Had a baby - scared dog

[ZeusWard]

Hello all. I'm new to the forum. Our English Mastiff Zeus will be 3 in august. How can I train him to stop barking at guests and to warm up to them if I tell him it's ok? I like the initial bark because my husband is in the Army and away from home a lot. Also, he's not aggressive barking, he's afraid. If the guest takes any step toward him, he jumps back and runs away. We've also had a problem with the neighbors kids. He barks at them from the end of his lead when he goes poty outside, so when I lead the kids to Zeus and show them to put their hand down and let him sniff, etc, he warms up right away but then jumps left and right (excitedly) and barks to play- this scares the kids really bad because he's 150lbs and has a loud bark! HELP!

 

[Max's mom]

Max is 175 pounds, a year and a half old and I can say that the one thing I did right with my boy is teach him SIT, Down, WAIT. I don't let kids approach him unless he is in WAIT mode. He lays and watches, kids can approach, he can sniff and they can pet him. It puts kids in a better position to get away if they are scared and it takes a minute for Max to get to his feet. He is less threatening to them that way. He's a big baby too and he LOVES kids. Laughter from little kids is one of his favorite things. He gets pretty excited, but I don't let him bark at them. If he gets to pushy or over playful, I have the child cross their arms in front and turn to the side like they are ignoring him. It really seems to help.
Barking at strangers is not a bad thing imo...If you can teach your boy to get in a certain position to meet people every time and he feels safe, there may be less barking and anxiety on everyone's part. It is hard to get people to understand that he's big, not a beast when he's barking his head off! Treating for calm and quiet greeting might help.

I know others will chime in here. They are way more experienced than me!

 

[DennasMom]

Denna is developing a similar problem (she turned 3 in March)... she's decided she needs to bark at anyone approaching, even as her tail wags and her ears go out in that "WhooHoo, nice people are here!" flying nun look-alike motif.

The people that recognize her very happy (?) bark and put their hands out for a sniff with confidence are rewarded with the lean-in and some kisses. The ones that are a bit put-off and scared of the BIG dog barking at them get barked at more....

There were also a few friends this weekend that were deemed unsuitable for close contact... and were given the 'go away' bark.... we tried again to get her to at least accept the person in her space quietly, and she would listen to the new person, doing as asked - sit, down, shake and even take treats from said "bad" person (friend of a relative), but still... he was not allowed to pet her.

I think we might go back to class and see if some structured obedience practice around strange people and dogs will help her be more polite in mixed company.

 

[Nik]

Diesel sometimes barks at people that come near him but his is a demanding "play with me, pet me, pay attention to me" bark. We have been working on the demand bark by making people leave immediately and turn their back to him. No reward for the barking. When he does the correct behavior (calm sitting and quiet) then he gets the attention he wants. It's still a work in progress but the method seems to have made a big difference.