Behavior issues, not sure how to approach

[maybe532]

Let me preface by saying that I have a private lesson scheduled at my house this weekend but I would like to be armed with a little knowledge before hand.

Koda is an almost 2 year old Golden/Newfie mix. She has a great temperament, decent manners, etc. I haven't been working with her much in the last 6 months, I had a baby about 5 months ago. She knows the basics, sit, stay, wait, kennel/kitchen, off, down, etc. She does not jump and is relatively calm.

So, what my two main issues with her are barking at wildlife (squirrels mainly) and neighborhood cats both through the back door/windows and while outside. I obviously cannot keep them from entering my yard so I need to get her not to bark excessively at them. I have tried telling her to hush, to go to her place, keep the blinds closed, come inside when she does bark (she is an inside dog, fyi), squirting her with water (she liked it), and stuff like that. I have read on here to teach her to bark on command, does that really work? We have cats that go outside and she does not bark at them, just the neighborhood cats, if that makes a difference. She also will bark at the neighbors and in reply to other dogs barking. We live in a subdivision so I don't want her being a bother to my neighbors that are only trying to enjoy their yard. Shock collars are not an option.

Second, often when someone comes to the door or we let her out of the kennel upon returning home (or to run to the door to bark at animals) she will run straight through the kids and knock them down. She is not jumping on them, she is actually bumping in to them or running under them. The kids are 4 and 3. Koda is 50-ish lbs. This REALLY ticks off my husband, not to mention hurts the kids when they fall. I feel that she is not purposely hurting them, more that she is acting oblivious to them in her excitement. Again, she is NOT jumping. I do not know when someone is going to knock or a squirrel will enter my yard so I don't know how to get ahead of the situation to curtail the behavior.

After this private lesson I am signing up for a group obedience class to strengthen her skills and get her CGC certified, as well as rally lessons. I just found out what those are and I am so excited.

[Doberluv]

Teaching a dog to perform a behavior that you want to have control over and stop when needed, is a viable method. It shows him the contrast between starting and stopping the behavior and can be very effective. In other words, the dog barks because you CUE him to bark. (not that dogs don't bark sometimes anyhow. It's a very natural behavior) Often for problem jumpers, people will teach their dog to jump on CUE and not without a cue. This helps put the behavior on stimulus control. It shows him that jumping only happens when cued and not at other times. (you prevent reinforcement at those other times)

Anyhow, for manic barking, I used a method where I taught my dogs to bark ON CUE and to "enough" (stop) on cue. It works very well.

However, if you aren't comfortable with that, then here's another method that should work just fine:

ClickerSolutions Training Treasures -- Retraining Manic Alert Barking

It sounds like you're a very responsible and great dog owner. Kudos. I think working for the CGC and rally will be a blast. Good luck!

[maybe532]

I can try to teach her to bark on cue, I just wanted some first hand experience so as to not teach her a behavior that will backfire on me. I will go check the link out that you suggested as well. I know barking is normal behavior and I don't mind a few barks, it is the barking rapidly and loudly that drives me nuts. It's like she is on a fox hunt, so annoying.

I did CGC with Lucy about four years ago and it was a lot of fun. I think it will be more fun with Koda because Lucy has that stubborn terrier quality and pleasing me is not on her list of priorities. Thank goodness she is a good dog!

Thank you Doberluv for pointing me in the right direction with the barking issue. I am excited to try to get her to bark on cue.

[Doberluv]

Were you able to find that method printed out somewhere? It is a lot of work and the sequence must be done just so. But it's amazing how fast they get onto it. It's the building of it and transferring it to different scenarios and getting the dog not to start right in again that is tricky and hard to stay dedicated to and consistent. Let me know if you can't find the post with the exact sequence and method written out.

[maybe532]

I didn't realize it was that in depth, I just thought you meant teach her to speak on cue, whoops.

[corky]

Thanks for the info. I'm working on barking, too.

[Doberluv]

Originally Posted by maybe532

I didn't realize it was that in depth, I just thought you meant teach her to speak on cue, whoops.

That's just part of it. Teaching her to bark on cue will not teach her to stop barking. It simply seems to show her a contrast as she learns to volley back and forth between "speak" and "quiet." You gain control of these behaviors.

Here it is: http://www.chazhound.com/forums/t111908/

If it seems too complicated or too much work, go for the other method in Clicker Solutions which I posted the link for in a previous post. That looks great too.

[Maura]

Try this. When she barks, tell her "thank you" go to her, praise and treat. The treat should be something chewy rather than something she can quickly swallow. Get her to follow you away from the window and treat her again. Do this every time she barks at a squirrel or cat or just barks too much. You want to reward her for two or three barks. She will learn to bark, then go to you for a treat. If she isn't treat motivated try using a favorite toy. Use the opportunity to otherwise distract her if you find she goes back to the window after the walk away and treat.

[maybe532]

Doberluv, I think that is why I was always hesitant about it working, I was not sure how teaching her to speak would get her to quiet down. Now I get it.

Maura, that is a good suggestion. I am going to try that first, as it seems the easiest for me to do. I normally don't opt for the easiest way out but with the infant I often times can't get up to correct Koda, like when I am nursing the baby. And then I can work on the other method when my husband is home.

I am so excited about my private lesson tomorrow!

[Doberluv]

What Maura wrote is somewhat what that link in the Clicker Solutions article I posted above describes. Be careful though. If you go to her and reward her, this is likely to reinforce the excessive barking. Read through that article and see what she describes exactly. The dog needs to quiet first. Coming over to you first distracts her and gives you a few seconds of quiet TO reward. If you go up to her and reinforce right away, you risk reinforcing the obnoxious window frenzy. If she doesn't make the connection between the cue word you use to quiet her and the treat, but instead associates the act of coming to you with the treat, there will be a missed association between your quiet cue and the quiet plus treat. She is going to be guessing for some time what it is she's being rewarded for. Is it for coming over to you or is it for being quiet? It will take many reps in a variety of contexts, some where she is not coming to you to rule that out of the equation. That is why I like the other method because you are directly tying the cue word to the cesation of barking....well....more directly at any rate. You're right there, you give the cue, you prompt the quiet and you reinforce.

If you go this route, you'll still need to gradually increase the duration that she remains quiet before getting her treat. You'll also need to generalize the behavior to all kinds of triggers and utilize various locations and contexts. Well, that's all described in that article.

The other method in the link to another thread here (from Culture Clash), is very systematic and effective. I used this method on my Chihuahuas. And everyone knows that they can be alarmists and can really have a set of lungs. LOL. Anyhow, it worked well. I didn't follow through with all the scenarios....like people coming to the door. But it is normal and I want them to bark when people come to the door. They settle right down, once I answer the door. But my goodness, they can raise the roof top until I answer the door. I should work on their being quiet when I give the cue in that scenario, not endure until I open the door. But, I'm not too bothered by it, as I hardly have anyone coming to my door. LOL. But when they hear something outside or a little ways off, that can set them off and that is where the training has definitely paid off. There are noises around here and lots of wild animals. So, I'll look out the window sometimes, shrug it off and then tell them, "enough." They are indeed little drama queens and have a very keen sense of hearing. Certain vehicles that go on the road (500-600 ft away) might set them off, if it's not a vehicle they're use to hearing...a big, noisy engine or diesel sometimes. They are then very responsive to my cue to quiet.

Good luck!

PS....if you use a behavior marker, such a clicker or unique sound or word, and catch those few seconds of quiet, then reinforce, that can be most helpful. Once the dog gets onto how a conditioned reinforcer (clicker) works, your timing then becomes more precise and it is more clear to the dog what behavior he's being reinforced for. Read up on clicker training, if you wish.

Oh! And good luck at your private lesson. Let us know what you learned.