So I have a young dachshund puppy that barks at people that she doesn't know well. In the past, my wife would take the dog with her to work (it was a very pet-friendly office) and she worked at the front desk. She bought a little dog gate and the dog would stay back behind the desk, and only yip or bark occasionally when people came back behind the desk. She is a neurotic dog that we believe was probably abused prior to our having her, and she is incredibly protective of my wife (which probably only increases the barking). My wife left her job and trained her replacement when she went on maternity leave. Unfortunately, we lost our daughter and she has been offered a different position at her old company, but one where she works in a bullpen-style cubicle area with others in the accounting department. She tried today (being her first day back) to bring the dog and keep it in its kennel under her desk, but the dog barked at every person who came over to see her until a co-worker asked her to take the dog outside and put in the car because it was distracting (which I totally understand). We're not quite sure what to do here - we live in an apartment and leaving the dog at home isn't a good option for us (though one we may have to consider). The dog is REALLY affectionate and not really that aggressive, but super nervous. Has anyone used anything like bark collars or anything like that? I'm getting desperate to figure out what can be done. Thanks!
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Wait!!...you lost your daughter! So sorry. How's your wife? As for the dog problem, you just described a dachshund to a T...protective and noisy. Do you know why they were bred? To crawl into holes and, otherwise, bark. If she can't take the dog to work, maybe consider a companion yiper. Maybe a Russel Terriers? You know why they were bred...to run sentry on the perimeter of a castle and bark as first line to alert the panzer division Pinchers in the rear. You have a barker. I actually would recommend adopting a retired racing greyhound. They are so calming.
yea sounds like the dog is insecure and fearful which is causing the barking. My boss swears by the bark off thing that someone else posted above but if your dog is nervous and fearful I think that just may scare it even more. Good luck
Taking a dog to work? That is rare. Get a cage and leave the dog in it when you are gone. That is what a lot of people do and its actually not torturing the dog as some may think. Way better than shock collars which I think is kind of cruel.
Use squirt bottles of water. When your dog barks at something it's not supposed to, give a squirt to the face (not around the eyes). I have a one year old German Shepherd and it works wonders on her. As I'm teaching my dog I always have a small spray bottle with me at all times. When water becomes ineffective you can add a little vinegar or lemon juice.
Most shock collars are not harmful to dogs. Its just a minor shock that is supposed to get the dogs attention when he barks. Some dogs, like mine, are in no way affected by the shock because it really isn't painful to them at all it just surprises them. Once they get used to the surprise, they ignore it completely and just bark... at least this is how it works with my dog. Once the battery ran out, I stopped using it because it didn't have the affect I was hoping for
you underestimate a dachshund. I probably made an assumption, but "fearful" is one too. Actually, when you think about it, one could argue that "protective" and "fearful" are the same thing to a dog, just like a marine on the front line...saying this in absolute respect for dog packs and grunt platoons.
Vets actually prescribe Xanax to dogs to deal with anxiety. http://www.vetinfo.com/xanax-dogs-anxiety.html
Maybe you can seek advice from rocketgirl <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nTIv-zLCXhw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nTIv-zLCXhw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
What kind of crazy place allows employees' pets to run free? Great, so I have to bite my tongue about the boss' shihtzu pissing all over the place because I want a raise/need some time off for Christmas? Is this common (outside of pet stores)?
Get use to it. Little B**** A** dogs like to bark a lot probably because they feel threaten by someone who is bigger than them i guess. All the chihuahuas that i have encountered and my ex gf as well as my neighbor dachshund barks at stranger non stop. They are some bossy little dogs
The barking is fear not being protective. I'm trying to find a good Dog Whisperer episode for this, but I'm not having much success. Try watching the show on National Geographic channel on Fridays. Cesar really does give good insight into dog psychology and how to act with a dog. Dogs are dogs. They are not humans and don't think like humans. You have to be a leader, train them, and correct their behavior.
While dogs barking is sometimes fear based or irrational fear based there are breeds including dachshunds that bark more than other breeds. A dachshund barking is not the same insecure barking that other dogs have. At least it isn't automatically that. The fact that the barking increased recently might indicate some level of insecurity in the dog. But all dachshund barking is not because of fear. It is because of breed. Try to tire her out with exercise before taking her to places where the barking is undesirable. Also try and let her meet the people outside of a place that the dog feels is home territory. For instance if people were coming over, sometimes taking the do outside to meet the people and then walking in with the people will reduce the dog's feeling that intruders are invading her space that she should protect.
There is a difference. It's rare for non-working breeds to be truly protective. Hell, it's pretty rare for working breeds (even breeds bred to be guard dogs) to be truly protective. In toy dogs it could be possessiveness but I'm still betting on fear.
Dachshunds are the exception to this rule. I have about 6 of them I come in contact with regularly, my best friend, brother, mom and aunt have them... and they are all insane. They'll stand up to and attack any dog, regardless of the breed or size. Dachshunds can be pretty ferocious, they are bred to hunt badgers after all. They also have bad ridiculously bad breath and lick CONSTANTLY.
Yes they are fearless dogs most of the time. Growing up our dachshund captured and cornered several possums, and raccoons. These things were scary wild animals, but our dachshund would corner them and just keep them penned barking like crazy until we came out and got the animals put away. She also would run and herd cattle at my grandparents ranch. Sometimes she would nip their heels and they would try to kick or gore her, but she always got away. She was an amazingly fearless dog. I do have a standard dachshund right now, that was adopted and had some insecurity issues matched with her instinct. She's OK off leash, but if she's on a leash and other dogs are near the house she tries to attack. She's improved with much effort, but not totally better yet.
