# Barking at Inanimate Objects



## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone else's dog does this. Cody has apparently felt threatened by: a lion statue, a gargoyle statue, a statue of a cat, and deer with xmas lights on them.

He basically get aggressive with them like an idiot. With the deer (the most recent) i walked over to them, called him over, and showed him they were no threat. he got over it...

anyhow, those 4 examples are about all I got, but it does seem like it's almost every time he has a close encounter with an inamiate object he 1st goes into kill mode.

any thoughts?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Stop, Sit. Look at That, Take him over to look at it and smell it. Those deer are scarey!!!


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## SamanthaBrynn (Sep 2, 2011)

I'm of no help...our girl barks at the steam from the dryer vent...IDK lol


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

We stop and visit all the Christmas decorations in the neighborhood. If a dog is scared of one, I walk up to it and touch and and say, "What is that, Boaz?". (In a happy voice.)


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## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

thanks all, so it seems like calming them with a "sit" then a proper introduction is all it takes. which worked for Cody and the deer too. any preventative way to help him not want to kill every statue we pass? maybe over time if we meet enough statues he'll get the idea


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I think that's the place to start and if he won't calm down, then do a 180 and remove him but i wouldn't let him continue to get worked up.


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## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

hey Jax, yeah I don't want him to get worked up of course, but he does. he'll calm down, but my other dog seems to understand from the get-go that it is not alive. Cody doesn't grasp that right away for some reason


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## BR870 (May 15, 2011)

Currently Abbie is mortal enemies with the oscillating fan on the back porch. She had never noticed it before, but she knocked it over on herself one evening recently, and now she is sure it is out to get her.

She was also play barking and play bowing at the water bowl in the backyard. She seemed very upset that it did not seem as interested in playing... :laugh:


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## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

lol thanks for sharing Rob! too funny


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

The first time Onyx saw a snowman was hilarious!


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## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

mine created a ruckus when a turtle crossed in the yard


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## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

My neighbor at the apartment building where I live has this welcome statue thing outside their door and it has two pigs on either side of the plaque that says "Welcome" the first time we saw it Sasha started to whine. I'm not gonna lie it kinda startled me as well lol!


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## KentuckyGSDLover (Nov 17, 2011)

Rey barked at a big rock in my yard, snuck over to it, jumped back and barked again. She's okay with the rock now. She barked at the water pipe that redirects the spring under my driveway. She splashes in it now. The TV took about 4 exposures, because stuff moves on there. Last night she FINALLY quit barking at it when I took her over, put my hand on it and said, "see, it's okay." Go figure. My older dog, Buddy STILL barks at the Kentucky Derby (and only the Kentucky Derby) and I have to remove him or he'll stand up on the TV and I can't watch the horses run.


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## Dooney's Mom (May 10, 2011)

OMG I was just coming on here to ask the same question. I recently moved back in with my mom (of course Dooney came with me) and all of a sudden tonight she started barking like crazy in the formal living room- I go running in there to see her on her hind legs barking at the ANGEL on top of the tree!!! Seriously???? I had to take the angel down- as I was taking it down, my big bad protective GSD took off running in the opposite direction, stopped and came running back towards us. I let her sniff it until she calmed down, put it back down up on the tree and I have spent the past 10 minutes with her sitting in the room to get her to calm down and quit barking. she has only done this behaviour twice before- big stuffed animal in PetCo and Halloween decorations. 

Now my mom thinks my dog is crazy :crazy:


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## smileydog (Jun 11, 2010)

Maybe she just likes stars instead of angels on top of trees?? My boy has been spooked by potted plants, and other strange things...I seriously question his eye sight. 

Julie and Magnum


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## Oskar der Drachen (Oct 28, 2011)

Can't help either I'm afraid. I had a German Wirehaired Pointer who barked at Bricks.

Yep, bricks!

Not Rocks, pebbles, concrete chunks, boulders, sidewalks, or any other rocky shaped things.

Bricks.

She was a Pound rescue for us. Maybe she had a brick thrown at her once? Not just a polite Yap Yap, but all out hollering, pouncing, digging at, pushing around, and more barking.

Not a brick wall or a house either, just loose ones. :crazy:


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## peppergrass (Dec 12, 2011)

Hazard barks at a lot of inanimate objects, too. The first time she saw one of those huge blow up Christmas decorations, she was pretty afraid. I just said, "Hazard, what's that!" and kept walking by it like nothing was wrong. I didn't have to drag her, she followed me, sniffed it, and that was that for the rest of our walk (and we experienced a lot of Christmas decorations that night).

My favorite was when she barked at a statue of a dog on our walk to the car at the end of a parade. The people behind us thought this was absolutely hilarious and talked about it the entire way back (not meanly, they knew she was a pup and afraid - found it cute). I have to admit it was pretty funny. Then again, Hazard has some dog issues of the real dog variety sooo...


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

onyx'girl said:


> The first time Onyx saw a snowman was hilarious!


Same for Abby. She barked, got the hackles up, worked her way up slowly then just calmed down (probably blushing) and walked away. That was the only thing that ever spooked her outside. She still gives the vacuum plenty of space when it's on.


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## jang (May 1, 2011)

Sibi was afraid of the big red balls in front of Target!!!Second time around she was ok though!!!


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## peppergrass (Dec 12, 2011)

Oooh when Hazard was a little pup, I brought home polka dotted pillows from Ikea and she barked at them for a little while.


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## Scarlettsmom (Jul 12, 2011)

Scarlett does NOT like ghosts or anything that could be mistaken for a ghost. The inflatable halloween and Christmas decorations totally set her off if they sway in the wind even a little. It's sort of funny. She barked at a scarecrow in someones yard and nearly scared a little old woman half to death! Nope, no ghosts for us!


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## Jelpy (Nov 8, 2009)

Babykins once decided the lion foot slippers I had were WAY TOO threatening. If you check out a recent entry at WWW.Hyperboleandahalf.com you'll see an entry about the simple minded dog deciding that the horse statue was a threat and all the chaos that ensued. 

Jelpy


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## Ribrustler (May 5, 2011)

My Koko who is 9 and half months old now is deathly afraid of our city trash cans. She has been since the first week i brougt her home. I have tried luring her to it with the best treats to show her that it is not a threat but she will not go near it. We actually have to take her out a seperate door in the house on trash nights because she knows its lurking out there on the curb. I mean you could wrap the can in bacon and she would not come within 10 feet of it. No other objects seem to bother her too much.


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## BlackCat (Sep 22, 2011)

Well, my Bay has a high tech fear. The satellite dish on the roof is a menace and must be barked at. Now the dish has been there much longer than he has, but he just noticed it a few days ago. He is getting better about it, but still barks occasionally.


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## Oskar der Drachen (Oct 28, 2011)

Ribrustler said:


> My Koko who is 9 and half months old now is deathly afraid of our city trash cans. She has been since the first week i brougt her home. I have tried luring her to it with the best treats to show her that it is not a threat but she will not go near it. We actually have to take her out a seperate door in the house on trash nights because she knows its lurking out there on the curb. I mean you could wrap the can in bacon and she would not come within 10 feet of it. No other objects seem to bother her too much.


Have you tried to lay it on it's side with the lid off so she can see inside? With the noises it makes perhaps she thinks there is something scary inside it? Maybe if she could see that it was empty, there would be nothing to be afraid of anymore.


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## RMF (Oct 1, 2011)

Deezul did a fair amount of barking at objects when he was younger, now as he's gotten older, he rarely does it. Some of the things he used to bark at, it was quite comical seeing it.


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

My Stella has done her fair share of barking at things....skateboards, tractors...but what really gets me is when she barks at nothing...i mean just barking and barking as we walk along. Like she is just taking the extra precaution of scaring something away that might or might not be there. Not really sure how to stop this. It can get pretty annoying.


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## bellamia (Feb 7, 2010)

the occasioal water hydrant used to be a clear and present danger to her!. not any more , now a days some over the top xmas outdoor decorations(inflatible huge santa) ticksher off big time.


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