Barkley a strange problem don't know what to do

[loopylou]

I've never come across this problem and I'm not sure how to tackle it.Barkley like Tia gets very excited when anyone comes to the door, he barks but is wagging is tail and is very enthusiastic with visitors. ;D I can deal with this. What is confounding me is his behaviour when people , usually Dave or my sons leave the house. We have a stair gate across the kitchen/hallway door. When I go out or go upstairs I shut the stair gate and the door. I always do this otherwise Tia will whinge and cry. Dave and my sons never bother to shut the door just the stair gate which he tries to barge through and has nipped me when I stopped him. When Dave leaves the house or my resident or visiting son (occasionally other visitors but never me,) Barkley starts barking, play bowing and getting very excited, this gets worse the nearer to the front door they get.Once they have left he calms straight down.Today he has nipped both sons as they left. Neither were hurt it wasn't hard but a nip rather than mouthing.Barkley is a very mouthy (in every way) dog and uses his mouth a lot. he will mouth but very gently and always carries something in his mouth.The obvious answer is for everyone to shut the door and hope he eventually forgets this behaviour but people forget and I really want to nip it it the bud no pun intended. Also any ideas why he does it? I'm guessing he wants to go out with them and just gets over excited. I'm wondering if he used to travel around with men in a van or car as he always wants to sit in the passenger seat next to Dave.He really is a nice boy and I don't think he means any harm but I'd hate him to nip a work man for example.Again any help would be appreciated.

[julies]

It might be that he thinks if males leave they might be all going to 'work' the dogs so he gets OTT ... dunno, my bridge boy Moke would stand up in the back of the car if we drove thro lanes at night snuffling and woofling (I think) in excitement Moek would want to jump into vans too and I had to retirieve him from one front seat LOL

I would think he'll gradually settle down as he understands your routine but I'd make sure he had interesting exercise so he's happily tired, I'd get everyone to ring the doorbell when they come in - including family, if he's jumping about then just fold your arms and turn your back on him , don't speak to him until all four paws are on the floor and he's standing there quietly- it may take sometime at first but persevere and he'll catch on .. when he is calm then he can have quiet praise

As for people leaving ... I'd try to set up say a Kong session (tho difficult when there's more than one) but Kongs for all so they associate people leaving as something nice happens .. you could start by giving each a Kong then going out the front door and back in so they get used to people going in and out and they stay occupied on their beds ....it'd take a few training sessions but worth persevering as -like you say, you don't want him to get into the habit of nipping and then nip someone who will complain

Good luck with him

Julie x

[loopylou]

Thanks, I have wondered if he's been worked as he has no dew claws, although he is fine with my cat and shows no interest in the rabbits when we are out (he's not an off leader yet) even when the others give chase. Although am I right in thinking when dogs are worked it's very controlled and on command so he wouldn't necessarily just go after them or show interest.Maybe off lead he would. Thanks for the tip , I really don't think any of it's done with malice which you seem to be saying too. I've already told everyone to ignore him when the come in and leave and shutting the door stops it immediately, I'll get some Kongs and try that too. Thanks again.

[julies]

Yes if they've been worked properly they are amazing - they will be left on the other side of hedges to the handler and will not move, be sent over hedges to catch the prey and bring it back live to hand, one will be sent to pick up the bunny and the others stay still, they'll ignore buns if not told to catch them and just ignore any stock- cattle or sheep that's about The dog club I take Charlie to does competitive obedience and couldn't believe what the lurchers obedience test asked you to do ..

I don't get the feeling he's being malicious (tho difficult to be certain whithout seeing him ) and TBH I find with our dogs they're rarely truly aggressive and if they are it's because someone's made them so - usually by frightening them or over encouraging their instincts so they are hyper and just go off on one - my Lucy does it with cats and I have to muzzle her cos she bites me and Charlie

If that doesn't work say so and we'll develope another cunning plan LOL

Julie xx