# Working the fence



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

My dog has been working the fence to hard, I really don’t like it or need it. I don’t have the biggest yard. I got an electric fence border and a shock collar for the fence line that keeps him back a few feet. If people walk or jog by he is working the fence too hard for too long. It’s to the point that he is barking at people he sees down the block. He is not dog aggressive at all but if someone walks by with a dog he really over does it. And he does not bark all day just for barking he just over does it when he sees something. I really don’t need or want this and I really probably should have bit this in the butt a while ago. If I walk outside he shuts right up and I can let him out of the yard and he will be calm and social with the person. When on lead walking he is fine. Its just when he is in the yard by himself. I really don’t want to use a bark collar or set him up for corrections of some sort. I think I can get him to understand there is no need for this behavior. Any suggestions?


----------



## Edward Egan (Mar 4, 2009)

2 - e-collars set on MAX. One at the neck and one around the abdomin, preferably on or close to the genitials!

\\/\\/\\/

Sorry I couldn't resist.


----------



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

Edward Egan said:


> 2 - e-collars set on MAX. One at the neck and one around the abdomin, preferably on or close to the genitials!
> 
> \\/\\/\\/
> 
> Sorry I couldn't resist.


Might cause other problems, no? Should I call a trainer that does this stuff?


----------



## Edward Egan (Mar 4, 2009)

Ya ahhhhh, I think Red or something or another, he sells them too. 8)


----------



## James Lechernich (Oct 20, 2009)

What about introducing a STFU command or going the slow route taking the dog inside everytime it barks/aggresses along the fenceline until it makes the connection?


----------



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

I have been going out there and tell him his command to cool it all is OK, Is that the same as STFU, I am sorry I am not familiar. If I or someone is outside in the yard with him he his fine. He knows this is not an approved behavior but is giving me the big FU. We do take him inside many times as well. There has been some effort made by me over the past few weeks but its been pissing in the wind. With a few nice days there are more people walking around. When no one is home he has been barking at the windows, even putting his paws on the sill. I am going to be placing a little electric surprise on the sill. He wasn’t always like this somehow I allowed for him to get into this habit overtime. I just let it get a bit too far and got to start turning it around.


----------



## James Lechernich (Oct 20, 2009)

Chris McDonald said:


> I have been going out there and tell him his command to cool it all is OK, Is that the same as STFU, I am sorry I am not familiar.


STFU = shut the **** up.

Different than reassuring the dog with an 'it's okay', or the like. Someone mentioned being able to(or having done it already) to teach their dog to void on command, so I figure why not a STFU command also? I watched some of your other videos, seems like you got your dog doing some heavy duty stuff, so this should be easy.


Don't have much to offer for the barking while you're not home routine. It's a pain in the ass and I've had trouble with it myself.


----------



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

oh, we got the “cut the shit” command. We have been there too recently. I want to try to do this without a bark collar. I think he might be doing it out of boredom and is trying to get me out of the house? He became very wise to the fence collar and I think the same will happen with a bark collar. They only work when they are on and the batteries are good. Im gona try and work on fixing this without that stuff. Id like to tell you im gona out smart him but it hasn’t happened yet


----------



## James Lechernich (Oct 20, 2009)

I don't know anything about electrics so I can't help you there.

How much are you exercising the dog when you're home with him? Tire his ass out in the morning before work and he'll probably chill out most of the day. You can also try keeping the windows draped closed so he's not visually stimulated by neighbors and passers by. Works okay with dogs that aren't trying to bust through the window to get to people. Some of the pet behavior types say playing music helps keep them quiet, too. But I haven't tried that one yet.


----------



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

I find it real hard to tire him out to the point of really noticing it. They seem to recover after an hour nap. It takes a freaking half a day of running and swimming to make him drag ass slightly. Then he is just at the fence or window just a few seconds later than usual. I let this habit go for too long, it might just take a good bit of time to reverse it the happy ass way. Or a couple of very well timed corrections might do it in a day or two?


----------



## James Lechernich (Oct 20, 2009)

Corrections will most likely curb his malfunction in your presence, but I'm not sure about while your gone. I do think a couple of weeks of hard exercise and consistentcy(like closing the drapes and taking him inside the second he starts to **** around) is worth a shot.


----------



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

Yes I think your right that has been the game we are playing. I will keep playing it for a while but it might be a slow go. 

thanks


----------



## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I'll agree with James. 
They can be perfect while your home but will soon learn the control is gone when you are.


----------



## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

It is a displacement behavior, and with winter probably meaning not a lot of fun with the highschoolers in the suits, he is relieving a little tension, or a lot of tension. Need to get him out and let him get tired.


----------



## Carlos Machado (Dec 28, 2008)

A throw chain can help or rubber bands with no verbal they are less likely to associate you with the correction so more likely to behave in you absence, but some barking when you are away is a good thing people won't look to getting in your place.


----------



## Lynda Myers (Jul 16, 2008)

Chris McDonald said:


> I find it real hard to tire him out to the point of really noticing it. They seem to recover after an hour nap. It takes a freaking half a day of running and swimming to make him drag ass slightly. Then he is just at the fence or window just a few seconds later than usual. I let this habit go for too long, it might just take a good bit of time to reverse it the happy ass way. Or a couple of very well timed corrections might do it in a day or two?


 
Get a treadmill for him.


----------



## Jason Hammel (Aug 13, 2009)

Someone once said a Red Ryder was the way to go.
:-\"


----------



## Ben Thompson (May 2, 2009)

Jason Hammel said:


> Someone once said a Red Ryder was the way to go.
> :-\"


No way it could make him gun shy. Maybe putting the dog up in the house or in a kennel when you are not home.


----------



## Guest (Apr 10, 2010)

If you choose the "fast easy" route you will probably make this even worse. If you have an entrenched behavior that is self reinforcing and are asking for help here then you should probably actually get some one on one assistance with this. You're hearing everything from shocking your dogs' dick, which I assume is a joke but who knows, to rubber bands to removing the stimulus and playing music. 

What you might consider is contacting someone with actual credentials in animal behavior modification to help you design a new management system that works with your lifestyle and that will move you toward your goal, not 25 different suggestions to confuse you more after you try one for a week or two and it doesn't seem to work so you move to the next and so on. Its important that you understand the motivation behind the behavior before addressing it which is something best achieved through primary observation, not an online ddescription. Those who are using the term "pet" as a derogatory classification of a less informed trainer are missing the forest for the trees. A dog is a dog. 

That being said, if you don't want to go in that direction I'd say that you can't go wrong if you stay well away from taking any advice that is going to cause your dog pain for barking at a stranger behind your fence. You could look up desensitization and counter-conditioning, emotional response, respondent or classical conditioning and associated basic behavior modification before moving on to something more hands on. I would not be surprised if your hot wire and e-collar invisi-fence system, if I am understanding what you described in your first post, have helped to build this behavior in the first place; that along with your dog's natural response to a visual stimulus he cannot get to.

There are many many factors that can play into this aside from what has already been mentioned as well as untold variation in severity and threshold levels. Fresh eyes can go a long way. 

JMO


----------



## Guest (Apr 10, 2010)

ps. When I say "asking for help here" I do not mean that WDF specifically is a bad place to ask for help, but rather an internet forum in general is not the best source of help for a problem like this.


----------



## Lori Longardino (Apr 4, 2009)

I realize that this will not fix this behavior completely, but how about using fencing that the dog cannot see through? Or weaving plastic weave through the chainlink so it at least cuts down on the visual sight of people and other dogs? 
~ Alex


----------



## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i'm not trying to be a smartass chris, but is there a reason the dog's left out in the yard while you're gone/in the house? is there something really valuable he's supposed to be protecting? i feel like i'm missing something here....


----------



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

No nothing in my yard. Always gotten a lot of stuff stolen from work warehouse and trucks and it gave me an excuse to myself to get a dog that barks. Obviously a dog only always works as a deterrent if he is always there and mine is not always there, he comes home with me. 
Over the past few weeks I have been keeping on him and my greyhound about this and there has been pretty big improvements. Its been pretty much just telling them to cut the shit out, its amazing when you actually do keep on something how quickly you get results. 
After looking at it I decided my greyhound was really compounding things. I don’t think If I only owned either dog alone, the one dog by itself would be barking. But the two together just became douche bags feeding off each other. 
I should have never let it start. Give a dog an inch and it will just keep on going.


----------



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

Lori Longardino said:


> I realize that this will not fix this behavior completely, but how about using fencing that the dog cannot see through? Or weaving plastic weave through the chainlink so it at least cuts down on the visual sight of people and other dogs?
> ~ Alex


I see what you’re getting at but I would rather fix things for real than hide things


----------



## Chris McDonald (May 29, 2008)

What you might consider is contacting someone with actual credentials in animal behavior modification to help you design a new management system that works with your lifestyle and that will move you toward your goal,

I don’t know if this is for real or a spoof ?


----------

