barking puppy

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

My daughter is in need of some tips. Her puppy Koda barks at people and other dogs. She lives in an apartment and of course this isn't nice puppy manners. Koda is almost 14 weeks and hasn't finished her puppy shots yet so dog parks and parks are still off limits. The weird thing is Koda is in her crate during the day and doesn't bark. She doesn't bark or whine  at any time when she's in the crate.  This is what I was concerned about. She doesn't bark a lot at my house except when she is trying to get my dog's attention. 

Is this just puppy behavior? How can she correct her?

[Leslie J]

I had a neighbor who had this problem.  She consulted a trainer and this is what the trainer recommended: When she walked her dog she always carried lots of treats and made her dog sit facing away and turn his attention toward her when she barked or became overly interested in other folks. She kept giving him treats to keep the puppy focused on her. Her goal was for the puppy to be focusing on getting her approval (and treats) and be less distracted by what was going on around her.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I do that with Riley on walks, it works to some extent but she isn't super treat motivated so unless I keep a constant stream of treats going her attention just goes right back to whatever it is.  In the house our vet's advice was to just ignore the barking because talking to her reinforces it.  I'm not sure that approach works at all though, she is a super barky dog.

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Thanks.  I'll tell my daughter to try that.

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Thanks for your responses.  I think Koda is just barking to say "hey look at me" or "lets play".  I think it is an attention thing.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Probably and she may grow out of it.  Shushing or telling the dog to stop barking doesn't work, redirection might.  Also rewarding anytime she is paying attention and NOT barking would reinforce good behavior.

[Leslie J]

Another idea might be to discourage people from petting/ greeting her until she outgrows this habit. Puppies are so adorable everyone wants to pet them and she might be barking to greet people and get their attention. 

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Hi I went with Koda and my daughter to the vet on Saturday. Thanks for your input.  The vet says to ignore her and talking to Koda won't stop the behavior.   Also she told my daughter to train Koda to focus on her versus other things when walking by using treats.