Fox terrier barking

My present terrier (Patterdale/Lakeland/Jr mix) is in general quiet and I live in a terraced house so barking opportunities are always there. He is 5 and I generally walk him for 1-3 hours a day, varying the walks.

He can be a bit more reactive if he has not had a walk for a day or two (due to me being unwell) or if he has had a lot of exercise and stimulation - in the summer I camp and walk the coast path - and then he gradually gets 'barkier', mostly at shadows!, until he has a day's rest at home.

The absolute worst is when I take him to a terrier or dog show and he is convinced he is going racing. He shrieks non stop in excitement and there is nothing I have found so far that works to stop him, apart from removing him altogether.

What tends to set your FT off or do you feel he just barks for the sake of it?
 
My terrier loves to bark, especially in the evenings . She stands in the garden and her whole body shakes and her tail wags madly. Basically I think terriers just love the sound of their own voice!

The secret with mine is enough exercise. She’s pretty good then, but if she hasn’t had enough of a walk to tire her out she barks at every little sound.
 
meleeka said:
My terrier loves to bark, especially in the evenings . She stands in the garden and her whole body shakes and her tail wags madly. Basically I think terriers just love the sound of their own voice!

The secret with mine is enough exercise. She’s pretty good then, but if she hasn’t had enough of a walk to tire her out she barks at every little sound.
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This I think! I don't have much terrier experience though my 10 month old Irish clearly enjoys barking. At anything!! BUT if he has enough exercise and other kinds of stimulation then he is much quieter and less reactive to everything else in the world. Thankfully we don't have particularly near neighbours...:)
 
Mental stimulation is usually the answer, that and working out what the triggers are and either removing them where possible or working with the dog to allow the dog to cope with the triggers without resorting to barking.
Some dogs are nore prone to barking but with a huge amount of time and patience it can be reduced and in most cases by a huge amount.
 
My father had a fox terrier when I was a child and he did not bark. He went shopping with my Mum and the pram to the village each day but a proper wak only on Sunday and rarly then as it was the war. My daughter now has an Irish terrier and she doesnt bark.
 
Foxterrierist said:
Has anyone else got a fox terrier that won’t stop barking? I’ve had several complaints and wondering if this is a common trait of the breed?
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I've a Lakeland who loves the sound of her own voice, particularly asking you to throw her ball...

Fox terrier pics please!!! Love them.

Fiona
 
I had a terrier( not a fox, though I have always had a hankering for one) and he never barked without reason. One time he got out the cat flap at two or three in the early morning and was barking like mad. My ex-husband shouted out the window to shut up and get in, which he did. In the morning we found we had been relieved of various garden ornaments and chainsaws and stuff from the farm.
I had a collie many moons ago, '83, '84 ish. He took to barking a lot and I taught him to speak and then through that taught him to be quiet and it stopped him barking all the time. This was before the internet so was really just going on instinct as it were to think of a way round my collies problem. My collie was under a year old at this point so it wasn't an established habit so maybe easier to sort.
 
twiggy2 said:
Mental stimulation is usually the answer, that and working out what the triggers are and either removing them where possible or working with the dog to allow the dog to cope with the triggers without resorting to barking.
Some dogs are nore prone to barking but with a huge amount of time and patience it can be reduced and in most cases by a huge amount.
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please can I send George to you for training? ????
 
We have had 3 fox terriers over the years, one was an absolute gentleman and would only bark if there was someone literally at the door but he lived in a very rural area and there wasn't much to bark at. The other two live on a fairly busy road and are barkers, only really at home and at passing things but still more that we would really like. They are a VERY active breed and I think it is a breed trait.
 
Yay!! Another Fox Terrier owner :D Is yours a smooth or a wire?

I've got a wire and she is the most delightful dog. On the whole she's not a barker, but unfortunately she and a dog down the road liked to bark to each other in the garden and ever since she's been prone to going in the garden and seeing if there's anyone around for a chat.

I found that a spray collar nipped the problem in the bud and she only has to wear it very occasionally as a reminder. If yours is doing it in a range of scenarios then it might be some stimulation is needed but I have to admit I've never found lack of stimulation a problem with mine, she's always been happy to adjust to how much or little we're doing.

Another thing that might help is something I read in a book about training fox terriers. They said that the ultimate punishment for one was to be removed from everyone's company so maybe every time your dog barks try putting it in a room by itself for 5 - 10 mins. I've found this has worked far better for her than other training methods for somethings such as house training and tbh it was a bit of a break through for me.
 
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Blanche said:
I had a terrier( not a fox, though I have always had a hankering for one) and he never barked without reason. One time he got out the cat flap at two or three in the early morning and was barking like mad. My ex-husband shouted out the window to shut up and get in, which he did. In the morning we found we had been relieved of various garden ornaments and chainsaws and stuff from the farm.
I had a collie many moons ago, '83, '84 ish. He took to barking a lot and I taught him to speak and then through that taught him to be quiet and it stopped him barking all the time. This was before the internet so was really just going on instinct as it were to think of a way round my collies problem. My collie was under a year old at this point so it wasn't an established habit so maybe easier to sort.
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Yes, I wouldn't say mine barks without a reason - there is always one!! It is a strategy he uses though to get our attention to things - 'Look, there's a cat!!' 'Look, I think someone you know is riding their horse past the house' etc etc. He doesn't bark at nothing but when he starts barking it's clearly quite fun - especially as he has trained me to respond in some way....I don't really mind tbh as I don't see my dog as a problem barker and it is good to see how alert he is to everything around us. He is, in fact, an excellent house dog in that respect; I know that no-one could be on the yard or nearby without us knowing :) :)
 
twiggy2 said:
I have my hands rather full, one of my bitches is part way through labour on top of the three young dogs we currently have.
That's us done breeding until another replacement is needed which should be a good few years yet if things all go according to plan.
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Crumbs no you definitely don’t want George added in to all that with his own particular brand of chaos! I hope the whelping goes well (or has gone well), I might message you for ideas about bark reduction techniques when things are less busy for you if that’s OK!
 
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