Why is the puppy barking?

If the puppy is outside and they need to come in, how do they let you know?

Do you have toy they want?

Is another dog walking past your house?

Do you put them outside as a time out? Outside needs to be somewhere they want to spend time.

Set them up for success to be outside for longer periods by practising this.

If you have taught the “sit to please” that means you need to give your dog attention and continue to reinforce this behaviour if you don’t want them to suddenly bark to get your attention.

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Barking

We have spent hundreds of years breeding dogs to specifically bark for many reasons so we need to help them learn a better way to get our attention.

The bark of a distressed dog, such as a dog who suffers from separation distress or anxiety, is high-pitched and repetitive; getting higher in pitch as the dog becomes more upset. Boredom barking tends to be more of a repetitive monotone. Alert bark is likely to be a sharp, staccato sound; alarm barking adds a note of intensity to the alert.

Demand barks are sharp and persistent, and directed at the human who could seemingly provide whatever the dog demands. At least, the dog thinks so. Suspicious barks are usually low in tone, and slow, while fearful barking is often low but faster. Play barking just sounds . . . playful. If you have any doubt – look to see what your dog is doing. If they are playing, it’s probably play barking. 

It’s important to identify the type of barking so that the treatment can be directed to the root cause. 

I recommend acknowledging the barking and responding appropriately to your dog. For example if they are uncomfortable with the situation, remove them or the trigger (when possible) from the situation.

Attention seeking barking

Ignoring the barking. If you choose to ignore attention seeking barking, you will need to do the following

1. Mark and reinforce EVERY time the puppy is not barking at you.
2. Warn your neighbours and prepare your ears – it will be loud as they have has learnt that it has worked
3. Puppy proof the area that your dog will be in so that they don’t get things they shouldn’t have to get your attention instead of barking
4. Don’t give them eye contact, touch them, or talk to them (controlled crying is not recommended these days in children or in dogs) you can hear the tone of their bark and know the difference between when they really need you vs just looking for attention.
5. Pre-empt – at times when they normally bark for your attention give them something to occupy them, if they are barking for a toy with hold it until they offer a better behaviour.
6. If you need to interrupt the barking redirect them to an easy behaviour and mark "yes" or click and reinforce for the new behaviour.

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Trigger barking

1. Take note of all the triggers that cause the puppy to bark
2. Record the sound of the triggers.
3. Play these at low volumes – even from another room if needed – reinforce when they remain calm. If they reacts, turn the volume down or move it further away.  
4. Play noises to the puppy at very low levels in the background while they are relaxed and happy. You can ask for some basic easy behaviours during this practise.
5. Only play the noises when in a neutral environment when they are relaxed. They need to learn that these are background noises and something to ignore.

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Barking at the back door - To help the pup enjoy spending more time outside by themselves you will need to gradually increase the amount of time they are out there on their own.

Start by “setting them up for success”. Take them outside when you have nothing else to do. Take a cup of tea/coffee and sit outside with them for a few minutes. Give them a hard treat, a stuffed Kong, or licki mat to lick. While they are enjoying their treat go inside. Come back out before they notice, or have finished their treat. This should only take 5 minutes or so.

Next time increase the amount of time you are inside before you come back. Continue to increase their time outside while you are inside. Make this a training session not a time when you need to do something while they are out there. Try to pre-empt the barking at the door to come back inside and watch out the corner of your eye for them to come near the door so you can let them in.

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