EXCESSIVE BARKING

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Comment by Paula & Greg 35 minutes ago

Our seven month old, female doodle, Amber, has developed a habit over the last month that seems to be getting progressively worse: Barking. Overall she is developing really well and responds well to training. Her anxiety levels have gone up a notch, however, for anything that she cannot identify or does not understand. I'm thinking this is probably her teenage angst period, but I want to start working on the issue before it gets out of hand. If she hears a strange noise, either in the home or outside, she barks. Candy wrappers being rustled in another room, walking down stairs, a car being parked outside, doors slamming etc. cause her to jump up and begin barking. The worst is the doorbell. When the doorbell rings, she begins barking furiously and runs straight to the front door in an agitated state. This sets up a pretty negative reception for guests, contractors, etc. Then in trying to calm her down, I can't pay attention to the visitor. My approach now is based on the assumption that this is an anxiety based response, so I try to talm her down, tell her everything is ok, hold and pet her. But a friend suggested that this may be interpreted as a positive response to barking. So now am not quite sure what technique to use. She is still very young, and I know I can train this out of her, but am unsure how. Any successful experience with this issue out there???

Comment by Lori 22 minutes ago

I think the more attention you are giving her - petting her & trying to calm her down - is at this point reinforcing the barking. You are giving her love and attention, who wouldn't want that, right?! Why not try ignoring it for a week or 2 and see how it goes...don't pay ANY attention to her when she barks. Or maybe a squirt bottle, I used it with Casper when he was a very nippy puppy & it worked really well. Good luck - I am sure everything will work out fine! These doodles are awesome!!!

Comment by Carla and Lucca 1 minute ago

It could very well be teenage anxiety but you are right to correct it now before it gets worse. These Doods seem to have a tendency to bark (sometimes at air:) ) I would try the squirt bottle. My neighbor has been using this method on his 10 month old Rott and it is working really well. A couple other suggestions : Put her in a sit/stay command and don't open the door until she is quiet. IF she cooperates, then praise with a treat. A citronella collar seemed to work with Lucca's brother. My friend was at her wits end after trying everything. It is safe and really seemed to help. I think she put a video on her page showing how Toby reacted!! Good luck. We've all been there!!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Comment by Kay Bolin 9 minutes ago
Well, I'm no expert, as Misty is only 4.5 months old and it was a long time ago when I had a dog before. But --- we've been doing clicker training, and they have ways after you have been doing it for a while to teach the dog to "speak" and then to "quiet". Also they have ways to address door charging and all that with positive methods. But you need to do clicker training or some other puppy training class so you can build up to training them around these "self reinforcing" habits and around self control.

I just vacuumed for the second time since I've had Misty (no comment!) - and she started barking at the vacuum. I turned it off and put some tiny treats on the vacuum for her to take off. The first time I vacuumed, which was a couple of weeks ago I had to get her to come closer and closer with the treats. Then I fed her one while I was saying OK I'm going to turn it on. She needed to know that the loud sound was going to happen again. When she wasn't barking I gave her little treats, sometimes putting them on the vacuum for her to take off while it was running. I spaced out when she was getting treats so she was quiet longer and longerr. She got lots of treats, I got the vacuuming done, we were both happy. I need to vacuum again before 2 weeks from now so she remembers that it's no big deal, in fact that she may get some treats. Then I can faze the treats out over time.

Of course, then I got out the broom and dust pan and had to do it again! But it wasn't such a big deal this time.

Good luck!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The long-term solution to this is going to be her overall obedience training, more so than methods that specifically address barking. When a dog is solid on his basic commands like "sit", "down", "stay", etc. there is no running to the door, lol. When a dog is solid with "quiet" "enough" or similar commands, the barking stops. If Amber responds well to training, I would work with her on her basic obedience every day. Work on putting her in a sit- stay and go to the door. When she's doing well with that, have a friend come over and ring the bell, while you have her leash in hand, ready to correct her. I would also make sure her leash is on when you know someone is coming over.
The barking at any sound is a bit more unusal and troublesome. Does she just give one or two barks, or is it prolonged? When dogs bark at any random sound inside their own homes, it often indicates a dog who is trying to assume control of the household. There is absolutely no reason that the sound of a wrapper in another room should provoke any response at all in a dog or cause any kind of stress. Is Amber confined when this happens? If a dog is isolated in one part of the house, hearing the sounds of family life in another part could set her off. Otherwise, I think I would consult a trainer about that. Is she in training classes or any program? Have you asked her current instructor for suggestions?

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

At that age Lucca was skittish with things that made noise like the vacuum, dishwasher, etc. I would go up to the source and say "touch it" while I was touching it. e would inch closer until he was comfortable to sniff it. Then it was ok. The first time we brought a helium balloon into the house he went nuts. We did the "touch it" game and we haven't had a problem since!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I've also been dealing with this over the past few weeks with Murphy (seven mos). Here are a couple of things that are working for me...although this is still a work in progress.

-I try to anticipate what's going to start him barking and prevent it (if possible). For example, if he hears a car door slam outside and we're upstairs, he would race down the stairs to the front door barking. So, I gate him upstairs, so he can't do that. Even if he hears the car door, if he can't run down to the door he doesn't bark. If I see our next door neighbor's car pull into the driveway, I know the sound of him getting out and closing the door will get Murph barking, so I divert him. I'll say "go find your ball" or "do you want a treat". This gets his mind on something else and prevents the barking.
-I'm very careful never to raise my voice when he's barking....to him that just sounds like I'm barking along with him.
-When there's a distraction outside, and he doesn't bark....we have a PARTY! LOTS OF PRAISE.
-If I don't foresee the distraction, and the barking starts, I put my body right in front of him (usually between him and the door) and tell him to sit/stay. He has a hard time doing more than one thing at a time (LOL), so because he's focused on sitting he sort of "forgets" to bark. I always have small treats in my pocket for these situations.
-When there's actually someone at the door I do grab his leash (which I keep at the door), and again he goes into a sit/stay. With the leash I can correct him immediately if he doesn't comply.

We are heading for our beach cottage in a week where there are constant distractions. I'm hoping that this will serve as a "desensitizing" experience for him. We're right on the beach, so there are lots of people, dogs, and different sounds all the time. People are in and out of our cottage all day, and a good part of the night (LOL). It will either desensitize him, or I'll end up in full time training mode (oh, I hope not). It will be interesting to see how that works.

Good luck. I went through the same thing with Guinness (16 mos) when he was just about this age. It worked, and his barking was totally under control. Now if his brother starts though, Guinness will sometimes join in, and we have a "duet".

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

It's a whole new animal (literally) when you have two. If one starts, you can't stop the other. Peri would never bark if it weren't for T. It's not like he is yappy, but if someone is coming up the condo stairs outside, Tacky goes nuts. Then Peri chimes in. Yuck.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is great advice. And these kinds of techniques help you deal with other issues besides barking. Becoming really good at distracting your dog and refocusing him on you can really help with so many other, more serious behavior problems down the line. It's the best technique for stopping reactive behavior on leash, for example.

[Linda and "Toby"]

I highly recommend that you try out the "Premier Spray Sense Antibark Collar." I got mine on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Premier-Spray-Sense-Anti-Collar/dp/B0002D31QU...

Toby USED TO BE a problem barker. In just ONE DAY he learned to listen to - rather than respond to - kids, dogs, and neighbors in their yards. Over the next few days, he barked maybe once a day (forgetting what would happen - and was quickly reminded not to bark. H

Here's a video that I took on the first day that we used it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7opnqR5Fmcg You'll notice that he stopped/froze when he heard one of my neighbors in their backyard. The moment he barked, it shot a spray of (pleasant smelling) citronella into the air in front of him. It worked like a charm. Oh, what a difference...... :)

He doesn't have to wear the collar anymore. If my neighbors have a party or bbq with friends, I'll put it on just to make sure he's good. Otherwise, all I have to do is pretend to turn a (pretend) switch ON on his regular collar when I let him out the door to the backyard, and say, "No bark, or else PSSSSST!" and he knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about - hahaha! I sure wish I had discovered this a year ago!!!

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Linda, I crack up when I watch that video!!!

[shelly]

Oh boy EVERYONE I am here suffering with all of you! Tori is 2 and 4 months and she still gets agitated and as Paula you said, to the point where she zones out and barks aggressively at the UPS guy, mail man, my kids' friends....Forget the "sit stay, down".... GONE at this point! She will not focus on ANYTHING except whatever she is barking at.... lately - her NEW thing.... She got her self so worked up she pooped on my window seat! I tried the squirt bottle, high-pitched beeper, not the citronella... treats, special pillow spot, leash her, NOTHING works... now I am at the point of seriously calling in a behaviorist - my DH isn't happy about spending MORE money on MORE training, but it's gotten so bad - you may see my on that show with Victoria Stillwell... It's Me or the Dog! who I actually have e-mailed... but no response...

[Paula & Greg]

Thanks to everyone for their replies and great ideas. At present, when Amber starts barking I am trying to divert her with sit, down, sit and stay training... It seems to be working, and she may even be barking less at the little, unknown noises. The test will be to try this with some doorbell training. Thanks again all, and I'll continue to post on our progress...