Dog Behavior

[gja1000]

When Rowdy was about 8 months old, he started barking at us to get our attention and if we didn't respond, he would just bark louder. It was really getting out of hand, so one time when he barked at me, I grabbed him by the harness, lifted him up, shook him (not too hard, but hard enough to startle him) and said "NO" in a very loud mean voice. I was trying to mimic what I thought his mom might do to him if he tried to boss her (she'd grab him by the scruff of the neck and shake him - at least that is what I thought she might do).

When I put him down, he looked at me like I'd lost my mind, ran over to my husband and got behind him and peeked around him at me.

I only had to do that one more time and the barking at us completely stopped.

Both my boys wait for me to go through the door first, they know I am the boss. They test their limits sometimes, but they always acquiesce.