Screaming Terrier

bubbilygum

bubbilygum

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Our 11 month old Airedale SCREAMS if she thinks she sees a cat or a fox in our garden. We don't let her in the garden if we can see a cat is out there (both of our neighbours have cats and we obviously don't want to encourage her chasing them, and we never have done, but I suppose it is instinctual more than anything) but often there ISN'T a cat there and she screams her head off anyway! We've tried moving her to a different room, leaving her until she stops screaming before testing her out, letting her out straight away, telling her off, distracting her with a toy etc, but nothing seems to work. If we get hold of her collar to move her away from the door she just screams more and throws herself around! We aren't hurting her (except for perhaps hurting her pride!) but she makes such a big deal out of it. We don't have cats ourselves but I would like for her to ignore the cats ideally, and I certainly don't want her chasing them or worse catching one... Has anyone got any suggestions? She also does this if she sees a cat when we are walking... She is kept on a lead at all times unless we are somewhere open and secure (where there will be no cats!) because her recall is terrible if anything more interesting is around. We have been practicing her recall at home in the garden (where she is also useless at coming when called) and we tried treats, using playing with a rope toy, whistles etc, and all worked occassionally but it seemed like we would make progress then regress twice as quickly. She is just so stubborn. I would love to be able to let her off the lead on walks but at the minute that just isn't an option! Any ideas on stopping her cat hatred and teaching her to come when she's called?!
 
Get her to a good training class. Incentivise everything. Train her when she is hungry. Feed her by hand, not out of a bowl. When she is in her screaming fit, the MINUTE she is quiet - feed her.

Find somewhere (a tennis court, a well fenced field) where she can have a really good hooly. Look into jogging her or biking with her or trying agility or swimming to burn off all that energy.

If she screams when you touch her DO NOT let go, my dog had a terrible habit of squealing when I asked him to do something he did not want to do so I would let go of him - result for the dog! Squeal - pressure drops - evasion/avoidance.
Be firm and no-nonsense, it is like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
Airedales can be very stubborn (I have learned recently :p) so you need to get a handle on her.

You could also look into using aversives like squirty bottle or rattle bottle or pots and pans but do so on the advice of a trainer as this does not suit every dog and clever ones can evade this.

Also - have you tried closing the curtains?
 
In addition - I would put a house line on her so you can remove her from the room when she kicks off without having to grab her collar. Take the line, take her out of the room and shut the door, leaving her out until she is calm. Don't make any other contact with her - don't speak, don't meet her eye, be very calm about it, but most importantly, consistent.

It sounds like you have tried lots of different things, but sometimes you need to persist with one thing for a long time for it to be effective. A good trainer will be able to help you with this, and the recall issue. With this one, have you trained her to a whistle? You may find this helps, but do go to a training class so she learns to work around distractions like other dogs. They should be able to show you how to introduce the whistle for maximum effectiveness. :)
 
Very good point Spuds, grabbing a collar can make dogs even more evasive and they can duck from your hand if they see it coming, even if you want to pat them.
As well as buying a custom-made house line, you can get a cheapo lightweight lead from the shops and cut the hand loop off, or get some thin builder's cord and a g-clip from a hardware store.
 
We tried a squinty bottle, which worked perfectly with our old dog (a Samoyed) but Lily just thinks its a game! If we close the curtains she just opens them. The best thing we have found so far is moving her to the kitchen, which calms her down, but as soon as we let her back into the living room she heads straight for the back door and starts again. We walk her twice a day for 45mins to an hour, and also have two good play sessions with her (usually a combination of rope toy and throwing a ball around) and we also have a large garden which she happily runs around without a problem when she doesn't convince herself there is a cat out there! We are teaching her "settle" by putting her on her bed with a small rawhide and making her stay there until she's calmed down a bit... We have a spare lead which we can put on her collar and stand on so she can't go anywhere if necessary. Sometimes she is just good as gold and other times she really tests our patience! We tried incentivising her with food, even taking her regular kibble away and using her favourite, cheese, and she didn't eat for days... Even when we gave her kibble back she didn't want it. So stubborn! We can't enrol her to agility until she is a year old, but we are definitely going to do agility, I read recently that there is only one Airedale registered as an agility dog in the UK!
Airedales are renowned for there, erm, "strong character" which I think is just breeder speak for being bloomin' awkward! I love her to bits and I don't think I would have another breed of dog again but she isn't easy!
 
If she starts again you take her out again, as many times as is necessary for her to get the message that noise = out of the room.:)

You can do basic obediance training now in preparation for agility - it will help your agility as well as with the other issues.
 
A house line is an excellent idea... We looked into getting her a long line for walking so she could have a run around without getting too far away from us, and to also help with her recall, as if we call her and she doesn't come back we can reel her in!
I really need to get better with using a whistle. We never used one with our last dog and our attempts so far haven't really worked! Spud you are definitely right, we need to pick one method and stick with it and be consistent. We managed this with her barking and play biting, where we would say "OUT!" and she would know to go into the kitchen and stay there until we told her she could come and play again (usually 10-20 seconds after she stopped barking and sat down).
I will get a house line and an outdoor long line and try both these things. We took her to a training class and I asked the trainer about her recall and she said to just let her off and reward her she came back! I'm sure that worked for the people there with cockapoos and toy poodles because they probably don't wander very far but Lily will run for miles and miles!
 
I think you need another trainer...;)

I would advise using a long-line and a whistle. Keep an extremely high-value treat only for use with the whistle and nothing else.

Start off by blowing your recall signal (a series of 3 or 4 pips is the one most people use) at mealtimes so she associates with sound with food. You do this for at least a week. Then move into using it to call her just around the house, using your high-value treat. Start off by having her with you, and blow the recall signal then immediately give her the treat (I suggest Primula cheese for this). Then, call her from across the room, then from a different room. Do this for at least a week again.

When you do get her out, always use a long-line. Don't try to use the whistle to call her at first, wait until she's already on her way then blow the recall signal. If she's a good way away, keep repeating the signal until she gets to you, then reward and release (keeping her on the line of course!) so she learns that coming back doesn't mean the fun is all over. Remeber you can also get her attention by running away from her or dropping to the floor (no honestly!), but she has to be looking at you first for this to work so be patient!

After a week or so of this, you can start using the recall signal to get her back before she starts coming to you of her own accord, but don't try and use it while she's got her head down sniffing - wait until the head comes up then call her. You don't want to try and use it to compete with distractions until it's really solid. Hence the line to keep her out of trouble. Try not to reel her in unless you have to, because ideally you want her to forget the line is there so you can take it off eventually. You can also play recall tag with your OH - one of you holds her, the other runs away blowing the whistle and generally being exciting, then the holder releases the dog to catch the other person when they're really excited about it, and you reward them when they get to you. Then you swap over! Basically, you want to make yourself really exciting and interesting and a bit unpredictable too.

If at any stage you struggle, go back one or two steps. Also, you may find you need to vary your high value reward sometimes, as with mine I find he gets bored of the same thing eventually.
 
The way I have trained recall is have a dog with you that will always come back. The training being the other one will come with it. You then progress to going it alone. Have trained all my terriers this way.

A dog who has your attention will never let you out of its sight.

Also the cat thing, I just never react to them or scould them as your quite often making the situation worse as they get more excited with the fuss and noise.

I love airedales.
 
Spud that all sounds excellent! Her favourite reward is mature cheddar cheese so I will use cubes of cheese! She also loves dried liver so I can mix the two up to keep her interested. New shopping list contains two longlines (indoor and outdoor), and a whistle (are some better than others?).
Kaylum I definitely agree that I make the situation worse by trying to intervene! We tried ignoring her but she will do it for such a long time and I worry the neighbours might think I'm beating her! It is honestly the most awful sound I have heard a dog make, almost like a pig being slaughtered! Hopefully the longline will work to ease her away without me winding her up by trying to grab her collar. She really dislikes cats... If she finds their poop in our garden she eats it (disgusting dog!) and then either poos or wees in the same spot. I don't know what cats ever did to her to make her dislike them so much but they really have upset her somehow!
 
We had a chronic screamer and agree, shouting and yelling makes it worse, more of a game, you take it up a notch, the dog will go higher.
My young dog now is very 'high' and I have to be careful to keep everything low, calm, firm and deliberate, in my voice and in my movement, even if I walk across our yard in an animated fashion, he will feed off that and start bouncing and barking.

Your dog obviously has a lot of drive and the best thing to do with that is redirect it into some sort of activity or work, like agility, flyball, obedience, tracking, Cani-x.
Focused exercise and brain work rather than just walking or running around - some dogs need a lot more than that.
Don't forget that Airedales were the main service dog in the UK before people started bringing GSDs back from Germany with them - while they may be a terrier, they are essentially a dual purpose working dog.
There is a working Airedale in this clip, which I posted a few weeks ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci6TehSehbo

Kaylum my friends have an Airedale who is running rings around them, they treat him like their baby and he is going to peg the wrong dog one of these days - if you could PM any breed-specific tips or hints I could pass along, that would be super :)
 
Ditto all that Spud has said.

Just to add that if cheese is her favourite reward then she should ONLY ever get that for recall and NOTHING else in my book. For my current Number One Adolescent G*t I carry a tub of Tescos Pate in my pocket.....recall, back to me, quick lick of the pate and back off out you go again. (Doesn't make quite so much of a mess or stink in the pocket as cheese and liver!)

I think I disagree with your interpretation of her behaviour though, namely that she hates cats. I think she LOVES them....as in would love to hunt and chase etc. A friend has Airedales and some can have quite high prey drives; two are avid fox/deer/rabbit hunters. I have actually seen an Airedale on a shoot so gundog training may be one way to sort this as a high degree of self-control has to be taught.

Also, am sure you would but IMO long lines need to be on harnesses and not collars, so no damage to neck if dog takes off and hits end of line.

Clicker is a good way of teaching recall....can give you more info if you like. Also, remember to reward her EVERY time she looks at you and checks in with you when you are out and about......this keeps the contact and interaction so that you are and remain part of the 'hunt' and not just the party pooper that calls an end to all the fun.
 
Oh and if you use a ball or a toy, use two. I have two of everything, as GGD says, so you are not the party pooper who takes the fun away. Always exchange one for the other and let the dog carry the 'last' ball home for a while.

Get yourself a good bodywarmer, fishing or camera jacket so you can keep stinky treats (Iceland Liver Sausage, £1 a pack :p) in there all the time, wear it over your clothes and feed her out of it so that all good stuff comes from you.
 
Pate, that's a good idea GGD, I think I'll get a tub tonight. Totally agree about the harness too.:)

If it makes you feel better OP, I will be taking my own reprobate back to the long-line stage tomorrow after today's little performance:mad: Monstrous hound! Too busy gorging on horse poo to come back and fully aware that I can't get under or over the electric fence to stop him!:mad:

ETA one last important thing - wear gloves to use a long-line! They get mucky, and you will save your hands from a rope burn too (been there, done that...)
 
Terriers eh, who'd have them? Some good advice there but remember she is a terrier who, in many cases is only doing what she is bred for, chasing and catching things; to not understand that is very counter productive IMO; it's like asking collies not to round things up; it's in their natural make up so you do have to make allowances for it to live happily together.

From her point of view she is protecting her property from all invaders, the fact it's a cat makes it worse. Many terriers can live with their own cats but are death (or try to be, cats usually out jump them) to any invaders, it is just part of their make up plus the fact you have one of the known most stubborn/aggressive breed of terrier, that won't make your job easier but you should have been aware of the terrier mind set before even thinking of having one as they are most frustrating if you don't understand their life ambitions from the start and adapting your handling accordingly.
 
CaveCanem said:
Kaylum my friends have an Airedale who is running rings around them, they treat him like their baby and he is going to peg the wrong dog one of these days - if you could PM any breed-specific tips or hints I could pass along, that would be super :)
Click to expand...

I am afraid I dont have Airedales I have Scotties and Westies, so cant comment on the breed just the ones I have met which have been lovely big soft dogs.
 
Maesfen said:
From her point of view she is protecting her property from all invaders.
Click to expand...

This is certainly what she is doing, and I wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't for the fact that in December two "Tarmac your driveway" type men (you know the type...) tried to break into our garden and steal her (!) and she was more than happy for them to come in the garden! Luckily i was in, managed to grab her and scared them away myself (guard owner!).
She is a typical terrier and I love that about her. We wanted a "useful" type of dog, our last dog was an absolute angel but wasn't too fussed about walking/playing etc and we knew this time around we wanted a dog that we could take for long walks and to the yard etc. My other half has made some noises about doing some gun dog training with her (his family have two very, very well trained gundog labs) and I would like to have her out beating next season... Would be good for both of us I think! Also agility, flyball etc, mental and physical activities would definitely be good for her.
She's such a character, stubborn as a mule at times but such a loving, friendly, happy dog, will befriend anyone and loves other dogs... And not a nasty bone in her body! She's been attacked by two dogs, one was a rather nasty little cocker spaniel which bit her all over her ears and neck and she just thought it was a game, which to be honest I think just wound this cocker up more.
Also Pâté is an EXCELLENT idea! Smelly, comes in a tub, high in protein... Perfect! I will definitely get a tub of this for training. Cheese ends up a disgusting sweaty mess if you have it in your pocket for too long (I know this from using it to bribe my dog, not because I carry cheese around as a snack!)
 
We had a working lakeland and he used to scream like a skewered baby as soon as he went underground, it sounded awful as though he was in pain but it was just sheer excitement. Meant his baying wasn't too good, thank goodness for locator collars!
 
Maesfen said:
From her point of view she is protecting her property from all invaders, the fact it's a cat makes it worse. Many terriers can live with their own cats but are death (or try to be, cats usually out jump them) to any invaders, it is just part of their make up.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this, my terrierist happily co-exists with my 2 cats, but any other cats are fair game. Chasing them is just TOO MUCH FUN! If allowed to, Stan goes charging out into the garden barking and squealing to ensure he gets rid of any invader cats!

I insist he sits and waits by the back door (inside), then I walk to the bottom of the garden (not very far in my case!!) then tell him he can come out. The fact that I have already been out and effectively cleared the garden of any threats seems to stop the barking. He is not allowed to just go out in the garden, and is not left out there unsupervised. He goes out, has a quick sniff, is instructed to have a wee, has a wee, and comes back in.

OP - you really could do with finding the ultimate, better-than-everything, super treat for your dog - this will help with recall, but also with focus on you. Then train 'watch' or 'heel' (we do heel) to get attention on you, so when you spot a cat, you can get the dog's full attention before it is in the 'red zone'. But it will be tough to find a treat that is better than chasing a small furry thing!
 
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