Barking and Occasional Growling... WTD? Please Advise

[Camilla and Darwin]

So, as many of you know Darwin has always been a very quiet dog. He doesn't bark, and he's friendly and welcoming to everyone. For the past two months or so, he has started being a bit strange. 

In the past he's only barked very rarely, when something really startles him. Lately it's been much more frequent. I can't identify a pattern, he'll spend all day listening to noises and random children playing with no issue. I mean, there are tractors and gardeners in the back yard working 2 feet away and he is completely calm. Then randomly and sometimes even when nobody is outside, he'll have a "barking fit". Basically, he'll bark, then run back and forth between us and the back door or front door, barking. It's alarming, and really, not him.

It started just being a few times a week, and then after spending lots of time at the in-laws, I feel like it kind of snowballed. I think it's because they have a fence they close and when he's outside playing he can patrol it as it sits on a pretty busy street. In addition, they have a large window in their living room that he can watch the street from. He would also occasionally give off a low growl out the window, which we always sternly corrected with a firm "no". We knew that the window and gate might be why, but it continued increasing, even when we are at our own apartment and stopped allowing him in those areas.

The way we have decided to deal with it is redirection. Basically, if he barked once we would get a treat and pull him aside for a small training session. This worked for a while. Now it's to the point where if he starts (which again is completely random) he will be too hyped up to stop for a treat. He may come and sit for a second, but then immediately jump back up and run back to the door or the sound. We are continuing to work on his training when he's calm and focused so he'll be more disciplined when he does start barking.

I know that many people attempt to curb barking by teaching their dog to "speak" but that really isn't feasible for us. It's not a predictable pattern behavior, but completely sporadic. So I don't think that would be an easy route, how would we get him to do it? My plan was to just continuing with training and redirection and hope it didn't get worse... until today.

DH took him outside to pee and he barked at a man who was outside. Not just a friendly woof. He DOESN'T bark at people we meet outside. That is just so not him, he is friendly and welcoming to everyone! I am really sick over this. I want to stop this behavior before it gets any worse. I worry that his reasons for barking are some kind of reactiveness or stress and that makes me stressed. I don't want him to become a reactive dog!

I will come out and say it. I am NOT okay with barking, period. I know that it's normal for dogs, and many people find it acceptable for dogs to bark when someone comes to the door. I'm not one of those people. I live in an apartment, and I've enjoyed the fact that Darwin doesn't bark. I know it wouldn't be unfair of me to try to get back to that stage, because Darwin happily did fine without barking for a good 3 1/2 years. If we can't get rid of this will we stop loving him? Of course not. But I do want this to stop.I worry that the cause of his barking is stress or reactiveness - which to me is a precursor to undesirable behavior.

So why is it starting all of a sudden? I'm probably overreacting but I'm worried that this is the beginning of some kind of downward spiral into an aggressive reactive dog. Does anyone have any advice, experience, etc? Is this normal? Should we just continue with redirection? Is it a symptom of something? It's true we have been out in less public places as of late, but he's still had plenty of socialization. Other than that, I can't think of anything has changed. Help?

[Camilla and Darwin]

I am thinking that we will continue doing redirection, and try to teach a "shhh" command. I would love to get a trainer and work with them, but we honestly and truly can not afford that, not even close! I do think that with diligence I can adequately up his training regimen. :-)

It's a stress for us not only because it's annoying, but because it's a change from his personality and behavior for the past 3 1/2 years. Maybe it's part of getting older... who knows. In addition, even if it is normal for dogs to bark at things outside, we really don't have that luxury where we live. We live in an apartment, and it's very strict about noise disturbances. We obviously can't afford to be evicted so we'll have to figure out a solution somehow. It's never even come close to being a problem before, he's always been so quiet and mellow! Sigh. :-)

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

Camillia, I teach Shhh the same way some people might teach "stay" or "leave" it.  Use treats and/or a marker.  First time the dog is quiet for even a second, you pay.  If he barks before you pay you say "no" and put the treat behind your back.  Then you have him stay quiet two seconds.  Then four.  And so on until he gets it.

It's a tough one to teach because the nature of it is such that you are always doing it when the dog is distracted (unless you teach "speak" first - which some recommend but which I find way too tedious).  But if you keep at it you will see him get it after a while.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Sorry that Darwin is going through a rough time and you too! I do think you are on the right track with this plan though and Darwin is smart-he'll catch on. But it does take time and patience. I'm working with Tara on not barking when the phone rings and today we had our first bark free phone call in about 3 years! LOL  I just started training her this week so things are going well but we still have work to do. I hope things improve for you soon too.

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

This may be unrelated but I will throw it out there. When I am at home, my dogs will alert if someone approaches the house, coming up the driveway, and run to me to let me know something is up. However, when we travel to Atlanta to visit my son, the first few days they are hyper-alert. Every dog, person or car that comes by the condo causes them to bark. It seems to me they are anxious and can't settle at first. Seda is the most hypervigilent and Webber follows her. After a few days it stops. I don't like constant barking so I tell them to hush up and call them to me.. It is annoying but I figure I am the one that uprooted them for travel and they "are working". I don't think there is any reason to assume your sweet dog is turning aggressive, that does seem an over reaction. Darwin is trying to tell you something. Webber, who likes everyone, will bark at men in hats. He doesn't like hats. Was Darwin able to bark at people when at your in-laws? Maybe he just picked up a bad habit? Wishing you good luck with this.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I really don't think Darwin is becoming reactive or aggressive...he's still your sweet boy with a new "bad habit" IMO.  It sounds like a few things have changed which have put a wrinkle in his routine.  Dogs love and rely on routine, and they let us know when they're uncomfortable because of changes.  If he's getting less exercise, that's one change and pretty easy to address.  I'd do your best to tire him out.  When they're tired, they're less likely to be vigilant about guarding their territory.  Spending so much time with your "in-laws" where he's had an opportunity to guard their fence and react to strangers and noises by running and barking I think has created a habit that he's bringing home with him.  I would put a quick stop to that....I don't think that behavior is good for any dog.  I would not allow him to have access to the fence (someone would have to be out there with him to correct that behavior the second it starts) and I also would prevent him access to that window.  I think you're right to verbally correct the growl when he hears something.  My Murph has a tendency to be territorial as well.  I no longer allow him to be in a position where he can watch people out the doors or windows unless I'm directing it.  If we're not home I gate off the front door and close the drapes in the back.  I correct if he barks at sounds outside.  He's doing so much better and I really think we'll soon be at a point where we will have pretty much eliminated the barking.  I also think that what you're doing with redirection is great.  If you can redirect BEFORE the actual bark, that's even better.  I will sometimes see a person out walking and call Murph and we "practice" looking at the person without making a sound....you'll need to keep treats in your pocket for this to work, and only reward when he makes no sound at all.  While we're watching the stranger walk by, I pet him and tell him he's a good boy, getting him to look at me and then getting a treat.  When I can catch him like this by spotting the distraction before he does and setting up the "practice session" it works well and he's getting the idea of exactly how I'm expecting him to act in this context.  They certainly do keep us on our toes....always new training challenges.  We're just back from our beach vacation which was such a challenge for Murph because of all the people in and out of the cottage and all the sounds constantly coming from the people on the beach.  But he did well overall and we had a chance to practice in the worst of circumstances.  He even learned not to bark at the ice cream truck that showed up several times a day with blaring music.  Good luck, Camilla.  Please keep us posted.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Thank you so much for your comments Jane. You are a training inspiration to me and I really appreciate them. I will start tiring him out, and be even more vigilant on training and redirection. I will keep you posted.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thanks, Camilla.  I'm not sure I should be anyone's "training inspiration"...LOL.  Here's a laugh for you.....

Karen and I were talking earlier this week and Darwin's new little "behavior" came up.  Here's how we were thinking about it...

"Darwin goes to the "grandparents'" and there a whole new world opens up.  He's got a fenced in yard to run in and there are lots of really interesting things there.  There are new strangers walking by and he gets to run and bark...and when he does they go away.  How fun is this!  Wow, this is what dogs do...who knew.  So now that he's learned these new fun things, why not bring them home too.  It's not quite the same, but it's still fun to bark at new noises or things he's seeing out the window and run back and forth in the house.  And to top it all off, when I do this, Mom and Dad get all excited and I get some "special one-on-one time" and even get treats. Woo Hoo, life is good."

I know it's all kind of silly, but if you really think about it from a dog's perspective, it's probably not too far from what he's thinking.  I really wouldn't worry too much....with a little work and no reinforcement when he does behave this way, I really think he'll go back to the "old Darwin".

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

I don't think that's silly - I think it's right on.  Barking, chasing, etc. are self-rewarding behaviors.  Add to that the added attention, perception of somehow affecting the world and rewards, and of course he's going to do it.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Do you think the treats (during the redirection) are adding to the problem then? Or should we continue. I think that all makes sense. We have heard 2 barks total from Darwin in the past week. Then we stopped to visit the in-laws - and the moment we got him out of the car, he started barking like crazy at a kid on a skateboard. I'm guessing you guys are right on the mark - it started here and he started to do it at home to because in his mind - why not? :-) 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think you just have to be really careful of the timing of the treats.  You don't want him to think he's ever being rewarded for barking.  You'd have to wait until he has totally stopped and his mindset has changed (calmed) and the minute you see that you would treat.  IMO timing is key here.  I really think you have your answer, and it sounds like things were going great before the "in law visit".

[Camilla and Darwin]

Thank you so much for your responses everyone, I really appreciate them! I have taken everything into consideration and I feel very hopeful that we'll improve with hard work. :) 

It's very hard for me to remain calm and objective when my sweet goofy, laid back dog starts acting territorial and barky, but I think you guys are all right - I'm overreacting and he's still my sweet goofy boy. :-)