# Barking at neighbors



## ShenzisMom (Apr 27, 2010)

Hello!

So we have had Shenzi(2.5 years old) for 6 days now, and all in all things are going great. The one problem we have with her is that everytime she sees a neighbor in the hallway or elevator she goes nuts barking. (we live in a building) I think she has fear problems and I need to boost her confidence ASAP, and was thinking of doing Agility with her for this purpose. However on walks she very rarely barks at people, mostly ignores them. But if we are on the building property she will bark her 'WHO-ARE-YOU-GET-AWAY-IM-MEAN' bark, and this is not acceptable behaviour, as I cannot have her doing 4 flights of stairs 4-6 times a day because she scares people in the elevator. I have her sit and hold her mouth closed but she struggles and continues the barking. Does anyone have any tips to get her to ignore the neighbors and focus on me? I will try teaching her 'watch me', but is there something else that will help?

Thanks!


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

If you have neighbors that you know well, you can try giving them treats to offer to your dog when you are in the elevator. Make sure that it is a well prized treat - and that you know for sure that your dog won't try to snap at them.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I'd also keep my dog kind of hungry, and everytime we left the house I'd have a training bag FULL of treats, and a fistful in her face everytime someone new came near.

Much better to set her up to succeed and praise her for being quiet when people are near (hard to eat the liverwurst and bark at the same time) than try to clean up the 'mess' when she's freaked out and barking.

BTW, chances are this is 'fear' agression from lack/under/improper socialization from prior to you getting her. So once she gets more confident with YOU and trust YOU and know YOU aren't making her be in charge but are in charge yourself, this should also get better.

Also, if you can always use your body to be between your dog and who ever is coming this is called a calming signal and helps our dogs. Them ahead of us, when we unintentionally physically put them in charge of a meeting they are absolutely not prepared for, usually will have them barking to keep the scary away away away rather then dealing with the stress of having it come close.


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