(no subject)

[dreamgirly19.livejournal.com]

Can anyone recommend a dog trainer within the Boston area that they have personally used and wouldnt mind telling me their experience with the person.

We have two dogs (jack russell and a jack russell/pug mix) and their barking is out of control. One of them barks only when someone pulls into the driveway and we arent home (even if its us coming home) however he does not do it when we are home. The other dog is worse..she barks at anyone walking in front of our house, she hates the mailman, she hates anyone coming up our porch steps...basically her barking is more territorial.

We have tried citronella collars, we try training them ourselves (we have done training classes @ Petsmart and do well with those) but the barking is the one thing we cant seem to train with, we researched electronic collars but most articles I read said that they sometimes wont work with territorial barking because the need to defend is stronger than the shocks.

I have read a few books, researched online, but we need a person who is skilled with this :/ I basically need the dog whisperer skills!

(also posting in b0st0n)

Edit: Also we have new neighbors i think around the corner but behind us...and they have a dog that barks constantyl and people think its my dogs...granted my dogs do bark but not for hours at a time, so im also getting blamed for the other dog now too and i have no idea what to do with that any suggestions?

Comments

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I had a great experience with the trainers at the Boston Animal Rescue League.

Petsmart training tends to be less than ideal if for no other reason then they are in a highly distractable environment. Ok for basics, harder as you get more advanced.

[dreamgirly19.livejournal.com]

I didnt realize the Rescue League did training. I will check it out online to see if they can help with barkers.

I agree on the petsmart...i also would have done the individual training, it costs a little more but you get specialized attention.

[prog.livejournal.com]

First of all, thank you for caring about this. Trying to curb your dogs of the habit makes you a good neighbor! (And unfortunately a better neighbor than some of mine...)

I cannot help with dog training advice, but I recently ran across an article about approaching your neighbors about their own barking dogs (http://www.barkingdogs.net/persuadeneighbors.shtml). It is not a very optimistic article, but maybe you'll find it useful anyway.

[dawneliz.livejournal.com]

we took our dog to canine university in malden and they were cool and not too $$$. i also have a friend who used to work at pawsitive dog in boston--i've heard from dozens of folks who really like the trainer there, but she is $$$.

yay responsible dog owner!

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

Your post made me laugh because I have a small terrier, which is similar to a Jack Russell. She barks whenever someone comes in the house, but only when we're home. The 12th Cavalry could come in when we're not at home, and she wouldn't care! And she also barks even when it's one of the family entering the house. It's definitely a protection instinct, but it's territorial also. Although our terrier doesn't bark when people pass our house, only when other dogs pass our house. It's not a huge problem, though, because she doesn't continue to bark once the 'threat' has passed! Have you watched the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel, or perhaps tried his book? He has a real way with animals. Also the training books by the Monks of New Skete are pretty good.