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excessive barking since new baby's arrival, please help!


aimee

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Hi everyone, I would really appreciate some advice regarding my dog Ralphy, (an 8 month old cairn) and his progressively worsening behaviour. I'll just set the scene, i'm a first time cairn owner. We have had him for 5 months. During his first three months with us, I have been at home full time, only leaving him for a few hours a day max. We did everything together, he was getting at least two walks a day and he always came out in the car with me for outings. I felt we had a good bond, my partner would comment that Ralph would only listen to me for commands and would follow me around. He did have behaviours we were working on such as jumping up on people and he would also bark at us sometimes, but I felt these were manageable. We had also taken him to a five week puppy course. Seven weeks ago we had our first baby. Since then, Ralph's barking has got progressively worse. He gets even more walks now, so it's not through lack of exercise. My partner has a few play sessions with him where he throws a ball or other toy with him. Every evening Ralph starts barking at us. It's constant. When this happens we have tried ignoring him, tried playing with him, tried putting him outside, but nothing works. Prior to the baby, he never chewed our clothes off the laundry airer because we had taught him the command "leave". We thought it was safe to leave clothes to dry there now. But recently he has grabbed the baby's stuff off the airer and will chew it to smithereens if given the chance. Both my partner and I don't really feel the love from him anymore. He smothers guests with affection, but now with me the only time we interact is when he is barking at me and I'm trying hopelessly to get him to stop. My previous dog was a jack Russell (Jack), he did bark but never AT me. Jack also made me feel like I was his world, would snuggle up on the couch with me, wouldn't be bothered about visitors and other dogs whereas with Ralph I feel like he wouldn't think twice if he never saw me again and would happily take off with anyone he met in the park. Ralph gets 2 good meals a day, 2-3 walks, has lots of toys, has play sessions and cuddles yet still barks at us. He gets just as much attention as before the baby, except perhaps more from my partner now that I am often feeding the baby. Is this just cairn nature, will he settle down once he's older? What am I doing wrong?  Please help! 

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I suspect you are experiencing the infamous Cairn independence routine--that "I'll do it my way!" bit that we all see traces or oodles of with our dogs. 
Don't overthink what the barking and the direction/object of the barking seems to imply--we err when we ascribe human behaviors, i.e. "He doesn't like me anymore!  He's jealous!"  etc. to the dog.  Dogs are dogs and think in dog ways and are rarely subject to psycho-emotional manipulation of humans--they do "stuff" because they can and cause they get away with it.
In order to cure unwanted barking you have to decrease the distance between you and the barker--I have suggested tossing something at the dog, in my case a ball cap, which is handy, at the dog the instant it barks, even once.  I want to distract the dog from whatever is causing the barking to my demands so the tossed cap is accompanied with a "NO BARK!" command.  I intend to scare the dog without hurting it and a ball cap hurled in their direction does that--it gets their attention.
Does that cure all unwanted barking?  No it doesn't, we get the occasional, startling, bark at seemingly nothing and when anyone comes to the door it absolute mayhem but we sure have cured most of the noise in our dogs.  You have to be absolutely rigorous if you intend to stop the barking--every utterance, no matter how small has to be relentlessly corrected.  A command, a tossed object, a chase, some absolute signal to the dog that its behavior, at that moment, is unacceptable.  Eventually you little guy will figure it out--"Oh, I get it, when I bark, they get mad, they throw things, they stamp their feet, they shout and call me names, that scares me--guess I better not bark!"
With Cairns you have to adopt the attitude, "I am human, I am smarter, more stubborn, more dedicated, bigger, and stronger than that damned dog!" and then live by those credos until both you and the Cairn come to a whole host of mutual understandings.  Then things become wonderful.

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31 minutes ago, Idaho Cairns said:

"I am human, I am smarter, more stubborn, more dedicated, bigger, and stronger than that damned dog!"

Words to live by :lol: And as the saying goes, even if not exactly true at the moment, "fake it until you make it" :) 

Idaho touches on another point that is interesting about dogs doing what they want because they can. Barking is what is called a "self-reinforcing" behavior. It feels good to do it (regardless of the original reason) so eventually they may do it *in order to feel good.* 

It sounds like you are already trying distraction techniques but sometimes it can take a bit of experimenting to find something to do with them that is incompatible with barking. With our dogs we eventually discovered that putting them in a sit (giving them an obedience "job" to do) would quiet them. Eventually they discovered they could both sit AND bark. But putting them in a down-stay seemed incompatible with barking. So rather than trying to shut them up directly, we had a command we could use to give them something else to do that was incompatible with barking. (Same thing works for jumping up on people, etc.).

Finally, probably not helpful, but I"d like to give that little guy a skritch — Ralph is a cutie! I'll assume the new baby is too :P 

 

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I entirely forgot to take in consideration that you have a new baby in the house and that my advice to shout out a "NO BARK!" command might have negative consequences for the babe's need for a peaceful rest.  So, in your case, I suggest coming up with some sort of hideous "HISS!" that will probably do the job as well.  Cairns have good ears and will pick up on a firm, sinister, hiss just as quickly.  After all, quiet is what we are after.

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Ralphy is an adorable cairn. He is just at the age when many cairns really start wanting to be in charge.

Many, many dogs - not only cairns - get their noses put out of joint when a baby arrives. I don't know that it is actual jealousy as we humans think of it but things are different.They know very well they are not number one in your life any more. Chewing, barking etc get your attention and that is what they want.

Barking is normaL for a cairn whether a new baby or not. With my Angus I used to say no bark and actually put him by himself foe a few minutes.

Patience and persistence is the key. It is difficult with all the demands of a new baby but it must be done. Same with chewing clothes or any thing else.Say leave it and remove him. Regarding the chewing etc I found it best to keep as much as possible out of reach of a young cairn. My house when pups (of any breed) were young was amazingly tidy!

As an aside perhaps you did not have a baby when Jack lived with you. He was always number one maybe?

If you  keep working with Ralph he will grow to be one of the best little buddies a family could have. It will take time, patience and a sense of humor.

Very best wishes to all of you.

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It is such a good thing that Cairns and Babies are so cute......😜

 

I agree with the above.... With Cairns and Babies keep patient, and a sense of humor, and keep telling yourself how cute they are even when they are being naughty. This to shall pass. 

Congrats on the cute Cairn and I'm sure cute Baby. Enjoy them both. The Cairn is going to love that Baby.

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Thank you all for the replies! It's so great to hear from other cairn owners. And thanks for your kind words about Ralph. Idaho, you're so right, I must try not to attribute his actions to a human emotion! I definately think he has realised how much he enjoys barking. He will just run around outside barking, not even at anything in particular. When we first got him he NEVER barked. We marvelled at our wee pup who would play outside in silence while the Next door neighbours dog was losing it!  Which made me think we have done something unknowingly to encourage this behaviour. I honesty thought cairns weren't big barkers, when we went to the breeders place, ALL the cairns he had there didn't bark!!! He obviously knows the tricks of the trade! 

A few days ago, I started implementing some of your suggestions. Ive also started including him more throughout the day. Since the baby's arrived I've tended to shut Ralph out of the nursery when we are in there. This tends to be when he becomes destructive with stuff around the house. Since leaving the nursery door open Ralphy will come in and lie down while I'm feeding William our son. He went to chew the baby's sheepskin but i instructed him to "LEAVE"! He trotted off, and bought back his own sheepskin, bless. Success! I'm also trying to pay him more attention during the day like I used to. Giving him a Cuddle when I get him out of his crate in the morning, talk to him, just include him in the day. I realised I had probably been shutting him out and he wasn't enjoying it. His barking has been no where near as bad for the last few nights.  

 I totally agree and need to remind myself that Patience is the key. I should also focus on how far we have come since he came home with us 7 months ago. I got Jack in 1995, so very easy to look back with rose tinted glasses. He was after all a Jack Russell, Perhaps I have forgotten how he terrorised our household as a pup! 

Also, Idaho you mention the independent cairn nature. I have TOTALLY noticed this. I open the door to get him inside, Ralph pauses and THEN comes in. It's like he's saying, yes I'll come, but I'll do it in my own time. So funny! He also will lay down suddenly on the grass while on leash during walks. He will lay down and pull back until I stop, have a sniff, then we can carry on. Makes me laugh. 

 

 

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Fabulous post aimee. Little Ralph is going to be just fine. He feels he is part of the family again. That's what he was asking for. He and William will be best buds growing up together with you as their mom. Cultivate patience and keep that sense of humor you already have.You will need it for both boys! And both boys will give back so much and make your life so rich.:)

 

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5 hours ago, aimee said:

Since the baby's arrived I've tended to shut Ralph out of the nursery when we are in there. This tends to be when he becomes destructive with stuff around the house. Since leaving the nursery door open Ralphy will come in and lie down while I'm feeding William our son.

Good for you, aimee! You seem to have solved the problem of the nursery door by leaving it open. I guess you've discovered, just like the rest of us, that most cairns, (as well as most dogs) hate closed doors! If there are still times you want to exclude him from the room, a baby gate might work for you. When denied access, dogs tend to remain calm as long as they are able to see into the room.

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FEAR THE CAIRN!

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Sounds like you're making great progress!  Oh yes, Cairns want to be included in everything and hate being shut out/restricted/shunned.  It also seems that they are particularly attentive/protective toward babies.  Our Cairn Buffy always appeared to detest children until we had a granddaughter.  I think she sensed that *this* child was very, very important and is extremely attentive toward her.

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