Barking - Part 3

Alert Barking Review: The dog barks because of something. Typical examples of this type of barking are: Barking at the UPS driver, barking at activity happening in the neighborhood, and leash reactivity—barking at things while on leash.

Alert barking tends to be an environmentally reinforced behavior. In other words, it is reinforced by something that happens when the dog is barking.

Examples of Alert Barking

The mailman approaches the door. The dog barks at the mailman. The mailman leaves, which is rewarding, so the dog thinks that the barking made the mailman go away.

A car approaches while you are walking your dog. Your dog barks as the car approaches, continues as the car passes and barks until the car is out of sight. The car goes away and so your dog thinks that the barking made the car go away. This behavior is also a component of fence running.

You are walking your dog and another person approaches with a dog of their own. Your dog starts barking and continues barking as the dog and owner walk by. Sometimes, your dog will nip the owner or the other dog once they are past you.

Basic Training for Barking

As with any barking or other behavioral problem, we start with a few basics:

Don’t yell, speak, or in any way shush the dog. Most alert barkers will consider to this to be rewarding (you are barking along with the dog), so the behavior will increase.

Don’t use a spray bottle to punish the barking, especially of you use a spray bottle to groom your dogs.

Do practice a Nothing in Life is Free Program (also called Work to Earn) with any type of barker. NILIF gives the dog a job and is easy for owners to implement.

Do have clear rules for the dog and a steady schedule.

Don’t use a shock collar, citronella collar or other physical punishment. While these methods can reduce the barking, there is often behavioral fallout from them.

Behavioral Modification of Alert Barking: Case Studies

Prim, the leash reactive dog

Prim is a young adult sheltie who tends to be a little fearful and quiet, until she is walking on leash with her owner and spots another dog. At this point, Prim becomes a completely different dog – she now pulls hard on the leash, barks quite loudly and does not respond to her owner. Prim will sometimes try to nip the other dog when passing them on the sidewalk. Off leash, Prim does OK with greetings, but does stress out at them and can nip when her rear end is sniffed. When this problem first started, Prim only barked at larger dogs, but now barks at every dog she sees, so Prim’s owner, Kate, contacted me for help.

When working with a leash reactive dog, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. One is that a high value treat should be used (chicken, cheese, etc). Another is that the distance between your dog and the thing they are barking at is important. Start with a large distance and slowly decrease the distance over time. And, finally, it is important to be fast with your treats (don’t be stingy).

Session 1 (1 hour): In every session with a client, I discuss the importance of appropriate mental and physical activity. In Prim’s case, we also discussed how to build Prim’s confidence. After discussing this, Kate and I spent some time walking Prim with no distractions at all. Prim was given a small, pea sized bit of chicken each time she looked at Kate (basic loose leash walking practice).

Then, it was time to bring out a neutral dog. In my case, this is Ella.

Kate had her treats ready. As I brought Ella out of her crate, Kate treated Prim just for looking at Ella. I brought Ella out of her crate and had her sit, so that Kate has a few minutes to treat Prim while Ella was stationary. The distance between Ella and Prim was around 30 feet and Prim was given a treat every few seconds, regardless of whether or not she made any noise (she didn’t bark). Then Ella went back into her crate and we let Prim have a bathroom break outside.

Once Prim has had a break, she and Kate got ready for the next part of our training. This time, I brought Ella out of her crate and asked her to heel next to me. Again, Kate gave Prim treats for watching Ella. Ella and I were still 30 feet from Prim, but we were moving, so this was a different lesson than before.

After a few minutes, I started to walk with Ella closer to Prim. Kate gave Prim treats as Ella and I came closer and then walked away. After a few minutes, I put Ella back in her crate and Prim got to take a break.

The final part of our session involved Prim and Kate heeling on one side of the room while Ella and I heeled on the other (about 30 feet apart). Sometimes, we walked in the same direction (parallel walking) and sometimes we walked towards each other, but we were still 30 feet apart. During the entire time, Kate rewarded Prim for walking with a loose leash and for looking at Ella.

Prim’s homework: Find a couple of places where Prim usually reacts and practice rewarding for quiet behavior.

Session 2 (1 hour): The beginning of session 2 mimicked session 1, except we spent less time with Ella stationary. Once Prim was focused, Ella and I started heeling across the room. This time, Ella and I were able to shorten the distance between us to about 10 feet.

At that point, we let Prim take a break and started heeling again, with Kate and Prim heeling on one side of the room and Ella and I on the other. Slowly, over the rest of the session, Ella and I decreased the distance between us until we were five feet from Prim.

At this point, we ended the session.

Kate was able to take the skills that she learned during the sessions and apply them to her walks with Prim. This is what she did:

When approaching a strange dog, Kate would cross the street with Prim to increase distance. At the same time, she would reward Prim for walking next to her and also for looking at the other dog. The treats would start long before they reached the strange dog, as they passed the strange dog and after the strange dog passed. Note: This same technique can be used for dogs that bark at cars while on walks.

If the dog was loose, then Kate was prepared to do an about turn and go the other way. If the dog followed, then Kate was prepared to drop pieces of dog biscuit to distract the other dog until she and Prim could walk out of sight.

After a little practice and also working on this same technique in classes with other dogs, Prim and Kate are able to go on a daily walk without spending the entire time reacting to other dogs.

Scout: VISITORS!

Scout is a middle aged mixed breed who needs a lot of exercise. Scout’s owner, Ruth, takes Scout for a long run every day. She and Scout really enjoy agility classes and make a great team.

However, Scout barks at everyone who comes to Ruth’s house. And, he often does not stop once visitors have been there awhile.

Ruth and I set up a time when we could meet to help Scout. Since his problem happened only at home, we made arrangements to meet there. I gave Ruth instructions to crate Scout in a bedroom about 5 to 10 minutes before I arrived. She has a stuffed Kong ready for this.

Once I arrived and Ruth and I chatted about Scout, I asked Ruth to bring Scout out to see me on leash. Ruth has treats ready and as she and Scout approached me, she gave Scout treats for being quiet. I ignored Scout (no eye contact) and sat quietly. After a minute or so, Ruth put Scout back in his crate.

I left the house and then came back in. Once I was seated, Ruth again brought Scout out on leash and treated him for being quiet. Since Scout is not afraid of people, Ruth allowed him to greet me and I gave him a few treats after asking him to sit.

At this point, Scout was behaving very well. He was not trying to get attention from me and was happy to lie quietly on the floor eating another stuffed Kong.

If Scout had continued to bark or would not lie quietly, then Ruth would have put him back in his crate with a Kong and we would have repeated the greeting.

If Scout was afraid of people, we would have added additional steps and I would not have given Scout any treats until her was completely comfortable around me.

In Scout’s case, Ruth needed to manage Scout’s behavior when people arrived and reward good behavior once they were settled. This is fundamental in changing how alert barkers behave towards guests.

Additionally, Scout barks at delivery people. One or two alert barks are OK, but more than that was not. So, Ruth and I worked with Scout on this issue. We did this by rewarding Scout for watching the delivery person approach (this was a person we recruited for the job – a friend). After a few sessions, Scout was able to watch the delivery person approach and then leave with only a couple of barks.