Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT
-KA
I’m a professional dog trainer so no one is a bigger fan of training your dog than I am. I think that training a dog is fun! What I’ve noticed though is that most owners who call us aren’t interested in training their dogs to DO something. They want their dogs to STOP doing things. The reason we’re focusing on how to stop unwanted behavior is because unwanted behavior lands dogs in shelters. Unwanted behavior is also when we’re most likely to see ineffective, painful and inhumane methods used to turn off behavior. So we’re going to devote the month of January on how to train your dog to stop doing the annoying things you don’t want them to do. This month, we’ll be posting weekly about how to stop your dog from: jumping on people, humping and begging for food. Today’s installment is how to control alert barking.
It’s important to realize that dogs bark for many different reasons. Some of the reasons dogs bark include separation distress, to gain attention, to gather information about their environment or to make scary things, people and other dogs go away. Before you select a method for controlling your dog’s barking, it’s important to know why they’re barking. If you don’t know why your dog is barking you can inadvertently make the behavior worse.
The type of barking that owners complain the most about to me is ALERT BARKING. The dog is in the house and hears something and the barking begins. I’ve never met an owner that didn’t want their dog to let them know when someone was approaching. What all owners want is to control this behavior. We want them to bark to alert us but then we want them to stop once we’ve acknowledged that they’ve done their job. While it may seem counter intuitive, I’m recommending that you thank your dog(s) for barking. In this method, you are NOT rewarding the dog(s) for barking. You are rewarding them for engaging in a different behavior (stop barking and come to me).
When the dog(s) begin barking:
- Say, “Thank you!”
- The dog(s) should come to you for the treat (in the beginning of this training you may need to lure them towards you with kissy sounds, slapping your thighs, etc).
- When they come to you, say “yes” and give them a treat.
You can strategically place small bowls throughout your home. Blue Dog Bakery treats come in all shapes and sizes and you can find them in all major grocery stores. Owners almost always ask me what to do if the dog starts scamming the rule structure by “fake” barking and then running to you for a treat. Believe it or not, this is actually incredibly rare. I think the reason this doesn’t happen very often is because there is an emotional basis to alert barking as opposed to just pure naughtiness. If your dog seems to be barking for attention because you’ve used “thank you” training, then it’s time to take your attention away from your dog or use “timeouts”. If you need help using timeouts, just let us know and we’ll send you our two page handout on using timeouts effectively.
If your dog’s barking has you at the end of your rope with frustration, try to remember that a part of barking behavior is genetic (the same as you are programmed to scream or laugh). The Belyaev fox study taught us that when we breed for tameness (or domestication), barking comes along for the ride. If you have questions about how to stop your dogs’ barking, feel free to contact us or leave a comment here. We also hope you’ll write comments about your own experiences of controlling your dogs’ barking.
This is very helpful! I have a great reply now when people complain about how loud Gus is. I am sorry, it is genetic!
Unwanted behavior hasn’t led my dogs to a shelter 9at least since I adopted them)… it’s just driven me crazy and kept me coming back for more sessions with you 🙂
Ah, Mr. Gus has so many anxiety driven behaviors (barking being one of them) but he’s so sweet and you’ve done such a great job with him. Saw on FB that you had a water leak. Hope that isn’t contributing to increased barking in your house with the new baby.
I can also say that you helped us so much with Kody’s barking. What’s interesting is that I can better see how his barking is genetic. When someone knocks at the door, he goes to his mat within 30 seconds and is truly happy someone is visiting. But his initial reaction is very loud, it’s just who he is.
We could probably do even better with more purposeful practice.
We were amazed, the “Thank You” response to alert barking does work. Our excited Irish Setter, Finn, used to bark and then work up into a frenzy of excitement, At first it was awkward to say Thank You because you would think you were rewarding unwanted behavior but after a few practice runs with it, now Finn even forgets what he was doing after the first squirt of cheese. Great Insight Christine, should I say Thank You? Hee Hee.
I’ve tried a version of the “Thank you”, but as soon as Josie gets her treat, she goes running back to look out the window with more barking! Do I keep doing it over and over? She doesn’t tire of barking unfortunately.
@Susan, with your permission, I’ll email you our handout for doing timeouts. This is the technique I use if thank you training doesn’t work. Thanks for reading!
Jack does the same thing that Susan’s dog does and I have tried time outs to no avail so I would love to see your handout so I can be better trained.
🙂
@Susan and @Leslie, I have emailed you privately our handout for doing timeouts. If you’re still having trouble, feel free to contact me again. Oh, and don’t worry, your email address is strictly confidential.
Amy , our weimaraner, will start barking the minute she steps outside , without end. A few times I have heard another dog barking in the distance, so Im not sure if she is just talking to them, but it gets annoying. If I call her in , she runs right away, because she gets a treat for coming immediately.
How would you suggest we address this type of barking behavior.
Of course she barks in the house too, and now I know how to address that.
Lynne
@Lynne, It’s always difficult to diagnose the cause of a behavior when I haven’t seen the dog or the behavior. The type of backyard barking you have could be caused by a combination of habit and arousal. I’ve been successful breaking this habit by using a clicker training method near the back door and then slowing moving the dog out the back door.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a handout on this process and describing how to change this behavior in a comment is beyond my scope here. What I find most often when working with clients is that their dogs are bored. They’re fed out of bowls, don’t get any training during the day (90 seconds a day is enough), play opportunities where they use their minds are limited, et al. Yes, exercise is good but mental stimulation is what you need to reduce many annoying behaviors.
Hi Christine,
I’d be interested in your time-out handout. Would you mind e-mailing me? Thank you so much.
I would be interested in your time-out handout as well. My two dogs have become hypervigilant to any noises outside and it is so frustrating to try to manage. Thank you in advance!
I would love to have a copy of your handout. Thank you!
If you are still e-mailing out a copy of the “time out” handout, I would really appreciate one as well. My Molly (almost 4 month old basset hound) barks on almost a daily basis between about 4:30-5:30pm, almost constant for the entire hour or so. I run a home daycare, and I think maybe it is a combination of parents picking up their children during this time, my boys getting home from school and my husband getting home from work. While I have daycare kids here she is confined to an x-pen attached to her crate, with the ability to go outside whenever she wants through her doggie door. Thank you!
@Laura, I have sent you my handout for using timeouts. Please use timeouts sparingly for a 4 month old dog since she’s still a puppy. I recommend trying the “thank you” training first and only resorting to timeouts if necessary.
I also recommend that a way to control Molly’s excitement and barking between 4:30 and 5:30 is to give her a work to eat puzzle during that time. To that end, I have also emailed you my environmental enrichment and work to eat handouts.
Could I get the work to eat and time-out handouts too please?
Thanks very much!
Hi Christine
We live on a street where lots of people and animals are outside walking and in their yards all of the time. My 1 yr old border collie feels the need to bark at every person (especially males) for the entire time that they are outside. Should we allow him to alert for every person he sees outside of our home?
Also, if possible I would greatly appreciate the time out handout.
Thank you!
Hi Kaitlyn, if it were my dog, I wouldn’t want them barking the entire time they are outside. I would work with an experienced dog behavior consultant to help understand WHY the dog is barking. Often, we need to focus on helping the dog FEEL more relaxed. If we can teach the dog not to be afraid and to self soothe in the presence of things that make them anxious, the barking just stops on its own. Focus more on fixing the underlying cause (emotions) and less on just shutting the behavior off. Here are some suggestions for finding qualified help: https://www.companionanimalsolutions.com/why-choose-us-2/qualified-animal-behavior-specialists. I sent you our handout via email. If you would like my help to find someone qualified in your area, just reply back. Thanks for choosing to read Behind the Behavior!
Hi Christine – I know many dog owners who have used your services and been very happy with them. Thanks for what you do for dogs! Could you send me your handout on doggy time-outs? Thank you very much. ~Melissa
Christine,
Just Googled “My dog is barking and I don’t know why” and you came up in the results. And thank the heavens for that!
My 11-year-old miniature schnauzer, Zoe, has recently started barking in the middle of the day, so I thought it was pee break time. After all, if I was 77 dog-years old, I’d have to pee more frequently, too.
But the barking continued an hour or so after the break, so I realized it could be that (or at least, it couldn’t be JUST that). Tried your “thank you” technique and Zoe is resting comfortably next to me without a peep. Viola! Success!
If I could get a copy of your “time out” handout, I’d be very appreciative. Thanks for creating a happy (and less noisy) home.
Oops! First sentence, third paragraph should have read:
“But the barking continued an hour or so after the break, so I realized it couldn’t be that (or at least, it couldn’t be JUST that).”
I’m so glad to hear that our “thank you” training technique is working with Zoe. Now that she is 11, she falls into the geriatric dog category. Sometimes when dogs get older, they can begin to lose their hearing, not see as well, etc. This can result in generalized anxiety (increased barking, pacing, etc). I have sent you our Time Out handout. We also recommend feeding dogs out of puzzle feeders instead of bowls. This gives them something to do to keep their minds busy. Our Amazon portal contains our list of our favorite work to eat toys (I’ve also sent you our handout on enrichment and work to eat): https://www.companionanimalsolutions.com/store. Thanks for reading Behind the Behavior!
My dog barks in the morning starting at 4:30 am – since today is Sunday, I was able to lay in bed and time her – she barked for 2 1/2 hrs and I got up at that point. During the week when I have to get up and go to work I can never sleep in beyond 4:30 am.
How can I train her to not bark this early? She has a dog door – she just wants us up to see her, I think. But, we are always tired becuase of this.
Please advise
I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing sleep deprivation because of your dog. This is a tough one for two reasons. First, I usually only get this question from cat owners. And second, you don’t give me many other details about your dog. I hate reinforcing unwanted behavior but in your case, you gave me one important piece of data: 2.5 hours! That is a lot of barking and I don’t think that allowing your dog to bark it out is going to work. It’s too upsetting for you AND your dog. Here’s an idea to try:
Let’s try cutting back on your dog’s bowl feeding (hate feeding dogs out of bowls) and deploy some technology. If this were my dog, I’d buy a Manners Minder, teach my dog to love eating out of it and then use to distract/feed your dog from the comfort of your own bed. You can buy a Manners Minder anywhere, including Amazon: https://astore.amazon.com/compaanimasol-20/detail/B0010B8CHG. This machine comes with a manual and a DVD on setting it up and introducing it to your dog. You can stay in bed and deploy the food in several ways based on the remote control. Please write back if you have questions on the various settings but here’s how I introduce a dog to the Manners Minder:
1. Take it out of the box and toss bits of chicken or cheese into the tray until your dog is comfortable eating out of the tray.
2. Move your dog away from the machine and turn it on (with the volume turned OFF).
3. Dispense a treat or piece of kibble and release your dog to eat it. Once your dog is comfortable with this, move to the next step.
4. Move your dog away from the machine and turn it on (with the volume turned on LOW).
5. Dispense a treat or piece of kibble and release your dog to eat it.
6. Once your dog is comfortable with this, allow your dog to stay closer and closer to the machine over time.
Now you’re ready to use the Manners Minder remotely to get some sleep!
My Step Father has a Dog mixed Pitt bull/rottweiler;
He had him since he was 2 months. Now he’s 8 months, but he’s kind of out of control, and they don’t want us taking him to get groomed anymore and we tried taking him for training lessons and they didn’t want us taking him anymore because they said he was aggressive.
hes not agressive at home but me still want to train him and don’t know where or who to go to for help on that.
HELP 🙁
Our 5 year old Labrador/Pitbull mix has barking issues with strangers walking by our home, neighbors walking into their homes, or visitors. I feel like its a mixture of her alerting us and also her defining her territory to the “intruder” but she typically will not quit barking. We have tried the “thank you” method and it temporarily stops our dog’s barking but she quickly returns her attention to the person she’s alerting us to. Can you email me more about through timeout method to see if it this may be suited for our dog?
My family & I are considering adopting a 4 year old weimeraner from a couple who have had her since a pup. They are moving to a condo that doesn’t allow dogs. They are looking to get her with a family that is familiar with the breed. Two years ago, we had to put our 8 year old weimeraner down as she had stage 4 cancer. He was a great dog with a great personality, we miss him dearly. Still shy about getting another dog, this opportunity came along that would help them, so we thought maybe it was time.
So, we met her & then arranged to have a sleepover this past weekend. The owner let us know that she does have a barking issue when people come in the house, so we were prepared for that, ( our Winston didn’t ).
My long winded question is this, if we decide to adopt her, after she gets used to the idea of her new home, what would be the best approach to hopefully help to break her of this habit?
Thank you in advance, we appreciate any input that you may have.
Connie
My dog barks when she’s outside and someone pulls into the parking lot. Great. My dog barks at the knock at the door. Awesome. My dog does not react to whistling or booming fireworks but the repeat popping ones that sound like a knock at the door send her into her normal “alert bark”. If only people only set off one firework at a time. But no. They do it from evening into night fall and poor thing is trying to do her job and is just confused when I ask her to cease without there being anyone to open the door for. I’d worry that she was scared but she’s not. Like I said booms, whistles and crackles get no attention just “pop pop pop” stirs her up. And then she lays back down. I’m ready for this 4 day of fireworks to be over.
I have 2 male Weimaraners. The older one(5) barks anytime someone comes near the house, knocks, etc. It’s great that he is protecting the house but we have problems getting him to stop barking.
Have tried ignoring him, praising him then saying quiet, using a muzzle, bark vibration collar. Nothing seems to work!
Any suggestions?