GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

01-09-2005, 12:22 PM

wrote:
Looking for any Dr Harry here, or tips about dogs.

I've had a new neighbour moved in next door, and they have a guard dog
looking like a rottweiler.

The problem is that the damn thing runs up the fence and barks at me
everytime I enter my gardens. He does the same thing to anyone that
moves actually. He barks at people 2 houses down, if he sees them!

The neighbours are nice enough and tell it to shut up, but they are
often out of the house.

Is it likely that the dog will cease once he get used to me or do I
have to make an effort to get to know the dog, ie, throw it some food
or something.

Thanks for any advice.

What you need to do is to train the dog to behave by punishing bad
behaviour on its part. Do what dog trainers do with problem dogs (and
charge you lots of $$$).

Go to the hardware shop and get about a foot/300mm length of iron chain
- the links are ~1"/25mm long and are galvanized. Get a couple of
lenghts, it's cheap.

Now, every time the dog runs up and down the fence barking, chuck the
length of chain against the fence about where the dog is. The chain
hitting the fence makes a loud "ringing"/clanging noise (you'll know
what I mean the first time you do it) and this gets the attention of the
dog as well as frightens it. As you throw the chain yell out, "Quiet!"
or, as trainers usually say when training dogs, "NO!". You will find
that in no time at all the thing will stop barking.

If your neighbour complains then you have a choice of either having a
fight with him/her, explaining what you are trying to do, or telling
him/her that you have full right to chuck whatever you want at your side
of the fence (bearing in mind that you and your neighbour are 1/2-owners
of the fence and it is only your side that you are punishing with the
chain).

BTW, if you travel with a dog in your car and it barks at every car
passing by or other dogs it sees out of the window, carry a basin (a
metal basin, washbasin) and drop the chain (with a bit of force) and
say, "NO!" everytime the dog carries on - and this will stop the dog
from misbehaving. This approach can also be used if your fence is one of
those at which you are not able to chuck a chain and if so place a few
metal buckets stragetically along the fence.

By using the chain approach either the dog will give up it's barking
very very quickly or the neighbour will get the message and keep the
bloody thing inside so as not to hear the chain hitting the fence.

(If you think that this is a bit of a leg pulling on my part, I trained
our dog, who was a stray, from barking this way and even now, some 7
years after the training, a simple gentle jingle of the chain (which now
normally sits in one of my desk drawers as a momento) makes him prick
his ears up. The chain has a very distinctive "ring" when handled and
totally different to, say, bunch of keys which he recognises as me about
to go to the garage and follows me out.)

Cheers.

--
All things are possible, except skiing through a revolving door.