Urgent Help Required!

[elissa]

She's never done it before, but since her last heat (which she finished a week ago) Chewie has been showing a lot of guarding behavior... She wuffs at people approaching us when out on.walks (tail wagging, so friendly, but no pulling towards hence me thinking guarding) but if she spots another dig she goes in to full on bark. I reprimand her and hold her jaws to try and stop her barking, but nothing seems to be working and obviously I don't want to smack her.. But I just done know what to do, it's totally anti-social and she shuts up when she get near them, Hasan sniff and determines they're not a threat, but before that the barking is so bad. I know little dogs especially can get very territorial and protective of their owners, but I kinda hoped it would stop after her heat passed. It hasn't. Any tips would be loved!!

 

[charmedwolf]

I'd wait a little bit for her hormones to come back to normal a bit. Females can be a little crazy after their heats.

However, it doesn't sound like guarding. If she was guarding, she definitely wouldn't be friendly towards the dogs/people she was greeting. Most likely she is a little fearful of the other dogs approaching her but does calm down when she realizes that they will respect her space. Your grabbing of her mouth is probably making the bark worse because now she can't "warn" them away.

Kikopup has a video series about barking but this is the one that should help you with the situation your in.:

 

[southerngirl]

Charmedwolf gave good advice and Kikopup is great. I don't have anything to add. I'm sure others will have some other ways you can try too.

 

[elissa]

Last night she did it again, so this time I covered her eyes instead of her mouth and it seemed to work! She only barks if she sees them... weird little dog.

 

[southerngirl]

Instead of covering her eyes call her over to you and havea her do "Watch me" that way your not having to cover her eyes. And also you may want to teach "LAT" to teach her to see a dog and not bark at it.

You should really try charmedwolf's advice much better than covering eyes.

 

[lindsay_dogids]

Do you think she is reacting out of fear of the other dog? Or is it more excitement?

Just a few ideas for brainstorming. You probably know all this already ...

If she is a little fearful/unsure, she is likely barking to scare the dog away. I would teach her a "watch me" command as suggested - great idea! Just try to work from a distance she is comfortable with and then very slowly over many sessions get closer and closer to the dogs. For example, if she reacts at 20 feet, practice "watch me" from 30 feet. I realize you can't always control the distance, so have some highly valued treats ready for those close encounters you can't avoid. Hold them right in front of her nose while calmly moving away from the other dog.

On the other hand, if she is just super excited to see another dog, she may be barking out of extreme excitement and possibly frustration because she can't get to them fast enough. If that's the case, then the real "reward" is the other dog, so I would only move towards the other dog when she is calm. If she pulls and barks, then you would simply turn and walk away. "Too bad." Once she's calm, walk towards the dog again. Repeat. Repeat.