Control Problem Barking

There's pretty much nothing more frustrating than a dog who is a problem barker. What are some steps you can take to control your dog's barking?

Realize that barking is mostly an instinctive behavior. For instance, many dogs bark at windows, fences, and other barriers.

Barking at windows and fences has a fairly simple solution, when you're there. Check what the dog is barking at, and when you're satisfied it's not a threat, back up and call him to you. Praise him, pet him, and perhaps give him a cookie. As is taught in most obedience classes, make a dog always very happy when he comes to you.

A game of ball, if he likes that, is a great reward instead of the cookie. Be sure to always praise first, and if he will respond to petting, do that. It switches him into a different drive, and is very useful in improving this behavior.

After reward, release him. If he goes back to barking, call him again and give all the same happy rewards you did before. You might have to call him 7 times in a row to start! Over time though, you will see a vast improvement, needing to call him only once or twice, and noticing that he doesn't bark as long, or work himself up so much.

You will have interrupted his adrenaline high from barking, which is probably addictive to dogs. Without this kind of intervention, barking at barriers tends to escalate, and can lead to other problems, such as turning and snapping at another dog or person who is standing nearby, out of frustration.

Getting out on more walks, even if they're short ones, can help any kind of problem barker. But what do you do if the dog barks at people or other dogs while on a walk?

If he can be fitted with a Halti or GentleLeader (possibly he cannot, if his muzzle is shaped like a Pug's), one of these head collars will gently close his mouth when you have him on leash and he tries to lunge and nip at someone.

There are other options in collars. There are some that tighten only to a certain point, so they can't choke the dog. There are choke collars that snap on instead of having to slip over the head, so they can be fitted more snugly. There are also choke collars made of hex-link metal, often used as showcollars, that work better on some dogs than choke collars made of other materials.

The various dog catalogs, such as UPCO, located at http://www.upco.com as well as dog-show vendors, are a great source of these products.

We keep inventing new collars, because there are such a variety of ways a collar can help or hurt your training.

Whatever kind of collar you use, try the following maneuver to get your dog to turn his attention back on you, when he starts barking at someone while on a walk. Do it enough times, and instead of barking, he'll automatically look at you!

Motivating a Dog for Attention

You can use the food as you teach your dog to give you attention when you say his name, and as you work with him to learn what else motivates him. You can build many motivations in a dog by how you play with him, interact with him, groom him, take him places, teach him words for his toys and for other things he likes. All of those things will help you work away from the food.

Also, keep the food out of sight. Don't dangle it out in front of the dog. When he has earned the treat, give your reinforcing signal, or praise (my personal preference) then whip out the food and give it.

If the sight of the food means the dog is going to immediately get the food, you're not "teasing" the dog. Dangling the food around as you train can teach the dog to not "believe" the food. The dog sees the food but doesn't get it, doesn't get it, doesn't get it, and eventually loses faith in getting the food.

If the food is in sight in advance, it can accidentally become part of the command, very confusing to the dog. Then when you don't show food before giving a command, the dog may actually think you're not giving a command, because part of the command is missing!

Additionally, if you always praise before giving the food, your praise increases in importance to the dog, because it becomes associated with good things to follow.

Using praise before petting, or a game, or any other reward does the same thing. It makes the dog value your praise more. When dogs don't care about praise, it’s because he has not been handled in the right way to give praise a positive meaning.

Give the food in alignment with your face, so the dog looks at you when getting it. This will improve your dog's ability to give you his attention. Allow him to earn at least 3 to 5 treats in a row, not just 1.

As much as possible, use movement as part of what he does to earn the treat. In other words, move way from the dog. Just a few steps will do. Then say the dog's name and the word for what you want him to do. It could be "Come," "Heel" (if you want him to move to your side), "Front" (to have him move to your front and face you) whatever you want him to do.

When he does it, IMMEDIATELY praise him, whip out the treat you have previously kept out of sight, and give it to him. Always repeat the movement/name/command/praise/treat sequence at least 3 to 5 times in a row, never just once.

This will sustain the dog's attention on you until you release the dog from attention. It's not just 1 treat and the dog immediately turns attention elsewhere.

Keeping the food out of sight will make the dog far less dependent on you having food with you when you give a command. However, you still need to reward the dog very frequently, not get lazy about it. The dog is not a person, not motivated like a person, and needs you to really show appreciation and dog-motivating rewards for work, lifelong.

As your dog gets more solid on training, a relationship with you, and other motivators, you may often praise and then say the words for a nice reward as you move with the dog to that reward like "Good Dog! Want to Play Ball? Let's Get You a Ball!" When you throw the ball as a reward, drop it from the area of your face, and do it at least 3 times, same as the food.

Many toys will work this way. The key is to use those toys your dog lovesbest. My dogs love tennis balls, so I use a tennis ball with a short rope through it. That way it doesn't roll off down the sidewalk if I want to use it to reward the dog when out on a walk.

Teaching a dog to happily give you attention because you make it a happy experience and always reward the dog for it, is a humane and enjoyable way to train any dog.

Okay, so you see someone approaching, and you step back or change directions as you say your dog's name. He comes with you, and you praise him, whip out a treat and give it to him. Give him at least 3 to 5 treats in a row, with again his name, movement, and praise before each of them.