Talking back...kind of.

[Amy & Bernie]

Time to vent! Poor Bern, I guess I should also vent when he's being adorable but we're entering what we believe may be his 'teenage phase' so he's more piss & vinegar than sugar & spice lately.

Fortunately for him he still has the same charming face, no matter how naughty he's being.

Lately though Bernie has been talking back. He's not a big barker in regards to outside distractions, but he's taken to barking at my husband and I incessantly. When my husband and I hug, when Bernie wants to play, when we send him away while we're eating, when I try to take a picture of him, when we're going to the bathroom, when I'm putting on my socks and he's decided I'm dangling the fabric just to tease him. Everything that doesn't involve him directly - he's an attention-seeking little brat lately!

I work from home so I'm with him a lot and don't mind ignoring him when he throws a fit like this. But my husband is less patient with this kind of stuff and takes offense at Bern's obstinance. We know we need to get on the same page in regards to how we deal with it.

When he's within reach we grip his snout shut and say 'no bark'. But most of the time he's not within reach, so as soon as we move toward him he darts off, and it becomes a game. If we give him the 'sit' hand signal in an attempt to calm him so we can approach he barks at the hand signal, then darts. We don't want to chase him and take part in the game, but we don't want to give up the chance to do the snout grip and 'no bark'.

One thing works, but we hate to do it because we think it sends the wrong message, but when it's late we feel bad for the neighbors so we'll get on his level and call him over sweetly - he stops barking and saunters over for a pet. It would seem bizarre if we weren't convinced it all starts because he wants attention in the first place!

If I knew he'd grow out of it I may be able to convince my husband to ignore him for the time being, but if it's something we need to actively correct we need to figure out how to do it consistently without chasing him all over the house.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

We had a similar problem with Tara but it was with growling. She started making this soft growly noise when she needed to go outside and couldn't get our attention. This seemed to work fine for all of us until she decided to use it for other things she wanted too. She learned that when she growled we would give her our attention. Once we caught on to what she was doing we just started taking her outside everytime she growled (which was NOT what she wanted most of the time). We took her out on a leash so she couldn't go out and play. This put a stop to the growling for any reason but going outside pretty fast.

[Mary Reams]

Our Mia was oppositional and barked at me when she was a teenager. What I used was a time-out, either a few minutes in her crate, or blocking the doggie door when she was outside. Then we would practice with treats how she should follow commands. It took a looonng time, but she caught on to "time out" and treats for appropriate behavior. I used the statement: good dogs get treats, bad dogs get time out. Amazingly, she quickly changes attitude when I ask her if she needs time out (just ignoring her entirely). Another thing that our trainer suggested was grabbing her by the scruff of the neck to correct, which is what mama dogs use.

[Sarah and Joplin]

I totally can understand the stubbornness. I really hate to relate dogs to children again, but so often I find similarities (I'm a K teacher! ;). We always try to catch the attention seeking trouble makers "doing something right" so with your guy even if he just stops for 3 seconds, praise him and give him some lovin.. he should get the hint (fingers crossed)! Also, the few times Joplin has really frustrated me, she could tell and her behavior worsened. As frustrating as a dog can sometimes be, try your best to stay calm... it will only help all 3 of you! :) (And I TOTALLY know that is easier said than done! ;)

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri did this (still does on occasion when she really wants our attention). We taught "quiet" vs. "speak" - same thing. Leave the room or ignore him when you do not want him to bark. You could also resort to shaking a can with a quarter or two in it. Peri HATES that noise.

[Amy & Bernie]

Oh Joanne I wish it were that easy! I think there was a miscommunication when we taught Bern to speak. We started it because we want him to bark when he's at the back door. And we only encouraged it or asked him to do it when he was sitting at the back door waiting to go out. But now that he barks all the time when he wants our attention! We take him out immediately when he barks at the back door, but for some reason it seems he's using it to get our attention all the time, not just to go out to pee. Sadly we can't sit him down and explain the difference. However, maybe we should incorporate saying 'no speak' with our leaving the room. At least that way he'll know (hopefully) we're disapproving of the 'speaking' specifically when we leave.

[Amy & Bernie]

Thanks so much Sarah. It's so tough since he seems to be quite stubborn! He'll bark, even when I ignore him, for 5 minutes straight - which seems insanely long in the moment! And what really gets my husband, when he's trying his hardest to ignore it, is when Bernie starts grabbing at his pant legs - needless to say that's when his patience fizzles! Someone mentioned leaving the room, we may have to start doing that, because it really is frustrating being barked at...

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

We taught Speak. Then teach No Speak.

[Sarah and Joplin]

Since it seems that Bernie is barking for attention, attention should be the last thing you give him, so as not to reward the behavior. Grabbing his snout and telling him not to bark may seem like it should work on our end, but just like children who are seeking attention, they will often not mind one bit if it is negative attention rather than love and kisses. :) I would completely ignore him when barks, and as soon as he stops, treat and reward with LOTS of attention. Though Joplin doesn't bark, she will often get excited and want love and jump up on us, but we ignore her and she immediately does her best to sit down, booty wiggling on the floor and all and we love on her right away, but stop if she starts jumping again! ;) Hope this helps at least a little bit!