Hi - We bred our shar pei bitch earlier this year, she had one pup - a beautiful bitch in March this year, who we have named hollie, we love them both to bits.

Mum is quiet and well behaved, pup is a typical puppy - chews everything, eats everything etc etc.

Hollie is 7 months old and now stands taller than her mother although she isn't as muscular. My problem is that now shes quite a large dog, barking at strangers and chasing them isn't quite so funny as people first thought.

Don't get me wrong we have not encouraged her, we have taken her training but she just barks etc all the way through every session thus spoiling it for everyone else.

I bought her a muzzle the other day, and as she has a wide muzzle but the distance from nose to eyes is small, it was uncomfortable and she was able to get it off after much concentrated effort.

we can put up with the chewing and everything else that goes with having a dog but what can I do to stop her barking, please do not say ignore her - we have done this for several months in training.
is there a product that you would recommend. thanks joanne

ps - hollie does wag her tail as she is barking - but she is clearly frightened and does calm down if its a visitor to the house but outside of the house she will just bark and bark at them, even chase after them as I have said. she is trained to sit - lie - leave etc etc - I have even trained her to take treats nicely from me rather than snatching at it, she is very easy to train and was so from very early on.

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Please be patient, jlbateman - I'm sure one of our Shar-pei specialists will be along sometime.

Hi there

I'm not hot on Shar pei s as a breed, but from what you have written it seems that she is indeed nervous and that is why she barks. Do you feel this is why she barks?

My dog is a BSD and had some very barky phases - yes, ignoring does work but is almost impossible to implement as even people looking, sighing etc will encourage. However the reason for your Pei barking may be different to mine :)My dog was not scared but excited and frustrated.

I would recommend really upping her socialisation and if she will not be too stressed (signs of stress: sweaty paws, dilated pupils, fast light panting, obvious anxiety etc) then take her to areas where there are lots of people and make it a rewarding experience for her. The idea behind this is that, because there are lots of people, she will gradually realise she can't bark at them all and should stop being so reactive. When she does ignore someone give her praise and a treat and so on.

There is a collar which will spray your dog when she barks, but you really need to know why she is barking - for example if she is scared, using this collar would be very unfair to her :(

If you trust your trainer and she has suggested ignoring her, it may work. My dog took a very long time to stop barking - i used a variety of methods such as distracting her with a toy, (briefly) then rewarding her with a toy; also practising "Watch" and getting her to do little exercises helped as she was thinking rather than barking.

There is a Pei breeder on here, hopefully she will see your post and be able to help.

Best wishes
Lindsay

im sorry, although i own and breed pei, ive never had a barking one,------- i really dont no what to suggest other than trying one of the collars that spray them when they bark.,

Have you taught her to be quite? Everytime she barks use a command and give her a correction while on lead. Once she is quite praise/treat. I use shut when I want mine to stop barking. You do not want to praise her in any way for this behaviour and don't tense up on the leash that will just cause her to do it more, don't raise your voice it will only seem like you are joining in with her. Set it up by having someone come over and just before she goes to bark give her the correction and command then praise/treat if she was quite, you could even have this person offer her a treat. If she won't take it from someone then while she is sitting and is quite just have them drop it in front of her. She see's her barking as scaring people off so she feels she is doing good because they go away, thats why I suggest to set something up so when she does bark people don't go away instead they come over to talk to you and ignore her but have her in a sit or even a down is better because it is harder to bark in a down. Don't allow her to get up hold the leash and step on the other part closest to her this way if she goes to get up she gets a correction without you bending down to do it it's all ready done by you stepping on the leash. If she does go to bark lift your foot a bit and pull on the leash to give a correction and tell her shut (or what word u chose) then continue your talking if she is quite then treat/praise.

Hope this made sense and helps some :)

ttfn :)

Many thanks for all your suggestions - I have taken her to a large dog show and found that she stopped barking as soon as she realised there were too many people to bark at. When out for a walk she comes across people but by this time my partner has her off the lead (its in a field) and has no control over her. I have suggested she goes back on the lead and we start again, so i'll try all you have said with her on her lead. thanks again. (looking forward to the pei breeders comments) joanne

Going back to basics if often the best idea :)

When you are at dog shows etc. again and she is "good" like she was before, give her lots of food rewards (or toy if she prefers them?) This is called classical conditioning - a dog learning to associate one thing with another - so after a period of time for example, she will come to associate people at shows with feeling good and not be anxious..... and so on.

Lindsay

mine are never ever off the lead outside---i dont think you can trust them to recall, they go deaf !!!1, a flexi is used outside

thanks again for replys.

I have taken hollie out twice yesterday with a collar which stops her pulling, after a tense start she became accustomed to the collar (although she tries to get free whenever my concentration fades) following lots of praise and treats.

I sat her down when a stranger approached and stroked her and assured her as they went by, this seemed to work a little better although I could feel her throat rumbling as she tried to resist the temptation! She's a very greedy dog so i'm sure treats are going to work.

I have asked my partner not to exercise mum and pup together as he takes them out at 10pm for a run in a field (leashed until they get there of course), so Hollie will have to become more socialised before she's allowed that treat again. (I feel so cruel, despite being pleased at her progress from the first attempt!)

But I know its back to basics for her, she's such a lovely dog I want everyone to love her

thanks again
joanne

Hi Joanne

The Dog Show thing certainly worked with my dobe girl. She was never keen on people, especially those who wanted to pet her. She now associates Dog Shows with a day out and of lots of treats. She only has to see someone wearing a bumbag and she goes into full "look at me I'm beautiful" mode! She will by people and lift her paw up whilst trying her hardest to look appealing! It never fails!!!

Good luck and dont get disheartened if you dont get quick results - just keep at it.

BFN
Karen

Molly is the same. Just been for our night time walk and she barks at everyone (not that we see more than a dozen or so people) - she is excited though not scared as she loves children and barks at them but of course scares everyone away - and she is only a shih tzu. Barney is as good as gold. I just said to my husband that we should take her to a boot fair in the local park next time it is on and walk round the edges so she doesnt get trod on to see if this will work. The word sit doesnt mean a thing when she is happy and excited and barking. Yet when we reach a kerb she will stay until she is told to cross (always on a lead of course). She is 22 months now and we are still trying with her. Glad others on here think the idea of crowds might help.

Gina

Well done Joanne, sounds as if you are determined to take a proactive role and that's good :)

Just one word of warning however - don't stroke and reassure Hollie when she gets upset/anxious/angry as she MAY take this to mean you are rewarding her for being this way. It's best to be relaxed yourself, if necessary be very "jolly" but not "poor Hollie" kind of thing.... do you see what i mean? If it is difficult just ignore her but big rewards for good behaviour, also rewards for people just being around.... This is why the crowd thing can be good as long as it doesn't make her too stressed, because she can't possibly bark at everyone but can be rewarded just for "being around" people :) It does work beautifully :)

Have fun - I am sure she is a lovely girlie and a wonderful companion.

Llindsay

thanks karen, lindsay and gina

I took her out last night and was back to square one, the little monkey, but i'll keep trying