Unwanted barking, does it really work?

[jackstraw]

QUOTE (JMM @ May 15 2009, 12:47 PM)

I've had quite a few people send me messages lately wanting to know if you can really be successful with the interruption and incompatible behavior method for barking. So I thought I'd just make a post for everyone.

Case #1, unsocialized fearful dog
I adopted Jonathan when he was 18 months old. He had been very well loved by his breeder who was extremely ill. Jonathan was a beloved bed pet. Well, enter into a busy house with people coming and going all the time. Jonathan's reasonable response was to bark at and bite the ankles of any intruders. Again, in no way an aggressive dog, but just unsure of the situation. So, I took the doorbell cue and set him up. Ring door bell, go to kitchen, sit at counter, get cookies. Cue - doorbell, interupt "that'll do", incompatible behavior - different room, sit for cookies. Very successful. At that point we crated in the kitchen to let our guest in. We worked very slowly bringing the crate to the front door, being on a leash out of the crate, and now Jonathan can sit politely and quietly and let guests in the house. He is 11 years old now and Grammy's favorite.

Case #2, yapping herding dog
Sure, little dogs yap. Well this Aussie yapped in a high pitched, little dog yap for the wind blowing outside. If yu have ever seen a herding dog do something obsessively, this was classic. One of my favorite clients as they got really into modifying his behavior. We did the interupt, a clap so he'd look at you. And these clients tried a sit...barked through it...a down...barked through it...various trick...barked through it. Finally, we brainstormed using a toy! Well, sure enough, toy in mouth stopped the barking. They put "get the baby" on cue and could eventually clap or call his name for attention, and cue him to get this one particular special baby. Last I spoke with his owners, they said he'd sometimes bark a couple times, grab the toy and run to them knowing he'd get praise and attention.

Case #3, new puppy
We'll use Roo for this one! Roo was a barker at his breeder's house. We live in a townhouse so that's not an ok behavior. So we interupt with "eh" and then Roo would sort of grumble under his breath LOL Well we praised it! "Good quiet voice!" The biggest thing with him was hubby and I committing to do the same thing every time he barked CONSISTENTLY. Roo still would love to bark his fool head off, but he rarely does and is always easily controlled with an interuption or "Use your quiet voice/indoor voice." Of course, he also grumbles and growls and "talks" often! But we don't complain about that.

So yes, from a fearful dog to a crazy herding dog to a yappy puppy, the same principle elements WORK. And over time most dogs reduce the barking because it isn't rewarding any more. I wouldn't recommend it if it did not work and was not safe.[/B]

As I mentioned in my other topic, our Jack is 7 mo old and has an aggressive growl/bark. Case #1 is similar to Jack. How can I stop this behavior when we're out of the house?

We started walking him this week to get him accustomed to new places. Is this a good idea?

[jackstraw]

We're still having a heckuva hard time with Jack. We just had a new neighbor move in across the street today and I had the dogs out to potty. The new neighbor came over and she had her dog. Bess was great and never barked and was social. Jack, on the other hand, had a fit. I had to pick him up because he wouldn't stop barking- very very aggressively. It was embarrassing and down right rude.

What do we do?????

[jmm]

Get into a basic obedience class. It is the ideal place to teach your dog to tolerate other dogs being nearby while on a leash. And tell people not to let their leashed dogs approach when your dog is leashed. He's probably fine off the leash?

[jackstraw]

We never have him off a leash outside so we can't say. He does aggressively growl sometimes when he sees people outside.

Thanks,

[uniquelovdolce]

this is very informative thanks!
question. ,y dolce barks at us at times but its like he either wants to get a treat or he wants attention, do we ignore? give in or ? he will bark at the kids and i see it as him wanting to play its just a little annoying at times. and loud .. lol

[jmm]

If you pay any attention to it, you are REWARDING the barking and ENCOURAGING him to do it. Ignore it. If he's insistent, immediately give a no reward marker (I say "uh oh") and directly in a crate in another room and ignore for 5 minutes. You must do this EVERY time and never reward the behavior.

[uniquelovdolce]

just ignore for 5 n then let him out .. i dont crate train him but he is gated in the kitchen when i am at work and for sleeping.. i try not to acknowledge him when he barks but sometimes the kids do.

[Rocky's Mom]

We left for a walk tonite and Rocky barked at our neighbors across the street and lunged so he was on his back legs leaning forward. I tried to shhh him and say no, but he kept on. I picked him up and he continued to bark and growl! So I put him down and we walked away from the neighbor. On our walk, he was on a harness by the way...he wants to chase cars that pass by.

Each time he did, I said NO, bad dog and gave him a tug. He would sit and act like he was going to listen, but the next car would come and it would happen again. I know I need leash training with him and I want to do it soon...but for now....

I need help...that walk was exhausting!

[bellasmummy]

Thanks for this since moving the the city bella has become a terrible barker (even although we live in a very quiet area!) she will bark at anything and everything which is driving us mad! of course it makes it worse now that the other 2 (who were not barkers at al) will join in!

So we are going to try out the toy one tonight. It works quite well with mya but am going to look our bellas fav toys too

thanks xxx

[MandyMc65]

Originally Posted by Rocky's Mom

We left for a walk tonite and Rocky barked at our neighbors across the street and lunged so he was on his back legs leaning forward. I tried to shhh him and say no, but he kept on. I picked him up and he continued to bark and growl! So I put him down and we walked away from the neighbor. On our walk, he was on a harness by the way...he wants to chase cars that pass by.

Each time he did, I said NO, bad dog and gave him a tug. He would sit and act like he was going to listen, but the next car would come and it would happen again. I know I need leash training with him and I want to do it soon...but for now....

I need help...that walk was exhausting!

I would recommend finding a local trainer that uses positive reinforcement and start working on this asap. You can find some qualified trainers at APDT or CCPDT.

Saying "no" and tugging on his leash is not going to help at all. That will only make him that much more reactive. You will need to do some behavior modification and teach him the RIGHT thing to do. The best way to learn how to do this and do it effectively is to have a trainer work with you and your dog.