Barkaholics
by Jan Marinelli, Canine Coaching
3.21.23
Why does a dog bark incessantly? Is it frightened? Is it announcing the presence of a stranger? Is it excited to see a new friend? Is it demanding attention? Is it protecting me? Is it feeling lonely given the absence of its human, or does it need to go outside and eliminate? This question needs to be answered if you are going to change barking behavior. Each type of barking requires a different training protocol to change it. In this post, I want to focus on what is known as “demand barking” and offer a few tips. I recommend that you work with a professional, force-free dog trainer to address this challenging behavior. In the meantime, here are a few ideas to help you and your dog along your journey.
Barking is a satisfying behavior for most dogs, and it is among the primary ways that dogs communicate with us. Demand barking occurs when dogs have learned that barking gets them what they want. Many an irritated human will give in and give the dog what it wants in order to stop the barking. Consequently, the human reinforces the barking behavior even more.
In order to change or eliminate demand barking it takes consistent human effort and time. Ideally the human needs to ignore the barking behavior by turning away. This tells the dog, if you continue to bark, I am not going to engage with you at all. Rinse and repeat again and again. Easier said than done!
I encourage humans to ask a dog for an alternative behavior when it is barking. Giving a dog something TO DO is far better than telling the dog WHAT NOT TO DO. For example, ask a barking dog to touch your hand with its nose, followed by an exuberant YES and a treat reward immediately after. Often the dog will stop barking to touch its nose to the hand and take the treat. This alternate behavior interrupts the barking episode with something better, a yummy treat. It is important to rinse and repeat this sequence every time the dog begins a demand barking session.
When the dog stops barking the human must capture that ‘quiet’ and reward it profusely. We want the dog to clearly understand that quiet will be rewarded, while barking will not be rewarded. Most dogs quickly figure out what actions get rewarded, and they will repeat those actions to get the reward. However, this only works if the human is consistent in the reward sequence.
I also suggest that incessant barkers receive more exercise. Sometimes dogs become barkaholics if they are not receiving enough structured physical activity. A long sniffing walk may help improve a dog’s ability to control its impulse to bark for human attention. These tips start you on the path of addressing the challenge of incessant barking in dogs. For additional assistance, contact me or a force-free dog trainer for further assistance. www.janmarinelli.com 802-373-9857