Ok, this was clear back in November, but still, let’s take a minute out here because it was BO JANGLES BIRTHDAY!

FIVE YEARS OLD!

Elle joined us for the “party.”

…which really was just about taking one of our Sunday cookies and plopping a candle on it.

But hey, that sure made Lucy pleased as punch.

We STILL cannot believe we have a real, live furry creature wandering around in our house. Yes, still five years in, it’s so weird when you think about it!

Any dog-lovers out there, PLEASE send me any advice you might have on getting a dog not to bark. She is killing us with her barking when people come to the door, and we are taking this training serious in 2022.

Happy bday Bo, we still love you despite the dang barking. But we’ll love you even more when we can teach you to stop:)

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10 Comments

  1. I really can’t believe you’ve had Bo Jangles for FIVE years already!!! I love dogs. I recommend watching some dog training videos from Cesar Millan aka The Dog Whisperer. His methods really do work. Happy belated birthday to Bo.

    1. I know, it’s so crazy we’ve had her for so long! I watched those dog training videos near the beginning, thank you for reminding me about them, I’m determined to make this a non-barking dog! Ha!

  2. She’s 5 already?? Here’s my tip. Get a metal can and put some coins in it. When she barks at the door you need to shake it and it needs to be a LOUD shake to startle her and get her attention. It may hurt your ears too but after a time or two she’ll realize you mean business. Invite neighbors over for treats so you have lots of repetitive visitors coming to the door and sbe’ll catch on faster. Good luck! My female got it right away; my male doesn’t bark anymore but now he does a low whine under his breath. Pathetic – ha!

    1. Thank you for that tip, I will have to try it. She barks so loud I don’t know if she could hear anything over her crazy barking, but I’m going to try anything I can! Thanks again!

  3. Hi, long time reader but never commented. Bo is so cute! Here’s my tip on barking – train her to go to her bed or a certain spot in your home when you say a certain word (ex: BED!). When she does, give her a treat. Then when someone knocks at the door or comes over, say “BED!” and she’ll eventually get the idea to go to her bed instead of bark. Just make sure to give her the extra special treats for this trick since it’s hard for dogs to hold back and not alert their pack that someone is at their home, especially older ones. Good luck!

    1. Ooo, I’ll have to try this one too. She definitely responds well to treats, so we’ll work on it!

      Thanks everyone for the tips, I so appreciate all the input I can get!

  4. Happy Birthday BoJangles!

    Please do not look to Cesar Millan for any type of training. There is no need to bully or scare a dog into submission to obtain the behavior you are looking for. Reward the behavior you are looking for!

    Why is she barking, is it excitement, fear-based or lack of knowing what she should do? One of my favorite articles is by Patricia McConnell, I am fond of #5 on her list.

    https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/barking-please-stop

    The other suggestion to go to her to a mat or bed and reward, reward, reward. If she doesn’t had any “go to place” or crate training, start with her even looking at the mat, then putting a paw on, then don’t reward until she puts two paws on, working up to getting her whole body on the mat and sitting or laying down. Then add a verbal cue once she has the hang of it. Reinforce it, reward the behavior, whether that is food, toy or praise based. I am sure there many videos on YouTube addressing barking, Kikopup is a good force-free trainer. Along with basic training, she has many fun trick training videos that maybe Claire and Lucy might like to try with Bojangles. https://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup/search?query=barking%20at%20door.

    Please do not look to Cesar Millan for any type of training. There is no need to bully or scare a dog into submission to obtain the behavior you are looking for.

    Good luck!

    1. Thank you for the feedback. It sounds like you know a lot of good training tactics, I wish you could come train her! But we are making some progress and I’m excited about that!

  5. I can’t believe it’s been five years since Claire pulled out that Christmas stocking for a new member of your family and her eyes almost popped out! So fun!

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