# Barking for Attention...HELP!



## HudsonVizsla

Hudson has started to get really vocal when he wants attention. We are trying our ABSOLUTE best to keep calm, not react, walk away until he is quiet for 5 or so seconds, and then say "good boy".

I'm not sure what else to do?! Vizsla's arent supposed to be vocal dogs...so I am wondering if this is just a puppy stage, but I worry that he is learning bad habits.

We start obedience next week, and this is our primary concern right now. He can be a little snarky when tired, and is still teething/mouthing but that's getting better and isn't that bad. 

One of the reasons we chose a V is because the tend to be quiet dogs, lol. He is well exercised, if anything may be over-tired, but the barking happens right when he gets-up from crate naps mostly.

thoughts? tips? tricks?


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## abatt

Our 12 weeks old puppy is also getting more vocal. It starts with the wining and then turns into loud barking. Sometimes it is for attention, but mostly when it is time for his food. I tried waiting to give him food until he calms down, but he never does. He wakes up around 5-5.30 am and demands his food right away. Obviously this is a very unwelcome wake up call for anyone who is still sleeping.

Sometimes I am able to stop his barking by telling him to sit, stay or go to the crate where I throw few pieces of food. But the quiet doesn't last very long, only maybe 30 seconds.

I also hope this behaviour will stop. We have a trainer coming in next week, and we plan to discuss this in addition to biting and growling. I will let you know if he have any good training suggestions. But will be happy to hear thoughts from other vizsla owners.


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## redbirddog

> I'm not sure what else to do?! Vizsla's arent supposed to be vocal dogs...so I am wondering if this is just a puppy stage, but I worry that he is learning bad habits.


When hunting they are quiet. My female, Chloe, age 5, is very vocal at times. You sure don't sneak up on the house. But that is a good thing. ;D

Ignoring it is about the best you can do IMO. If you give them attention then they got what they wanted.

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/04/vizsla-as-guard-dog.html

RBD


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## texasred

I have one that is very vocal. She isn't barking its roo, roo roo. Anytime you say her name she answers. if you whisper to her she does it real quietly.

abatt
It sounds like your puppy is hungry.
You might try feeding him more at his evening meal.
If its just for attention he is going to keep doing it, if you get up every 30 minutes.


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## WillowyndRanch

HudsonVizsla said:


> Vizsla's arent supposed to be vocal dogs...


I find myself wondering when this myth started...


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## CrazyCash

I have to say that my guy is the most vocal dog that I've ever had. He will definitely let me know if someone is at the door, or if there's a cat on the fence, or I shut the cabinet too hard...

He also talks to me like TexasRed's girl and it makes me laugh - he will definitely back talk if I try to make him do something that he doesn't want to do, even while he's obeying, he'll "talk" under his breath. He talks when he wants attention, not barking, but making noises that sound kind of like Scooby Doo 

I have to say that I love it when he "talks", it definitely shows his personality!


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## veifera

I'm very jealous of the people whose dogs "talk" like Tex or Cash. My dog almost never barks (only when ordering me to throw the **** ball). The only vocalizing I get are the (funny) early morning yawns... :-(


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## pippa31

Pippa is also incredibly vocal. Loud yawns, grumbling when she follows a command she doesn't want to (roo, roo, roooooo), and barking for attention. For the attention part, we ignore completely unless it is when we are eating. Then, we spray her in the face with a spray bottle filled with water. One spray is all it takes...


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## CrazyCash

Tonight I was using the SpotBot (a must have with 3 dogs running around the house) and Cash was talking up a storm. He would run to me and do his roo, roo, rooing and then run to the SpotBot, bark at it and then lay down next to it and wait for it to beep. He was cracking me up!


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## harrigab

I've nicknamed Ruby, it makes me sound like I have a stammer..."Roo Roo Roo Ruby", but as RBD says when we're out hunting she is very quiet


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## Ozkar

CrazyCash said:


> Tonight I was using the SpotBot (a must have with 3 dogs running around the house) and Cash was talking up a storm. He would run to me and do his roo, roo, rooing and then run to the SpotBot, bark at it and then lay down next to it and wait for it to beep. He was cracking me up!


Ya just gotta get this on video for us!!! That sounds freakin hilarious!!!!


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## adrino

Elza is very talkative too!!! When she's playing she can make all kinds of hilarious noises. She barks too for attention occasionally but we don't encourage that. 
When I get home from work she makes the funniest noises ever. I will try to put up the video I made. It's not much in it but the noise!!!

We also thought vizslas are meant to be quiet. We discovered it in a week after getting her that it's not true! :


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## hotmischief

CrazyCash I just had to Google SpotBot - well now I am enlightened :-\ Are they really good?

Now to the subject matter - my Vizsla is a barker too. It started with him barking at his own reflection in the patio door windows at night, or at a noise outside. He makes us laugh because Fergus NEVER barks not even when someone rings the door bell - now he feels obliged to get up and join in when Boris barks, but Boris is a bit of a coward. We open the patio doors so he can go out and see whats out there - Fergus goes out to check things out, whilst Boris rushes to jump up on the couch and sit up besides me barking as if to say the ghost will get Fergus I'll be a lot safer barking from besides Mum


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## CrazyCash

I do love the SpotBot - it actually works really well! I had some stubborn stains on the carpet that I couldn't get out and the SpotBot took care of them and the best part is that you really don't have to do anything, just set it down, turn it on and wait for it to beep to tell you it's done. I have a 16 year old dog and he's starting to have some accidents in the house, so the SpotBot comes in handy.  

Your dogs sound too funny - I can totally see that happening! I love when they are all brave and then when you tell them to go check it out they look at you like - are you kidding, I'm not crazy enough to go out there! 

Cash will start barking at the patio door and my other dog Cooper will run over thinking that there's something going on. I'll open the door, they both charge out and it will be something like a bird on the lawn and Cash will chase while it's flying away and Cooper will just turn around all disappointed and look at me like - he got me all excited over a bird!


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## threefsh

Riley just started "talking" to us after her first heat. I absolutely love it because we can have fun conversations.  She does anything from the typical roo-roo-roo to whining/growling & barking when she wants something. My mom thinks it's adorable (good thing, because she has her most of the day)!


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## luv2laugh

We really do have a quiet V!! Oso didn't bark at all until 5-6 months and then only barks when really excited during play with other dogs (like if 2 dogs are playing tug-of-war and he wants in) or as a guard dog.

I have heard that in order to stop barking, you first have to teach the command bark/speak. Ian Dunbar explains it here:

http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/ExcessiveBarking.pdf

I know there is a video out there somewhere that i watched with Ian Dunbar, but I couldn't find it this time. We failed to teach this to Oso as it's difficult to get him to bark. I don't think you'll have a problem. Good luck!


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## adrino

Ok! I managed to upload this video to YouTube. 
Turn up your speakers! The video itself is nothing really. I did it because of the noise Elza makes when greeting me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWD8ethe4Cs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Let me know if it doesnt work.


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## AcadianTornado

Ok so here's a question: Whistler's 12 weeks old and we've got him on a morning walk 30-45 minutes then we do some obedience and try to put him to bed in his crate. We will be going to work from 8 til noon (coming home to let him out and play outside) then work from 1 til about 4 or 5. We live in an appartment and it can take him quite some time to settle down in his crate. Any tricks on getting the barking down or making his crate more interesting? Obviously don't want to get to a point where we have to move; so any help will help. We believe in positive re-inforcement and he's a really good puppy so I don't mind him being voicestrous and being a puppy but the neighbours might not agree.. I've heard of sonic, ultrasonic barking appliances as well as vibrating collars... Are there any good tricks you guys know? I don't mind getting up as early as 5:30/6 and really exhausting him but I'm guessing his stamina will pick up as he ages so I wont be further ahead. Also, I don't want to run with him before he's 18 months because we know what can happen. Any tips/tricks? I have another week off before I get back to work to work this into him so any help would be appreciated!


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## AcadianTornado

Obviously we take him out at night for fun and play; he started obedience at 10 weeks and he's got his basics down and we're now moving into more elaborate stuff... He's a pretty eager and motivated pup for food (probably like all dogs..) We give him dissolvable treats that are chewable and that take him a long time to go through after playtime and obedience so it gets him to forget the crate and get him to being used to it..


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## AcadianTornado

So his barking is related to being in the crate; he's got his two buddies to keep him company while we're not there but sometimes they seem to do the opposite of what we want..


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## jfish

AcadianTornado said:


> Ok so here's a question: Whistler's 12 weeks old and we've got him on a morning walk 30-45 minutes then we do some obedience and try to put him to bed in his crate. We will be going to work from 8 til noon (coming home to let him out and play outside) then work from 1 til about 4 or 5. We live in an appartment and it can take him quite some time to settle down in his crate. Any tricks on getting the barking down or making his crate more interesting? Obviously don't want to get to a point where we have to move; so any help will help. We believe in positive re-inforcement and he's a really good puppy so I don't mind him being voicestrous and being a puppy but the neighbours might not agree.. I've heard of sonic, ultrasonic barking appliances as well as vibrating collars... Are there any good tricks you guys know? I don't mind getting up as early as 5:30/6 and really exhausting him but I'm guessing his stamina will pick up as he ages so I wont be further ahead. Also, I don't want to run with him before he's 18 months because we know what can happen. Any tips/tricks? I have another week off before I get back to work to work this into him so any help would be appreciated!


Hi there, wondering how you got through this phase with Whistler (almost 10 years ago!). My mom, who lives in an apartment but takes him out for at least 2 hours of off-leash walks a day, has a 6 month old Vizla puppy and has been barking a lot lately...we're trying to figure out how to stop it.

Thanks!


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## AcadianTornado

jfish said:


> Hi there, wondering how you got through this phase with Whistler (almost 10 years ago!). My mom, who lives in an apartment but takes him out for at least 2 hours of off-leash walks a day, has a 6 month old Vizla puppy and has been barking a lot lately...we're trying to figure out how to stop it.
> 
> Thanks!


Hi there, basically finding a doggy daycare was the answer. He would spend lots of time running with other dogs then tire out. It was mostly separation anxiety. These dogs need company. They are not the type to be alone. That being said, train their brain to be busy and that will also help. Good luck, don’t give up!


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