What to do about extremely annoying dog behavior?

[cowboymom]

I wonder if there is anything to do about something one of my dogs does that is driving my family insane.

She’s a 2.5 year old spayed Blackmouth Cur, sweet, sensitive, stubborn, lowest on the totem pole of my five dogs, resource guarding, and as we call her, “anxiety ridden”… No sense of personal space, she bumps into people and knocks down other animals, sits ON the other dogs instead of next to them in their beds, lies down ON the cat instead of next to. She loves to play, she’s a bit of a clown, not a mean bone in her body, plays with puppies and adopts kittens and gets beat up on by the goats. Very food oriented which is where the resource guarding shows up, she cares about 1) Food 2) Comfort and 3) Walks. She’s not a super personable dog, she doesn’t like strangers at all but she always seems a little bit like she’s using us to get 1) Food 2) Comfort and 3) Walks. She doesn’t really interact with us like the other dogs do, she seems focused on her 3 things and how to get through us to get to those.

So she’s not an easy dog but we get by except for one issue. She is LOUD. She whines incessantly, which is annoying enough, but it accelerates into outright shrieking. She does this for anything that she anticipates or wants that’s good to her-and it starts first thing in the morning. She wants to come in the car with us when I take the kids to school so as soon as the kids wake up in the morning she starts to whine. And pretty soon it’s louder and she’s pacing and in the last 10 minutes or so she’s literally screaming so loud you can’t hear someone talk over the noise. She does this for everything that she’s after: to go out to go pee/poo, if she hears a noise outside and wants to go see, if she wants food, if she sees me put on my shoes or a jacket b/c if I’m leaving the house she wants to come with me, if she sees me go to do chores, if she sees me go to leave for any reason, if she hears the truck start, if she sees us catch a horse, if she wants to go upstairs and the door is shut, if she wants IN the house, if she wants OUT of the house, if she wants the bed that another dog is already sleeping in.

As you can imagine, it’s not endearing. If I go somewhere in the truck and don’t take her she screams so loud it sounds like a woman is being killed in our house. I can’t leave her outside b/c neighbors from a quarter mile away have asked me what the noise was b/c it went on for FIVE HOURS one day when we didn’t take her on a ride with us. She won’t stop it-just keeps screaming until she’s either left behind or gets her way. Sometimes we ignore it and sometimes we scream back at her, or lock her up, put her out in the dog pen, different result every time since we’re just trying to live our lives while she screams at us. I try to not give her what she wants when she’s like that but she does it for everything…? At some point she DOES have to go out or get fed. I try to time it so when she even just stops for a breath is when she gets what she’s after… but when it goes on all day and there are three other people here I can’t say it’s consistent. For a while I was making her sit/stay/down drills before she got her dinner, outside ect but now if I even call her to me in the morning she starts to scream b/c she thinks it’s time for the drills before we do the thing that she wants! :no:

I walk her daily and it’s what she lives for-every time she goes outside she runs to the car or truck. We go about four miles in the mountains each day-she’s off leash running like a maniac the whole time. She listens well and I keep her in sight but she’s up the hill down the hill over here over there the whole time. For a while I was even doing the moronic driving the car while she ran (which I swore I would never do but I can’t keep up with her just walking) and she literally ran 5 miles one day at top speed (15 mph, uphill) and I finally ran out of road and time before she ran out of energy. And that was after the 4 mile usual walk with the other dogs! We all rode in the car while she ran! :lol: gah As soon as we get in the car to go home, she’s whining in the back seat to go again. As soon as we get home, she’s whining and screaming for her dinner. It seems compulsive-I don’t know if she CAN stop?

Anti-anxiety meds aren’t in the picture any time soon for a variety of reasons. I’ve tried melatonin and rescue remedy in the evenings and it didn’t have any effect.

We do love her but she’s driving us insane. Help?

[SuckerForHorses]

Good LORD, I’m sorry I don’t have any suggestions, but I can’t even IMAGINE how annoying that is! I hope you find resolution soon!

[cowboymom]

It’s a tough one, for sure! It sounds ridiculous all written out like that… when I stood up after typing it I looked at her in her bed and she appeared rather guilty and let out a little whine. :lol:

[kasjordan]

Before we moved to our current house, we had the most beautiful German Shorthair. He was GORGEOUS. Liver ticking and saddled, big, blocky head- muscular. He now lives with an older friend of ours who stays at home, doesn’t work. He did the SAME thing…he would be outside, eating his dinner- and lift his head to whine and cry and yell at us through the picture window while we were inside…We crate trained him, well, we tried to crate train him- did the same thing, morning, noon and night in his crate. he would go out in the “day pen” with the collie and the JRT…they would run around in there and play, he would bounce 6 feet in the air at the gate and scream, looking towards the house… Best I could figure it was insecurity, extreme separation anxiety, something like that- he’s still very whiney with his owner but being an only dog seems to have toned it down a bit. Maybe she just needs the comfort of not having to compete for attention? We sure couldn’t find anything that worked! As i read your post, I could just see and hear every little thing!!! lol

[cowboymom]

I think she would be happier in a home where she was the only dog, or maybe with a sidekick. I’ve put feelers out there and haven’t had any luck. She went to one very very nice young family last year on a trial and they gave her back! LOL They liked her but she was too much for them…

She was actually better when I was working and gone all the time. I’m home full time now until we move and it’s like now that I’m here to provide more 1, 2 and 3 she’s constantly pestering. More stimulation = more whining.

[Finding_Serenity]

Our Shiba mix used to scream/yodle in the car whenever we stopped/got out of the car/during crate training, she still cries a little if one of us goes into the shop for a bit and she’s left out with someone.

We started using “stop that” spray for other things (Shoes/counter surfing/etc) but it has worked wonders with her screaming in the car. She still cries a little but its like she’s whispering and it only happens when we finally arrive and she KNOWS where she is/we are getting out of the car.

The crate… I believe we just ignored her at night when she was crated and she eventually settled into bedding alone and now she prefers her crate (she’ll cry if her crate is moved from its spot)

The routine “ah!” (that noise from us), and then the can, has led us to mostly just scold her and she stops.

The stop that spray uses a combination of noise (it sounds like those air dust cans that you use for keyboards), and green tea/lavender/hormones to help calm them down.

eta: we got her at about 8 mo and she’s a little over a year now

[Laurierace]

Aside from not letting her outside when she asks to go to the bathroom be very careful that you are not rewarding the behavior by giving her whatever it is that she wants. I personally would try a time out in a crate covered with a blanket. As soon as she quiets down in the crate, praise her and take her out.

[wendy]

it sounds like she could use some work with “body awareness” and in “self control”.
there are lots of exercises for body awareness- you can look them up. Here’s a video to get you started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O7mS4blCF8

self-control: http://www.suzanneclothier.com/the-articles/guidelines-teaching-self-control

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1721

also, what does she DO? curs are high-energy working dogs. Expecting them to lie around the house most of the time usually doesn’t work out. A tired dog is a good dog- you need both physical and mental exercise. If she’s happily tired out, she probably won’t get totally worked up into shrieking and whining at any suggestion that something might happen.

My malinois shrieks in excitement sometimes, but it’s usually when we’ve had to cut down on his work/exercise for some reason. Get him back on track and he simply stops doing it.

[MustangSavvy]

Sounds like a bored dog. Cur’s are intelligent, high energy and working dogs. She needs a job to do. The only piece of Ceaser’s advice I have ever taken is a happy dog is a tired dog, this dog needs for exercise.

I love the idea of nose work, agility… etc for this dog. Give her something to do that both exercises her brain and her body.

[threedogpack]

have you taught her any behaviors? Sit/down/come/heel/touch? Because until she knows how to learn, you cannot teach her anything complex, such as be quiet if you want (fill in the blank).

Song was an incredibly well trained dog. However, she lost her brains when she got around sheep…till Sue eh? worked on it. Note that Song was well trained, so she knew how to learn.

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002c/song.htm

Or, in order to get out the door/fed/in the car/out of the car/your shoes on/loose to run/fill in the blank, she must do something quiet. Sit/down/come or a string of behaviors. And if I were going to teach these behaviors, I would NOT put them on verbal, I would only use a hand signal because 1. the hand signal can be used no matter how loud she screams and 2. she must actually LOOK at you to see the signal. I would also vary it between behaviors, so she doesn’t just do them by rote.

[Anne_FS]

I guess a bark collar is out of the question?

I have a pound puppy GSD who was probably around 2yo when I got him. He’s 9 now. An absolute shrieker. Once drove from Harrisburg to Charlottesville and for FOUR SOLID HOURS he didn’t shut up. Did all the training etc., many of the things mentioned here. He had training and loads of exercise, but he was still a shrieker. A reduced shrieker - actually clicker training helped a lot, getting rewarded for a second of silence, then 2 seconds, then 5, etc. really helped, but in the car or in public he would often flip the switch.

When I finally put a bark collar on him in the car it made a world of difference. Not just that he quickly learned to be quiet - with food & praise for not barking added on, so not merely the collar, but once he stopped barking and shrieking his entire body relaxed. I can’t believe I spent several years trying every method for this particular dog and the bark collar relaxed him within a matter of days. He’s fine to travel with now without the collar and I don’t even know where it is right now. He has so much more fun, too, since he’s not doing that over the top wig out.

So just consider it. This dog still runs & barks like crazy when he plays, and Speaks on command - just loves to show off. He totally gets the difference between his normal bark play/doing tricks and that frantic behavior he had before.

[2tempe]

[QUOTE=MustangSavvy;7227929]
Sounds like a bored dog. Cur’s are intelligent, high energy and working dogs. She needs a job to do. The only piece of Ceaser’s advice I have ever taken is a happy dog is a tired dog, this dog needs for exercise.

I love the idea of nose work, agility… etc for this dog. Give her something to do that both exercises her brain and her body.[/QUOTE]

If she’s not tired at least for a while after long daily off leash walks in mountainous area, OH MY… It sounds to me like there is more going on than just high energy - some variation on separation anxiety. So great suggestions, but good luck.

[Anne_FS]

If your dog is a different type, there’s another simple solution that might work: Often teaching a dog to bark on command for some reason makes it easy to teach them to be quiet.

My 4yo GSD is a shrieker, too, but it’s only her high-energy don’t-you-dare-do-anything-fun-while-I’m-in-a-crate. For instance, in training you’ll have one dog in a crate while you work the other. Oy. NO FAIR. She’s busted out of a lot of crates in her day. Or when the neighbor dog runs the fence line (it’s a solid vinyl fence) she’ll race up & down, which is fine, but originally she barked, LOUDLY, the entire time. Now she knows she can run like the wind but she must be quiet.

Anyway, once she was taught to “Gib laut” which of course she LOVES to do, she learned to bark loud & fast and then be quiet on command. This translated well to when she would bark like crazy - a simple Quiet! hushes her up. She’s never had a bark collar on in her life. Simple training combined with all the “work” you have to do with high drive dogs solves it. High drive athletic dogs just get too frustrated without work. But of course the more fit you get them, you aren’t going to tire them out with a hike. Physical exercise plus MENTAL EXERCISE - make them think, is what they crave.

So if your dog is shrieking out of pure high drive and not out of some behavioral quirk, this might work.

[MustangSavvy]

[QUOTE=2tempe;7228677]
If she’s not tired at least for a while after long daily off leash walks in mountainous area, OH MY… It sounds to me like there is more going on than just high energy - some variation on separation anxiety. So great suggestions, but good luck.[/QUOTE]

The behavior she is describing is not sep anx. I would willing to bet giving this dog something to do with its brain and body, will really help.

[wendy]

If she’s not tired at least for a while after long daily off leash walks in mountainous area, OH MY…

sorry to say, but just running around for 4 or 5 miles is NOTHING to many of these high-energy working dogs. Many a working sheep dog or hunting dog can easily run 10 to 15 miles each day, or even further, WHILE WORKING, not just running wild.

which is the key- if you just let a working dog run wild, without asking the dog to work and use its brain, often the dog just gets more and more hyperactive and excitable. It’s like letting a horse buck and run on the lunge line to calm it down- all that happens is the horse gets fitter and fitter, and wilder and wilder over time, until you decide to crack down and actually make the horse WORK on the lunge instead of just run and buck.

dog needs a job. It might not totally eliminate the noise, but it certainly should reduce it.

For perspective on the exercise: the average human can walk 3 miles in an hour. The average human can jog 5 or 6 miles in an hour. The average dog can easily run 10 to 15 miles in an hour.
So you walk for an hour, your dog runs around and covers 10 miles. That’s one hour out of 24. What do you expect the dog to DO for the other 23 hours?
For dog breeds listed as “high exercise needs” a bare minimum to expect is 2 hours of brisk exercise every day. If it’s a working dog, you need to add in work. If you can’t meet these needs, look for a different breed.

[Anne_FS]

Agree that 4 miles is nothing for a fit dog. For mine that are fit the first 5K (~3 miles) is warm-up. After the first couple miles they’re ready to go.

And several people (including me) have mentioned mental work. And I’ll mention it again. She wants to WORK.

[cowboymom]

I always write as much as I can to try to head off the criticism but I missed a couple gaps.

I am very familiar with the breed; I owned her mother (who was the polar opposite of her) and know her brother, father, uncles, aunts, grandmother and grandfather and talk with the breeders I got her from on a regular basis. I researched the breed and know the blood lines going back about six generations; her father was part of the last litter that Howard Carnathan bred.

I also know that they are a versatile dog, not a flat out hunting dog. Her siblings are ranch/stock dogs, therapy dogs and just hang out with the family dogs. She does have more of a work drive than most.

She’s trained to hunt for sheds (antlers) so when she’s running all over the hill side she is working. I throw sheds out for her to find and she’s taught to canvas hill sides for antlers. She’s hadn’t done it for a while when I was the only wage earner while my husband was unemployed so she’s getting back into it.

When I run her with the car she gets in about nine miles. She just gets stronger and wants to go more/again. I’ve never seen her tire out and she’s gone on 30 mile rides with us in the back country. And even after a day like that she will whine and shriek for her dinner or if she didn’t get the primo dog bed.

As I said above, I started making her do commands sit/stay/down to try to diffuse the whining but now she shrieks about sitting! LOL Yes, she’s trained to do a lot of things, actually. On voice and hand signals. She does simple stock work too.

I’m not sure where some of you got the impression that she’s sitting around the house all day-she was when I was working full time and she was BETTER BEHAVED. She wasn’t going for walks and working sheds and all that, she was sleeping all day b/c we weren’t doing anything with her. AND SHE WAS QUIET. THE MORE WE DO THE LOUDER SHE IS.

I’m not working, as I mentioned above; we’re in the process of moving. She’s with me all day and as much as I can while running a house hold and “farm” and two teenagers and try to move the whole works across the state I do try to spend some time with just her every day. As opposed to the time I spend with all the dogs every day.

[Anne_FS]

Have you tried a bark collar?

[cowboymom]

No, I haven’t. To be honest, it doesn’t seem like the right answer for this.

and she does have a shock collar that we used on her to stop her from chasing deer… I’m not opposed to the collars on principle but for some reason it doesn’t seem like the thing to do for this. I’ll think about that though, maybe I’m wrong.

We did try the water bottle/squirt gun thing-she hides where she can’t be sprayed and shrieks. Or will just take it right between the eyes and shriek anyway.

[Finding_Serenity]

Do you reward her at all for the crying with any sort of attention? (Yelling, saying “quiet”, looking at her etc) It may be that she’s looking for attention in that regard. She might also be feeling insecure with all the hulabaloo with the moving and she’s learned she gets things when she screams.

One thing you might want to do is head out without her (I know, the screaming) but since it’s started only AFTER you’ve been home all day it could stem from that. I’d go out every day and leave her at home. Have her in a crate (if trained) with a blanket on top so she has her “cave” and just ignore her. Even if it is just standing outside the house for ten minutes.

When we got our puppy we crated her wherever we went and we warned our neighbors we got a new puppy and will be crate training. It took her a while but she is now quiet for while we are gone. We had to start small, her being crated and us in another room. When she was quiet we would come “visit” and then leave again. If anyone is in the house with her, make sure they do not pay attention to her while she’s screaming as it’ll just reward it further.

If she’s needing something to do “a job” treat puzzles might help with the boredome. Or have a “pack” that she has to carry during the day and it’s her job to keep track of the things you put in and pull out.