This dog was going nuts in the shop, really loud, and the owner (a woman about my age) calmly went ‘nah, stop barking like that mate’ and the dog INSTANTLY did, and remained quiet. I didn’t know you could just appeal to their basic decency.
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I do that with mine all the time. When she starts to bark back at the back neighbors’ dogs I just say “uh uh, we don’t do that over here” and she just stops.
My dogs stop when I tell them also but you have to start it from when they are puppies. I’m almost to the point where I can give them a “look” and they know to stop.
I love it when it works with humans too. The really amazing thing? When my cat is crying for treats and I tell him: "Let me finish this and I will get back to you." He sits down and watches me. (I never forget to give him treats!)
Had a thing like that with one of my dogs. Doberman would dig a hole in the grass under the big gum tree. Nothing I could say or do stopped it. A friend visiting went and had a chat with her and scraped dirt and leaves into the hole. She never dug in that spot again. Flamin’ dogs.
One day out of desperation I had a rational conversation with my dog before we go into work and remind him "No barking at the office or we have to go home" and he listens. Who knew?
You totally can. My dad's service dog in training didn't want to listen to her trainer one day. He calmly said, "If you want McDonald's after this..." Dog performed perfectly the rest of the session.
I travel with a 20lbs seizure alert dog. She will bark if she thinks I'm being threatened, but a sharp "Clarabelle, Stop!" will take care of that. It all depends on the commands they know.
The ideal way to respond to a dog who’s scared or nervous: total calm. It reassures them, unlike shouting ‘quiet’ or ‘stop’ to them, which confirms their worry and escalates barking. Not funny, but unbelievably unknown by most barky dog owners.
Dogs like to be acknowledged.
I was walking my dog and told her to sit because another dog was approaching. That dog sat. I apologized to the owner, who I thought was looking unaccountably stunned, and he said he hadn't known his dog knew how to sit on command.
I don't think my dog actually sat.
I yell-whisper, "Sparkie, be nice! Ouch ouch ouch!Be nice!" when she's biting into my flesh. It works sometimes, but mostly I have to take more extreme measures. Kudos to that woman!
I often ask one of my dogs to do me a favour and she will do it straight away. Shut up. Give it a rest. Get the ball. Grab the post. Etc. My other dog on the other hand doesn't have any basic decency lacks manners and is too ignorant to care what I'm on about.
When a cat is freaking out during a car ride I just explain what's going on, where we are going, and announce turns and bumps before they happen. That usually helps a lot
My Yorkie was barking madly at a repairman that came into our house. The guy reached down, scratched him behind the ears and said “You don’t scare me little guy.” He immediately stopped barking and looked at me as if to say “What are you going to do about this insult?!”
my dad would scream at my dog and she wouldn't listen to him one bit, I on the other hand, would always talk calmly to her and she would always follow my commands and do as I said. you'll just end up riling them up more if you talk to them in a angry manner.
Puts me in mind of the masterpiece first episode of Black Books, where Manny (Bill Bailey) has swallowed The Little Book of Calm and stops a dog barking with a simple, silent gesture of appeal.
Bill does have a special connection with animals, though.
That is one of the best shows ever written. I do a rewatch about once a year and once gave my sister scrambled egg in a shoe with a comb as a Christmas gift 😂
Scrambled egg from a shoe with a comb? - ddddirty. Like your style, Bex. Only ever managed beans from a plantpot with a lollypop stick.
There are a few standout episodes of already superbly written stuff. Blackadder Bells (season 2, with Bob) is another masterpiece. So much crammed into one show.
I’ve taken to saying to my cats “No. We’re not playing this game today” when they’re doing something annoying. Sometimes they do stop, but probably only coincidentally to be honest
We’ve accidentally trained ours to go into the crate on mention of the code word “naptime”. It’s by far the most impressive thing he’s ever done or will do.
My neighbor had a guest over with a dog that would not stop barking at the squirrels up in the trees. So the owner goes, “Bella, find your center.” And the dog just shut up and calmed down.
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He thought the best way to do this was to stand on my face around 5am and scream into my eyeball. I'd say, 'Leo, it's not time! 7am! 2 hours!'
And he'd go away for 45 minutes, then we'd do it again.
I guess it means "everything is cool and I am not a threat and we are safe here and it's time to chill"
Dogs are better than that.
Other times she completely ignores me and covers herself in fox poo.
I was walking my dog and told her to sit because another dog was approaching. That dog sat. I apologized to the owner, who I thought was looking unaccountably stunned, and he said he hadn't known his dog knew how to sit on command.
I don't think my dog actually sat.
Not mooks.
The other dog doesn't even have one manner, so he has to sleep in the barn.
Damn - it didn't work 😏
Bill does have a special connection with animals, though.
There are a few standout episodes of already superbly written stuff. Blackadder Bells (season 2, with Bob) is another masterpiece. So much crammed into one show.
https://bsky.app/profile/stevebasnett.bsky.social/post/3lbf4ow2ous24
I convinced her that I was okay
She let go
Imagine if she didn't listen, we all three would be got bites and all angry curse words out there 😬