My dog is out of control

[mimieliza]

I have a 1.5 year old Australian Shepherd, Miles. He goes CRAZY whenever someone comes to the door, barking and snarling. We kept him shut in the basement for most of this evening (Halloween). But later, a straggling trick-or-treater came by, so I dragged the dog off to the bedroom so my DH could answer the door. Miles was literally foaming at the mouth, he was so crazed.

He has never bit anyone, and is generally a very gentle dog - loves kids, never nips, lets people take food and toys from him, lets us touch him and groom him all over. But he sounds quite frightening, and WILL NOT calm down, even after we tell him it's okay. He's so high strung, after someone has come to the door, he'll pace around the house for hours growling and woofing under his breath.

It's only getting worse, and I'm afraid that he will end up biting - he just gets so out of control. Right now, if we let friends in the house, he just barks and growls at them like crazy, but then just runs around, all excited. What I'm worried about are things like the mail carrier, the UPS guy, repairmen. He HATES them. I'm very careful to keep him contained, but today, for instance, he followed me outside just when the UPS truck pulled up. The poor UPS guy couldn't get out of his truck until I hauled my growling, barking dog away.

We've had him since he was a puppy, and socialized him extensively. We did lots of training about what to do when the doorbell rings, and at one point, he was trained to stop barking and sit when he heard the doorbell. That's all flown out the window now. This problem has developed over the past six months, and is only getting worse.

What do I do? I live in a small town and don't have access to obedience classes. The one behavior problem I really can't tolerate is an aggressive dog, and despite my best efforts, I'm worried that that is what Miles is becoming. :(

[ejs]

One of our dogs freaks out at the doorbell. He has the most ferocious bark and jumps up against the gate and keeps barking and barking. We tell him to be quiet and call him inside, but he keeps barking. (He also barks at doorbells on tv.) He's not crazy about knocking sounds, either.

However, he is the gentlest dog. If, when he's barking, someone reaches over the gate or comes in the gate, he's fine. Nobody would ever call him aggressive.

He just freaks out at those sounds. His bark is definitely worse than his bite.

So are you sure that Miles is aggressive toward people? Or does he just not like the sound of the doorbell?

[jesvet]

"We did lots of training about what to do when the doorbell rings, and at one point, he was trained to stop barking and sit when he heard the doorbell."

So, you need to go back to the beginning and re-do that training. That, or desensitize/countercondition him to the sound of the doorbell. I would recommend having a trainer help you, but if you don't have access to one you may be able to find training tips online. Unfortunately there aren't any quick fix solutions, but if you did it once you can probably do it again. Good luck!

[KarenS]

Sounds like an excess of energy in a lot of ways (the running around in circles, etc.). Aussie Sheps are one of the breeds that needs *lots* of exercise. Lots. They also need "jobs" - they're work dogs and trained to work. So when they don't have high energy work to do, they channel it into inappropriate behavior. Our best friends have an Aussie Shep and they have to really work hard at keeping her busy and active or she gets insane.

What are you doing abotu getting her daily exercise?

karen

[Bloomwood]

But he sounds quite frightening, and WILL NOT calm down, even after we tell him it's okay.

One thing our trainer told us and we read in the training books was NOT to tell the dog it's "okay" as this is a reinforcement message. Rather, you should be sternly telling him "no." A subtle change, but probably should be part of your re-training him. Best of luck!

[mimieliza]

Miles gets an hour-long walk, combined with strenuous frisbee/fetch time at the park each day. He can always benefit from more exercise, but most of the time it's just not possible. I do try and arrange playdates for him as often as possible (usually drop him off in the morning so he can play with friends' dogs during the day). Energy-wise, he's calmed down a lot - he is very reliable in the house alone, not destructive, and sleeps soundly all night and well into the morning (these are all things that were problems when he was young but have resolved).

One thing our trainer told us and we read in the training books was NOT to tell the dog it's "okay" as this is a reinforcement message. Rather, you should be sternly telling him "no." A subtle change, but probably should be part of your re-training him. Best of luck!

This is interesting, because what we were going on is that when the dog barks, we should respond, so he knows we're taking care of it and he doesn't have to worry about it. Our method obviously is reinforcing, so maybe switching to a no barking allowed policy would work better.

So are you sure that Miles is aggressive toward people? Or does he just not like the sound of the doorbell?

I don't think he is aggressive twoard people, but he scares the crap out of them. And he sounds so serious that it scares me. He actually lunged at the UPS guy when he tried to get out of his truck. I don't like him scaring people, and I don't want him to end up biting someone even if I think he never would.

Last night Miles and our other dog Blue staged a jail-break and managed to get out of the yard for a few minutes at duck (I think DH left the gate open). I was terrified, and it was because the first thing I thought is that Miles would see kids in costumes, be freaked out, and what if he bit one of them? I don't want to have to worry about that! Obviously, we keep him contained or monitored, but if he gets out, my first worry should be about what might happen to him, not what he might do to someone.

OTOH, Miles has never shown any of the other signs you're supposed to look for to judge aggression in dogs.

That, or desensitize/countercondition him to the sound of the doorbell. I would recommend having a trainer help you, but if you don't have access to one you may be able to find training tips online.

I'm going to ask the vet for a referral to a trainer. There are no obedience classes closer than an hour a way, which we can't handle every week, but if we had to drive that far for a few sessions with a trainer, that would be do-able. Maybe they could reccommend a trainer that could come to our house, since that's where the real problems are.

DH had an idea of giving him a treat everytime the doorbell rings, so he won't be scared of it, but he barks when it rings, so we haven't been treating him, because that would be treating him for barking.

[jesvet]

http://www3.us.elsevierhealth.com/communities/Veterinary/Overall/protocolnoises_instructions.html

That is a basic outline for the DS/CC routine for door stuff. Some of the things I have seen for doorbell barkers is to ring the doorbell over and over until they stop responding (the desensitization), then rewarding them for being good when the bell is rung (the counterconditioning). Repeat times a whole lot.