# Territorial Barking help!



## Braighe (Jul 2, 2010)

I have a 2 yr old neutered Westie, who is causing a bit of a problem with territorial barking in our garden.

We have quite a large garden, which has a stone wall running down the road side, and he barks at anyone going past, but any dog that goes past he goes absolutely mad, barking really aggresively. He cant see over the wall, but seems to know a dog is there.

We go out immediately he starts, to bring him in, but his recall is out the window when he is barking. We bring him in, and give him a treat when he is quiet. Luckily it is not a very busy road, and we never let him out after 10ish so he does not distrub neighbours.

Last night, a women walking her dog, starting shouting at him " Shut up, you nasty little dog"!!

By the time I got my shoes on, she had gone, but it really upset me, as he is not a nasty wee dog.

My husband and I are now disagreeing on what to do, he says he should not be allowed back out once he has had his last walk. I think we need to work on his behaviour to try to stop this, rather than keeping him in, as he loves the garden and 90% of the time he is fine.

Any suggestions?


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## kathryn773 (Sep 2, 2008)

Braighe said:


> I have a 2 yr old neutered westie, who is causing a bit of a problem with territorial barking in our garden.
> 
> We have quite a large garden, which has a stone wall running down the road side, and he barks at anyone going past, but any dog that goes past he goes absolutely mad, barking really aggresively. He cant see over the wall, but seems to know a dog is there.
> 
> We go out immediately he starts, to bring him in, but his recall is out the window when he is barking. We bring him in, and give him a treat when he is quiet. Luckily it is not a very busy road, and we never let him out after 10ish so he does not distrub neighbours.


different dog, same problem, only the neighbour wants to know why i am rewarding his barking, ( treating when he is quiet!) when he is back in.

interested in suggestions too.


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## cardaph (Aug 12, 2009)

We have a similar problem with our tibetan terrier. What I have been doing for around a month now is putting a long lead on her and the moment she gives her first bark, I make her come in - no fuss just reel her in.I just say "come" and reel the line in. I am pleased to say she is improving and a lot of the time now she doesn't make a sound when out so is allowed to come back in in her own time.


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

My dog does this if let out in the garden alone. We have foxes next door so he barks in their direction of their den to basically tell them to keep out, but he would do this for about 10 minutes or so before shutting up, and by then, neighbours would be annoyed. 

So to prevent him doing this, we decided that he now only gets to go into the garden with a lead attached to his collar and someone with him to correct any barking. It works, because he rarely barks when someone is with him, and if he does start barking, then he has a lead on so we can immediately correct the behaviour by taking him indoors and away from the fun of the garden.


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## Jonesey (Dec 30, 2010)

I think they just get frustrated, they want to play with people, dogs, cars etc. and can't get to them. The solution is to go out with your dog, get another dog or set up playdates for your dog. Not always easy.

Our puppy likes to dig (thankfully the ground's frozen now) or look for escape routes into the woods. What I want to do in the spring is make her an enclosed digging area and bury treasures for her to dig up, something fun to keep her occupied when she's out alone.


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## Mallygill (Jan 4, 2011)

Our dog does this too, there's a public footpath that goes along the side of our back garden so she can see everyone going past. Whenever she sees anyone she starts barking and won't respond to any calls that we give. 

Might try getting a long lead and getting her straight back in to see if there is any improvement. We're going to get a proper fence put up in the summer but it sounds like she'll still bark even if she can't see outside.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Dogs usually bark to let people know they are there and claim their territory. Trouble is the people or whats going passed was going to pass anyway but the dog doesnt know that so each time he barks they go, so to his mind the barking works so he is rewarded for it So it becomes learned behaviour.Calling or shouting they can see as you joining in and agreeing (backing him up so to speak) so can convince them its the right thing.

As whacky as this is probably going to sound but worth a try. When he barks,
say nothing, walk down the garden have a look around like your checking it out, still saying nothing, pat him on the head, tell him good boy for telling me and just walk back in. You have to be completely calm though and act like nothings out the ordinary,total unconcern. Cant guarantee it will work of course but it works on mine, I have told people to do it (Who looked at me like I had lost it) One was a border collie who barked at the window and it worked on him too.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

kathryn773 said:


> different dog, same problem, only the neighbour wants to know why i am rewarding his barking, ( treating when he is quiet!) when he is back in.
> 
> interested in suggestions too.


I would be tempted to tell your neighbour to mind her own business! You are doing the right thing, but I think the next quote is a better option.



cardaph said:


> We have a similar problem with our tibetan terrier. What I have been doing for around a month now is putting a long lead on her and the moment she gives her first bark, I make her come in - no fuss just reel her in.I just say "come" and reel the line in. I am pleased to say she is improving and a lot of the time now she doesn't make a sound when out so is allowed to come back in in her own time.


That is what I would be doing as well. No fuss, no words, just pick up the line and take her indoors. Everytime she barks, she will get to know that the fun stops.

The reason she is barking, I think, is that when she is in her garden and she hears someone, as far as she is concerned that person or dog is in her territory. She doesn't know that the other side of the wall is public. As to the woman who called her nasty, shame you couldn't get out there in time to give her a good talking to:lol:


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

I have a canal towpath at the end of my garden, across the canal. My dogs know if they bark at anyone, they have to come in straight away. As they both recall well, I don't need a long line/trailing lead but I think it would help with this Westie. Also, how about dividing off the part of the garden near the wall so the dog can't get near it? A possible solution would be to run a length of washing line along a different part of the garden, fixed through the hand loop of a lead. The dog could then be clipped to the lead, could run up and down under the line but not able to move sideways much to get near the wall. Perhaps spending more time in the garden with the dog, playing, training etc would help if part of the problem was due to boredom and frustration. 
As to the 'nasty little dog' comment - they're just words.


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## tripod (Feb 14, 2010)

Here is more on excessive barking and fence fighting: WOOF! - calming for quiet | Pet Central&#039;s Pawsitive Dawgs Blog!


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