# Lunging and Barking



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

Hey All, 

Leo is about 2 1/2 years old now and has, in the last 6 months or so, started _really_ barking and lunging (or bouncing) at my wife. It started with just a bark when she would rattle her purse or something, then it escalated to barking at nearly anything. She has a corner crafting area and it can be a pen clicking, shaking a paint jar, or just rattling something. 

He has always barked and run into another room when he hears a bag crinkling, like a potato chip bag, and usually would just settle down when you showed it to him. My cousin, who had him until he was about 4 months old, bought the treats that came in little baggies, so I figured that was part of it. But in the last month or two it has gotten worse and now he has started lunging. Sometimes, it appears to be for no reason, at least not that we can see. 

My wife is to the point that she wants to get rid of him because she can't work on her crafts or cook in the kitchen without him coming running at the sound of a bag rattling. She doesn't want to walk him or play with him for obvious reasons. She did try sitting in a chair and making him look at her, sit , lay down, that kind of simple obedience stuff for a few days and he would be ok for a while and then an hour or two later he would be at it again. Also, it is not consistent. She made crafts all weekend and he was fine until about an hour before bed Sunday night.

He does this with my 19yo son too but then he wrestles with him and reinforces it and doesn't know why he acts that way. (Teenagers!) That is another whole issue my wife and I both understand, we need to train the teenager. Leo does not act this way with me or my other son who is 22. We go outside to play fetch and many of the neighbors have dogs and they will come around and he doesn't act like this toward the people or the dogs.

To be clear, he has never bitten either of them but just bounces and barks until myself or my oldest son steps in or my wife stands up and walks toward him and backs him down, or they just walk away, and sometimes that doesn't work.

He doesn't have any formal training, just with us at home, and it will be summer before I can get him into anything because I am in school on the nights they have classes. I am taking him to the vet to update his flea and tick preventative this weekend. Is there anything I should check with his vet about this?

Any suggestions? I don't want to give him up but "Happy Wife, Happy Life".

TL;DR - Dog jumping and barking at wife.


----------



## Dracovich (Feb 24, 2017)

A small dose of Trazodone had really helped with my dog's anxiety, but medication doesn't fix all problems and can even cause more problems.

I think keeping the dog out of the craft area completely would be ideal in the meantime. Recovery training often works with triggering sounds. reward the recovery and ignore the reaction to specific sounds. Eventually the dog learns the recovery is the ideal behavior and reactions become less extreme.

Best solution would be a reputable 1 on 1 trainer. No one can give you a truly proper diagnosis and training plan without assessing your dog in person.


----------



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

Thanks, Draco. 

Unfortunately, the crafting corner is in the living room and with the layout of the house you have to go through there to get anywhere else in the house. I try to keep him in the bedroom with me while I study. I may just have to start locking him in with me until I can be out with him.

We just learned of a trainer nearby that will do in-house training in their home for one month. I am going to call them to see about setting up a meeting. They are only about a half hour from our house. It's worth a look since I won't be able to be very hands-on until after this semester is over.


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

You need to work with a trainer now. Private behavior training is better for this dog now than classes. Insist that your son stop teasing and tormenting the dog immediately. If he won't, then don't let him near the dog


----------



## Ozzieleuk (Mar 23, 2014)

This is something that some younger GSD's do.
I have owned 4 of them; the 3rd one a male I raised from a pup was a high energy slightly aggressive type. He did bark and lunge at people he did not know. It got bad one day when he bit the behind of a friend of mine; he drew blood and I was so embarrassed about it. My friend being an old retired Army colonel didn't mind it and laughed it off, but I corrected my dog on the spot (no I didn't beat him) and he stayed on a leash when around anyone he didn't know. 

The dog I have now; a rescue that was criminally abused. He is a balanced very well behaved GSD. He does lunge and bark at my remote control truck. He chases it and barks, but does not bite or attack it. He is very docile with everyone and likes people. He does not like strange dogs to come near the yard though. That I have not been able to break him of doing that. I do think if he got a hold of a strange dog roaming the neighborhood he would attack or kill it. So I keep a "hot fence" on my back yard.

I think many times a traumatic event can sometimes trigger behavior like the kind you are describing. It may be that he is trying to get your wife to interact with him somehow and she wont interact?? 
Does your wife ever have some one-on-one time to sit with him and maybe brush him or throw the ball with him sometimes ? It may be as simple as that, he just needs to bond to your wife. He should respect her as a pack leader, the way he respects you.









Hope this helps you pinpoint the problem so you can address it.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

He's 2 1/2. It's time he had a correction and was told that this was not acceptable behavior. Also sounds like he needs mental and physical stimulation so maybe a formal obedience class would be a good idea. A tired dog is a happy dog that makes for a happy wife and life.


----------



## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

I agree with LuvShepherds. You son needs to stop immediately with teasing and wrestling with the dog. Does your dog bark and such at your son to start the play or during the play? If so, then your dog may be trying to get your wife's attention or trying to get her to play with him the way your son has taught him to.


----------



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

She has started doing more with him. Originally, she was hesitant to even get him but knew my cousin would be horrible with him. (Not mean, just barely can take care of herself and her teenage daughter much less a dog that would totally depend on her.) My wife did mess with him some but when he chewed up a brand new bed spread and part of the couch and whatever else he could chew on, she got tired of him. She realizes she should do more with him and that may help but now she's frustrated and always expecting him to jump. As I mentioned, she will sit in a chair and have him sit, lay down, look at her, and other things and he is fine with her. Then she will click a pen or get something out of her purse and he goes wild and starts barking and then stares at the carpet for a while.

I try to wait until he calms down and then take him out for a while. I don't want him to think his behavior is rewarded by a walk or some fetch. 

Ozzieleuk, it's funny you say that. It seemed to me, that at about 18 months he started calming down. He would still chew on stuff but not destroy it. (He will lay on the bedspread he tore as a pup and chew the raveled parts but doesn't seen to be making the hole any bigger and he will lay in the floor and chew a sock to a slobbery mess but not make a hole in it.) Then suddenly, about 2 years old, it seemed to get worse again. That's when the barking and lunging really picked up. Before that it was just when the bags rustled. 

We have discussed it since my earlier post and we are going to see about getting him in a class or maybe a board and train location about a half hour away that will allow us to come work with him and their trainers when we can. I have done everything I can think of and while it's all good most of the time, the outbursts are stressing.


----------



## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Did anyone, by chance, play with him with a flashlight or laser?


----------



## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

it does sound a little OCD.


----------



## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

does the dog have a fenced yard? does it get exercised?

I know there has been debate over exercise or lack thereof as cause or cure but I have known some dogs to get pretty our of control and neurotic indoors and they were ones who pottied on a 6' leash and that was the extend of their access to outdoors


----------



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

Stevenzachsmom,

Yes, a laser one time when he was a pup but it stopped really quickly when he became fixated staring at the carpet. It was thrown away within about five minutes.

Another issue is we don't have very good overhead lighting in the living room so there are a lot of shadows from the lamps.


----------



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

Thecowboysgirl, 

He does get walked every morning before we leave for work. Admittedly it's probably not enough, especially this winter. Then after we get home he chases a ball, I won't call it fetch because he doesn't bring them back, until he gets tired and goes to lay down or gets distracted by a mole hill and starts digging. We usually do another walk before bed. We used to do a couple of miles until it got cold and I have considered that this could be part of the reason he acts out.


----------



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

Thanks for all of the responses so far, everyone.

A lot of them we have already considered and some are new ideas. Hopefully a vet visit and an assessment by a trainer this weekend will offer some more ideas. 

I'll keep checking in and update when I have more information.


----------



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

So we have done three trips to the trainers. First, was my wife and I, then I took my son the second week. These were just loose leash sessions to basically get him to listen and pay attention to whoever was leading him and stop looking for me all of the time. It was really bad with my son until I went and hid for a while. Then we tried again with me there. It seemed to work and my son has a better understanding of how to correct Leo, instead of just laying on him in the floor. This week I took him alone, and we joined up with the obedience group and he did really well. 

The barking and lunging has decreased and he does seem to respond better to correction when he does get a little riled up. We have decided to send him to the board and train for a month. Probably around the end of April. 

tl;dr - Leo has started responding to some formal training, we still have work to do.


----------



## VTGirlT (May 23, 2013)

Bigwillt said:


> So we have done three trips to the trainers. First, was my wife and I, then I took my son the second week. These were just loose leash sessions to basically get him to listen and pay attention to whoever was leading him and stop looking for me all of the time. It was really bad with my son until I went and hid for a while. Then we tried again with me there. It seemed to work and my son has a better understanding of how to correct Leo, instead of just laying on him in the floor. This week I took him alone, and we joined up with the obedience group and he did really well.
> 
> The barking and lunging has decreased and he does seem to respond better to correction when he does get a little riled up. *We have decided to send him to the board and train for a month.* Probably around the end of April.
> 
> tl;dr - Leo has started responding to some formal training, we still have work to do.


What are the reasons for the decision to send to a board and train for a month, if you dont mind me asking?


----------



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

The main reason is that I am in the middle of my third semester of my Master's degree and this semester has been pretty rough. If we take him in April, he will be getting out right after finals. Then I would have all summer to work on reinforcing what we learn. It is only about 40 minutes away and we would go work with him on the weekends.

Even though he has started responding to the training, the barking and lunging at my wife still continues but not as frequently and can usually be shut down more quickly. Then there are also things like the chip bags and vacuum cleaners. I can't focus on him consistently and I feel like we're doing him a disservice if we aren't consistent. If we can get a good groundwork laid, I think we can continue to work him but getting that consistent groundwork is difficult when I am in the middle of a locked-down test and he starts barking and going nuts in the other room.

There is no training this weekend and I actually have a slight lull in my schedule so I may work him pretty good and see how he responds. I have been trying to do a little everyday, even if it is just down-stay in the house for a few minutes or just for a few seconds while on a walk, something he couldn't do a month or even a week ago. 

If all goes well and he continues to improve we may not go that route. I haven't signed him up yet but every time we wait, we lose a week because they get full. Worst thing that could happen, I sign him up, he improves, we cancel, I lose a $100 deposit.


----------



## Bigwillt (Mar 2, 2015)

Just a quick update. 
Leo spent most of May (28 days) at a board and train with the trainers we worked with earlier. He lived in their house and we did six private sessions with him over that time. 
He's been home a week and a half and we can see huge improvement. He still barks some at packages but is easily corrected now. The obsessive starting at the carpet is less than 5% what it used to be and again is easily redirected. 
The big win came today when we went to the vet for his annual exam and vaccinations. No muzzle ?! She said he was like a different dog. Easily jumped on the table /scale. Endured being handled. 
Afterward we went to a Saturday class and they were excited to hear the good report and commented on the continued progress since we took him home.


----------

