Play barking

[Josh Adams]

Ever since our pup was 8 weeks ago, he barks excessively at other dogs to get them to play with him. Even when a dog is playing with him, he barks when they take a break or when they run away from him. It's not aggressive at all - his tail is wagging, play bows, rolling over, etc. I'm not sure if this is considered "demand barking" or if this is a behavior he'll eventually grow out of. He's six months now. We generally don't mind it but it does get tiring and obnoxious over time. Some dog owners understand/don't mind it while others are turned off by him. Again, it's super friendly behavior but wondering if this is something we need to address. Any advice or similar experiences?

[BG and Gavin]

Does he only do it with other dogs or does he do it to you when he wants to play or have a toy or treat?

[Josh Adams]

He only does this with dogs. He never barks at us for treats or toys (unless, of course, we ask him to "Speak" which we taught him recently in efforts to teach him "Quiet"). 

[Teresa T]

Our Mollie sounds similar and she's a little over two so am following this. When she doesn't stop barking at a dog to get him or her to play with her, we'll try to call her back to us and/or pull her away until she calms down. This only happens with other dogs. She's not doing it as much anymore but it still does happen...

[Josh Adams]

We've tried that method too. We ask him to sit and calm down, which he does, but he goes right back at it (barking, wagging, etc.), lol. He's such a playful puppy. He won't take "no" for an answer when a dog either a) doesn't want to play; b) wants to take a break or c) calls it quits on him. 

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Oh how familiar this sounds; literally! Henry has been a play barker from day one...doesn't bark at anything or anyone else other than when he is trying to get another dogs attention to play with me, play with me, PLAY WITH ME NOW!!! When he was 5-6 months old he became super obnoxious with his vocalness in trying to get our senior puggle Jo to play and Jo wasn't having it at all, if anything the constant barking in his ear was such a turn off that he would do anything to avoid being around Henry period <sigh> and the timing always coincided with the humans dinnertime, no bueno I tell you. One of the things our trainer worked on was the "place" command, it was a game changer! Each time Henry would start up with the barking I would put him on "place" and give him an opportunity to calm down. It helped! As Henry aged and we started going to dog parks the barking returned every time he wanted in on the fun action around him, so annoying for dogs and people alike. I would leash him up or recall him to me and put him in a down until I could see that he was releasing all that pent up energy and then release him. It took awhile but he started putting two and two together; play nice with my mouth closed is good, bark like a fool and it's a time out by mom not good. He's 18 months now and it is so much better! Yesterday we were at the lake with our trainer and her 3 dogs and all were romping in and out of the water chasing after her GSD who is an alpha dog and Henry started his me too barking until both his trainer and I called him on it at the same time, instant shut up LOL. It's a lot of work, doing the start stop while playing to break the energy a vocal pup has but it's worth it in the long run. Good luck!

[Josh Adams]

Thank you for sharing this experience! Our pup knows "place" so we can easily use that in the house. In regards to the dog park and lake though, what were you doing specifically when you say you "call[ed] him on it". Were you using a recall for him to come to you, then ask him for a sit/down? Our recall is very poor (we're working on it) and I worry that using this method would teach him that coming to us is not fun because he has to take a timeout. Our trainer urged us not to do this. I wonder if there is another recall word or method we can use - or maybe just grab his harness and pull him out altogether and ask him for a sit/down? We have tried this, but the parking just continues once he calms down. 

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Yes, I do use recall at times to break the behavior and bring him to me and also for no reason at all just because I want/need him to recall to me no matter what the circumstances and especially ones where his energy is up and he has on his "momma deaf" ears. I call him to me, ask him to sit and then use the word "break" to release. Sometimes it is for no more than 10-15 seconds and sometimes it is for a full minute it all depends on the situation. At Folsom Lake we have rattlesnakes at this time of the year, lots of people on horses, people bank fishing and kids, kids, kids which are a favorite. Having Henry be reliable on recall is something we work on daily and not just to break him while he is being a punky boy but even for no reason at all to get him used to doing it no matter what he is up to. When he is with a pack of dogs playing and starts to bark like a fool I also use the word OFF! to get him to break away from whatever dog he is being a loud barking fool with. It works the same way as leave it or drop it to stop the behavior. Lord knows using the words NO BARK! or QUIET! have fallen on deaf ears, a good firm ___name, OFF! works much better.

I guess I should count my lucky stars that the barking ONLY occurs during play and when he hears someone, especially the mailman at our door. Otherwise he is content to grumble or just heave heavy sighs to get his point across LOLl

[Josh Adams]

"I guess I should count my lucky stars that the barking ONLY occurs during play and when he hears someone, especially the mailman at our door. Otherwise he is content to grumble or just heave heavy sighs to get his point across LOLl"

Wow, our dogs are exactly alike! We also feel lucky that he doesn't bark outside the dog park or the occasional bark at night when he hears a car horn/passerby. 

It sounds like Henry is reliable on the recall command for this to be effective. Our pup can care less about our presence at the dog park. We're enrolling him in an "Outdoor Manners" class that specifically works on distraction training. So hopefully the recall will improve soon so we can start correcting his play bark behavior. Thanks for the advice. 

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Henry is pretty reliable on recall...still puts his "momma deaf" ears on at times and that's a guarantee to earn him a bit longer down stay until I release him. You would think that he would get it by now but he is the most willful doodle ever! His breeder insists that this is so not a doodle trait and I just have to laugh, this might not be a 3 year old doodle trait, but puppy to young adult? Yah, stubborn and willful is a bit more common than not.

Henry was going at our senior puggle with great barking enthusiasm last night...two steps forward and four back at times; being consistent while maintaining your sanity is not easy LOL.