Urgent help needed with barking
My 15 month old boy Sid is driving me & myfamily crazy as well as my next door neighbour complaining . He doesnt like walking very much if at all round where we live so we have to put him in the car to take him to a field. He comes in & immediatly want to rush outside where he runs around barking at the birds. We coax him back into the house only to be faced with him barking & scratching at the patio windows & getting agressive if we try to move him away.
About 9.30 we put him in his crate at which point he continues to bark , we really dont know what to do & my husband feels like he doesnt want him anymore.
Please help us as I dont what to let him go.((
Comments
Bullies are like raw diamonds. If you use the wrong polishing tactics you will only get a pile of carbon. If you use the right tactics and commit to LIVING WITH your Bully, instead of just owning A DOG, you will get the most precious and loving pet you can imagine as the reward for your efforts.
Your Bully needs consistency, knowing who's the boss and who makes the rules. He needs to KNOW clearly what he is doing right and what he's doing wrong. And he needs an outlet for his huge amount of energy.
Walking him alone like you know it from other dogs, for most Bullies will not work as an exercise. You can keep doing it, just don't consider him exercised when you're back home. UNLESS you try to make it real fun for him, he will probably not really see the fun in walking.
There are already some good suggestions in this discussion on how to entertain your dog.
In this case like Diane I think an obedience class could help the both of you a lot! Because you will find tips on how to handle him. He learns rules, AND the classes will also be a great diversion and good for socialization with other dogs and people. You will also learn how important and helpful consistency and a scheduled day are for your dog.
Things like toys or chews will also help to keep him busy every now and then.
But you need to understand that your Bully not only seeks exercise to get tired. He also seeks interaction with you. He needs his time of the day when you get active and play with him or train him.
If you are convinced that you are already doing everything to entertain and ecercise him, maybe there is another behavioral problem going on, which could use an expert to look at it.
How's your baby's skin/coat doing?
Four hours! WOW! Kudos! That's very diligent!
@philsergeant
Feel free to quote me
As for the bumps, *giggeling* ... Thanks for asking. I have asked you the very same question about your guys in the other discussion over there
http://www.bulliesofnc.com/BTforum/discussion/1818/bull-terrier-immunity-problems-skin-coat#latest
Hope, they're getting better. Djamila is not completely over it by now, but her skin seems to be improving.
Luckily so far also no signs of my two darkest nightmares - excessive paw licking/scratching and secondary infection.
But could not get any closer to knowing where it may come from with my research.
However I need to add a few things in our defence.
We looked into having Sid for a long time getting books about the breed & talking to people that have owned one. We all love him but do struggle a bit as the dog trainer that we go to has never trained the breed before & she has said that if the dog won't walk don't make him, but we think he needs more excercise & walks but he is very stubborn . We have started to take him to a nature reserve & loose him off which he loves & we walk for about 2 hours. We do this walk about 3 times a week & thinking about it he is much more quiet .
After reading the comments I can see that we need to take him to the nature reserve every day & be more firm with him , sometimes solutions are very simple we just needed it pointing out to us.
Thank you all again I will keep you posted x
I was hesitant about writing so much again. But reading the comments, I just have a few additions to hopefully make you feel more comfortable and maybe help you to get some new ideas.
First of all: Nobody’s judging you here. We all have our good and bad days with our little guys. Even the ones among us with lots of experience.
It’s only that a lot of people get into life with a Bully unprepared and often their stories then sound just like yours.
That’s why information about Bully temperament and guessing a lack of exercise are often the first things on the list.
I was impressed by the four hours of exercise a day of exiled.
Ok, on many days I think interaction for Djamila also sums up to 2-3 hours. Dog park, training, throwing ball in the field, swimming in the pool. Sometimes a trip to the beach. Several short sessions of tug during the day. Numerous short walks don't count. She only walks for potty and only as far as necessary.
Ok, tonight I was actually able to interest her in a longer walk. I have discovered that she does not like walking on her short leash to much. But when I use the retractable leash that gives me a chance to walk some feet ahead of her, she’ll follow me and actually seems to enjoy a walk. But I’d still not consider this exercise, rather some kind of “us-time”.
Interestingly another of my experiences is that on the more active days (dog park for example) Djamila often has a harder time to come down. After a short recovery period she will be pulling all strings to get the fun going again.
This is why we deliberately do not provide "action days" for her seven days a week. We throw in "calm days" for her to learn that being calm is a great option until our next "action day” is coming up.
But this is only successful, if Bully is getting enough entertainment, attention and diversion in between and also still a good amount of exercise over the week. On the calm days we only play mind games, such as our clicker training and have tug some sessions.
I also encourage her to use her toys on her own. For that I let her have some of her toys only every once in a while. So it's often a surprise for her to get an almost forgotten toy back again. Like having a new one. On those days she also sometimes gets a rawhide stick for chewing or a filled & frozen kong treat ball to keep her busy for a moment.
Frankly, I don't trust the Nylabones. Djamila once chewed one of those in half within minutes as a small puppy. But that does not necessarily mean that they are bad. Just watch your dog closely when giving toys and other things for chewing to avoid swallowing of unwanted items or choking.
We also play our "calm game” together, where I reward and praise her for calm behavior, like lying down on her dog bed or next to my chair. Many times she will only do it for a moment and then get back up with new ideas in her head. But I even praise or pet her for that, because all I want her is to get the idea. The rest will develop over time.
She still has her times when she will be demanding attention. She is among the extremely active specimen, I’d say.
She has access to us all day in our home office. That doesn't make it easier.
In those situations I usually avoid rewarding her for demanding behavior by ordering her to do something calm instead, like lie down on her bed. I wait a few minutes and THEN reward her for being calm by having a round of tug with her.
In the evening when she is getting tired close to bed time, she usually tunes up a little bit by barking and becoming nervous, running around the house. It’s almost like she does not want the day to end. We have to actively command her to stop it.
I figure her getting nervous actually is a sign of her need to go to sleep.
Because once we order her to go into her crate she will be happy to do so and call it the day. So often we just give her that chance to calm down.
When your Bully is in his crate, is that a closed one or does it just have an open metal grid?
Someone here has mentioned it before: If he will not calm down in his crate, a possible cause can also be that he feels too exposed and does not find a chance to retreat in there. The crate can be near the family gathering place. But to give the dog a chance of making himself comfy when he wants some rest, it should also be able to provide a dimmed and a little quieter atmosphere.
If your crate is open and located in a very exposed place, maybe just try another spot and see how your dog responds to it.
Getting through their prime with a Bull Terrier can be exhausting for every Bully owner. They have their own mind set and just love life and excitement. They truly are among the biggest personalities nature has to offer as pets. But then again just BECAUSE of this they are such jokers and so much fun. I would not want to miss one day of that!
Crossing fingers for your husband that he will not be giving up. He and all of you will so be rewarded, if you only keep using consistency as well as tons of love!
Oh, I almost forgot: The trainer. Honestly, a trainer who does not know how to handle your dog, is of no value for you. If I were you, I’d look for someone else. Or rather keep reading books. I never went to any dog training class, but I read a lot, just like you did. It's also a way of finding YOUR way!
Hi All
I wanted to update you on the massive progress we have had with Sid :-) We have started to play with him alot more & also doing some scent work with him which is fantastic & as his nose is big he is excellent at it. .We have been walking him alot more & have found such a big difference in him this couldnt be any better. Thank you all for the works of wisdom