[Violet13]

My dog is a four year old Bloodhound/Pitbull mix and for as long as I can remember ; anytime my cell phone rings and I begin talking on the phone, he starts attacking. It appears as though it may be possessiveness, etc. He barks, jumps up and down on me and starts nipping on me. I think he has alot of nervous energy as he barks and whines when he hears people moving around upstairs in my house. My dad said that he barks when his cell phone rings as well; however, I don't think he goes as far as jumping, nipping with my dad and I'm not sure if it is because I'm female and/or he can sense if I start to get nervous. Any ideas?

 

[elkie]

My dog is a four year old Bloodhound/Pitbull mix and for as long as I can remember ; anytime my cell phone rings and I begin talking on the phone, he starts attacking. It appears as though it may be possessiveness, etc. He barks, jumps up and down on me and starts nipping on me. I think he has alot of nervous energy as he barks and whines when he hears people moving around upstairs in my house. My dad said that he barks when his cell phone rings as well; however, I don't think he goes as far as jumping, nipping with my dad and I'm not sure if it is because I'm female and/or he can sense if I start to get nervous. Any ideas?

My puppy does this sometimes (yikes, I had hoped he would grow out of it) and I agree in the sense that sometimes dogs do not like when your attention is elsewhere.

Do you pace when you talk on the phone? Do you speak in an excited manner? An easily excitable dog may show such tendencies after picking up on how you are feeling while talking on the phone. Personally....I lean more towards the 'I want attention' motive. I usually go into a room away from my dog when I get on the phone for a long period of time...

 

[Violet13]

ok thanks, that's kind of what I do. If I can grab his collar and get him off me I will put him in the basement for a timeout, so to speak. I actually just downloaded a dog whistle to my phone and hope to start using it in this situation and any other behaviors as well. I don't think he is trying to be mean and aggressive, just possessive, protective and always on high alert. I hope I can somehow change this behavior with the dog whistle or otherwise as it is quite annoying.

Thanks for your feedback

 

[ZoesMom]

I would crate the dog so he can't hurt you and counter condition him to the noises your cell phone makes. So any time your phone makes a noise he gets high value treats until he associates the phone making noise or you talking on your phone with good things.

I would also work on impulse control and basic training along the lines of calm behaviors. All of which can be found in our Training Stickies forum.

 

[johnclick]

My Beagle is fond of a friend who took him for walks several months ago. When this friend shows up at the door, Pikey starts loud barking and basically "pitches a fit". What amazes me is that, when the cell phone rings and it is this friend calling, he goes through the same tantrums as if he were at the door. He goes to the window and starts looking out as if he expected to see this friend. The cell phone reaction is immediate, after only one or two words are spoken. His behavior is connected to only this one individual. I've been around dogs for a long time, but this is new to me.

 

[traciek88]

If you are using it looking back to use a dog whistle as a punishment I would advise against that. We want to teach the dog that you holding the phone is a good thing, not bad thing. Using your phone for/with a punishment might make his behaviors worse. So make some positive associations with the phone like suggested, and work on separating yourself from him when you need to make a call right now