01-19-2009, 11:58 PM
[user=93]sally[/user] wrote:
Bassets are generally hard to motivate, even though they are hunting dogs. They are usually pretty mellow and very stubborn. No doubt, he is just following the lead of the other two and I wouldn't be surprised if the golden was the instigator of the whole thing.
The first thing you really need to do, is get them all doing some basic obedience. You have to work with them one at a time to start with, but they all need at least a solid 'sit' and 'down' (note: 'sit/stay' and 'down/stay' is redundant because they should not 'break' the command until released from it anyway). I believe you said you already know something about training, so I won't go into details on that right now, but once you have each dog so that it will sit and stay put until you release it, you need to start setting them up with 'distractions', for example, rolling a ball past them while sitting. Be creative with it.
Once they are to the point where you can get them to SIT on command and ignore distractions, try putting a leash on one of them and put the other dogs in another part of the house, then have someone help you out by doing something to make the one dog bark at the window. Be ready for it and grab the leash while ordering the dog to SIT! Keep at it until he does. Do this over and over until the dog sits on command, then work with another dog. Eventually, you will be able to simply say 'SIT!' and they will all sit on command (and of course, stop barking).
There are ways you could use conditioning to teach them to NEVER bark at the window, but you probably want them to bark sometimes.... you just want them to stop when you ask them to, which is perfectly reasonable.
It's not going to happen overnight.
Quote:7 yr oldMgolden retriever, 5 year old MNewfoundland, 3 year old Mbasset hound, and1 yr old F pitbull. The males arenot fixedthanks to my idiot husband and I'm not sure if nutering them would even maked a difference now. The female is spayed and she is the best one. It's just the 3 stooges who do the barking, I really have no problem with the female.I agree with TA that your golden is probably bored. He needs to get out and burn up calories every day for an hour at least. Retrievers really do like to retrieve, so just teaching him to fetch a 'kong' over and over would help (I would not suggest a 'tennis ball', he's just the right size to get that lodged in his throat).
Bassets are generally hard to motivate, even though they are hunting dogs. They are usually pretty mellow and very stubborn. No doubt, he is just following the lead of the other two and I wouldn't be surprised if the golden was the instigator of the whole thing.
The first thing you really need to do, is get them all doing some basic obedience. You have to work with them one at a time to start with, but they all need at least a solid 'sit' and 'down' (note: 'sit/stay' and 'down/stay' is redundant because they should not 'break' the command until released from it anyway). I believe you said you already know something about training, so I won't go into details on that right now, but once you have each dog so that it will sit and stay put until you release it, you need to start setting them up with 'distractions', for example, rolling a ball past them while sitting. Be creative with it.
Once they are to the point where you can get them to SIT on command and ignore distractions, try putting a leash on one of them and put the other dogs in another part of the house, then have someone help you out by doing something to make the one dog bark at the window. Be ready for it and grab the leash while ordering the dog to SIT! Keep at it until he does. Do this over and over until the dog sits on command, then work with another dog. Eventually, you will be able to simply say 'SIT!' and they will all sit on command (and of course, stop barking).
There are ways you could use conditioning to teach them to NEVER bark at the window, but you probably want them to bark sometimes.... you just want them to stop when you ask them to, which is perfectly reasonable.
It's not going to happen overnight.