Puppy question

[Maxy24]

^^^^ She's quoting me:

I'd say it's possible, barking tends to be one of those things dogs like to do together, it's no guarantee of course but if you could you might want to try and train him to contain himself before adding the pup

What can you tell us about the talking. Is there anything that sets him off, does he do it to someone (only does it when someone is present) or do it when playing? Anything that might make it more predictable would help. For instance if it is something he does towards people responding by walking out of the room would work, if he did it during play responding by ending the game would help.

If it's just one of those things he does for no reason at all you could put it on cue. Train a command for talking and say it as soon as he starts making his noises, encourage him for a few seconds and then go silent and as soon as he stops making noise say a command that means be quiet (you could use a hand signal as well to make things more clear) and reward him for his silence. Once he gets used to this try doing it in the middle of his "speech" and see if he stops for his reward. This gives you an off switch which you can use whenever he starts getting loud.

You could also use some sort of noise to distract him when he starts, a high pitched noise often makes a dog stop to listen (like a yelp), reward for a few seconds of silence and then reward every few seconds for continued silence until you think his urge to speak is all gone. Always use a soft or squeaky noise never a booming noise, regular voice or a clapping noise as they may encourage barking. If he ever remains silent when presented with something that usually gets him barking then reward him. reward him when he looks like he wants to talk but chooses not to (if he has an "I'm about to make noise" look).

Dogs who actually bark at a stimulus are easier because you can set them up for training time where with Ivan you can't control the stimulus because there is none and chances are that his talking is rewarding so stopping his talking before it gets going or giving him an on and off switch will be the way to go.


What would he do if he was making his noise and you abruptly got up and walked out of the room? If when he started making noise you walked into his space and body blocked him (make him back up) would he close his mouth? You need to find something that closes his mouth so that you can stop him before he gets going and can then reward him for continued silence.

[Gypsydals]

He will get vocal when playing, when he sees something out of place (people outside, cats outside), when Peewee walks through the house. Sometimes he has be baffled as to why hes doing it.
If I got up and walked away while hes barking, he might look at me and go back to it. If hes in his crate he wouldn't stop. As far as walking into him or getting in his space to make him move, no that doesn't shut him up.
I know I've tried a water bottle with him, and well that didn't work cause he enjoys the water bottle, but to some extent it did work. But he just redirected what he was making the noise at and changed it from a bark and/or wine to groaning noises as hes trying to catch the water. His noise making is the only thing holding us back from doing rally. When he gets going and not in his crate would removing him to the bathroom for a minute or so work?

[Maxy24]

Anything that gives silence long enough for reinforcment will work. What you are not aiming for is a punishment that will be bad enough to eliminate his barking because chances are that would be a pretty harsh punishment, you should be trying to find some sort of interrupter or mild punishment (like walking out of the room, removing him from the room, ending play etc.) that makes him stop for a second so you can reward for stopping and then reward for him remaining quiet (treat every few seconds but slowly increase time between treats) until he is calm again and/or you can redirect him onto doing something else.

For things like playing always end play when he gets too vocal (unless you find play the one time he is allowed to be loud as some people do). If you can do set ups by using some sort of stimulus to get him barking and reward when barking stops. Eventually the dog will stop faster for his reward. Then reward for any time the dog does not bark.

Your best bet however may be putting it on cue.

[Gypsydals]

Thanks Maxy I will try those things.

BTW I got news tonight on puppies. It is CONFIRMED, she is pregnant and due around April 17th. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa