barking mad

[jody elisa]

hello everyone,this may sound completly mad,but why does my 6 month old female rottie bark when me and my husband are talking!!!!???? even if im talking
to my children she barks over our voices to the point where we end up shouting when we are talking as we cant hear each other,i dont know if its attention seeking tricks or she is bonkers! please can any one post me with any ideas as to how to deal with this,we have tried ignoring her but she seems to get worse,
actually she seems to behave like she is fretting over us talking! help!

[newbrunswick]

I made the mistake of teaching Maggie to speak... Oh well, now she seems to think that barking gets her attention when we are busy with other things - so, now I am going to teach her to not speak - just not sure how! I think that when she starts this type of behaviour, you need to practice some commands and have her do a down stay or a sit stay. Not sure of the obedience a 6 month old has (I don't really have any experience here), but you might try that - do you crate her when you are busy? She is getting attention from her barking and will continue or escalate - however, she is also still a pup and needs to learn when its ok to bark and when its not. Hopefully others with more experience will jump in here.

[jody elisa]

thanks for replying,i do crate train sascha and i also try to ignore her when she barks at us,its really hard and frustrating,she has only started doing this since a few week ago,i tell her to sit when she starts barking but she does sit for a few minutes then stands up and barks again,sometimes i feel like im taking one step forward and two steps back! thanks for your advice anyway,ill try to use different teaching methods and see which works best,still if anyone has any other ideas please let me know.thanks.

[JemarsSerena]

Welcome to the wonderful world of rotties! All my dogs have been trained from day one not to bark unnecessarily. The occasional "hey something startled me" bark is fine. After that when barking for no reason I give a verbal correction. I've never had to go any futher than this because it has always worked for me. You just need to let her know the behavior is not wanted.

[smileygirl]

Try the pennies in the empty water bottle jug...just a thought is works wonders in my house. I command "Enough" and shake the jar...magic...get their attention(louder that they are). That works when the excitement level is unnessary. Good Luck!...Tina

[jody elisa]

hi smileygirl(tina),thanks for your advice,the pennies in the jar when sascha barks sounds like a good idea .its just getting the timing right when she does bark at us,it shoudnt be too hard as its usually when she is in her crate in the dining room that she does it,so ill keep the jar by the table!ill
ill keep you posted on how sascha is getting on.and finally,thank you to the other members that posted advice,its really appreciated.jody elisa.....

[dogsbydoug]

If you put her in a sit/stay and she gets up, put her back in position (say NOTHING to her!) and then continue with what you were doing. Keep doing this - the light will go on in that head of hers and she'll stay put.

The pennies in the can are a great idea for the barking.

[JuneyB]

These dogs are just too smart for our good sometimes. The "startle" of the coins in a jar has worked on various things in my house...whats hardest is me trying to be consistent .... ALL THE TIME...cuz they notice...and will definitely take advantage.

Your pup is at the "2 - 4" year stage of human development....its stressful but if you remember to be persistent and patient, they do grow up...slowly, but they do!!!