Doggy Barking All the time

Hi,

I have a 9-10 month old mix that barks a lot.
When we are home, and she doesn't get what she wants, Bark bark bark. When she hears something, and when we go into another room.
We have tried a lot and it's not working.
Well let me rephrase that, most of it is working, but my mother is extremely frusterating. If Pepperoni doesn't stop barking in 5 minutes she already gets mad at me and tells me how the neighbors are going to complain. Therefore she also doesn't want to follow with what training I have for Pepperoni. She also thinks that I know *everything* about dogs and that I can train a dog..which yes, I do know a lot about dogs, but I don't know how to train everything. Just basic sit and down.

Right now she is at the point of giving Pepperoni away which as you can imagine upsets me a great deal.
I know that the barking can be fixed, but I don't know of a way that it can be stopped in 10 minutes. Do you?

Can somebody help us...please.. the barking( The attention/super protective kind) needs to stop..
Also.. how do convince my mother that we both need to participate in the training.

Thanks!

-ali

You can teach "enough" which will take real diligence and hard work. And everyone in the family must help to make the training very, very consistant. Don't yell or be loud when she's barking...that tends to make them bark more. They think you're joining in. LOL. When she wants something and barks for it, do not pay attention to her whatsoever. If she's barking at a noise outside, go to her (always have tiny treats in your pocket) and get her attention on you. If she stops to even catch her breath...one little second of quiet, pop the treat in her mouth and say, "enough." DO NOT try to elicit the stopping by using your cue word yet. She doesn't know what "enough" means. If she is barking and you say "enough," she will learn that "enough" means TO bark. So, wait until a second or two of quiet to say your word. Praise and give a treat at that moment that she is quiet. Change the subject.

Another good way is to impliment clicker training. You'd need to research a little bit on that first so you understand how to prime her to the clicker and that the clicker is a marker. It marks the exact second that she is quiet, then you treat/praise.

Way down the road, when you think she is connecting the word, "enough" with the act of stopping the barking, you can try using it to elicit the stopping of the barking. That is.....you can try, when she's barking to say, "enough." If she doesn't stop, she has not had enough reinforcement for that behavior. Keep on with the click/treat when you go to her to get her attention off of the barking and she stops. Use a yummy, special treat....not the run of the mill hard biscuit. A pea sized piece of string cheese or two....or some chicken...just small...enough to give her the idea that she will get a special treat when she stops barking when you say, "enough."

Another thing I do when my dogs all get going (4 dogs make a lot of racket) when there is a noise outside, but nothing that I can see, (maybe a deer or dog off in the distance) is go to the window and look out. This sounds really dumb but they seem to believe me. I say, "Ok...nothing there." And I say it with a tone like, they're being silly....there is nothing out there. And I walk away from the window. I wonder if they know that I'm checking and by my tone, know that it's OK...nothing to worry about...not sure, but it seems to help sometimes when they're very sure something is out there.

Anyhow, it isn't an easy thing to teach but can be done. Two of my dogs are really quite good at it and the others need more practice. But everyone must participate and not let the barking continue on and on. She doesn't know it bugs you. It's a natural behavior for a dog to warn it's family and to communicate other things. For attention seeking behavior....say she wants you to play with her or give her food..whatever.....stick it out and ignore her completely. When she stops for a couple of seconds, give her what she wants. Show her what works to get your attention...a nice sit and quiet. Just wait for her to do it...wait some more. Then lay on the attention thick. LOL.

yea i do that too. they are sounding an alert, when the "fearless leader" checks on it and decides there is no threat, they are reassured by it.

i also have noticed that if my oldest -- 7 year old corgi -- goes to the door to alert, my 3 year old mal won't bark. the corgi (the dominant dog) has it covered.

That's cute Corgipower. My Doberman is not a big barker unless he's really sure something is out there. Often, he'll just do a lot of watching while the others yap. LOL. But there are definitely times where he is growling that low, menacing, throaty growl and then comes the big, loud screaming bark. I think this time of year gets him going. The bears might be out in the woods, getting ready to hybernate and they're hungry. They tend to come closer at this time. Or it might be a deer. Those things really get them all going. Just now, they were all getting after it and I went out on the porch for a minute and left them inside. That seemed to settle them. I looked in through the glass door and said, "It's OK....nothing here." LOL. And they went back on the couches.

And here I thought I was the only one that ever did that! :lol-sign:

Ditto here;
Petie is the neighborhood watch, nothing happens that he isn't aware of. He also thinks it is his job to let me and the other dogs know. It is in my opinion unreasonable to expect a dog not to bark, but it is reasonable to train them to stop when asked.
I have small dogs, I use to put a bench near a window facing the road, where they could watch. Once we put in french doors their view became much easier.
When they bark, I go them, look out and 'try' (lol) see what they have alerted too. I say 'ok, I see it' (even if I don't), he (or they) stop barking, 'Good boy/girl'. I use a clicker for when training them to stop barking at that time, it has worked very well.
If something happens like the neighbors dog/cat standing on our veranda, my dogs go banana's, I say 'watch me', everytime they turn off and they get a reward.
Now a funny little story ...........
Last year my neighbors got some donkeys, my dogs didn't care BUT a few weeks after the donkeys arrived across the road. Petie raised the alarm big time, I went to see what had him in such a state. The donkeys were breeding.........I told Petie it was ok and he stopped barking BUT EVERYTIME, those donkeys bred, Petie roared his head off. Normally when he is told it's 'ok', he doesn't alert again to it.
Do ya know how many times Donkeys breed? I do, several times a day for many days!!! Petie tattled on them EVERYTIME!! We started calling him The Donkey Sex Police!!
We don't know why he felt so compelled to alert on those donkeys, he used to see the cattle across the road breed and that was ok in Petie's world.
Too Funny.

Lynn

That's hilarious Lynn....the donkeys breeding. My goodness. I thought that was more of a controlled thing for most donkey owners. LOL. So, your little ones are taking it upon themselves to make sure everyone knows just what is going on at the neighbors. Tee hee hee.

I think.....back to the training thing....that the clicker is really good because one second they're barking and the next (when you go to them to get them to stop) they stop. So, if your timing is messed up, you might be rewarding them for barking. So, the clicker really marks those couple seconds of quiet. Be sure to not show or give the treat before the dog stops barking. Once quieted for such a second or two, "enough,"...."goooood"/treat. Tie that word in with the quiet and the goodies.

teach her to sit or down in order to get what she wants.

where is she when you go into another room? is she unable to go with you?
what have you tried?

explain to her that consistency between all members of the family is important in order for the dog to understand what is expected.

Oh yeah, Baby is the neighborhood watch dog. She sits at the window, giving the alarm for everything from lawn mowers, to people walking by.

Get these books:
"Help! I'm Barking and I Can't Be Quiet"
"The Bark Stops Here"
(probably can get them on dogwise.com)

Read these links:
http://www.wagntrain.com/JustTryIt.htm
http://www.wagntrain.com/get_started.htm
http://www.wagntrain.com/barking.htm
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1125
http://www.nesr.info/breeders/training/clicker.html
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001c/manicbarking.htm

Thanks everyone.

Well we don't really like her to go into the bedrooms because she tries to get something( a pillow, a stuffed animal , etc etc) she will take off with it.

WE have tried ignoring the barking, teaching her the 'speak' command and then the SHhh.. we just got a Citronella collar and its working.

Thanks again everyone!

Ignoring barking doesn't work because barking is a self rewarding behavior.

Furthermore, I disagree with the use of an aversive such as a cintronella collar because you're telling the dog that barking will be punished. All barking must cease. You're taking away an integral part of a dog's being...his ability to communicate. Shutting him down. Barking is what dogs need to do and that collar is squelching it instead of tempering it as training, such as I described will do. I thank my dogs when they bark to warn of an intruder, to speak their joy at something, then when they've had their say.....their outlet, I tell them that it's "enough" now, "thank you." I do not agree with punishing a dog's only source of communication and something very natural for dogs....just like stopping a human from being able to speak.

Ollie's my watch dog too . I'll just check what the bark's for ... and say it's OK ..thank you . Now go tell my neighbor to shut their little yapper up !! Luckily Ollie doesn't bark back .

i disagree.. bark collars are worth their weight in gold. But then again i have a hound that can howl for 12 hours without breaking a sweat (though i promise the longest she has ever gone without someone is 4 hours). dont feel bad that you have a bark collar. Saddie is a howling addict.. its her breed.. but when she does it for 2 hours that your gone, nonstop bark collars are amazing. Now saddie only barks when we come home.. also when she is at the dog park. So dont think that just because you bought a bark collar your terrible.. its not. Its just a quick and effective way to get your dog to shut up. they will learn not to bark.. or more so what to bark at and what not too.