Why is my dog growling/barking all the sudden?

[Rusty Shackleford]

Maya turned 2 years in March. Last summer, she was cool as a cucumber when we all sat on the porch.   All of the sudden this summer, she’s occasionally growling at passersby, cars pulling in/out of driveways, and people down the street walking AWAY from her. Yesterday I had in in the backyard and she started barking (I honestly thought it was another dog) and she ran towards the front because the mail lady was there.  She knows her so when she got to her she immediately sat and waited for Michelle to give her a treat, lol (gotta love mail carriers who carry treats!). But the barking and running was brand new and very concerning. 

She doesn’t lunge at people (other than the above incident) and when someone’s coming to the door, or if we’re on a hike, her tail’s wagging while she’s growling and she moves towards them submissively. 

The interesting part is she’s only doing it when we’re outside with her. If she’s out alone, she’ll watch the UPS guy walk up to the door with no incident. So it seems like it’s a protective thing. I’m playing email tag with our trainer, but figured I’d ask you all what your thoughts are on the reasons and any tips you may have. 

Maya is a certified therapy dog who comes to work with me everyday. She doesn’t do any of these behaviors at school, but I want to nip this ASAP. 

Thanks!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It really does sound like she's starting to think she needs to protect you and/or her territory.  If it's only verbal and she is showing no signs of being aggressive I wouldn't worry that much.  My guys bark when they see someone walking by the front of our house.  I let them have one or two barks and then I verbally correct.  I really think it's their way of letting me know some is near which is pretty normal dog behavior, and as long as their body language is good I'm okay with it.  When she's outside without you I assume there's no way she could get out of the yard to chase someone walking on the street, right? 

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I agree with Jane.  My dogs bark to let me know what is going on.  After one or two, I say  "Enough" with the down  hand motion.  This take awhile to teach.  Reward the down/ quiet and not the turn to look at you or short stop in barking or he will think you are rewarding the bark.

I have found that if I don't attach a physical down to the bark stopping they go right back at it.  After they get that you can delay the treat until they follow you away from the action. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I'm going to try this, thanks! Riley is quite barky even when it's not really warranted (like a shadow passes across the front door...barks 5 minutes).  The vet had told us originally to just ignore it but that clearly doesn't work.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Being careful about when you reward is a great point, so you're not confusing them.  When I verbally correct, my guys go to their "place" and that's when I reward them.  I don't have to give treats anymore, just a pet and a "good boy" and they're happy.

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Can I ask why you stopped giving food rewards?  Ever?  I know it’s a pain always having a treat available.  The only time I’ve been treating now is when they are off leash in the woods and they come to me to check in...however, sometimes mumma forgets to pack snacks...and you are right they are seemingly just as happy....lol...I think 

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

Interesting you posted this I was going to post something similar. We went camping this weekend and Maisie our youngest was in rare form? She usually excited pees when she sees people and is all wiggly butt but as we sat at the marina enjoying our ice cream she was barking ferociously and lunging? She was scaring people and I was dumbfounded. She did it with me but my daughter claims when I left the area she didn't do it with her,  not sure I'm confident in her response but what's odd is she's bonded more to my daughter then me so not sure why she would feel the need to protect me over her? She'll be 11 months in a few days is she just discovering herself?

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

They go through a fear period around this age (Riley is 11 months too). They are supposed to grow out of it as long as nothing "happens" to make the behavior permanent by reinforcing it.

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

Thanks I vaguely reminder various phases, this is just so out of character for her, up till now she's so eagerly wanted to get people.  My other two are vocal barkers but it's more at people walking by or hey look at me (to other dogs)! Thanks.

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

curious to know what the trainer said

[Rusty Shackleford]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.  A lot of what was said was confirmed by the trainer.  She said that Maya is "resource guarding" where my wife and I are the resource.  She broke it down in two ways:

First, if Maya barks/growls because someone is coming up the driveway or approaching the house in some way, it's OK for a few barks and we're to basically say, "Ok, thanks for the heads up; nice job."  If she continues it, then we're to give her a verbal correction that communicates, "Ok, we got this now, you did your part."

Second:  If she growls/barks at something happening away from us (neighbor taking the trash out, someone walking up the street), then we are to immediately correct that with the message being, "Hey, stop being nosy!  That's none of your concern - we got this."  The correction is to get in her space and move her back as if to say, "nothing to see over there.  just mind your business."  Not angry, just firm and matter-of-fact (we really like how that's our trainer's approach).

For both interventions, we are to ignore her once she settles and wait for her to demonstrate that she is completely calm at which point we can praise her.  Also, we need to "catch her being good" more often and praise her for that.  I think we took that last part for granted since overall she's been doing so well.

So far she seems to be responding well to the second intervention.  When she gets "nosy" now, she isn't being as loud and actually looks to us as if to say, "We good here?" and when we give the correction she seems to accept it quicker and settle down. 

When someone rings the doorbell or comes toward us, she still barks a lot, but we can pretty easily get her in a down or send her to her mat (for when she's in the house), or send her inside for when she's outside with us on the porch.

As one of you pointed out, this behavior is developmental and will likely fade over time now that we have a handle on it.

Thanks again!!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Thanks for the info! Riley barks in both those situations so good to have some insight from a trainer.  

What verbal correction do you do, just a firm "no barking" or "that's enough" or something?

[Rusty Shackleford]

Our trainer uses this super annoying "Aannnn" sound, lol.  Think of the word "ant" w/ out the T.  It sounds sort of like a buzzer.  We say it firmly - sometimes w/ some "anger" if it's a safety issue like leaving the boundary of our yard or going towards something we don't want her to go towards.  Then we praise her for listening.