My Madison will do the same thing when our neighbor lets out his bulldog to do business. No matter how much I call her or try to catch her, she runs up and down the length of the fence barking like there's no tomorrow. Now I just let her go at if for a minute or two and then when I call her again and shake the "cookie" bag, she comes running.

I've used the "water bottle" spray also when their in close proximity to me...doesn't work when they're out or reach however. Barking and Cairns seem to go together

[bradl]

It sure sounds like there may be a cat or dog on the far side of that fence. Possibly a squirrel? Our backyard shares fencelines with four other houses, and there is at least one dog in every back yard except one (it has cats). Dogs commonly 'fence fight.' It sometimes can be reduced if the dogs have a chance to meet safely on neutral ground (say on the sidewalk, on a walk) and are no longer strangers. Ours will also bark at the neighbors until the neighbor says "Hi!" and then the dog is happy. Cairns hate to be ignored.

Sometimes the frenzy is not so much 'fighting' as it is frustration that "Hey, there's a dog over here and I can't reach him!" Sometimes it's territoriality and perimeter guarding. Until you train it away, or if you can't or don't want to, the simplest thing to do -- this is true with most undesirable behaviors -- is to simply not allow it by removing the possibility of it happening. If one of ours decides that it's time for some noisy fence running and a single "knock it off!" doesn't stop it, I just calmly walk out, pick her/him up, and put her back in the house. If you can't catch your dog to take him back in, only let him out on leash so you can easily remove him from his game.