# Sticky  Unwanted barking, does it really work?



## jmm

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.


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum

Thanks for taking the time to do this Jackie, its much appreciated!

You have given me some excellent reading recommendations in the past, any chance you can spare a few more minutes & share some book titles/authors with us?  :flowers: 

Thanks! :you rock: :two thumbs up: :Flowers 2:


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## allheart

Jackie,

Thanks so much for sharing. Truly do appreciate.


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## k/c mom

Great advice.... thank you so much. I've pinned it.


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## bonniesmom

Very informative, as usual - Thanks, Jackie!! :ThankYou:


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## Moxie'smom

:goodpost:


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## KAG

Jackie, you're the best.
xoxox


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## HEINI

*great and informative texts. thank you for them.*

I must say it does work and you should never give up if you have a dog that barks and this is disturbing in any sort of way.

I practiced with heini in the beginning, it took a few days, and he was fine.

when we moved to another house, there were different sounds, differnet noises, so he started again, I went on practicing. 

now he grumbles and mumbles sometimes when there are things going on in the hallway or loud neighbours are in the house walking past the front door. 
I never forbid him to make his little grumble, because they are not siturbing at all and he needs to be able to 'say' something now and then too 

maybe a dog barking in the park quite far away but still to hear, and he gives his little bark towards it. but alltogether...I really have to say....heini barks so rarely, that I really frighten and jump up  ...when he then does it.

never give up working and communicating with your dog.


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## diesel

Excellent post! Diesel wavers between barking and doing a low ruff warning that someone's at the door. I am definitely going to try this over the next few days to see if we can get him to do low ruffs only... :ThankYou:


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## lovesophie

Thanks so much for posting this, Jackie. :smilie_daumenpos: 

My Sophie sounds just like Case #3. She's definitely a grumbler. :rofl: Whenever she barks, and I tell her to be quiet, she grumbles under her breath, just like Roo, LOL! I didn't know whether or not I should praise her grumbling because I wasn't sure if the behavior was acceptable or not, so I'd only praise her when she stopped barking entirely, which wouldn't be for a long while (she grumbles a LOT). :biggrin: 

I really need to work on stopping Joshua's incessant barking when someone comes over, or when the doorbell rings. He has such a high-pitched bark, I swear it's like nails to a chalkboard. :smstarz:


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## jackstraw

QUOTE (JMM @ May 15 2009, 12:47 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=776803


> 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?


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## 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?????


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## 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?


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## 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,


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## 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


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## 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.


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## 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.


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## Rocky's Mom

*Barking at neighbors on walk...*

*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!* :sweatdrop:


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## 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


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## MandyMc65

Rocky's Mom said:


> *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!* :sweatdrop:


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.


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## Rocky's Mom

jackstraw said:


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


I have the same exact thing going on here with Rocky. I need to sign him up for obedience classes right away. My neighbors probably don't like him now. =0(


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## pinkpixie1588

Dianne, I'm not sure what sorts of facilities are around you for training, but I go to this place where they had puppy classes for Leila. The trainer taught loose leash walking, positive greeting behaviors, and other puppy manners basics (which it sounds like Rocky needs). If you can find a nice, calm puppy class like the one we took (NOT the sort where the dogs run wild the whole time), I would definitely consider that over an obedience class, to start. I think the obedience class would probably focus more on commands, which are all well and good but if you don't even have the basics down, that's going to be the most important place to start. Just my 2 cents


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## jmm

Puppy classes should be for puppies under 16 weeks of age. After that a basic obedience class is more appropriate.


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## Rocky's Mom

MandyMc65 said:


> 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.


Thanks, I checked out APDT and got two trainers calling me that are so close by! They even come to the house. I have to see what they charge. Do you know the average rates? I don't have any idea.


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## Maglily

:thumbsup:Thank you!


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## jmm

Rates vary by where you live. If you get a couple rates and they are similar, its a good bet they are within the norm for your area.


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## nekkidfish

jmm said:


> Rates vary by where you live. If you get a couple rates and they are similar, its a good bet they are within the norm for your area.


JMM, if you call local trainers that come to your house, what questions should you ask them?

HUGz! Jules


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## jmm

nekkidfish said:


> JMM, if you call local trainers that come to your house, what questions should you ask them?
> 
> HUGz! Jules


How to Choose a Dog Trainer

When someone contacts me, one thing that shows me the owners are serious is their inquiries about the type of cases I see, how I treat them, and if they can talk to my clients. When I taught group classes people were always invited to watch. I haven't done group classes in a while so I find inviting someone to watch me train one of my dogs in a class is another good way to demonstrate my methods and expertise. I think "openness" is important in selecting a trainer. 
The people who ask price and how long this will take first tend to be the people I will end up wasting my time with. Personally, I'd rather not waste my time than get paid to be frustrated.


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## fredsmama

My problem is that Fred is NOT a barker--instead, when I walk him and he sees another dog, he wants to go over and starts this horrific whine, kind of crying--it sounds like he is hurt--he will pull on his harness and keep this noise up--I just quietly say no, and keep on walking--but he will not calm down until I am past the other dog or person. He does not appear to be frightened--just keeps this noise up until I go over to the other dog--(which I rarely do-as the other dog is put off by the noise and I am afraid of the other dog biting him )He is not nervous in his "space" or with anyone who comes over. I have hesitated taking him to our nice park where there is a walking path because of this. When he sees another PERSON, after he gets to them he will want to be loved and is not aggressive at all. Jackie--any advice?


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## jmm

fredsmama said:


> My problem is that Fred is NOT a barker--instead, when I walk him and he sees another dog, he wants to go over and starts this horrific whine, kind of crying--it sounds like he is hurt--he will pull on his harness and keep this noise up--I just quietly say no, and keep on walking--but he will not calm down until I am past the other dog or person. He does not appear to be frightened--just keeps this noise up until I go over to the other dog--(which I rarely do-as the other dog is put off by the noise and I am afraid of the other dog biting him )He is not nervous in his "space" or with anyone who comes over. I have hesitated taking him to our nice park where there is a walking path because of this. When he sees another PERSON, after he gets to them he will want to be loved and is not aggressive at all. Jackie--any advice?


Its hard to say without seeing him. The whine could be anxiety in general, appeasement to the other dog (I'm excited to see you but I promise I'm the submissive one), or simply excitement. His body language would reveal the answer and your plan of attack highly depends on the reason behind his behavior. You deal with excitement much differently than you do a dog with puppy-ish social skills. 
Has he ever been off leash with other dogs? If so how does he react?


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## fredsmama

Jackie, I spent 17 days at Christmas with my son in Dallas. He has three rescue dogs--one Husky mix, and two Pitts--all three are remarkably well-behaved. My son is a marvelous pet owner. Fred and the larger Pitt, Annie, played like mad. She has a gentle dispositon --yes, I know what they say about Pitts, but this dog is beautifully socialized. Fred showed no problems--but this was IN the house. I have no doggie park where I live, just a nice walking path at our park and dogs must be on leash, so he has never been off harness. After reading your post, I am beginning to think Fred's behavior may be excitement as well as being submissive. I thought I would take him to the park tomorrow-his first time-and see how he does with a lot of people. He loves to walk, in fact, wants to run like mad on his leash. Am I doing the right thing by just continuing to walk by the other dogs or people?


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## jmm

I couldn't tell you without seeing him what the motive...but the behavior is not appropriate and should be modified. What technique is best again, depends on his motive.


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## Rocky's Mom

I'm saving this...thanks for the tips, very useful. Rocky barks when he is outside in our backyard, but not consistently. He still barks at other dogs on walks. I am calling a trainer tomorrow. He is getting used to walking around Petco and seeing other dogs. We took him today and he did bark at one dog, but when a sheep dog came by, he went nose to nose with her and didn't bark. Maybe he knew he was out of his league..usually he doesn't have a clue! He doesn't have the name Rocky for nothing...he definitely has some attitude to go with that name. LOL


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## gill5444

hi my maltese has started barking at 6 30 in a morning which is fine on a week day as we all get up then but can i stop her barking on a weekend? i don t know why she s barking as she has a litter tray as she s only small so she s not needing potty maybe she s hungry? any advice please.


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## jmm

Dogs don't do weekends. They don't go "Oh, its Saturday! I'll sleep in." I find getting up, pottying the dog, and providing them with a food toy will get you a bit more sleep.


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## uniquelovdolce

jackie , my dolce continues to bark nonstop when they ring my apt buzzer and will bark til the person comes in the house , it doesnt matter if its someone that lives in the house or not , its not at the person but at the buzzer and the doorbell once upstairs. funny thing is dolce does not bark at other dogs , he doesnt bark at ppl , he doesnt bark when outside , just the bell. i have tried every single thing u have suggested and nothing. I try the interrupt , coins in can , the stern no, the clicker , the toy , even ringing the door to try to desensitize , absolutely nothing works , the only thing that will shut him down is if he gets picked up. Its like if the bell freaks him out. .. i dont know what else to try , hes been with us over a yr and he still hasnt stopped that habit. granted its the only time he becomes a little madman but still it drives us crazy .


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## socalyte

Jackie, thank you so much! It's one thing to sort of 'know' how something should be done to having thorough instructions, so it's so appreciated to have everything spelled out so clearly. Best of all is hearing that a dog can be trained no matter what age or prior circumstance. Our pom is a really reactive yapper, though fortunately not excessively so, so I'm definitely going to work on him. 

With Cozette I've used the "stop" command. I trained her to give me her attention whenever I say stop. Sometimes she whips her head around so fast I think she's going to get whiplash, LOL. Funny though that this does not work for our pom, so I'll adjust my training to how you described in scenario #1-- that definitely sounds like that will work for him. 

Cozette does this funny "talking" when I correct her-- I guess it's her way of telling me what she thinks, LOL. I don't know how to explain it other than to say its sort of vocalizing in her throat- not a whine and not a bark. Each of our dogs is so individual, it's quite fun hearing how they all respond.


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## jmm

I would try immediately removing Dolce. Put him in his crate in another room with the door shut. I guide by a leash. Keep a slip lead handy. The second he goes off, give him a "you lose", remove him. He gets to chill alone for 15 minutes. Then bring him out. If he barks, right back he goes. Your verbal marker gets matched with being removed. You must be 100% consistent and remove him every single time.


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## widgeon

Thank you so much!!!


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## gill5444

thanks, kong toy given when poppy started barking at 6 30 sat morning after she d been fed and watered and i left the radio on and i managed another hour in bed.


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## ToniLWilson

*Thank you!*



jmm said:


> 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.




Thanks for this advise, our Bella is a barker (8 months old now) I have been trying to use the "quiet" interruption, my husband on the other hand wants to use "stop it" this seems to be the only command he uses. I'll have to show him your post and say "see, i'm not crazy" 
I will ask this, at night when we are all three sound asleep Bella will jump up, bark, loud and crazy like. We think it's because she senses the deer in the back yard because she doesn't do it all the time. Any suggestions for this?


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## AshleyAndSophiePup

This is awesome, my BF has expressed concern and having a pup bark all the time. I'll just show him this and it will be apart of her training. Although Shasta says she's very relaxed.


Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


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## Kathy Tobacco

Wow, great advice Jackie! I wish I had read this years ago. My maltese barked at the window all the time, and one day I had an epiphany (I was on the phone) and just called the dog to come to me. After that every time she barked I would just call her. She barked much less and when she did it was easily stopped. It seems so simple I should have done it years before but even after my husband saw me get her to stop just by calling for her, he wouldn't do it because it seemed like a "reward" for bad behavior instead of what it was a distraction toward better behavior. We had tried "claiming the window" and other techniques to no avail. Finally he started just calling her and things were much quieter and she didn't mind the yard so intensely for activity either. Thank you! I am going to keep this in mind for conditioning my next dog.


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## Maisy'sMom

I've started interrupting with "Quiet" and then giving her a treat when she stops or takes it to a low grumble. My roommates are telling me that she is going to start barking just to be told quiet and get a treat, so really I'm reinforcing the barking. Is this possible?


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