sian
Junior
what shall we play next?
Posts: 214
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Post by sian on Oct 30, 2006 16:39:36 GMT 1
 Help! I don't know how to approach this!  I have a cross-cultural neighbour-training problem, as well as a dog-training problem!! Cassie is very protective of territory, and has a tendency to bark at people near our house, including our neighbours. She is not as bad as when we first moved here about a year ago, but there's still loads of room for improvement.  What makes it worse is our neighbour is a very friendly bloke, who loves dogs. He appreciates that Cassie is being protective (is very security-conscious) and gets a little upset when I tell her off for barking.  He has recently started to give her the odd treat over the gate. This was ok at first (well, not really, but....!), but now Cassie has started to bark at him, "demanding" her treat! Arrgghhh! How do I persuade this friendly guy (who is so willing to speak English, instead of listening to my beginner's Dutch) that I would rather he didn't feed her, without upsetting him? And how do I stopp Cassie seeing him as a "demand feeder"? Sian
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Kobie
Proper addict
Xena, warrior princess
Posts: 1,027
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Post by Kobie on Oct 30, 2006 16:51:40 GMT 1
Will I translate to your neighbour ?? ;D
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Post by daniela on Oct 30, 2006 19:13:51 GMT 1
Help! I don't know how to approach this! What makes it worse is our neighbour is a very friendly bloke, who loves dogs. He appreciates that Cassie is being protective (is very security-conscious) and gets a little upset when I tell her off for barking. He has recently started to give her the odd treat over the gate. This was ok at first (well, not really, but....!), but now Cassie has started to bark at him, "demanding" her treat! Arrgghhh! How do I persuade this friendly guy (who is so willing to speak English, instead of listening to my beginner's Dutch) that I would rather he didn't feed her, without upsetting him? And how do I stopp Cassie seeing him as a "demand feeder"? Sian I think with most things, it's not what you say, it's how you say it. That said, if you are worried about upsetting him, you could say that Cassie is fed a special diet and you have to watch what she eats. Hopefully that should cease his good will gestures. |
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Post by marjolein on Oct 31, 2006 12:41:54 GMT 1
Blimey, sounds just like my (ex-)neighbours. There was nowt I could say that made them realise why I did what I did, and why I want them to ignore them.
In the end, I thought, sod them. I didn't want to correct my dogs for something they couldn't help.
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Post by fialCo on Oct 31, 2006 12:49:59 GMT 1
haha cool!
Actually, when I was trying to speak dutch of french in Belgium, everybody were so polite and spoke to me in English!!! I tried to explain, I wanted another language:) But...
Belgians are great! Instead of scolding because of a barking dog, they treat him! Amazing country:)
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Kobie
Proper addict
Xena, warrior princess
Posts: 1,027
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Post by Kobie on Oct 31, 2006 14:35:05 GMT 1
Aha Migle, Would you still understand our language ?? I will speak to you in Dutch in Poznan  |
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Post by fialCo on Oct 31, 2006 15:29:44 GMT 1
Noooo , Kobie no nooo!!! It's already 2.5 years I left Belgium:)
The thing is I remember only few phrases from TV programmes:) Tot zeens, nu op kanaal twee, blalbalbla:))
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Post by jai on Nov 2, 2006 20:37:25 GMT 1
I had a friend who had this problem with a neighbor feeding her dane each time she barked at him (she lived in Italy) anyways come to find out that he fed her to quiet her but also because she had a few things in her yard he wanted and he wanted to make friends with the dog to get inside the gate. My friend found him one day entering her yard while she was hanging laundry. She told him to stop feeding her dog and reported him to the carabineri as a trespasser. I guess i am saying to be careful. He may be afraid of your dog. And wants to make friends/
jai
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sian
Junior
what shall we play next?
Posts: 214
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Post by sian on Nov 7, 2006 15:30:18 GMT 1
I know what you mean, Jai. In other circumstances, I might consider that he was trying to get Cassie to be quiet, so that he could approach the house without her "giving alarm". However, I know that he does really love dogs, and even puppy-sits for the neighbours on the other side.
He doesn't mind her barking, because he says that in doing so, she is actually protecting both properties. And he does like her - makes a huge fuss of her when we're outside on the street.
I think I'll have to "bite the bullet", and explain to him how his giving her treats doesn't stop her barking, but just makes her dis-obedient to us.
Sian
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syrinx
Intermediate
Posts: 335
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Post by syrinx on Nov 8, 2006 7:40:05 GMT 1
Hi Sian,
What he is doing is training her by using positive reinforcement. She barks, she gets the treat. She barks again, gets another treat. It sure works well! I guess all you can do, without hurting his feelings, is to educate him on it. He would still give her the treat, but not while she's barking. He would have to wait for the second she was not barking, and then give her the treat. It will take a little while, but eventually she will get that it's now - no bark- get a treat. Bark - no treat. Perhaps he could ask her to sit, and when she is sitting and not barking, she gets the treat, or something like that.
Good luck!
Wendy
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Post by jai on Nov 8, 2006 19:32:08 GMT 1
Hey Wendy
Great Response and what a great way to break a habit!
jai
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