won't stop barking and scaring the cats to death Behaviour

Hello,

We're GSP amateurs but love him to death!

10 years old, hyper a lot, pants a lot, but barking is loud, annoying and saying "SHUT UP" doesn't seem to work! Any tips on teaching an old dog a new trick?

His cat cousins (2 months old) came for a 2-week visit and he won't stop barking and getting in their face, and they're scared to death. So he's tied up. We're afraid he'll treat them like squirrels or rabbits or pheasants ... none of this cute cat-dog videos that I see on the interwebs.

Thank you!

Update - I did some research on GSP's and cats and it's not pretty! Looks like he'll be spending more than this weekend in the kennel ...

You are expecting a lot when your dog is only meeting cats for the first time at ten years old. I would invest in a couple of baby gates and use them to pen your dog into a particular room, rather than him have to spend long periods in a crate.
Baby gates will allow the cats to move out of his reach, but let your dog still have the freedom of the room. Depending how agile your GSP is, you may need to get the extra height baby gates. Buy the type that has an inset gate for humans to save having to demount them for access.

Re. the barking. Don't shout at him, he will have heard it before and learned to ignore it. He may even see it as you joining in! Try rewarding when he does respond, or for the times when he doesn't bark. Carry some small but tasty rewards on your person so you can give instant rewards - don't treat indiscriminately, let him earn them.
The panting is a sign that he is anxious. How long has he been with you? I usually say that a dog is not certain that he has a secure home until he has lived there for three months. Clearly there are exceptions, different breeds vary in their anxiety levels.
Work on building a bond with him. Lots of happy walks. Play games with him - use an enclosed area until his recall is perfect. Reward him for making eye contact with you or touching your hand - any attempt to initiate quiet communication.

Think about the situation from your dog's point of view. His "cat cousins" are visiting his home / territory. They are causing his owners to yell "Shut up" in his face and tie him up. Would you want to be treated this way in your own home, because another member of the household brought visitors to stay for several nights? And - again, from his point of view - you don't know when or if the visitors will leave?

I agree that gates are better.

I agree with all the above.

In addition, you want to use redirection and praise to turn his attention away from the cats.

For example, if you're in the living room with him and one of the cats is there, as soon as he shows interest in the cat, ask him to find his toy (if he hasn't learned that, teach him and just keep a toy handy for now to pull out and say "let's play"). As soon as he turns away from the cat to focus on the toy - no matter how short that redirection is, praise him and play with him and the toy for a couple minutes.

He will start to see that the cats relate to good things in his life. With each redirection and reward, he will turn away from them easier and for longer. Do this every time to reinforce leaving the cats alone.

And if you teach him to "find your toy", you can use that to redirect him from other things too. And he will always see it as a positive thing because he gets to play with you and gets praise. That thing that he had been doing is not as rewarding.

As for his anxiety, this will help too. It will help build the bond between you and help him learn to trust you. In addition, you need to eliminate any aversive training methods from your relationship with him. No yelling, shouting, etc. No punishments, no leash jerking, no shock collars, and so on.

Make being with you the best thing in his life. Show him that he can trust you to treat him with love and understanding and that you have his back no matter what.

I hope this dog is okay.

@Azalea Charles Coleman never returned after his posts on October 2nd. That's isn't very encouraging.

No.