# Barking at lawn mower and tractor..



## tds73

I am looking for some tips on how to get our 3 year old boy to stop barking at mower and backhoe.
It does not matter if he is in the house or in the fenced in yard, once I approach either machine he starts "freaking out" barking . Then once they start he gets even louder. Pretty sure he is not afraid of either one. If he is on leash near the mower he will bite at tires and bark madly at it. It is a Dixie Chopper and I have even had him up on it with me while it is running and I can drive and he will sit there, but once he gets off it, the barking and biting at it starts again. When I am using the backhoe, he will bark at me til he gets tired of barking, then if I change engine speed or something different, he will freak again. Even if he is in the house and out of site, if he hears one of them start or running he will freak bark again.
Any tips/suggestions of how to change this behavior would be appreciated.


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## mardad

Our Henry does the same thing with "HIS" tractor and "HIS" golf carts. Very annoying. Hope he will grow out of it.


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## yuriy

That's going to be a tough one. The only thing I can think of would be to keep him at a good distance from whatever is causing this behaviour, and rewarding quiet/positive actions when they occur. That will take time - a lot of it. Realistically, with a 3yr old dog doing this, I'd probably opt to live with it and manage things by taking him away from the mowers.


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## kshadow

He is super excited by it!
I was having the same problem with the vacuum. What worked for me was the place command.
Without you using the machines, I would practice the down stay. Then take a step closer to the machine. Back to him, Release, throw a ball or use tug toy as reward . Repeat until you are able to stand beside the machine. Start far enough from the machine for him to succeed. If he barks say ''No'' turn your back and walk away. You might have to do this with each individual machine. He is too excited and has to learn to stay calm around those. 
Once this step has succeeded. You can do the same steps as before but touch the machine, then move the machine, then start the machine etc..... 
Lots of little steps. 
I don't know if you feel comfortable with corrections but if you are already using a prong,
I would do the same steps and correct him if you need to.
I can see how this can be a huge problem since serious injuries can occur.
Good luck!


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## kshadow

Burning out his energy by playing a tiring game of fetch or tug first will help alot before the steps I gave. 
A tired dog is a much better student!


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## llombardo

Mine follow along as I mow. Midnites job is to move toys as I'm going. I yell Midnite get your toy and he moves it out of the way. He gets excited when it's time to cut the grass. Apollo waits for the grass and rolls in it--silly pup I never trained them because most of the time I prefer they are not near the machinery, but Midnite is a huge help.


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## Castlemaid

LOL, common behaviour for GSDs for some reason! I get the same type of behaviour from Gryff, and Keeta did this too (though not the barking from inside the house). 

I now always mow with a ball launcher tucked under my arm - I'll get Gryff to run after the ball so he isn't focused on the mower, and if he has a ball in his mouth, he can't bark at the same time.


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## Galathiel

I had a coated GSD that followed my dad and would catch grass clippings .. ugh. It's a wonder she didn't get bonked good by something. She DID end up with a completely green face sometimes, though.

My Varik is excited by the vacuum. I use the place command to calm his excitement down. I've also noticed that giving him something to do (like obedience commands) while in the car curbs his territorial barking if someone gets near HIS car.


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## argonne

I have exactly the same problem with farm equipment. Our 3 year old male periodically charges moving equipment, barking and snarling at the tires. He will also suddenly stop and urinate in front of moving equipment. He is the alpha (among the dogs) of our pack, and it seems like a dominance thing.

The 2 year old female, on the other hand, is utterly fearless around the equipment and "escorts" it around or rides on it. She has been around the farm for her whole life and is _too_ comfortable in situations where she should be wary (the donkey is going to kick her into the next zip code some day soon).

I'm hoping someone has dealt with these problems successfully. With tires taller than me, the dogs are unlikely to survive a "natural" object lesson, and we are not blase enough to let natural selection "solve" the problem (Well shucks, I guess that weren't a farm dog.) 

I know 2 ways I can quickly train this behavior out (shock collar or airsoft gun), but I really don't want to resort to violent methods, and locking the dogs in the house 24/7 is not an option.


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## WIBackpacker

Constant exposure, plus a combination of reward and correction (for deliberate bad behavior after they know better) has worked for me.

Initially, skip breakfast, have someone else operate your tractor/skidster/loader, and feed breakfast outside within sight/audio of the machine, with the dog on a leash. Start far away, then gradually, slowly, move closer, a day at a time. If the dog acts nutty, put the food up and try again in an hour or so.

Go on walks in new subdivisions under construction where they're excavating/grading/landscaping. Keep a tug or something high value in your pocket. When you're within sight of the machine, play a little tug on the sidewalk. If the dog acts nutty, the toy goes away, leash correct, and sit. Ask garden centers or stone supply companies if you can visit with an on leash dog to practice training. Sit by the bulk bins while they load mulch or gravel. Make sure you buy something, and thank them. 

After you work on desensitizing to as much loud equipment as you can, I feel it's appropriate to correct the dog (on leash) any time they act like a fool around any vehicle or tractor. I'm really strict about this one, it's an offense equal to harassing livestock or trying to eat the cat. I work in the construction industry, we have all kinds of heavy diesel equipment running around, and my dogs occasionally visit job sites with me as well as storage yards/quarries. My adult dog has learned to ignore everything - she can stand next to a quad axle that backfires, or an excavator, and ignore it. I'm working with my puppy on the same.

I think part of the key is getting your dogs around a LOT of loud equipment (not just yours) so they learn to generalize. I'm also very glad I decided not to run my dogs alongside our 4-wheeler or gator - I don't want any confusion that ends up with them chasing a vehicle or coming into contact with tires. It would be very easy to exercise them this way - and I know a lot of people that do - but I won't.


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## argonne

Lots of good info in your post, thank you.


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## KimC

My dog freaks out the same as I get on my quad/lawn tractor? She is ok until it starts then the barking and biting of fires is out of control !! She is a 3 yr old king Shepard /Great Dane mix. It is hard to use any command as she has tunnel vision and won’t listen to anything? She can jump up on quad while it’s not running but as soon as it starts it’s on like Donkey Kong!! She used to chase cars and bite tires when a puppy Well if she got out of the house as she is a bolter! I think she is actually afraid that the quad is hurting us while on it & it starts? We can sit on it with engine off but start it and she won’t stop barking and then at tires ? We can’t even enjoy our farm with 650 acres and bring her for a nice run and us ride as she won’t stop attacking the tires. We have tried ,praise, discipline, and a correctional collar? Nothing works? If anyone has any other suggestions other then above please let me know as this is a real problem and enjoying our quad and dog is not possible. My Husband is at the point of selling our quad as we can’t use it unless we lock the dog in the house while we go out & then she breaks things in the house racing around looking out windows? Thank You Frustrated Kim


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