This is why I like cats so much better than dogs

[emax4]

This is all good advice. Caesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, does the 'shush' and finger-snap thing to help train dogs.

Funny you mention him. My wife and I were watching his show a few weeks back where he had his 100th episode or something. My wife mentioned, "Hey, there's his wife. That part must have been from a few years back when they were still married."

I replied, "Yeah, that was before she went on 'It's Me or the Dog'..."

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

*Bark bark bark!*

"Shut up!"

*Bark Bark Bark Bark Bark!"

"Shut up, why don't you!"

*Bark bark! Bark bark bark!"

"I keep telling them to stop barking! Why don't they listen to reason?"

[BrenDAnn]

My oldest niece (a vet tech) has five cats, a Pit Bull and a Maltese-Shih Tzu mix. she has successfully trained one of her cats to sit. This is more than her... less than intelligent... Maltese- Shih Tzu has picked up over the years, from what she said at family Christmas last week. Family Christmas in which my brother brought his two Maltese Shih-Tzu mixes with him to my sister's house. The older dog was fine, sat in my sister-in-law's lap and didn't make a peep. The puppy? He decided my sister's poor elderly Bassett Hound was something to bark at the entire time we were there, unless he was in a kennel and couldn't see her. Yeah. I love dogs, really, but cats...cats are just EASIER!

[RetailWorkhorse]

I've heard the wolf crosses are now banned ... *sigh* ... same reasoning as behind the banning of pitbulls.

That's ultimately why I decided not to bring Bosco with me to New Mexico. He's half Timber Wolf and half Siberian Husky. He's also a moron. He ran headlong into an electric fence, got the crap shocked out of him, and promptly did it again.

Of course this argument is slightly diminished when I remember that my dogs eat pretty much everything. Silly spaniels.

I used to live next door to a Springer (his Daddy was Jim, my Mom's best friend, who could do the Stereotypical Gay Man 'Oh Girlfriend' so perfectly. It was hilarious) named Moose that would eat golfballs. I watched him do it more than once and could never get him to stop.

Also knew a dog, Little Mac (who wasn't little), that would eat rocks. Soooooo, does Pica apply to dogs?

[Lovecats]

A former neighbor's dog used to let about anyone in the house but heaven help you if you wanted to leave.

[Sapphire Silk]

This is all good advice. Caesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, does the 'shush' and finger-snap thing to help train dogs.

That's where I learned it. It really does work.

A couple of years ago (maybe I've told this one before, sorry if I have) my cousin from Massachusetts came to visit me. She brought along her very poorly socialized and untrained rat terrier, Bea. Cousin had rescued the dog from a neighbor who left her tied up in the back of a pickup truck all day (and no, she didn't steal the dog). Bea had some health issues; hair loss and a lot of benign skin tumors. Cousin fed her a very strange diet supposed to help that problem, and Cousin claimed that it worked. Whatever.

Anyway, Bea would go nuts barking at anyone who came near Cousin, and would nip at people. I did not put up with that shit. When Bea jumped up on my couch first time she came into my home, I snapped my fingers, did the Shush, and told her to get down . . . and she did. Cousin was amazed; Bea never obeyed anyone but her. I did the same thing anytime Bea barked (which was a lot at first, but it didn't last long).

Cousin couldn't figure out how I got Bea to behave. I told her it was simple: it was my house, my territory, and I was the Alpha, and Bea knew it and responded accordingly.

Stumps (my cat at the time) didn't like Bea because she was so mentally unstable. He picked a fight and won it (he didn't like Bea being around me). Cousin went nuts and I ended up paying for a vet bill, and keeping Stumps in the back room the rest of the time Cousin was there (she stayed two weeks).

Cousin tried to imitate the technique but couldn't be consistent with it; she treated Bea like a human child instead of like a dog. So the behaviors never got better. She later nipped my adopted nephew and her parents refused to have Cousin over as a guest again after that--and I don't blame them one bit. But Cousin was oblivious to this. She was lucky Animal Control didn't get called, and I think the only reason they didn't was out of respect for me, and the fact nephew had been told not to bug the dog and he did it anyway.

Any dog can be trained. But you have to do the work. If you don't do the work, the behaviors won't change.

[Eevie]

The exact reason I hold our two dogs back whenever the pizza guy comes. They're small dogs, and generally pretty well behaved, but better safe than sorry.

[redsox33413]

My 85 pound German Shepherd mix made it so that the USPS/UPS/FedEx delivery peeps wouldn't even knock or ring the doorbell... They'd tiptoe up and hide the packages under the front doormat and tiptoe away. (Apologies to all the delivery peeps, he sounds much more ferocious than he actually is). He is trained to go into his "house" (crate) as soon as I say the word, so when the Gods of Food Delivery grace our household with their yummy blessings, we have it down to a science... Once the order is placed, he either goes into the backyard to play until the food is on the table, or he goes into a back bedroom or his crate. He still does the requisite "I am a giant FEROCIOUS beast and will protect my mommy by barking like I am going to eat your face" routine when someone shows up, but as soon as I give the command, he shuts up and gives me the "I DUN GOOD JOBS AT BARKINGS AND SCARING AWAYS HOOMINS, RIGHT MOMMY???" face. Priceless. Oh, and the usual delivery guys are pretty cool. They joke about him every time they show up.

[jedimaster91]

Really? How!? I've been trying for the past 6 months, and must be doing something wrong.

Like others have said, it's all about time, patience, and most importantly, consistency. Dogs have 1-2 seconds to associate an action with a consequence, so you have to have good timing and be aware of your dog's surroundings. You have to be really careful with punishment or deterrent type training. If you do a leash pop for something the dog is doing while he also happens to be staring at a baby, he may make the association that the baby is causing him to get corrected and will not like babies. But if you're doing positive reinforcement like clicker training, if you click at the wrong time, the dog gets an extra treat and you try to do better next time. There is a certain level of management in dog training as well. You start teaching a new behavior in a low-distraction environment and gradually work your way up the distraction level. Don't be afraid to keep a dog's leash on him in the house (supervised, of course). That way you can get ahold of him quickly should it become necessary. You can also keep treats near the door (where the dog can't reach, obviously) for visitors to give him if he sits politely first. And if all else fails, a baby gate is a wonderful investment.

Dogs, like kids, do what works for them. You'll have better results by teaching the dog what you want him to do rather than correct him for what you don't want him to do (like instead of yelling at him for barking and jumping all over the pizza guy, teach him to sit when visitors come to the door). Delivery people have such a problem with dogs because in the dog's mind, he got what he wanted. Dogs are territorial creatures (some more than others) and they bark to let you know there's a stranger on their turf and let the delivery guy know they know he's there and he should go away. So what happens? The delivery guy finishes his business and leaves. In the dog's mind, he successfully deterred an intruder. So he'll keep doing it because he thinks it works. It's a difficult behavior to train out, but it can be done.

Most problems with dogs barking do boil down to lazy owners. However, depending on the breed (and age) of the dog, it can be a large task to train a dog to not bark. I have a couple of Great Pyrenees/German Shepherd mixes, and I have had to put a lot more time and effort into teaching them not to needlessly bark than say my brother with his Labrador Retrievers...and it is still an ongoing struggle at times.

Dog trainers like to say you can train any dog to do anything. And that's true to an extent, but knowing typical breed behaviors helps. For instance, I have beagles. They bark. A lot. I will probably never be able to train that completely out of them, but for the most part they only bark outside. That's because if they barked in the house, we put them outside. They are also HIGHLY food motivated, so I can distract them fairly easily with really good treats. One is better about sitting nicely for strangers than the other (until they kneel down to pet her, then she wants to crawl in their lap), but that's because we've had her since she was a puppy and we've worked with her more.

Just keep at it. Consult a professional if you need to, but remember when it comes to dogs you measure success in baby steps. That extra second or two before they start jumping on the pizza guy is progress.

[BowserKoopa1]

Had this happen today while delivering. Someone's lab was running loose outside and decided to approach me from the other side of the street while I was walking to the door. Thankfully the owners were outside too, but if they know their dog likes to approach strangers, shouldn't they keep it on a leash? The dog was friendly but never really got close to me. Of course how am I supposed to know that. I'm not about to get close to a strange big dog, little dogs I'm not as afraid of. Again its all about people learning to control their dogs.

[wolfie]

And that's due to how cats were domesticated differently than dogs.

Slight error - cats were NOT domesticated, they domesticated humans.

[Lovecats]

I keep thinking of tha saying, "Dogs have owners; cats have staff."

[EricKei]

Thankfully the owners were outside too, but if they know their dog likes to approach strangers, shouldn't they keep it on a leash? The dog was friendly ...

Don't you know? If a dog is friendly and sweet around its owners (read: its pack), it will be friendly and sweet to everyone it meets >_>

I keep thinking of tha saying, "Dogs have owners; cats have staff."

A Sinfest comic sums up the relationship quite succinctly...

Dog gets food, care, shelter, and loving from human and thinks "He must be a god."

Cat gets food, care, shelter, and loving from human and thinks "I must be a god."

[Jay 2K Winger]

Or, to put it another way: "You have the dog, but the cat has you."