Okay, this is ridiculous

vraiblonde

vraiblonde

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Apollo is once again losing his mind because the yard guy is here cutting the grass. This happens not only when my grass is being cut, but whenever a neighbor is cutting their grass as well. He, Apollo, runs around frantically, barking like an idiot, non-stop until the mower goes away.

He is not suffering from lack of attention; he gets plenty of exercise; he is highly socialized. I have tried rewarding him with treats when he responds to "Quiet" and using my deep mean voice for "No barks" when he's going off. We have tried to desensitize him to the mower, which is just about as worthless of a suggestion as I've ever heard.

Right now, because I need to get some work done, I have him locked in the bedroom, where he has been keening non-stop for about 20 mins now. Like a bawling baby, I check on him, soothe him, shut the door and leave.

Ayn suggestions as to how I can get him to stop freaking out? He flips out at just about every noise, but this is the worst.
 
ICit

ICit

Jam out with ur clam out
vraiblonde said:
Apollo is once again losing his mind because the yard guy is here cutting the grass. This happens not only when my grass is being cut, but whenever a neighbor is cutting their grass as well. He, Apollo, runs around frantically, barking like an idiot, non-stop until the mower goes away.

He is not suffering from lack of attention; he gets plenty of exercise; he is highly socialized. I have tried rewarding him with treats when he responds to "Quiet" and using my deep mean voice for "No barks" when he's going off. We have tried to desensitize him to the mower, which is just about as worthless of a suggestion as I've ever heard.

Right now, because I need to get some work done, I have him locked in the bedroom, where he has been keening non-stop for about 20 mins now. Like a bawling baby, I check on him, soothe him, shut the door and leave.

Ayn suggestions as to how I can get him to stop freaking out? He flips out at just about every noise, but this is the worst.
Click to expand...

I deal with the same thing... and to a higher note. I really cant do much about my case due to the fact I trained him to alert.
(to the point any sport with a whistle... loud noise, buzzer... fireworks .. any sound like this sets him off!)


now with that said... he will stop when he is praised. (most of the time)


you may really want to try to use a toy with peanut butter..or something like that to distract him. But you dont want to set him up for failure at the same time.

so find something that HOLDS his interest.... use a few weeks... then start on small distractions while he has it. Then progress to larger distractions.


Placing him in the room and then coddling him is only praising/reinforcing the given behavior in many ways. One it isnt working on the issue at hand.. and praising the negative behavior his is now showing.
 
SoMDGirl42

SoMDGirl42

Well-Known Member
vraiblonde said:
Apollo is once again losing his mind because the yard guy is here cutting the grass. This happens not only when my grass is being cut, but whenever a neighbor is cutting their grass as well. He, Apollo, runs around frantically, barking like an idiot, non-stop until the mower goes away.

He is not suffering from lack of attention; he gets plenty of exercise; he is highly socialized. I have tried rewarding him with treats when he responds to "Quiet" and using my deep mean voice for "No barks" when he's going off. We have tried to desensitize him to the mower, which is just about as worthless of a suggestion as I've ever heard.

Right now, because I need to get some work done, I have him locked in the bedroom, where he has been keening non-stop for about 20 mins now. Like a bawling baby, I check on him, soothe him, shut the door and leave.

Ayn suggestions as to how I can get him to stop freaking out? He flips out at just about every noise, but this is the worst.
Click to expand...

I saw a episode of "The Dog Whisperer" not too long ago with this same issue. The dog looked like it turned into Cujo everytime he heard a lawnmower and tried to attack it. He had that dog walking beside the lawnmower in about 3 minutes. Look the episode up and watch it. Cesear is amazing.
An Aggressive Shiba Inu and a Lawn Mower-Attacking Wire Fox Terrier | Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan
 
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vraiblonde

vraiblonde

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Distracting him hasn't worked in the past. He gets completely tunnel-visioned on the mower noise and has no interest in anything else. I would feed him small treats when he responded to "quiet" but I suspect he thinks he's being rewarded for barking, not for shutting up. It would work as long as he was actively eating the treat, then back to crazy.

I'll watch the Dog Whisperer and see if he doesn't have a usable method. Apollo does the same thing with the vacuum cleaner as well, but I just stick him in the bedroom when I'm cleaning house.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

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Hmmm....
The best way to approach a dog with an unfamiliar object is to utilize whatever motivates him and that can be through affection, food, or going to the door with the leash. Make him relate the unfamiliar object to a positive experience, while he is calm and submissive and without making him feel trapped.
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He does like food and affection, and that also plays into the distraction thing ICIT was talking about. It's not that the lawn mower is unfamiliar to him, he just hates the sound it makes.

The trick will be to get to him before he starts barking, so he doesn't think the lovey lovey is a reward for frantic behavior.
 
Vince

Vince

......
vraiblonde said:
Distracting him hasn't worked in the past. He gets completely tunnel-visioned on the mower noise and has no interest in anything else. I would feed him small treats when he responded to "quiet" but I suspect he thinks he's being rewarded for barking, not for shutting up. It would work as long as he was actively eating the treat, then back to crazy.

I'll watch the Dog Whisperer and see if he doesn't have a usable method. Apollo does the same thing with the vacuum cleaner as well, but I just stick him in the bedroom when I'm cleaning house.
Click to expand...
Never had the mower problem, but the vacuum....yeah, Pepper would bark at that thing from the time I got it out until I put it away. But all I had to do was tell her to go to her bed. She would go, but lay in her bed quietly woofing. It was funny.
 
ICit

ICit

Jam out with ur clam out
vraiblonde said:
Hmmm....


He does like food and affection, and that also plays into the distraction thing ICIT was talking about. It's not that the lawn mower is unfamiliar to him, he just hates the sound it makes.

The trick will be to get to him before he starts barking, so he doesn't think the lovey lovey is a reward for frantic behavior.
Click to expand...

this is why i stated to work with him ... ONLY with a kong with peanut butter... or bone with PB... or filled with what ever.... I have a list of crap u could try..


you need to get him to where THIS IS the focus....

dude... i keep the small raw marrow bones in the freezer for times like this..... like when my dad comes over... they will go off and get all crazy...

each will get a bone...and wuuusssaaaaaa.. in the crates, not even worried about my dad!

I can use this method outside when they mow the common areas... they dont move!!!!!
 
ICit

ICit

Jam out with ur clam out
Chasey_Lane said:
Wait, I take it back. Get him a bark collar. When he barks, he gets a shock. Shouldn't take him long to figure out.
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not always.... i have tried that with my hound...

doesnt bother him at all.... also my friend used one on her dog.. he found that if he barked in a low sound it wont shock him.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

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He's a barky dog anyway - anything and everything sets him off. So I'll try what ICIT said and smear his chewy with peanut butter, see if that doesn't distract him. The weekend is coming, with its constant lawn mowing, so that will be a good time to work with him.
 
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