Dog barks at trucks, motorbikes, sirens

[Skullduggery]

Is it possible to stop my dog from barking maniacally at these things?

To me, it seems more of an excited bark than a scared bark, and he races around the back yard, jumping around, as opposed to getting shaky or touchy. But, I am no dog reader!

Or maybe it's just his instinct and I will just have to put up with it!

Aside from something like a bark collar (I think they're cruel), anyone have any suggestions?

[Chippa]

I'd love to know the answer to this Holly!

My two red cattle dogs howl like banshees as soon any sirens start. It's awful and the old biddy over the fence always screams her head off at them!

I usually have to yell out to them to get their attention before they will stop.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Skullduggery]

Oh yeah, our whole neighbourhood starts singing when sirens are nearby! My dear woofer, however, barks instead of howling like the rest of them :-S

[ToughLove]

'Bark' collars {stimulus collars} are only cruel when misused. Same as check collars, slip collars, martingales, electric fences, and flat collars.
In this case, it would stop the barking, but wouldn't stop the behaviour. The barking is set off by the sound of trucks {I assume he can't see them?}, so the stimulus would only prevent the act of barking, not re-set a reaction to the trigger.
And you said you don't like them, so it can be worked around.
Do you feel the same way about citronella collars?

If you can't keep your dog inside during the day, which would be optimal for training, can you go outside and wait for the trigger? If you live in a high traffic area, the trucks and such will go past far more often.

Try waiting outside with a few treats for a bit. If a trigger goes past, and the dog starts barking, make a short, sharp sound like "Oi!" or "Hey!".
The second the dog takes his attention off barking, jumping, leaping or running, snap your fingers {you can also buy a clicker} and throw him a treat.

I taught my dogs not to bark by teaching them to bark. Doesn't sound like it makes sense, but that way barking became a command-only thing, like rolling over, begging, sitting, going to the crate.
They could only bark if told to, and then they got a treat.

I waited until they barked, then said "Woof!", treat. When silence fell, "Shush!" and treat.
Over and over.

Because you can't make your dog bark, it's a bit harder to teach, and requires a foundation of obedience and clicker training, so they know what to expect and understand the beginnings of a taught behaviour.

[MissXamA]

Before we got our 2 labradors, I read up on dog behaviour and how to stop any annoying habits from puppies. The best thing we did (and what dog behaviour experts say) is to not talk/shout at your dog when they are doing something that is bad and never use their name while shouting/talking to them. So the best thing we did and works a treat every time is to 'say' in a stern, stable tone and quiet quickly - 'uh uh' . It is something that dogs seem to respond too. If you talk or shout and use their name, they think you are encouraging their behaviour.
If our two get too excited and the first 'uh uh' does't work, I will walk up to them (in a very non aggressive way) and while 'saying' 'uh uh', I give them a short, sharp prod around their hip. It just seems to get their attention.
You need to be soooo persistent with it and now, our dogs only bark when there is something in our yard that they don't like (occasional possum or cat) or if they are playing together and even then, it isn't that annoying, continual bark.
I read somewhere that you should only use their name when praising them.

Our next door neighbours just bought home 2 little pups which constantly yap...yap when we walk to our garage, mail box, front yard, etc and they just say 'Frankie..noooo' 'Sammy...please..noooooo' in a very timid voice....the dogs just keep on yapping *sigh*

Hope that helps? I know it has for us and I have given the same advice to others and if persistent, it has worked for them as well
A

[Skullduggery]

Thank you for the great suggestions One way we could practice is when DH starts his bike up. So far the dog might as well be deaf when I'm trying to turn his attention away from the triggers.

Regarding the bark collar thing, I only thought they were cruel probably because I've seen them misused. We got this dog when he was 12-18 months old, and he had a terrible sore on his throat from a zapping bark collar. I do forget that there are spray ones though. Might be an avenue to explore if all other suggestions don't work for us.

Thanks again ladies

[MissXamA]

My dad worked on a cattle station and would fit the collars to the new dogs he was training. They were very effective and a good device if used correctly . Unfortunately so many people misuse this and harm the dogs - so cruel

I would only ever think of using one as a very last option. I know with persistence and training, dogs can learn new behaviours. Dogs behave how we train them.

I recommend watching/reading up on Cesar Milan - he is brilliant

Good luck and hope it works out!

[KaylaH]

Desensitizing the dog to the noise may help as well. So if you dh has a bike and that sets the dog off, perhaps have the dog inside when he starts up the bike (or alternatively record the sound of the bike on your phone which would be better as you can adjust the volume of exposure to the dog)so starting the furtherest away from the bike (or on the lowest volume) if the dog reacts to the noise a simple clear "no" and nothing else, no patting, no eye contact just "no". When he calms down (of he doesn't calm down at all, stop and try again later) treat him and say "good boy".. Do this for five mins every day, eventually turning the volume up/ moving closer to the bike each day and he should get used to loud noises. Although from what I know, it's hard to train a dog to be quiet with sirens- they supposedly hurt their ears hence the howling an barking at them.