# Why is she barking at me????



## cece6 (Jul 4, 2009)

Whenever I tell Sasha(now 4mnths old) "NO" she barks at me.She is smart, learned to sit in one go, and can wait her turn for treats very nicely, potty trained quickly too.
But she refused to stay off the couch and I have to get up out of my chair before she finally gets down.Then she will stare at me and bark incessantly sometimes biting the couch at the same time.She also barks at me when I tell her to leave my room.She barks at me when I tell her not to bite my son....Is she being Sassy? Or am I misreading her?Her tail is not wagging and she doesnt look playful to me.

This dog is insane and seriously trying all my patience.Yesterday she ran full tilt on purpose right over my chihuahua and made her yelp.She picks on all the other dogs constantly till they finally have to get mad and bite her.She barks constantly at them or the cats.She pee'd on our bed(she is potty trained and we have a dog door so she did this on purpose).Plus I usually have my room closed because dogs arent allowed in there during the day.She will not stop biting my 8yo son.He doesnt even like her anymore.We tried yelping, she just starts barking at him then.We tried turning away(she bites the back of his leg then).I cant grab her collar to direct her or she turns her head and bites me......Im getting worried, she is mostly rottwieler(nothing like our Bruno who was calm, never barked or bit and was just a perfect rottie RIP)
She also pulls on the leash till she chokes herself.I bought a Halti and she is doing okay with it but acts very depressed when its on.But she is hurting my back to walk her on a collar.Please tell me she will calm down soon.
I walk her twice a day and get her outside to play ball when I notice her energy level climbing(Im home all day as Im not working right now).So Its not that she doesnt get enough exercise.
I must say No Sasha a hundred times a day.I am trying clicker training but so far they only have her doing the targeting and nothing of good use...I have 5 other dogs and none of them have been like this....Im seriously tired, I think the other dogs are tired too , they are avoiding the living room now where she spends most of her time.They used to play and romp in here but they cant play because she gets too rough and ruins the games..My Boston terrier has stopped playing completely now.......I dont know if this is going to work...Im very sad..


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

Sounds like she doesn't know what you want and she's frustrated and confused...hence, the barking. The couch and your room are two really good examples. You tell her to get off the couch...she doesn't understand why she has to move. If she's not supposed to be up there in the first place, you need to teach her that the couch is off limits...she is to never get up there.....not just get off when you say so. 

Same for your room....she doesn't understand why she's being banished from the room...if she's not supposed to ever be in there you need to teach her to stop at the doorway and never come in (just like like the couch...never get up on the couch).
All of the after the fact of yelling NO! is useless.

The biting is for attention but, apparently she doesn't know what behaviors will earn your attention. When she bites, leave the room immediately...don't talk to her, don't even look at her...walk briskly out of the room. Wait 1 minute and then come back in. You just taught her a very valuable lesson....a bite removes all attention...it doesn't even deserve a look from you. She will try a new behavior to see what gets your attention and that's a critical moment.

That only solves half of the problem though....the other half is what behavior do you want from her that doesn't involve biting? Sitting politely for petting? Laying quietly with a chew toy? Those are the things that deserve your attention/affection and what she has to learn.


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## LeRoymydog (Feb 25, 2007)

TD makes excellant points. This is a very confused dog. Try getting an empty soda can and putting a couple pennies in it. Whenever she barks, shake the can hard. She will immediatley stop barking and praise while saying no bark. Have you tried putting her in obedience class? That might help with her pulling.

The rest of it just sounds like puppy to me. The sure no how to make one frustrated.

Good luck


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## cece6 (Jul 4, 2009)

Im sorry, I probably was overreacting when I wrote that.But I do get terribly frustrated with her...She is the only dog ever that has made me want to cry.
She is "Never" supposed to get on the couch ever but she just jumps up there any time she feels like it anyway.I know that she knows what "Down" means because as soon as my feet hit the floor she gets off.But she wont budge if I just say down..Maybe she is just as frustrated as me and we cant seem to get it together.....We tried leaving the room when she bites and she just runs over to one of the other dogs and start in on them.
One BIG question I have with the biting.Should I walk away even if she is mouthing,,,which will mean basically all the time, she cant seem to not have something in her mouth.I tried saying no bite and giving her a toy each time andthat distracts her but its only temporary....Her worst time is when my son wakes up, she goes bonkers..
With me she just whines and whines and wiggles and licks, but doesnt really bite me much anymore.
I guess I am feeling overwhelmed because she has sooo many things I need to work on I dont know where to start.
Sit, stay and those basic commands dont seem to help with biting, chewing, pulling, jumping up on the furn. and just being rowdy.When she is out of control, there isnt much she listens to.


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

cece6 said:


> She is "Never" supposed to get on the couch ever but she just jumps up there any time she feels like it


You have to stop her BEFORE she gets up there....the instant she's getting ready to jump. All the DOWNS or OFF in the world only teaches her to get off when you say so...not to be up there in the first place. 



> One BIG question I have with the biting.Should I walk away even if she is mouthing


For mouthing, you're on the right track though with re-directing...for actually biting, you leave the room.
The praise and attention for good behavior is really, really important. Too often, we give our attention to the bad things and that sends the wrong message.


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## MyMalteseAndMe (Jul 24, 2009)

my puppy use to do this too....thank god she grew out of it. I'm sure yours will too she's still very young. You just have to show her "whos boss" and once she learns that it should she smooth sailing


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## cece6 (Jul 4, 2009)

Catching before she jumps will be hard.Especially when she is tearing through the house and does it in an instant...I know we can get through this, but man is this a challenge.
Every time I think she is learning and getting better she has a day when everything goes wrong.


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

Sasha sounds just like my dog at that age. She was a terror. Luckily we enjoyed that aspect of her personality and learned to have the patience to deal with it. Sometimes she would get so mouthy and wound up we'd have to leave the room just to calm down ourselves. Imagine a half wall between two rooms and a dog racing all around the house jumping the wall, leaping over furniture, biting, stealing things, etc. That was our Poca. We gave her a ton of exercise, obedience training, time with other dogs, classes, chew toys - anything we could think of to occupy an overactive puppy and we just barely made it to adolescence. Whew! We called her Freeway Dog when she was at her worst, as in if she didn't start behaving we were going to dump her on the freeway. An empty threat she saw through every time, lol! 

But we survived and now that I look back on it, it was a lot of fun. We didn't have a child to deal with, though. I can understand how that would make it twice as challenging. Anyhoo, here are a couple of things that helped us:

- Put your car mats on the couch, nubby side up. Most dogs don't like the feel of the nubby plastic on their feet and will jump right off. Worked for our dog. We had to keep the mats on the couch when we weren't using it for about a month. Eventually she got the idea.

- Teach your dog to go to a specific spot on command, e.g. a rug or a bed. Only great things happen when she goes there. This was one of the best things we taught her. Whenever she would get really rowdy or if she was begging during dinner time, we would tell her to go to her bed. If she waited, she would get a yummy treat or a great toy. She now races to her bed whenever she thinks she's getting something. I use two different phrases - "go to your bed" means go wait over there. You may or may not get something for it but you better go just in case. "Poca, what is it?" means she's about to get something over the top fantastic - cheese, a new toy, a bully, peanut butter. I use that one when I want to guarantee she'll go to her bed.

- Whenever your dog is laying down calmly and behaving, reward with a treat tossed her way. Once we gave it a name, it didn't take our dog long to learn that if she sat quietly, food just might show up. 

Hope that helps. Obedience training and rewarding the behaviors we liked really worked to help bring some sanity into our household. And the car mats!


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