Our puppy is about 2 months old. She has discovered her bark and will NOT shut up! We are trying to crate train her but OMG she barks all the time. Today it is all she has done. I put her on the back porch because i got tired of it. Our poor neighbors. We have the windows open for some air finally. First day the air conditioners have been off all day in over a month. I even had my girls take her outside to run around. It is raining now so that is not an option. Any tricks I can use?
She is a Rott-Australian Cattle Dog mix. Her mom and brothers/sisters were stolen at 5 weeks old so she did "leave" mom early. The only reason she was left is she was found hiding under a desk. We were supposed to get one of her brothers later this month when they were just over 2 months old. We took her since the others were stolen and we have someone home all the time with my husband unemployed and the kids home for school. Just this past week or so she has picked up the barking and today is just out of this world! We are also dealing with her biting and going after my 3 yr old--who does tend to bug her the most. I get to train both at once, trying to get my 3 yr old to leave her alone and be nice. It has stopped raining so she is outside hopefully burning off some energy to go to sleep.
I thought I would start by saying that we have no intention of getting rid of her. I know that with good training--and a lot of it because she is a herding/work dog, that we can be very successful. A Rott itself can be an awesome family dog. A neighbor/friend of my brother has a cattle dog and he is also a fantastic family pet. But he also told me to make sure we got a good training program going. We do not want a lap dog or a dog that will be content to jsut sit and wait for that daily walk. We have active kids and want one that would fit in--maybe even get our kids busier. She does not have shots yet because she is too young and we have been advised to keep her away from other dogs until she does have the basics, another month. I do know puppies nip and such. Her bark in the house is so much different from her bark outside when we are playing with her. We have a double lot so lots of room for her to run and play plus one of my girls loves to run and wants to be a runner so as she gets older, a great match there. And yes I know there are perceptions of dog types but i really believe it has a lot to do with ownership as well. Good training is the key but the prgrams in my area require 6 months of age. The trainer at the pet store told me that we want to be consistent, just like we do with our children of course, and definitely start getting her used to a leash, collar, commands, etc. We crate her because she pees EVERYWHERE. We have a small home for now and the kitchen is the only place to put her. This will change in the next couple of months.
2 months is usually around the time that puppies will even be removed from their mothers (6-8 weeks of age). So it's REALLY pretty young to be trying to do TOO much, but Red has made about as much of a suggestion as is probably good to do at this point. If the behavior continues, you could try a bark collar at an older age (6 mo or so) if that's something you're okay with.
Stop is what I say to my dog. I've always trained my dogs not to bark except when someone comes to the door or it seems like a dangerous situation.
Lots of petting and talking makes for a less nervous dog.
I have never crated a dog. It's a method that didn't exist when I began having a dog of my own. And, I love my own freedom too much to ever cage an animal. My dog sleeps in his bed at night in the LR. When he was young we had a wrap around porch and he slept there winter and summer.
couple of things are jumping out at me: your puppy was traumatically removed from her family. She needs a calming family life. The fact that at 2 months of age....she is already biting & barking - could mean a variety of things.
1st of all: puppies bite! They nibble, they scratch, they leave marks. That's part of puppyhood. The difference between puppyhood & an aggressive dog is all in the attitude & demeanor. Watch her carefully to determine what is driving her...whether it is aggression or simply part of being a pup.
#2: look at her breed! This mix requires lots of room to run, has a "job" hardwired into her brain. Herders are meant to run, to nip/bite, & to bark to get their job done. You will have to be very dedicated in teaching her that it is unacceptable to do this to humans. You also have to consider the Rott in her.....& that's a whole different story!
(& mamas, I don't want to get into a bad breed thing. Lots of stories good/bad out there about Rotts. If I had to choose, I would not pick a Rott mix....but thru a fluke, ended up with one! We adopted a pup from the Old English Sheepdog Rescue Unit. We were told 1/2 OES & 1/2 mix...probably terrier. Nope, we found out 3 years later -thru DNA testing- that the mother was 1/2 OES & 1/2 Rott, the father was 1/2 pit bull terrier & the rest a mix of several breeds. It is amazing how this almost changed our opinion of our dog! We had to work hard at not labeling him, but after living with him for 3 years....it did explain a lot! Would I choose this breed mix agaiin? Probably not. The need to run, bite/nip, herd us ....is sooo strong that we have to work with him daily.)
#3: crating a dog, especially a pup who's already been traumatized in her short life, serves no purpose. Crating, if done right, provides security & peace for puppies. That's obviously not happening & your dog is telling you that her life is wrong.
#4: your 3yo is part of the problem, & I'm so thankful that you are aware of the need to train your child too! Makes your job harder....
#5: daily, multiple times each day...whether it's raining or not......that puppy needs to be outside. When she is outside, she needs to be actively played with & worked with....a little bit of freedom thrown in......& she'll be a happier dog.
#6: our vet recommended that we "dominate" our pup. He taught us that whenever we see defiance/not listening to "flip" the dog. He told me to pick up the puppy, flip him back into my arm (like a baby) on his back, & to put my other hand on his chest - right under the mouth/neck. If a dog allows you to do this, then you are dominate. If the dog fights you, then you need to soothe/subdue it until the dog cooperates. What's interesting is that because we did not neuter our labradoodle, the vet told us to do this regularly! Since he weighs 80lbs, we sit on the floor to do it....& it works. In fact, it's amazing how much it does work. When CoCoa is getting way too independent, it only takes one round & he's back to listening. The best part is that it's fairly nonverbal, it's soothing to the dog....& all craziness is gone! Not much different from the Dog Whisperer!
Honest, honest opinion here: I think the timing is off for your family, I think your 3yo needs to be older before becoming a pet owner, & I do believe the breed/mix is not right for you. What might help is....every time the pup starts her barking, take her outside & wear her out! Her breed mix requires a lot of dedication on your part....that's the only way she'll learn - thru human interaction, not the crate as discipline.
I think you really need to ask yourself if this is going to be the right breed for your family. This dog is a working breed mix. Meaning that the cattle dog part of it wants a job. These dogs were bred to go out in a field with a farmer and run after livestock for 8-10 hours a day. This dog needs exercise lots of exercise like at least 2 hours a day. Are you really going to have the time to give this dog what it needs. The rottweiler part of the dog is a powerful dominate breed ( I have 4 pit bulls so I'm not stereotyping based on breed) however with the mix of the two if you don't work out the cattle dog part the rottweiler part could become aggressive due to pent up frustration. I have raised all 4 of our pits from puppies and exercise is the key. If you read anything about dog psychology just running around your yard is not enough. That might be a little physically stimulating but it's boring for a dog. They need to move in a linear fashion and smell things, see things etc. This is walking on a leash with you outside of your yard. If you are not willing to do this for the dog EVERY DAY!!!!! Not when you feel like it not when you have time EVERY DAY!!! This is not the dog for you and you need to get rid of it now before it develops behavior problems that are going to be dangerous.
Bottom line the dog is barking because it's not being mentally and physically stimulated. Crate training is a tool mainly for when you are not home/unable to supervise the dog. Not a long term solution for a young puppy. In fact if you research the period of time between 8-12 weeks is an irreplaceable time for socialization. Meaning that right now you need to put more time into this animal than ever again in it's life. The dog needs to be exposed to things such as kids on bikes, people riding lawn mowers, wheelchairs, cars, motorcycles, vets offices, other dogs, etc. Anything that you want the dog to not be aggressive towards as an adult you need to expose it to now. This time is IRREPLACEABLE. I highly suggest you read some books about dogs now so that you can actually understand what is required of you as an owner. Otherwise I think you are putting your family and your neighbors in danger. This dog is going to be powerful and if you are not in control now the dog WILL BE DANGEROUS.
People amaze me. Quit putting your animals in crates. Would you lock your baby in a crate? It is unbelievably cruel. Your husband is home all day. Put up a baby gate in a place near your husband. The are also pheromone pee posts you can tap into the ground so that when he gies outside he will smell it and pee. The little baby is lonely. Dogs are pack animals. He is barking for his pack. You guys are it now. He wants to touch you. To rub all over you to play with you, not your three yr old. I have never heard Ceasar Milan say to crate an animal. Buy one of his books. I think it might help.
What kind of puppy is she? Some dogs are more predisposed to be barkers than others, so that could play into it.
One thing I have learned over YEARS of training dogs, is not to try to train a dog not to bark WHILE she's barking. You are giving her attention, which is the point of barking. Try to find a time when she's quiet, and tell her "No barking!" in the same tone of voice you will use when you are giving an actual command. When she stays quiet, tell her "GOOD no barking!" and praise her. Then when she's actually barking, give her the command. If she keeps barking, ignore her. When she quiets down, even for a second, tell her no barking and try to praise her before she starts barking again. Eventually she will learn that the quiet is the desired behavior. Rewarding good behavior instead of punishing bad behavior works just as well in dogs as it does in children! :)
Of course, at 2 months, she is going to be very hyper and excited, and will bark just to wear off energy. Even if you can't take her outside, try to let her expend some energy. Play tug of war, give her chew toys, etc.
Also, make her a 'den' if you haven't already. If you are crate training her, use the crate. Put a soft blanket down, and leave it open for her to come and go as she pleases. It should be JUST big enough that she can stand up, and turn around. It needs to be cozy. You could even give her a 'lovey' for comfort. Some dogs like it to be covered, some like to be able to see out... experiment a bit to see what works for her.
Learn about her breed. This isn't a house pet type of dog, though it could be, with a LOT of training and attention. This is a breed born to herd and work and have huge, huge amounts of exercise. If you are not up for that, and don't have the space for her to run and the time to do serious training (which requires the adults to be "trained' first about the dog's needs), you will have a problem on your hands for years to come. Consider looking online and contacting a specialized "rescue society" that deals with Rottweilers and/or Aussie cattle dogs; they would be glad to take her and place her with a family that has experience and knowledge as well as plenty of space and training time. I'm definitely not saying you're bad dog owners, just that this breed really may not be for a family with young children. If you keep her you need professional training help -- it will be worth the money. The alternative could be a frustrated, under-exercised and bored dog who may bite, and that could lead to her being taken away or worse.
In case you're fearing "My kids will be so upset if the pupply goes away, they love the puppy" -- Not sure if that's an issue here, but if that's in the back of your mind, frankly, they will get over this if you end up placing the puppy with someone else. It beats having years of kids who are scared of your family dog, and a dog who is not fulfilling what it's bred to do.
EVERY dog should go to basic obedience training... larger dogs and herding dogs (which yours is amixture of BOTH!) should have additional obedience training. Also, your whole family needs to do this together so ALL are on the same page and undertanding of what the training entails, what the commands and expectations are and how to treat animals (mainly for your toddler).
Too many people do not get their animals training then wonder why they don't listen, become aggressive, destructive towards their home and possessions, etc...
She needs professional training, not a do it yourself book.
I know that you didn't mention this specifically, but since you did mention that you are crate training.....
Put your puppy's crate in your bedroom at night (if you aren't already). It will really cut down on the whining at night (and maybe barking in your case?). Our pup didn't find her bark until she was closer to 4 months old (When I was sweeping the kitchen with a broom she discovered it), so we didn't have any barking at night. But she would whine a little until I moved her crate into our bedroom. She no longer felt alone and was able to pretty much go right to sleep. :)
I put a sheet/blanket over half of her crate to make it more cave-like. Just before I went to bed for the night (lights out, not sitting in bed reading), I would take her out to potty and bring her back in and put her in her crate and tell her "time to go to bed".
She is 7 1/2 now, and she still hangs out with me in the family room until I am ready to go to sleep. I take her out (if she wants, sometimes she declines to go--I don't use a leash) and then when I go to bed, she pads along a moment behind me and lies down on her bed (on the floor on my side of the bed, just like where her crate was when she was a puppy). She sometimes wanders around at night checking on things (the kids, whatever) or if we have overnight guests, but usually she is right there in the morning and will stay there until I get up. She ignores my husband's getting up and waits for me. :)
Your puppy is still tiny, but once you settle into the nighttime routine, she should only whine if she needs to go potty. Our girl trained pretty quickly and was "sleeping thru the night" (LOL) pretty quickly. It wasn't long until I could wait until 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. to take her out for the bathroom. And no whining EXCEPT if she had to go. (I also did not put food or water in her crate over night).
Good luck. :)
Since she was separated from her mother and siblings and mother abruptly and at a very young age, be sure to socialize her with other dogs once she has all of her shots. A puppy class would be a great idea and you can also get good tips for dealing with puppy behavior issues. Check with your local animal shelter and they might have a list of low-cost classes for you. Good luck. Our "puppy" is now about 20 months old and he is generally well behaved, but he still has barking episodes that can be a bit crazy.
Dogs are pack animals she should really only be in her crate when you sleep and when you aren't home otherwise she should be with the family. If you're outside she should be outside. She needs lots of exercise and attention when dogs don't get that they act up (bark, chew, bite, etc)
It sounds like you rushed into getting a puppy without doing all the proper research. Rotties need a lot of exercise. Our friend has one (worlds sweetest dog) he has to run him through the woods 3x a day never mind that you have a mix with Australian cattle dog (another working dog)
I think you should take some training classes with your pup.
Edited: of course she pees everywhere she's a puppy that's what they do until you train them. You need to stop putting her in the crate when people are home she should be in the same room as the family if you see her squat pick her up and take her outside. Learn the signs she does before she pees some sniff some walk in a circle etc. If you don't want her to bark stop isolating her to one room.
Part of puppy training. Think of the puppy as a 2 month old baby, the need/want you a lot and the best way to get that attention is whiny cry/bark. This is a young puppy, they have energy and want attention. Try to burn off that energy before night time, running around outside, playing inside and going on a walk. The puppy will still wake up at night, it will take awhile for the puppy to adjust to its new home, and it takes kind loving training from you. Take with a stern voice, but not yelling.
Also at 2 months the puppy should have JUST left its mother, if the puppy left the mother beforehand it is going to take more to make it feel secure. A puppy should stay with the pack for at least 8-10 weeks, so hopefully your puppy is almost 3 months old.
Check out this website and see if it has anything that would be of help to you. It takes time.
http://www.cesarsway.com/features/648/657?cat=2
http://www.caninecrib.com/dog/training/train-puppy-bark.asp
http://www.ehow.com/how_###-###-####_train-puppy-not-bark...
WOW. Sue H knows a lot about dogs. I don't know nearly that much, but from personal experience, I can tell you that Australian Cattle dogs need a lot of activity!!! And our neighbor has a Rottweiler mix and he is a very busy dog, too.
So lots of walks, lots of playing, lots and then more.
I would keep your 3 yr. old away for the time being, or let her be around when there is an adult around. Work on the alpha dog thing with the puppy and the adults, and slowly bring your daughter in more and more. 3 yr olds need to be taught how to kind and gentle to a dog. And a 3 yr old will not look like a dominant figure to a Rott- Aussie mix.
Find some books at the library or the local bookstore to help.
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I know this sounds stupid, but it works (I have 5 dogs, all barkers)
Bark back. It confuses them so much and works much better than yelling.
As long as all of her needs ( ate, played, has gone potty recently, water, etc, and no health issue) ignore the barking. This means no talking, touching, playing, looking and wait for any pause, one second even to start. As soon as you get that, reward her like crazy, petting, treat. Since she is young she may be missing family, so have something for her to snuggle with. I'm sure you are already, but lots of time with people too. If the barking is something besides boredom or I can bark you don't want to ignore it, since it may be the potty bark. Kongs, stuffed or not, or other chew toys May help too if you don't already have any. Stay away from the ones that can splinter and get caught though, I have seen the large chicken jerky do that. I'm guessing you are already doing many small meals during the day and a vet visit to get her started. Crating is wonderful, our seven year old dog still loves her crate and gets in it on her own.
Enjoy puppyhood.
Seems like you are getting a lot of different answers, so I guess the best idea would be to find a training program that you are comfortable with. We liked Animal Sense, where they do support crating (something I initially wasn't comfortable with, but it was great), and rewarding the behaviors that you want. So you would give a treat to the puppy when she is quiet. Don't let her out of the crate when she is barking, only when she is quiet also. The biting/mouthing is seen as a normal puppy behavior and allowed as long as it is not painful, in which case an exaggerated "ouch" teaches the puppy her limits, similarly to how another dog would teach her. We also found Kongs really helpful to occupy the chewing urge in a good way. I would say "where is your toy?", and our puppy learned to look for it. We also had puppies with small children and it can be done, so I'm glad you aren't feeling discouraged by some of the comments here.
Id be careful with a toddler and this type of dog. As the toddler runs and plays, the cattle dog part of the puppy with chase, nip and bite at the childs legs and feet to herd it as its brain tells it to do. Riding bikes will create the same situation. Anytime a car goes by, it will want to take chase. Its not the best choice for a childs pet. We had a dog once, way back (32 yrs ago)when no one thought to check out what breeds were good for kids. It was an Australian sheppard/queensland blue heeler. A cattle dog. DUUH, it tried to herd my son and us on bikes and bit our ankles everytime we walked or ran. Hed run along side barking, nipping and then try to cross in front of us to circle us up (for branding/sheering/castrating I guess) caused a lot of near accidents on bikes and I tripped over him several times. It was the nonstop biting that caused him to no longer live with us. You might want to think about finding your puppy a new home and getting a dog that will be more in tune with a family with small children. A toddler crawling on the floor might end up with bites on its face,, not just ankles.
Find a dog training book by some monks that raise dogs. They are excellent. My MIL used them to train all her dogs but she passed away and I can't remember the particular name of the order of the monks.
One of the things they recommend is keeping some peanut butter or caramels by the bed and when the dog starts barking give them a small amount, it gives their mouth something to do and makes it sticky. They get tired and fall asleep again.
Hopefully you've already started teaching sit,stay, come, touch.... How about you teach her to "speak" on command? Then once she gets the idea that you will treat her for barking on command and not treating when she barks whenever her barking should start to diminish.
And at 2 months... If she's gotten the parvo/rabies and other shots... start taking her daily to a dog park and let her start running with other dogs. The other dogs will remind her if she's biting too hard to be gentle. The socialization is also another plus, especially since she was separated from mom and siblings so young. And since she is biting, start training on "bite inhibition" so that she doesn't continue mouthing which can be serious as an adult dog.
Also... I'd get a couple of the Kong treat toys just too keep puppy busy! You can fill them with a variety of things. My favorite is usually leftover veggies mixed with a small amount of peanut butter and then frozen overnight. (although my dog loves mashes potatoes and sauerkraut!!?!?)
http://www.kongcompany.com/tips-and-expert-advice/recipes
One of the things that I made a rule in our house with crate training was that the kids were not allowed to touch, talk, play with, or call our dog when she was/is in her crate. Our dog often likes to disappear into her crate when she's done being pestered by the kids.
best of luck to you with the puppy!
I agree completely with everything Sue H. said.
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