Im so sorry for bucky! You should contact ceaser milan the dog whisperer and see if his tv show would work with him. That might help you keep him around for the next ten yrs.

Now that is a thought I had not considered! Hubby thinks it stems down to feeling replaced as a working dog. But he honestly did not LIKE working out in public. He loves working at home. He is my go to dog for picking up things dropped, and that is a game he LOVES. He will get too excited about cleaning the floor and start bringing me stuff off of shelves.

I will never give Bucky up. There is just no way anyone can prove to me that they would deal with his insecurities and not send him packing. He is insecure enough without having to cope with changing people I will give Ceasar a ping.

The first thing I thought of was also Cesar Milan!

Anyone that truly loves their dog would "deal" with it! What are you talking about?

I am sorry... what the flock are you talking about?

I am not sure....but my thoughts were that this continuing behavior might end a doggies life...but now I know that will never happen....sorry mind is a bad neighborhood and in the hood weird things get thought about...LOL

And that is why Bucky can never leave us. No one else in there right mind would put up with his crap. He is a country dog so it is not the end of anyone's world if he barks his foot head off. the only thing it hurts is my ears. We are constantly checking to make sure that if there is something we can do to make his life more wonderful, we start doing it.

In spite of his barking and flipping out, he is spoiled as heck!

It just amazes me that of the dogs, it is Bucky who has issues. Of all the dogs who have wandered into my life, 90% of them have been some sort of rescues. When I am looking for a dog, the first place I look is the dog pounds and rescues. Actually, in the last 40+ years we have only picked a puppy from a litter of pups three times, yet we are never without at least one dog, usually two or three.

Of my three current dogs, Bucky is the only one to have come from a litter of pups. The other two were discarded for one reason or another before I got them.

could you use a bark collar that will shock him when he barks? I have one but didn't want to use it any longer....it works off vibrations from the vocal chords and shocks the dog when barking....it trains them the hard way not to bark....

Well.. he is fear barking. Pain will bring more fear. That is counter productive. Sigh. He spent most of the day on a 'down stay' at my feet as he could not stop barking!! Then it turns out there WAS someone outside on the deck delivering a package. I felt so bad for not believing Bucky, but he had been barking almost nonstop for four hours! I have to find a way to build his confidence.

EEKKK I just found a flea!!! That is the first flea I have seen in the house in almost two years!!! EEEKKKKK!!!!

I haven't ever seen fleas on these dogs...I use revolution...but with winter here just switching this month to heart guard only since fleas are not in house and outside it is too cold for them....

Have you consulted a vet to see if something is going on physically with Bucky causing him to be more sensitive to other animals?
Barking in dogs in a communication as much as a "reaction." Try to figure out what he is communicating... does he want to see the kittens and make sure they are okay... or eat them as a snack?
Dogs are predators by nature. Cats know they are "prey" and will send signals that we do not always see which may stir up the dogs via smells and body language.
There are many ways to "train" a dog not to bark. However, aversive methods such as a shock collar are not where I would want to start as using one improperly could be detrimental to him trusting you as his guardian and protector.

You want to "build his confidence" by convincing him "nothing bad is going to happen."
When he barks IMMEDIATELY if possible GO to see what it is he is barking at, then thank him for alerting you to the ______(kittens or whatever) as you lead him away from the source of his barking. When his is away from the source of his barking and is QUIET and RELAXED reward him with say a small treat or toy and tell him he is a GOOD BOY.

Bucky barks out of fear. That is how it got so bad before we figured out WHAT was wrong. It has snuck up on him slowly, but we are slowly making headway back to where he needs to be emotionally. He has been checked for medical reasons, though I don't trust the vets father than I can throw them. I won't use anything harsh on him. He is not TRYING to be bad. He is afraid of the unknown noise and smell of cats. Fear is not something that can be trained away. I agree with 100% that he needs to have his confidence built back up and he needs to learn how to relax again.

Let me see if I can explain how we got to where we are.. Bucky has always been hyperactive. That is why the vet said he was so small - he just could not take enough time out of his day to eat properly, even with me offering him his food out of my hand. The vet did assure me that he would eventually catch up.. so that is why I have a 45lb Rough Coated Collie is I believed him and stopped my drastic measures to get more food into him. I actually have to have food down for Bucky 24/7 as he just can't sit still long enough to eat more than a few pieces of kibble in any given hour.

As a puppy, sniffing where he should not be sniffing, he spooked my goats and got whacked by one of them. This is normal for a dog around livestock. But for Bucky he became terrified of the goats. When we got a new one in a year ago, he tried to attack the 10 pound baby, but it was a fear reaction not a predation reaction. As a herding dog, he should be trying to chase livestock, to herd them.

I have tried many times to get him used to horses so he can get extra exercise by going riding with me, but he will bolt uncontrollably if a horse comes within 20 feet of him. He has never been touched or touched a horse. I have been trying, on and off, to expose him to the hoses for his whole life.

While he used to be a total freak in the car hiding in the footwell for the entire drive, he also used to be my car dog going everywhere with me. He has been to probably about 40 medieval camping events all over the state. People who knew my booth of medieval wares knew that he would be under my table and would come and take him for runs for me. I also used to take him to the dog park at least once a month.. then I got cancer and he got stuck at home, granted with me, but stuck at home for a year. When I came out the other side of the chemo fog and started to try to take him for drives with us, we could not get to the espresso stand 2 miles down the road as he was that upset about being in the vehicle. The sound of whooshing air has always been scary for him. We have not driven with him since.

Then the wild cat had kittens in the wood pile next to the front deck. As my grown daughter and I were not about to let this litter not make it (the last litter I found dead and it broke everyone's hearts), we have been feeding them on the deck with slow attempts to tame them. When the kittens are on the deck, Bucky flips out. It is that hysterical bark that he does in the car. His whole body shakes with fear as he barks.

In the last couple of months he has also started reacting to loud noises on the TV or dogs barking on the TV. The rest of the dogs look at him like "Dude, you are going to get in trouble barking in the house like that!"

What has been working best has been to fall back on his extensive obedience training. When he goes off, I redirect his whole attention back to me. I ask him to go to a down next to me. As soon as he is laying quiet at my feet, even if just for a second, he gets love. If he can stay quite, he is allowed to climb in my lap for snuggles. If, after 10 minutes or so, he still can't be quiet on his own, we go to puppy push-ups. This is where I ask for sit, down, and stand in rapid fire until his focus is back on me.

Keeping consistent with him on this has gotten now to the point where he automatically comes to me when he starts to bark. We have also cut down the amount of barking to only a few individual barks rather than up to 10 minutes of non-stop noise. He has been a lot happier and been back almost to the dog I expect him to be. Which is good as in the next few months we are going to tear down the house and move into a motorhome.

Kudos to you and your pack. Sounds like you are certainly doing everything right with slow, gentle exposure therapy. He may just genetically be a suburban dog in a country environment. The other thing that comes to mind is thyroid level check. And using aroma therapy (yes, really for dogs!) I light scented candles for effect in rooms at home. But there are scented oils I have heard of but not tried personally.
Keep up the good work! He is very fortunate to have you as his guardian.

hum.. essential oils might help! I use them on the horses. Don't know why it did not occur to me to try with Bucky. A thyroid check does sound reasonable also. Next time Bucky goes into a vet, I will request it.

But yeah, Bucky would be so much happier in a city setting. For a while I was open to finding him a city home, but I just don't TRUST other people to care for him. With me in a country situation, him barking is annoying, but in the city that could be a problem. LOL, he also has his Thunder Shirt for those times when he just can't otherwise cope, like fireworks.

Knocking on wood, but Bucky has not barked once today!!