Seriously cannot get my pug to stop barking

The Coffee Shop
1

my male pug, Buster, just won’t shut up!

my girl, Maddie, just looks at him as if he’s got a mental defect, “what are you barking at retard?!”

my vet downed the no-bark-collar, so have not tried it (because vet isn’t favorable towards it, and will be set off by Maddie if she barks, etc)

i have tried the hush and close his mouth technique; as well as having praise and click; and commanding QUIET. these things do not work. he is just too head strong and continues barking.

so, i just went in the room (where he was barking endlessly), commanded “STOP BARKING” , spanked him with rolled up paper and literally carried him into my office and closed the door. he is now sleeping at my feet with Maddie on thier little fleece bed.

obviously, this worked, but is it ok to spank him with paper?
i felt bad, but am happy he finally shut up and is behaving!

this male pug seems to push the envelope–and will behave how he wants until i extend more severe dominance (ie, like this spanking with paper, shouting NO BARKING, carrying him in here and closing the door. after doing this he finally behaves).

also, he was pulling me really hard on the leash. i would say, “don’t pull!” and stop. then we’d walk a few steps, he’s pull some more. i even bought a leash that gave resiliance to pulling–i think this only made him develop more muscles as he would really pull hard on it to get his way. he put me back into the PT with achy back over this behavior!

so, i had to take him off the reslience leash (because it actually allowed me less control and caused me back pain) and put him back on the regular 6 foot nylon leash. now when he pulls, i check him with an aggressive snapping pull back on his harness, stop walking, and command “DON’T PULL!!!” after this, finally, he has stopped pulling me.

i hate to have to be this assertive, but it looks like that’s what it takes to stop the bad behavior.

am i doing the right things?
i want to be a good dog mom; have an obidient dog, but shape behavior the right way. please advise.

2

Sounds to me like he is testing the waters on who is dominant in the relationship.

Anyways, a dog in our training class had MAJOR barking issues (big dog with a big bark). They put a bark collar on him so that when he barked it set off a spray to teach him that barking is bad. That one worked well (until another dog barked in the class and he still got a facefull of the spray).

Leash pulling - get a no-pull harness or a gentle leader. That puts an end to leash pulling very quickly.

Newspaper swatting is entirely appropriate in my opinion.

3

How about the penny can? Have you tried that?

You put a handful of pennies in a tin can and duct tape it closed. Whenever his bad behavior starts up, give the can a loud shake and say NO. I think you are supposed to find a way to keep the can out of sight so that he doesn’t know where the awful sound comes from; he just knows that whenever he barks, it happens. Obviously, this only works if he finds the noise to be offensive. Our trainer had us throw the can so that it landed near them. For our guys, it didn’t really work, but on a different type of dog, I’ve seen it work.

4

thanks very much!

we didn’t get him until he was 1; and now he is in his terrible 2’s. we didn’t have the chance to shape his behavior from puppy-hood; and some of the bad behaviors weren’t delt with at an early age, so we’re trying to correct him now. it’s gone well, for the most part, but sometimes he likes to put on a power struggle. generally it isn’t until i exert myself very strongly that his shenanigans stop.

my breeder told me to never be harsh to a pug as their motive is to please. i find that very true with Maddie, but Buster is in a league of his own. he’s a lovable little slug, but man…there are days where he is downright cantankerous and acts like a little shit.

5

Have you tried squirting him with water? I have a water bottle and when mine starts misbehaving I squirt him. It gets his attention fast.

6

There are some schools of thouught that say the barking is an attention thing–in his mind, ANY attention is good attention. By you coming in to get him, talking to him, and then picking him up to be with you (granted, in an aprupt manner :-)), HE is getting what he wants. Your attempt to punish him is still reinforcing his behavior.

We had a similar issue with our dog and mouthing/licking/pawing at us–we were disciplining her and saying no, rearding her when she stopped, and not getting anywhere…but then our trainer suggested we ignore her COMPLETELY, no matter what she did. Eventually, she’d get bored, and stop. As SOON as she did and was sitting quietly, then she got a treat.

There’s also the option of using the come-when-called “distraction” method… This article explains it pretty well: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1378

7

thanks Pam, i’ll do that.

in the garden, if he’s out there acting like a jackass, i’ll whip the water on him. it has worked! would probably really work in the house. will try it!

Also, to correct myself, Buster doesn’t bark–he flings himself maddly at the thing he (is literally) screaming at. if he does this outside, passer-byers just crack up at this little muscle head going berzerk.

ok, he just broke out of the office and is now back to shenanigans. dear god give me the strength…

8

thanks, i’m going to print this and share it with my husband!

9

Before you take anymore action, STOP! Take a deep breath, slowly count to ten, … then beat him like a rented mule. :=)

.

10

Before you take anymore action, STOP! Take a deep breath, slowly count to ten, … then beat him like a rented mule. :=)

.

that made my day. :slight_smile:

he is now on my lap, and my nice black shirt has white pug fur all over it.
it’s hot, let me tell you.

i tell Buster, “you’re a good boy…for the most part.”

11

OK - ditch the rolled up newspaper - you will train your dog to become hand shy. Never hit a dog with an overhead approach.

The water botltle will work.

What you really need to do is take him by the scruff on both side of the neck, get in his face, and tell him to behave in a firm, low tone. Do not release him until he stops this behaviour. Also, you have the option of crating when the behaviour gets out of hand.

As to the pulling on the leash - what type of collar are you using? There are many tarining techniques to deal with this, but if you have him on something that does not allow for an effective correction, you are fighting an uphill battle. If he is really problematic - a pinch collar for a short period of time will work ownders if properly used. Ah - sorry - jsut read you are using a harness - lose it and go to a proper correction collar or pinch collar - you will never teach a strong will dog to watch you using a harness - they are designed for the dog to be ahead of you doing what they want - you just limit their distance of travel. I only use harness for training tracking dogs, not house pets.

I know there are certain branches of dog training that are opposed to correction collars (old read, - choke chains - which they don’t if they are used properly) or pinch collars, but I still find them the most effective way to deal with challenging dog personalities.

Finally -take the time and get thee to a good obedience class ASAP.

12

it does work when i get in his face, he backs down instantly. then he wants to “make it up” to me by laying at my feet or cuddling up in my lap. he is like a small child that wants to apologize for behaving badly. but then he eventually goes back to barking, or freaking out at the television.

that is interesting about the rolled up paper. i don’t want that to happen, so am glad i asked!

also, i do think Buster needs more physical activity than Maddie. Since Maddie has a lung love torsion, and with the heat, i’ve kept them reduced walking (they still walk about 4 times a day, just for shorter amount of time like 15 minutes). so, now i’m going to walk them, bring Maddie in and walk Buster a little more. i’ve noticed that some of this behavior is recent, and could be out of displaced energy. we’ll see.

13

***it does work when i get in his face, he backs down instantly. then he wants to “make it up” to me by laying at my feet or cuddling up in my lap. he is like a small child that wants to apologize for behaving badly. but then he eventually goes back to barking, or freaking out at the television. ***

OK - that is good - you just have to be on it the second it happens again. I am going through similar issues with a 5 months old scottish terrier - and you haven’t lived til you work with terrier tempermant. You cannot afford to show any remorse, or any variation in what you expect them to do. So though it may be tiring for you, If you stop him within 10 seconds of barking, you cannot let him go a minute plus before you react again. Consitency of message is critical.

More exercise may help - but it won’t solve your pulling problem. Remember, you are talking the dog for a walk, not the converse. If they are pulling, they are not paying attention to you and doing what they damn well what they feel like. Until you get them to consistently focus on you and your requests, they will run this dominant behaviour as long as they can.

Like I said - a good obedience class would not be out of order. I trained porfessionally for 9 years (CKC, AKC upt to UD level, and up to Schutzhund II level). These are all correctable behaviour, but much of it is teaching the owners how to be consistant in their behaviours so the dog knows what is expected.

14

Thanks Jim, i value your time and knowledge & giving me this information!

i’ll look around for a class; so many require several weeks on the weekends; so need something more condusive to schedules. but i agree, it’s a great idea. many things we’ve been able to correct, but the barking is the most problematic. the other big problem is when we watch films, he gets wound up and will literally charge the television console and bark at the tv. gunshots; basketball; anything very exciting makes him charge and bark. obidience could probably correct that too.

there was a pug on American’s Funniest Videos who charged the tv, and won 10 grand for it. to us though, it’s not so funny. :slight_smile:

15

You might want to try having his leash and collar on when you are watching your films. that way you can issue an immediate correction when he charges the TV.

My guess is that he was left alone for significant times when he was younger. Often if pups are alone and they hear a strange noise (car backfire, banging, doorbells etc) - they get scared and bark. Then the noise goes away. In the dogs mind this is like magic - I make a big noise and scary noisy things disappear. So they get these agressive tendencies reinforced early in life. It is time consuming to correct, but generally doable, especially in your case where you are around most of the time.

Good luck, and fire any more questions my way. Or you could fly me out there for training classes. I’m easy, but not cheap.

16

My mom’s pugle is a little shit. She gets whatever she wants and is quite annoying. I went to visit her last T-day and as soon I walked in the house, Lucy jumped up on me. I threw her down on the ground by her neck into a submissive position and she didn’t like it. She actually bit me, not hard, but still bit me. After that, she was deathly afraid of me and would bark and bark and bark and growl at me. It was quite hilarious because Lucy loves people. She was totally scared of me. This happened at about 8pm at night and the next day, Lucy still didn’t like me. I had my mom put Lucy on her leash and then I walked into the room and took the leash from my mom. I was just firm with Lucy and gave her a nice tug whenever she didn’t do anything that I didn’t like. I did a decent amount of the submissive position thing and she quickly learned that I was the boss. She would jump on the couch, I would tell her “No!” and she would get off. She would bark and I would say “Shhhhhhhh!” and she would shut up. She would jump up on people, I would snap, and she wouldn’t jump on people anymore. She was completely submissive towards me. I praised her when she did stuff good so she wasn’t completely fearful of me. I just made it clear that I was the boss and then she listened. I probably got that dog more disciplined in 24 hours than the obedience class that my mom took her to.

17

Jim, you’re brilliant!

And yes, you’re right, he was alone to about 1 year old–in a kennel with the breeder. i noticed she kept him in his “bin” (giant fenced in kennel spot) alone. but he did bark alot when i met him (that was a sign, right? lol)

keeping him on a leash while watching tv is such a great thing to do; will try tonight and i’m sure that will be the right remedy.

to the other poster about the female pug; mine is similar, and really wants me to be pleased. buster is the same, just more hard headed! :slight_smile: they are great dogs though.

Thanks Jim, i owe you! :slight_smile:

18

Good luck with this one, Kitty. Problem is that if he barks when you are not around, there is no one to impose the “correction”, whether its the water spray, the penny can (this is a good one for lots of things) or something else. Also, I would just use “no” for everything you don’t want him to do. Try to keep his required vocabulary to a minimum. So don’t say “Don’t, NO, STOP, CUT IT OUT YOU LITTLE SHIT”. Just “NO”.

Barking and chewing things up are two really hard ones to deal with. Maybe he’ll stop barking and start chewing. Maybe it is anxiety related, and you could see if the vet will get a tranquilizer. If they don’t work on the dog, you can take them.

And some dogs, like people, are just dumbasses and there is nothing you can do with them to make them acceptable in your home.

19

Kittycat! Don’t despair… there are some great words of wisdom in the responses you have had so far. Several of which I had to employ in years gone by with my older furbaby (who is now 11 years old and, other than her desire to hunt motorcycles when we are driving, is a complete sweetheart). When she was a baby, she was a holy terror. Barking, digging, pulling, eating the house (carpet, window edges, furniture, wallpaper and sheetrock, etc.), charging the fence and front door… she did it all. Following is everything that finally worked with her over the years…

  1. DAP (Doggy Appeasing Pheromones) - Available online from Drs. Foster and Smith - A man-made imitation of the pheromones that nursing female dogs emit. Works like a plug-in room deodorizer. The pheremones allegedly lead to a calmer, more relaxed and content dog. They work for both Samantha, and my younger one, Socrates, who suffers from separation anxiety.

  2. The pennies in the can did not work for Sam, but friends have had great success with their dogs. For that, as well as for just blatant disobedience, I had to resort to shows of dominance. As someone already said, gently grasp your pup by the loose skin on either side of his face. The trick though is to also stare at him… you must hold eye contact. No matter what, do not be the one who looks away. You need to hold eye contact until he averts his gaze. Once he does, praise him and make over him. If he refuses to look away, you will need to take it a step further. Roll him over to his back, forcing him into a submissive posture, then grasp his neck and stare him down. It will take a while, but if you are consistent, you will soon have a pup that will stop when you first say no (or in case of my Soc, who grew up watching Sam be so treated, a good glare will do the trick, he refuses to make any eye contact). I also found that raising my voice only raised hers. The best voice was a calm, strong, in charge voice.

  3. I second the vote for the pinch collar. Just please, please, make sure you use it properly and gently. The benefit to the pinch collar is that it works to self correct the dog. The dog pulls, the dog gets pinched. You don’t have to pull back, jerk, etc. Simply reinforce with voice commands. I tried the harness and halter both on Sam and she would flip herself upside down trying to get out of them. It was not pretty. With the pinch collar, she doesn’t pull or lunge, saving my shoulders a lot of strain. This is also what I used to teach her not to charge the backyard fence or the front door.

  4. Crate training (or room restrictions) - I did not crate train either of mine in the traditional sense. However, I did limit which rooms they could have access to when I wasn’t at home (damage control). If you do crate train, remember that the crate is your dogs safety zone, a den if you will. The mistake many people make is to use the crate as punishment. Crate your dog to keep him out of trouble, and leave the crate open so he can choose to go there if he needs his own space and down time. His crate should be a pleasant place to be, not the place he gets put when he is being rejected by his human family.

  5. What I learned to not do: I am not a fan of spraying a dog with water. One main reason is that eventually, you will want to give him a bath. He will not understand why you expect him to hold still and enjoy something that the day before you used as punishment on him. And, an earlier poster was very correct in his observations about spanking or using a rolled up newspaper. It will make a dog hand shy and possibly make it feel like it has to protect itself when a stranger approaches with a raised hand.

I think a general good rule of thumb is to try to take a natural approach, if possible, in training. Use dominance, use rewards, use the dog’s own actions… those will work best for you. Years ago, I applied the same approach to working with horses. So many people refer to teaching a horse to handle a rider as “breaking”. We don’t want to ever “break” our companion animals, simply “train” them to respond in positive ways as members of our families.

20

Leash pulling - get a no-pull harness or a gentle leader. That puts an end to leash pulling very quickly.

Actually it just teaches them to be better when wearing that type of leash and does not change overall behavior. This comes from the trainer we used for my dog, a number of things I have read on the web and some dog training shows on tv.