Last week, I discussed annoying barking outside. This week, it's annoying barking inside.
Dogs find us rather confusing when it comes to barking. We want them to alert us to a potential threat to our safety and to chase that threat away, so we encourage our dogs to bark in those situations - but only for so long. Then we want them to stop because anything longer than the time limit we dictate becomes unwanted. Barking becomes unwanted when the dog won't stop, even after the threat has retreated or the pack members have come to investigate. So we kind of let them flail around and figure it out on their own without much guidance.
Stopping unwanted barking is not quite as simple as shouting from across the room. Now, I understand that some people have had success with this form of training. Good for you. You have taught your dog that when it barks, you bark louder and that makes the threat go away.
Anyway, training a dog to stop unwanted barking in the home is done in a couple of stages. First off, Fido needs to be taught an alternative behaviour to barking. I generally teach dogs to go to their bed on command. This training exercise is done independently and unrelated to the dog barking in the home. Once the "go to your bed" exercise has been established, it can be incorporated into teaching the dog to be quiet at the door.
When Fido barks, the owner comes to investigate and tells the dog in a confident voice, "Thank you." (The dog doesn't actually understand it is being thanked, it simply sees its owner intervening and taking over, which is what it was asking the owner to do with the barking). The words "thank you" are something the owner can say in a peaceful manner, instilling trust in the dog instead of fear, which could be caused by yelling "Shut up!" After the owner confidently issues the words "thank you," he/she steps between the dog and the door. The owner then uses spatial pressure to encourage the dog to back away from the door. The dog is then praised.
Now, in some cases a dog is barking so frantically that it ignores its owner's presence. In this case I suggest that a soda can filled with coins be rattled near the dog. Even a whistle or clapping the hands together will do. This is not meant to frighten the dog or be a "negative experience that will cause long-term emotional damage" (eyes rolling). It is meant to snap the dog out of its tunnel vision mindset and stop its barking. Note: the sudden noise does not magically fix the barking dog. In fact, the dog will stop barking to figure out what you are doing. What you are doing is creating an opportunity to redirect the dog's attention when it is quiet. If left in the area of the front door, the dog will often resume its barking tirade or wait until the next threat scurries through the front yard.
That brief moment of no barking is your opportunity to get your dog's focus and add the second step of the training.
This is where the "go to your bed" command comes into play as the dog's attention needs to be redirected somewhere else. Once the dog stops barking, it is gently guided over to its bed or designated spot by looping a finger in the collar or luring with a treat while saying the command, "go to your bed."
Since the dog already understands "go to your bed" from previous training, it willingly complies and begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together. When it barks, the owner intervenes calmly, the threat retreats and then the dog goes to its bed quietly. The reason the command "go to your bed" is trained separately is because dogs are tricky. If the command is taught in conjunction with the no-bark exercise, the dog quickly learns to bark at the front door to get the owner's attention and a treat. Smart little tricksters they are.
With proper timing, patience and consistency, a dog will learn to stop barking on command and go to its bed and peace will be restored in the home.
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for more than 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her through her website k9kinship.com.
