I need to teach Giselle to stop barking

[milos_mommy]

She barks when she wants food, she barks when she wants to play, she barks when someone is at the house (the entire time they're at the house) she barks when she wants to be picked up.

This is probably encouraged by her getting food every time she barks for it, being played with every time she barks for it, etc. I have never met a more spoiled dog.

Supposedly, Zach's parents are going to actually attempt to train her. His dad bought one of those bark control things and his mom freaked out about it so supposedly they're willing to listen to what I have to say.

So far, I'm treating her for focusing. Which works, but not really, because after I treat her, she starts barking for the food.

I think to start she needs more basic training, like a solid focus command, sit, etc. Unfortunately, she's not very smart. I haven't trained a *ton* of dogs, but I've probably trained about ten of them, and I have never had as much trouble teaching a dog basic things before. She just doesn't understand trying to please or doing anything other than barking manically for treats.

I'm thinking we need to do something a little more drastic than just a "quiet" command, like NILIF, or end training sessions immediately after she barks, or something.

Any advice, helps, tips, or things to try would be really appreciated here.

[JacksonsMom]

I saw an episode of It's Me or the Dog and there was a Pomeranian like this. Just barked for everything. Victoria sat there, with treat in hand, and it took forrreevverrr. The owners thought it would never work. But she sat there, I wanna say for a good 10 solid minutes of the Pom just barking, and Victoria sitting there just waiting, and the very first time she stopped barking for 5 seconds of silence, the dog got the treat. They repeated it a few times and the Pom actually started catching on. It took a lot of practice and patience but the dog, who everyone thought wasn't smart, had begun catching on!

[Maxy24]

You could always try getting up and leaving the room each and every time the dog barks. It will get annoying and frustrating but will likely work if everyone keeps it up. It is producing the complete opposite effect from what the dog desires.

[Doberluv]

Originally Posted by JacksonsMom

I saw an episode of It's Me or the Dog and there was a Pomeranian like this. Just barked for everything. Victoria sat there, with treat in hand, and it took forrreevverrr. The owners thought it would never work. But she sat there, I wanna say for a good 10 solid minutes of the Pom just barking, and Victoria sitting there just waiting, and the very first time she stopped barking for 5 seconds of silence, the dog got the treat. They repeated it a few times and the Pom actually started catching on. It took a lot of practice and patience but the dog, who everyone thought wasn't smart, had begun catching on!

This is a great way to go about it. If you want to put it on cue, so you can ask him to quiet at other times, as he starts catching on, start preceding the treat with a cue word, like "quiet." (or whatever) Just don't use the cue while he's barking for some time....be sure to associate it with the quieting, not the barking. Later, you'll be able to use it to elicit the quieting, once he's heard it many, many times just as as he quiets. when he hears you say, "quiet," he's going to be excited for a treat. Way down the road, you can spread out the treats a little...not every single time...mix it up.

If Victoria didn't put a cue to it, she may have been wanting to get it to be a default behavior...where by he simply doesn't bark so much and he may be associating the quieting with the context....so when people come over, quiet works, when the door gets knocked on, quieting works, when whatever else triggers the barking is paired with quieting and being reinforced, those triggers become weaker. But, if you find him barking at other times too much, different contexts than what you are specifically training him in, having a cue that he can understand will help for that.

I used a slightly different method, which I've described a few times on this forum. But this way that Jacksonsmom described is good too. If Victoria does it, I'd trust her method for sure.

[kayli_lilly]

I completely agree with all "It's Me or the Dog" fans out there, Victoria does a lot of work with dogs that bark way too much. Check out the website for the show and maybe you can find the past episodes and clips of these particular dogs .