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Tessa Finds Her Voice :)

Catia

Well-Known Member
Ok, so it just happened, 11:35--11:40 pm YAY!!!!!!!

Tessa was sleeping in the bedroom, & I am in the livingroom on the computer.

My upstairs tenant came home.

I dunno why Tessa did it --but she did.
She came trotting in & started towards the door, growling, then towards the window (but the cat was in the window so she did not jump up on the chair to see who it was --damn dominant cat!), so she stood 1/2 way between both & did her thing.

Started out with a low rumble--a really nice growl--they are LONNNNgggg growls--last like 30 seconds. Almost sounds like a textbook growl used in a movie.
So I just watched her-didn't want to disturb it--
----then she ***FINALLY*** finally BARKED, not a big one, but it was a good one-- I told her "good girl Tessa--very good girl" because she has NEVER barked at anything--& never at the door.
So then she gave it some REAL barks & kept on with the growling, each one getting a little more 'growly'.

Of course I commended her, & so she showed off a bit, even when she knew all was clear, then did some unnecessary barking...

I think she surprised herself!!!
In the midst of her very guardy posturing between the door & window, initially she moved forward, but once she got out a big bark--with each bigger bark, she backed up a little away from the door towards me & looked at me strange.
Looked at me like she had an "Oh Sh*t" type of moment--

I can't tell what that was about-couldn't tell if she was scared or if she was checking to make sure where I was, or both.

Then after I praised her & she did her "show" for me, I moved the damn cat so she could jump up in the recliner & look out the window & she did, then flopped down in the recliner & chilled out for 5 min or so watching me & then took herself back to the bedroom to sleep.

Dunno why now, or what set it off, but do know I finally got to let her know barking at the door is good stuff!
 

DDSK

Well-Known Member
Be careful what you wish for lol
Next it will be a spider on the wall and then a kid riding his bike down the block and always at the neighbors then just to hear the sound of her own voice lol.
 

neve102

Active Member
Well Done Tessa! Welcome to the noise making family:)

I had Tully at dog school on Sunday and she wasn’t happy with someone running in the distance and decided to put on a little show and dance. I told her “it’s Ok, enough†and she settled. My instructor then went onto tell me that Tully was only doing her job and that I should be thanking her:) I certainly don’t thank her at 5 in the morning:) Fingers crossed Tessa chooses her noise making moments well!
 

ruthcatrin

Well-Known Member
Good girl Tessa!!


Now to see if you're as thrilled when your tenent comes in a 2am and Tessa gives voice ;)
 

Doggyhelpplease

Well-Known Member
Good girl Tessa. Hope she doesn't go too much the other way though or you will wish she loses her voice for a week. Hehe.
 

looby73

Well-Known Member
Well done Tessa.....although having just sat through 15 minutes of Hades 'seeing off' the window cleaners......:p
 

Catia

Well-Known Member
LOL, I know to be careful about what I wish for, but, Tessa is 10 1/2 months old & has never barked at the door...

For those of you who haven't followed my other thread, I tried to work with her until she was about 6-7 months old just to teach her the command "speak"-to no avail--she would not utter a sound.
Knowing TM's can be problem barkers, I started on this early, with he thought that if I can teach her what "speak" means as a command, I would be able to teach her also to stop barking...
That was the plan anyway....sounded logical.
After reading about some of the TM barking issues when I could not get her to 'speak', I stopped trying, & was thankful I didn't have a barking machine, and counted my blessings, & stopped the endeavor entirely.

I've never had a pooch of my own, or a rescue for that matter, that couldn't be taught "speak" as a command.
I couldn't even get a 1/2 bark or a huff or sound out of Tessa--I've done some of the most ridiculous things trying to get her to react with a bark, & she'd just stare at me as if I were nuts.
Tessa did not want to bark at me, or for me--& that was that.


Only the past few weeks has she shown any interest on looking OUT of the windows to see what's going on.
My wish is just that she can give a good 'woof' if someone comes to the door.

My street gets a LOT of foot traffic, & the neighborhood is very rough, my house sits up from the others, so Tessa has full view of the street when she looks out the front window.

The ONLY time Tessa barks is if she wants let inside from the yard. So I have known she CAN actually bark.

She is a very quiet & somewhat stealthy girl.
She doesn't bark to be let out, never barked on a walk, never barked at another dog, or person, regardless of their hyper reactions to her.
She will sit & wait & look at them as if they are crazy...
She is so quiet & still that we can sit & watch deer & critters a few feet from us, which we do often.
She will actually close her mouth & breathe through her nose to be even more quiet when we are watching critters, which I love, so I reinforce that as well.

There have been times in the past few months where I purposefully left her outside for an extra 5-10 min while she barks to be let in, just so people KNOW there is a dog living here.

Every dog in the neighborhood sounds off, & Tessa just listens & watches, or rolls over & goes back to sleep.

Matter of fact, Tessa is so stoic & silent in her pursuits, I've been concerned she won't give me any warning if she is going to react, which has stressed me out, because not having some indication is much more dangerous I think.
Because she is very stoic, I've spent more time watching her trying to figure out what makes her tick, so that I am prepared.
She is also low reactive, & extremely patient, she mostly observes.
But when she makes a decision to react, it's a lightening fast reaction.
I've worked on reinforcing reactions I get from her that tell me something---anything.

Just recently, after 8 months, she shows a little reaction when it is time for us to go for a walk.
This means she will get up & come over & I put her collar & leash on.
This is after 8 months of 2-3 walks per day lol!
My last girl was mellow & low reactive, & I was used to that--but Tessa takes it to a whole different level.
I couldn't even bump my last girl's leash by accident & she was up & ready for a walk, always letting me know she was happy about it.

With Tessa, she would give very little indication of anything, happy or sad, sick whatever--so I went through our routines daily never really knowing, which is more than stressful, because most dogs give you indications that can be read.

She is getting more expressive now, mostly because I have worked on it, & probably because she's now 10 1/2 months old.
This helps me, & has made it easier to teach her what is acceptable & what is not, & also gives me some idea of what she likes or dislikes.
I think most dog owners have never had to wonder if their dog enjoys something, it's usually obvious.
 

Doggyhelpplease

Well-Known Member
My dog barks or has barked at all those other things but never the front door also but I am okay with that. She will bark if someone is coming over if she is outside in backyard but I know someone is there because she runs to the door about 6 feet back and sits and waits. She watches but does it quietly if it is friend she wants to say hi too. On walks though she is pretty aloof now but is still friendly to house guest especially ones she knew since she was young. She is more of a growler than a barker unless it's just some wildlife intruder in the yard, I have noticed.
 

Catia

Well-Known Member
update on Tessa, I think it was a fluke...
Like she just wanted to show me she could...

This past week all kinds of crazy stuff on the block with the holiday, & not a peep out of Tessa.
She's looked out the window at people arguing, slept through other stuff, & didn't even huff when the door was knocked on.

I honestly don't think she's ever going to be guardy. I think the breed mix, if she really is 1/2 retriever, has taken over on that end.
1/2 of her knows she could/should guard, & the other half says nah! I'd rather be relaxing...

She's much more into sucking positive attention, belly rubs & etc.

She's becoming a snuggler and a super stretcher-I can't believe how long she is!!!
I've woken up with her stretched against me, belly up with her head on my pillow, & the cat on the other side of my pillow. It's a memory foam pillow & both of them are all about it.
I find myself trying not to disturb them, since neither of them ever wants to get out of bed in the morning lol