Question!

[Jennseng83]

Hi everyone! I have a question:

I have a female German Shepherd Dog. It's about 3 years old and we adopted it about 2 1/2 months ago. When we first adopted her...she had no problem with barking. But now when we go on walks, she barks at humans! I know it's fine for German Shepherds to do it when other people are on their territory, but they aren't!

All we can do right now is stop her whenever she does and show her it's not right. All she wants to do is play with them, but she barks for some reason.

Any suggestions?

[Erika]

One thing you could try if it gets really bad is to use a bark collar on your walks. I've never actually seen one, but I think you could put it on a low setting so that when your dog barks she will get a small electric charge. (nothing painful, just uncomfortable.) Once she stops barking at people (which would probably be quickly), you wouldn't need to use it anymore. I know it sounds cruel but if her barking is really a problem it could make her a better dog. Unfortunately that is the only solution I can think of. Perhaps a vet/trainer could suggest further options

good luck!!

erika

[Roz]

One thing you could try if it gets really bad is to use a bark collar on your walks. I've never actually seen one, but I think you could put it on a low setting so that when your dog barks she will get a small electric charge. (nothing painful, just uncomfortable.) Once she stops barking at people (which would probably be quickly), you wouldn't need to use it anymore. I know it sounds cruel but if her barking is really a problem it could make her a better dog. Unfortunately that is the only solution I can think of. Perhaps a vet/trainer could suggest further options

good luck!!

erika

There are bark collars that simply spray the dog with water, or some other liquid, instead.

[Nirvana 4 Ever]

Has she had a lot of contact with people either than your family? If you take her to meet new people every once in a while she might not get so excited. Try asking the people who she barks at to pet her, or carry along treats with you and have them give one to her, but only after she stops barking. Good luck! :wavey:

[andreaS15]

Has she had a lot of contact with people either than your family? If you take her to meet new people every once in a while she might not get so excited. Try asking the people who she barks at to pet her, or carry along treats with you and have them give one to her, but only after she stops barking. Good luck! :wavey:
I think that's a great idea!

Our new doggies half Shepard (she's 5), and we've had her about the same amount of time as you. I find she also like to bark at people or dogs, I'm guessing she's protecting us, She is a VERY dominent dog.
I've found though the more i get her out to places with lots of people and other dogs, the better she's getting. She used to try and attack every dog she saw, but now not even a bark at them.
Once she's established dominance over another dog she plays fine with them, This is now the next "bad habbit" I have to try and work out of her. (all work and no play for the owners eh?)

For all the "bark collers" i know of 3 kind (and my b/f's room mates tryed all 3), the shock one, the water one and the citrinella (sp?), it's sprays a nasty smell if they bark. The shock coller gives a little "beep" warning and if the dog continues to bard it gives a little "zap". I tryed it on myself (and my brother .. he he he), it dosn't hurt, it kind of feels like when you lick one of those batteries with the both ends on top (if that makes ANY sence). It also has only one setting, and as the batteries die the weaker the signal is.

Good luck with you pup!

[ferretfan]

There are bark collars that will just spray citronella spray which dogs hate. Try maybe spraying a bit of lemon juice on her mouth while telling her no bark and that might help as well

[elleauran]

when she was a puppy, she probably never got much socialization outside of the family. but, since you just got her, you wouldn't know that anyway. what i suggest is that when you aren't doing anything much to take her out in front of your house(have her leash on her) and let her run around a bit. when someone walks down the street and she starts barking, tell her to sit, if she knows how. ask the person if they could do you a favor and come over and pet her, but assure them that she won't bite, she just wants to play. let her sniff them and see that they won't hurt her. then when they get to petting her, praise her and tell her how good she is. go out and do this everyday. this should help out with her barking problem. but if it doesn't. . . . then read on. . . .

sometimes dogs bark because they are insecure. take her to the park or a place where there's some people around, but make sure that there's a place where you can be sort of away from them too. take her to the spot where there aren't any people and while your walking her to that spot, kind of pay attention to her facial expressions. you know what face she is normally making, so look and see if she's making it or not. chances are that she is making her everyday normal face. after you have confirmed that, walk her to the spot where there are some people. don't take her too close, maybe about 30 feet away, but make sure that she sees them.**pay close attention to her face**. when she starts barking, look at her face. if she looks kind'a jumpy or a little over excited, then she could be barking out of insecurity. all that this means is that she isn't sure about the people that she is seeing and is worried about what they may do. or another reason for this is the simple fact that she doesn't want anyone to come by you because they might hurt you, or she just wants you all to herself. if this is the case, then i would start teaching her some basic commands. believe it or not, this can make a dog more secure and may stop the barking at people all together.

[Jennseng83]

thank you so much. it's getting better now, but all she wants to do is play with them. thank you!!! :agree: