The best advice for excessive barking

[ekahuna27]

OMG! This advice was a life-saver!!! Some background info: I have two dogs. One is a 6 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix who is very docile and calm. The "problem child" is my 3 year old Pug/Beagle mix who is very bossy, aggressive and possessive. The pug/beagle, Bizzle, barks at EVERYTHING!! Every noise, every passerby...even when she hears talking outside she goes berserk. I couldnt have them in the yard for long before she was screaming at everyone and barking like a mad woman.

I was watching the show on Animal Planet, "It's the Dog or Me" and that's where I got the best piece of advice. And it only takes one tool: canned air. Everytime she starts to bark, I tell her in a calm voice "quiet". When she doesn't listen, I spray the canned air. Not AT her, that would just be cruel. The hiss of the spray threw her off completely when I first did it. It sent her running back thinking "what the hell was that!?!?" Consistently, everytime she refused to "quiet" I would spray it. It's only been two days and she is no longer barking excessively. She lets out a litte "huff" before her bark, to test the waters, and I correct her with "quiet". When she remains quiet, I pour on the positive reinforcement by squealing with delight and scratching her on her rear in her favorite spot. This is working like a dream!!!!!

WARNING: My older dog, Sarah, is very skittish from a lot of negative reinforcement when she was a puppy. The canned air makes her VERY afraid and she heads for the hills, tail tucked, when she even sees the can. This bothers me. However, I've been trained myself to not coddle them when they are afraid of something as this only facilitates their fears. I am working on being very encouraging...not mean but not coddling. I encourage her to come near me while I'm holding the can and then, as always, flood her with positive reinforcement. I'm working on letting her know that the only time that can should be scary is when she is barking out of control and doesnt listen to my command of quiet.

If anyone tries this canned air technique for themselves, let me know how it goes!! It's saving me from headaches and glares from my neighbors!!

 

[xmalibux]

thanks i will try that

 

[mctraill]

I have this same problem with my Lab who is mixed with Chow so I am told.
She can be fast asleep one minute then the next she shoots off the floor and starts barking and running around the house, most times we dont even hear anything.

I am going to try this as the neighbours have complained about her barking in the garden. Not that we leave her out because we dont, in fact we are usually out with her as we are playing with her, but it doesnt stop her.We live on a corner plot, the post boxes are right outside our garden fence, the kids catch the school bus on our corner and of course they get off the bus there as well. This also doesnt take into effect the builders, the gardeners, the neighbours and anyone or anything that goes by or makes a sound.

I will let you know how we get on.

 

[Gobe]

A chi we have goes NUTS when she sees someone outside, someone across the street or someone walking to the door. Absolutley nuts! Doesn't stop barking and then will run under the couch and continue barking. If someone enters the door that she doesn't know she attacks them almost with loud exessive barking!!

Or if another dog is outside she is going nuts, if she is let out to potty and sees a dog she runs towards it and starts going nuts on it! While walking her if another person walks by she greets him with tons of barking and agressiveness and even little kids.

Do you think this would help? Or is there something else I should try? I am to the point where I am going to get her a shock collar.


Thanks - Gobe

 

[LhasaLover]

This sounds like a really great idea - Thanks!!! I've been struggling with one of mine for a few months now on when it's ok to bark, and not ok. She's getting there, but it's very s....l.....o....w. I'm going to try this now!

Thanks!

 

[Jessiep]

We have been trying the squirt bottle on our puggle, who loves to holw out the window- but it hasn't worked very well. I'm going to try this! thanks!

 

[animalcrackers]

You guys might want to check out "Barking" by Ian Dunbar, "Help! I'm Barking and I Can't Keep Quiet" by Susan Hetts, and "The Bark Stops Here" by Terry Ryan.

 

[Doberluv]

Yes, instead of coming up with all kinds of ideas for what you can do to your dog; spray things at him, shock him, make unpleasant noises and whatever other flavors of punishment, why not think of how you can reward the moments of quiet, the seconds where he stops barking, even to take a breath.....while you teach a cue at the same time....how you can make him want to stop barking because it's extremely rewarding to stop barking when asked?

My four dogs all bark their heads off at certain stimuli. That is normal, natural behavior for dogs. IMO, it is not a good idea to sternly punish it with painful, unpleasant things, but rather to re-direct it to an appropriate (for us) level. To punish barking means to never bark, that it's always a bad thing. That is going against their nature too much, plus, wouldn't you want your dogs to warn you of an intruder? Punishing barking means barking is a no no. Period. Always.

My dogs have learned "enough." And that means to stop and the reward is well worth stopping for.

If your dog is barking extremely excessively....at every single little tiny thing, it may mean that he's bored and needs more mental stimulation. Dogs need training. Taking the "easy" way out by supressing behavior isn't training.

 

[Jessiep]

I totally prefer the reward method, but Davey is way too sassy for that. He doens't bark at everything but rather at other dogs passsing by, of which there are alot.

We have worked with trainers and did the whole "quiet" and rewarding him thing for quiet- he only quiets if he SEES a treat, otherwise he turns back to what he was doing. He works the same way with "leave it" and cat chasing.

No treat mom, no quiet.

 

[Doberluv]

Don't let him see the treat first. Keep it in your pocket or on the counter or wherever....hidden.

Does he have to breathe inbetween barks? Is there one second of quiet? Clicker training works because you mark that second or two of quiet and then treat, then add a cue. (I highly recommend reading up on that) You don't have to show him the treat first. Go to him and distract him enough to look at you. (another thing to teach is attention training....separate times) Quiet for one second=click, treat) Then progress to a few more seconds. Then onto adding a cue word, "enough" (or whatever you want to use) right after the dog quiets, NOT while still barking. (important) High value treat, loads of praise.

Consistancy, supervision so that the dog can not keep on being reinforced by the sound of his voice. You're showing a direct contrast between the barking and the not barking. Which is better? Noise making or quiet? They do love the sound of their voices and getting agitated makes them bark. But, a hunk of roast beef or filet mignon for just a second of quiet is always more favorable than yapping. Then they don't get it for just one second. They have to quiet for 2 seconds, then 4 seconds. The cue can not be associated with the yapping so don't give your cue while that's happening. Wait until you distract, get the dog's attention on you or a toy and quiet the dog. Then give your cue and reward.

You will have to practice in enough contexts with enough variables in the thing you're using to distract. For example, if you're always using a rope toy and the dog quiets and you treat, he may associate the playing with the toy as the rewardable thing. He has to see that no matter what changes in the way of distraction attempts, the one constant is that he is quiet and that is what you're rewarding. Try to catch him in different locations too. He has to eliminate other possibilities before he stops guessing what he's being rewarded for. Then get him away from the thing which is agitating him and change the subject...do something else...obedience tricks, something that is more fun and rewarding than standing there yapping.

It worked for my two Chihuahuas and they're notorious yappers. LOL.

 

[LhasaLover]

I'm struggling with the "when it's appropriate & when it's not" thing. I usually don't say anything when they bark in the house, and if it's because someone's there, I praise them.

But Pinkie, the nosy neighbor dog, barks at all our neighbors when we're outside, no matter where they are in the neighborhood. If she sees them or hears them, she's barking at them. She also likes to just "bark into the dark" when we're outside at night. That's what I'm having a hard time breaking.