So, somehow we ended up with a stray female pitbull. We searched for her owners and came up empty, so she has been staying with us for about a month or so. About two weeks ago, she noticed the big oak tree in the back yard.
She now barks at the tree for hours on end when she is outside. My daughter thought maybe she was attracted to the leaves moving, but even when the air is still, she looks at the leaves and barks. Sometimes she doesn’t bark, but she still jumps and looks. My daughter thinks the dog is having fun, but I feel like she has some sort of weird compulsion.
She has to be forced inside but she will take water breaks. She is drug in to eat. When she is inside, she cuddles and sleeps and seems fairly normal.
Do y’all think she needs puppy Prozac or something? Does she have puppy OCD? The vet thinks she is about two or so.
My first thought would be she’s got her eye on a squirrel in the tree, or some other critter like a racoon or possum holed up that she can smell. Or birds - my dogs like to bark at birds, too.
What do y’all do when she behaves like this?
Because if you give this behaviour ANY attention at all, even negative attention, you are reinforcing it.
So, who cares why. Come up with an alternate thing when she starts getting weird about trees. Sit, Down, Touch, Where’s the toy, Walkies, treats, chewies, and it’s no big deal etc. The fact that you are torturing yourself about why is most likely part of why she is doing this. Munchausens by Puppy is a very common syndrome and never helpful.
No big deal: Distract, and Ignore. It will go away. The more you make this a pathology, the worse your dog will respond. She’s not stupid, and dogs love attention of any sort.
Well, honestly, if I am home and she doesn’t want to come in, I let her stay out and bark at the tree. She isn’t digging holes or trying to eat the fence. She has water. So she can stay out if she is so inclined.
As far as reinforcing her behavior, I tell her she is silly to continue to bark at the tree, but I don’t feel like I reinforce it. I worry that her barking might annoy the neighbors, but other than that she can hang out with the tree all she wants.
To be totally honest, I am not familiar enough with this dog to feel comfortable dragging her in. If she wants to stay out, that works for me. When she whines to come in, I open the door. She looks at me and goes back to the tree. All hail the glorious oak.
[QUOTE=Samantha Leigh;17769801
To be totally honest, I am not familiar enough with this dog to feel comfortable dragging her in. .[/QUOTE]
I think this is the problem.
I also think you and she should enroll in a basic obedience class, so you can learn to understand your dog a bit better.
She understands you just fine (dogs are very good at this), but you have no clue about her. Don’t you think you should try? She is probably worth the effort. She thinks you are worth the effort, after all.
It is a big tree. I just can’t imagine that there is any sort of animal or bird that would warrant barking for hours and hours.
I wish we could have found her home. Someone had her before we found her. She has two ace bandages wrapped around her. One around her tummy and one around her leg. The vet said it appears she suffered a broken leg that didn’t heal properly. It was not a recent injury. She also had a halter collar on. No one responded to inquiries at the pound or Craigslist or our lost pets facebook page for my city.
Obedience training might be in the future for my daughter and the dog but I am not sure it is in the cards for me. I had no intention of letting this dog stay since we are a bit overrun with strays or rescue animals already. We have a mix that would be a better candidate for training than the pitbull. If I was less of a sucker she would be somewhere else already.
Look for pit bull friendly rescues in your area.
Rescues are hesitant to take on animals that may need expenditures. If this dog tests HW-neg and is spayed (is she?) and animal-friendly, you have a marginally good shot at finding someone to take her on.
For the love of humanity, why she barks at the tree aside, LET HER IN. If she’s within earshot of the neighbors she is likely driving them insane. It’s irresponsible and bad owner behavior to leave a barking dog outside for 10 minutes much less hours on end, come on. Common sense should tell you that.
Take her to obedience training so she’ll come when you call her and teach her “leave it” so she’ll get away from the tree and stop obsessing when you want her to. My dog loves to chase lizards in the yard but when it’s time to go in or do something else and I tell him “LEAVE IT” he does and comes to me. It’s just training and pits are super smart, she will catch on. She is likely barking because she saw something run up the tree once upon a time and is thinking about it. Provide her with interaction rather than leaving her to sit bored in the yard if she’s acting like that.
And what BoBettie said. Why the fuck is this poor dog being left in a situation where she barks at a tree for “hours on end”?
For the love of all that is good, please try to find a responsible situation for this dog ASAP. Because you are clearly not capable of providing her with a suitable temporary home. Not to mention your poor neighbors.
I agree with all the others. Don’t let her outside for hours on end to bark. Bring her in. If she can’t be trusted when you’re away, if she chews or isn’t housebroken, get her a crate. Putting a dog in a crate for a few hours isn’t cruel as long as it isn’t for eight hours at a time.
This reminds me of a dog I saw on telly who had a similar obsession with a fence, except he just sat and stared at it. The behaviourist said it was likely he could hear insects foraging about in the wood. I think it’s probably the same thing with your dog. Dogs, of course, can hear things we can’t.
I second those who think she could probably do with a couple more interests in her life but she is probably very happy barking at the tree.
Actually pit bulls are reasonably intelligent and can be trained if you know how to do it. Here are some helpful videos from a reputable pit bull advocacy organization that can help you with some common behavior problems: http://badrap.org/node/20
You may want to consider their ideas about exercising a dog (#9) since I suspect that your dog wouldn’t be so focused on barking at the tree if she were not bored and looking for something to do.
I DO NOT think you should give up the dog just because you have been leaving her in the yard. Whoever said that probably doesn’t understand the harsh realities of how overcrowded shelters are with pit bulls. Most pit bulls who go to shelters are killed because there are just so many of them, and so many people are afraid of them, that the majority can’t find homes.
Compared to the many pit bulls who are tormented and abused by dog fighters and/or killed at shelters because nobody wants them, your pit bull probably has it pretty good with you. I commend you for looking past the negative stereotypes about the breed to try to help this poor pooch that otherwise probably would not have a home.
Training ought to help you (and your neighbors) better enjoy having this dog around. Thank you for trying to take her in.
In general, rather than discouraging unwanted behavior, it’s better to redirect. Showing the dog what you want her to do is much easier than trying to convey what part of the behavior you DON’T want.
She’s bored and I’m betting she’s not getting enough exercise. She comes to the door because she’s hoping you’ll come outside and pay attention to her. How much walking do you do with her? Are there other strays she can play with? Getting her another dog would help a lot with her boredom problem but you need to develop a relationship with her first.
If she’s going to be your dog, you need to make the commitment to getting comfortable with her. That includes giving her enough attention and exercise. Leaving her in the yard all day is not good for her.
And what’s up with the ace bandage around her middle? What did the vet say about that?
