By Britta Hammarström

As we all know, the Vestgotaspets is not a silent dog!

They bark, grunt, growl, whine and mutter.......

The grunts, growls, whines, and muttering might be

tolerable…. but that barking ......!

We have had V-spets in our home since 1981 along with

other breeds and we have found that the V-spets is the

"alarm signal." When someone is at the front door,

someone passes the garden fence, someone slams a car

door in the street, someone drops something on the floor

of the house explode!!! "murder, burglars, war,

attack, terrorists!!!!!" And the rest of the dogs (startled)

fall in and say "where, when, what???"

Not only is this annoying and tiresome, it could also get

you on bad terms with your neighbors.

Personally, I think it is quite alright if my dogs (no matter

what breed) tell me that someone is coming, someone is

passing our garden, etc., but that´s it!!!! Short alarm

signal, then QUIET!!! Ok! I have got the message! I take

over from here!

Dismissed!!!! This is what we have to plant into our dogs

from the very beginning.

In Vestgotaspets (as well as in many other breeds, but in

this breed in particular) the instinct to guard, watch, alarm

signal, is so very deep as this has been one of their main

tasks for hundreds of years on Swedish farms: to

announce when a stranger was approaching the yard,

when the fox was getting near the hens, when the children

were wandering off, when a cow, a sheep, a bull, a horse

managed to get on the wrong side of the fence. After all,

what good does it do to sit and whine or grunt when the

fox is there going mad in the henshed??? NO GOOD AT

ALL! You´d better yell from the top of your voice –

"come here, Master and Mistress, the Devil is loose!

come and help! I´m doing the best I can to keep them

away!!!"

And when the V-spets herd cows, his/her tools are

barking(!!!) and snapping at the cows’ heels.

No wonder they are talkative.

So, what do we do about this (sometimes undesirable)

behavior? Well, we can´t erase it alltogether (although I

have heard about debarking, which is not done AT ALL

in my country, Sweden; however, I can understand that if

you have to choose between getting rid of your

fourlegged friend and debarking you may choose the

on the "troublemakers," not the poor dogowners).

As soon as you get a new puppy in your home start

immediately training her/him on "the rules of the

house" – No! If they start yapping for all sorts of reasons,

take a firm grip on their cheek (like their mum used to do)

and tell them to be quiet. As soon as they are quiet, do

something else: give them a treat, cuddle them, go out

into the garden, make them follow you by talking

"sweet" to them, to break the behaviour and be fast about

it! Don´t stand there thinking, "dear me, now she/he is

doing it again, whatever shall I do?" But do not throw a

ball, have tug-of war or wind them up in any other way!

That would just make things even worse.

If the puppy/young dog has established this barking-behavior

you have to be even more determined than the

dog!

Water!!! It is a miracle remedy! Get either a spray bottle

(for potted flowers) or a liquid soap dispenser. Make sure

all soap is rinsed out thoroughly, fill it with water and

USE IT! Liquid soap dispensers are small and handy and

you can easily keep one in your pocket. When your dog

barks too much, just give him/her a quick squirt of water

on the nose and say "BE QUIET!." The surprise effect

of this does is that the dog has his/her mind wide open

and can take in the message fully. It does not hurt and

you won´t have to nag,nag, nag. It is swift and effective.

After a short while, if you are persistant, you will only

have to reach for the spray bottle or make a gesture at

your pocket and your dog/s will be quiet.

And always aim for total (positive) leadership! If you

have more than one dog, note who goes out the front door

first, who goes in the front door first? Does your dog/s

have to sit and wait for their food? Who initiates playing

and activity, the dog or you? I am not talking about

"punishment for its own sake" – just leadership!

only way our dogs can "learn how."

Good luck!