Random Barking

[Guest Greytladya]

Hello everyone. Long time greyt owner, first time poster here.

 

Has anyone experienced a situation where a newly adopted greyhound seemingly barks at nothing? And if so, did you have a good idea of why and how to address it?

 

My husband and I will be watching tv at night and our "Lucy" will get up, go in the hallway and bark. Also when she's ready to come in from the yard waiting on the patio, she looks towards the neighbor's house and barks (we've got 1.25 acre lots so it's not close). I thought at first she was barking at my neighbors, or she's letting me know she's ready to come in, or seeing the birds/squirrels, etc. but hubby thinks she was barking at a broom in the corner. I was painting her dog bowl stand yesterday on the patio and when she saw it drying on its side, she barked like crazy and it spooked her. Maybe because it was black (painted to match her fur).

 

Some background:

Lucy is a 7 yr old perfectly healthy girl with us for 3 weeks. I'm a veteran greyhound owner, having had 5 greys in the 15 or so years before her, including "Eddie" our 6 yr old male we have now. We also have a little 9 yr old Cavachon and everyone gets along well. Needless to say Lucy's the alpha. Never used crates, fenced in yard with room to run, and my husband and I work from home.

 

Lucy came from terrible racing kennel conditions, was sent to a breeding farm, and then abandoned before the greyhound rescue got her and brought her back to good health. I prefer older dogs, and her happy and sweet disposition really connected with us. But she acts more like a Doberman than a greyhound with the watchdog barking! Eddie barks too but not nearly as often, the little one barks at any unusual sounds, but they aren't barking together. Last night she was barking at midnight in the hallway after wakingme up to let her out. But on the other hand, we've had two cable techs and other visitors at the house and while the little dog barks like crazy, Eddie might bark once but not a peep from Lucy.

 

She was obviously left alone in her crate a lot and she's finally taken to blankets and pillows. She would chew the furniture by her bed out of boredom but I put bubble wrap around it and the first pop did the trick, she no longer chews furniture. While she's made good progress so far and I know it'll take time, she hasn't picked up certain cues from the other dogs uet about the daily routines yet, e.g., dinner sounds, going outside. But in all my years I've not experienced this kind of barking so any insight on the random barking would be appreciated! Thank you.

[LaFlaca]

She is perceiving something that you can't and reacting to it by barking. I had a Rhodesian Ridgeback many years ago who would bark at anything out of place...a box on the table, a coat left on the back of a chair. Very sensitive to any change in his surroundings.

 

My first Greyhound, Wendy, was a barker, too. Barked at, seemingly, nothing. So, I taught her the 'quiet' command. Actually, I used the word 'enough' and she'd settle down. Now I'm teaching 'enough' to Lola who has not barked in the year she's been home but is a furious nester which is very, very annoying when she does it in the bedroom at dark-thirty at night or early morning.

 

Don't necessarily be concerned about why she's barking just train her to stop when you ask her to.

[greysmom]

She probably barks when things make her anxious, but, as said above, it doesn't really matter why - and you will probably never be able to identify every single trigger.

 

We are actually dealing with a similar issue with our new puppy. Atom barks at everything, and barks even more if you try and correct him in any way. The solution has been "distract" and not "correct." When he starts in, we use a nice yummy treat that he really likes, ask him for a command like sit or down, as soon as he does the command he gets a treat and we add the command "quiet." It's mostly been working out except when he sits and starts barking for a treat!

 

But! The distraction may work well for your girl. Start with a *really* high value treat to reward her though, otherwise it won't break her concentration and make her look at you. Teaching her a "watch me" command at other quieter times will be something you can add in as well. You can also do something like "settle down" or "on your bed" that will send her to a specific spot when she gets to barking.

[Guest Greytladya]

Thank you both very much for your replies. I think you're right about the changes in environment. It made me look closer and I noticed a couple new things tonite. I'll start working on the correction but with positive reinforcement. Hard to believe I've got a barking greyhound! Thanks again.

[EllenEveBaz]

I followed someone's advice here and taught a "bark" command to Jeter, just so I could teach him "no barking." Works great in training sessions, not so much when I'm pulling out of the driveway and he is barking madly in protest.

[cgs]

Percy barks during the 15 seconds he might decide to play each day. Which would be fine, but it's usually after we're all in bed or before we've gotten up in the morning. So he's learning "shhh". He's catching on well.

[smurfette]

Paddy barks like mad at the poor little hedgehog family that lives in our yard. He also takes the little one for a stroll - not harming it just taking it with him... makes me scream 'leave it' like a maniac in the middle of the night (doors open due to heat wave).

Andy started barking due to his doggy dementia. He just sits on the sofa and starts barking in his high pitched puppy voice - seeking attention. But he is old... He knows the quiet command, too but often choose to ignore it and barks even louder.