Dog won't stop barking at Guitar

[Sagebrush Tom]

Don't have the problem with the guitar, but my Aussie starts barking when he hears or sees a dog on the tv. But as soon as it stops, he's back to normal. Might try Cesar's method, but will watch a movie with a dog or dogs in it to put his method in use. Awhile back i was watching turner and hootch, and i had to turn off the movie to get him to stop.
Tom

[rmsstrider]

Originally Posted by Von Beerhofen

It's not clear wether the dog is barking because of you holding an unfamiliar shape or it's distressed by the sound. In most situations one would train expectancy in the dog by for instance giving it a reward when it behaves. Another way is to get the dog to behave different by for instance training him to lie down on it's spot and reward him for that.

Perhaps it's not the guitar but it could be the dog sees you as a threat as it may have dominant behaviour. That means the owner isn't in charge but the dog is. That's obviously not how it should be and the owner should learn to take the leader status.

Getting rid of the dog's energy by taking it on exhaustive walks and deplete it's energy might help in changing it's behaviour. Punishing won't really help much, you just have to keep training it untill it obeys and will see the benefit of that. If all fails you can always call Cesar Milan and see what he has to offer.

Ludwig

The dog barks upon seeing the guitar, not by playing it. The dog loves me, not afraid.

[H165]

My dog likes barking at my resophonic. It's on the stand.....He barks directly into the cone...the whole guitar goes off and resonates for about 5 seconds...he likes it....he barks again. It must be the G chord he likes....


Fortunately, he gets tired of it. We think it's hilarious.

My dog doesn't like anything that he thinks is a threat to me. He barks at my riding mower and then looks at me like, "hey, I'm trying to help you here, get off that thing before it eats you!" He barks at RC cars, weed-whackers, vacuums. I don't know what to tell you except be patient and embrace the weirdness like I do. He has the right to not like certain things.

[lt20dbl]

My dogs have always curled up and gone to sleep while I play. I can take them to gigs and have on occasion. I think it makes them feel safe. like when the cowboys sing to the cattle. Do you sing too? If not, maybe you should.

[Pitar]

A dog should be seen and not heard. I'm afraid the relationship would be over immediately for me. I don't play 2nd fiddle to "animal rights" mentalities imposing their wills upon me. I leave them with what's really important to them because obviously I'm not.

[6L6]

delete double post

[6L6]

Had the same problem with our now one year old Australian Labradoodle.

The solution was to start off with a couple of soft/slow tunes. In my case, Gerry & the Pacemakers’ “Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying” and Johnny Rivers' “Poor Side of Town” work great. “Never My Love” by The Association does the trick too.

Yep, start the dog off with “Comfort tunes”. Cmaj7 and Fmaj7 chords work particularly well!

[HeyMikey]

A good friend of mine has been a professional dog trainer for decades. He can train a dog to do anything. Look up clicker training. They use the same techniques to train zoo, performing and service animals.

I've watched him do this. It's a real skill, It takes time and a lot of gradual repetition to "shape" the desired behavior. It has to be with positive reinforcement. Not for an amateur who knows nothing otherwise you can inadvertently be reinforcing the wrong behavior.

Find a good professional for privates or sign up for group lessons for a problem dog and it's money well spent. We always put our dogs through at least basic behavior training and sometime more for specialty training.

[lt20dbl]

Originally Posted by Pitar

"A dog should be seen and not heard"

hmmm. Maybe it's best that you don't own one. If you don't, I'll give you credit for that.

[Mr Fingers]

Some dogs react to the high overtones in music, negatively by barking, but sometimes positively by sort of howling along. But since your situation is sight-triggered, I'm guessing something else is at work unless the dog learned elsewhere to associate discomfort with a guitar. There often is no solution other than having the dog absent from the playing space. My grandmother was a classic, hefty German opera singer who had a dachshund (of course) and she thought it was fantastic to crank up her own voice so the dog could howl along in a freaking nightmare fire-alarm duet. Count your blessings.

[Goodallboy]

He needs to be crated before you get your guitar out.

Crate first......guitar second, out of sight. If he barks then, and I don't think he will, you're screwed......sorry!

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Pitar

A dog should be seen and not heard. I'm afraid the relationship would be over immediately for me. I don't play 2nd fiddle to "animal rights" mentalities imposing their wills upon me. I leave them with what's really important to them because obviously I'm not.

Tell us how you really feel about dogs.

It's always a winning topic.......

[Gary1953]

[MrHooligan73]

Originally Posted by geetaruke

Another vote for - haunted.

Haha same here! It was my first thought.... did someone use the tree to hang someone then make it into a guitar?
Just saying....