The great barking debate

[MarleyPyr]

So as I was well aware GP's love to bark. I thought from what I read that I would have more success training Marley to only bark for things like - notifying us when someone came on the property etc... Instead he has declared himself neighbourhood watch. I am honestly not THAT bothered by all his vocal efforts however even though we live in the country and the houses are separated by at minimum 3 acres...a couple of the neighbors have made comments. I am a bit worried someone will make a formal complaint. All this to say I have been trying to find out either additional training tips or what the successes are of using a barking collar. Thing is, we have an electric fence and therefore he already wears a second collar on his neck when he is out of the house or the pen. Adding another collar for barking is going to start to make him look like Mr.T! Those logistics aside...has anyone had any issues or successes with handling excessive barking and in regards to collars, has anyone had good experiences with the barking collar that makes a high pitched sound?

Thanks.

[bigdogs@5501]

Pyrs bark, it is what they do. I have used the bark training collars on other breeds but never a Pyrenees. Also 3 acres is enough to buffer the worst of the barking and you do live in the country. We moved into the country so that we could have a little more freedom and that includes the dogs.

I would say to take away the Pyrs ability to bark at will is to take something away from the dog. I currently have 7 adult Pyrs at the house and they free roam about 2 plus fenced acreage. We do have a neighbor that is closer than 3 acres and so far so good- no complaints. My Pyrs bark to alert.
Also in the evenings they go on patrol before coming in for the nite- last nite they set up thier patrol at all 4 corners of the property and then we have one at each entry way to the house- and they barked non stop for about 40 minutes. I finally opened the door and stepped out on the deck and could hear the coyotes. A neighbor said that they moved from our place down to his place once my started announcing that they were on patrol. He is considering adopting a Pyr now.

I just dont see how the neighbors could be that affected 3 acres away but we all know how we cant pick our neighbors most of the time.

Maybe bring him in the house in the early morning or nite time hours and they wont be so distressed.

[People Whisperer]

Pyrs are working dogs and need to guard. To guard means to bark! Taking the bark away is like taking their only job. I wouldn't do it
We live in a townhouse. When Lily goes out of control with her barking I bring her inside. Even with her loud barking in our neighborhood nobody complained so far 

[Amy (guffer)]

Years ago I tried a bark collar on my little terrier mix, and the shock scared the bejeezus out of him.  I felt awful for putting that stupid thing on him!   (We lived in an apartment and he barked at every little sound!)  Now I'm resigned to the fact that you just can't train a little terrier not to bark hysterically at everything!  It's just what they do!  Fortunately, I don't have a barking problem with my pyrs since they don't tend to bark in the house.  They only go outside for walks, supervised playing in the yard, or potty breaks!  If I do happen to have them outside in the evening, they will start to walk the fence line and bark at god knows what.  That's when we bring them in.  So far, no complaints from the neighbors!

[marinafb]

 

I agree with you 100 % Marina

[maxsmom]

Pyrs do bark to alert you to something, anything that they think you might possibly want to know about.  Jake is not a problem, because he only goes out for potty breaks or if I am working in the yard.  Inside, he barks when he feels the need, but as soon as I go investigate and see or hear ,the horrible squirrel in "our" tree, the cat walking accross "our" front yard, the truck pulling into "our" cul-de-sac, the garbage truck picking up "our" trash, he is happy and shuts right up.  He needs to know that I am aware of and okay with whatever he sees or hears.  He is slowly learning that some things are okay and I do not need to know about them.  The mailman was barked at daily, until he seemed to understand that everytime, I said it's okay, so now he doesn't bark at him at all.
Kathy

[kathryn]

I've never used a bark collar but I have been thinking about one.  Shiner barks everytime the wind changes direction while he's outside.  He really likes to multi-task and bark while he's pottying.  I just reduce the amount of time he's actually outside until he calms down.

[Ali]

LOL - barking and pottying! I got a really funny mental picture of that, and was for some reason moved to ask if he gets his foot wet when he does that, or is he able to aim straight and true, and STILL bark? That's mighty impressive! I've had to yell at my kids from the toilet before and, well, it is a skill...

[Little Bit]

I think keepind a journal is a good idea. it will also give you an idea of when your dog barks and if it seems excessive to you.

I am a first time Pry owner and so don't know alot about them. have you talked to your neighbor and explained the breed and what they do? maybe they need a bit of an education?

[GoldenPyrs]

For the first 10 yrs that we had a pyr (Cara) we lived in town in a sub-division.  Cara didn't just bark at cars, people, garbage trucks, etc.  She barked at birds, butterflies, and anything else that (only) she could see, hear or smell.  It was a real challenge for us to keep her comfortable & happy and not be a problem for our neighbors.  We found ways, but it was tough and our neighbors were remarkably patient (in retrospect).  Since then we've lived on acreage, but the barking noise carries so we still work to be considerate and we haven't had any complaints in probably 15 years.  Our fix is to keep the dogs inside most of the time during the day (life's tough snuggled up on the sofa    ) and they only go outside at night for a quick potty break, then right back in.  If they are quiet they can stay outside for a bit during the day, but if they bark we bring them inside quickly.

IMO barking collars & the like just will not work on a Pyr.  They are bred to bark really, it's how they work.  The way that Pyrs guard is mostly by barking to let predators know that they are on duty and thus to avoid having to actually fight (though they certainly will if necessary, they are smart & prefer to prevent it).  We tried & tried to train Cara to bark discriminately (at least in our human opinion) and nothing worked.  This was when Cara was young and my hubby & I both worked outside the home for 8 hrs a day, so Cara had access to the garage & yard while we were at work.  I hate like heck to admit it, but after we received a complaint about her barking from a neighbor, at the advice of the breeder we even got so desperate that we tried a shock collar a couple of times, and I couldn't stand it.  She would still bark though she was shocked, she just looked bewildered and upset.  Needless to say the piece of crap went into a cabinet and never came back out again.  Honestly, I hated that thing with a passion!!!      Back then I don't know that citronella & sound collars existed, at least we didn't see them in any of the stores or dog supply catalogs that I checked.  Still I just don't think that anything will overcome thousands of years of selective breeding to bark.  I absolutely love this breed (and their bark  ) so I've just found ways to adapt my lifestyle to their needs, and the needs of my neighbors.  I just see it as the concession that I make to be able to share my life with my big wooley babies and it's more than worth it for me.    

[mynameislola]

Lucky us, nobody around here cares if dogs bark.  There are a few that bark for hours.  We don't care because our house has such good insulation that we can barely hear our own.

The smallest lots in this area are five acres and the largest are 160.  Sound carries very well in the desert.  The neighbors half a mile away have dogs we can hear if we are outside.

On the topic of those shocking collars...sinc e the dogs have to be trained to make them work, it seems like it would be easier to train the dog without the collar.  The collars I like are the ones with trackers and beepers designed for hunting dogs. One beep means it's OK and Doggie can relax and be quiet.

If we had a Pyr I so would have a tracker on it.  Hubby chose the Newfie over a Pry mostly because of the wandering and barking traits.  I was going to get the Pyr some pygmy goats to keep it busy.

[jerseyboy]

My Border Collie just turned one and HAS BEEN BARKING NON STOP FOR 2 MONTHS.  WE HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING (except getting sheep) AND I AM LOSIING MY MIND WITH THIS BARKING WHENEVER HE IS OUTSIDE OR DOESN'T GET HIS WAY INSIDE.   tODAY HE BARKED OUTSIDE FOR 4 HOURS WITHOUT A BREAK EVEN FOR WATER. THIS BREED IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE A NON STOP BARK THAT VIBRATES THE HOUSE AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD.  WE HAVE TO MUSSLE HIM IN THE AM HOURS AS NOT TO WAKE THE NEIGHBORS.  OUR NEXT STEP IS THE BARK COLLAR...IS THIS THE RIGHT WAY TO BREAK THE BARK?  HELP OR WE WILL BE SENDING JERSEY BOY BACK TI NJ!

[maxsmom]

Jersey boy.  Have you tried walking or jogging with him to tire him out?  Maybe he is just bored.  Some herding dogs especially have so much pent up energy that they will resort to barking, destructive behaviour and just plain acting out due to nothing but frustration.  Maybe more exercise or long training sessions or even just good games of fetch.  Anything to give the dog a purpose and something to look forward to.  This is one reason I don't have high energy dogs.  Mine are basically movable rugs.
Kathy

[CalistogaPyr]

Ah, the great bark debate.  We never really worried about Bo's bark until we moved to our new house.  From birth until 2, she lived with us on a 27 acre ranch with two other Pyrs, so barking was totally normal and accepted.  Then we moved to a new neighborhood (1/2 acre, not all fenced) with lots of dogs, but one NASTY neighbor.  My second day in the house, he came over to me and began to scream at me about "my damn dog" etc.  Needless to say, it FREAKED me out becuase I had never had anyone complain about her barking before.  Since Bo barks at pretty much ANYTHING (mouse farts, the wind, the voices in her head...), after much consideration (and citronella collars, sonic collars, etc-none of which worked), we finally decided to keep her inside during the day with access to teh garage for potty breaks.  No more complaints, but it was hard for us to adjust to not giving her free reign over the yard/house.  I think she's fine with sleeping on the couch all day, though!!  To add to the mix, Floyd is part border collie and if he doesn't get walked every other day (miles, mind you), he barks AT me non stop.  If that doesn't work, he starts to jump on me and "hound" me until I break down and walk him!!  Ah, the kids! =)
Jenn, Bo & Floyd in California

[chookie]

Just joined this site and saw you're dilema about barking.

I have a Sheltie  and Boerboels who barked at any thing and everything. we live in the country with lots of squirrels and deer. Problem with citronella collars is they get used to the scent. My Boerboel was also a barker and the collar worked for a week and then nothing. I tried EVERTHING! Spent Hundreds and finally the only collar that works are the Yapper stopper from Cabellas. There is one for dogs with long hair because it has longer prongs. I know the thought of them getting "shocked" sounds barberic but how many of us have invisible fencing and have had to train our dogs to that and they had that initial "shock". Cabellas guarantees their collars. I tell you I was at whits end with my barkers and cant tell you what blessed quiet it is. I even spent the extra to have them send it two day express. Good luck