Is your dog
barking a lot? Step one
any time there is
a behavior problem is to
be certain that
there isn't an
underlying medical issue. This means
that you want to do a vet check
first. Some of the
most common reasons dogs bark
are for attention because they're bored due to
anxiety or because the barking has
been reinforced. What the
most critical thing
to remember is that you do not want
the dog to
continue practicing the unwanted
behavior. Management is a key part of the
strategy in changing
behavior. This is because you want
to set up
the environment so that the dog doesn't continue
to rehearse the
unwanted version. The
barking. While you're working
on teaching an appropriate alternative
option. Examples of
management are if your dog barks
at the window, it might
cover the window with
privacy film, it still
lets in light, but blurs
the potential triggers. If your
dog barks when people
enter your home, you should
set them up with a licki mat
for distraction or meet folks outside first. The goal
is to set up
the environment so that your
dog doesn't rehearse
the barking. Next, you want
to separately not in the
barking scenario, teach your dog an
incompatible or
alternative behavior that you
can reinforce examples
of alternative behavior
options are a handout,
target, or a
name recall. Then
you practice these
behaviors to fluency and build
a long and
strong reinforcement history
for them so that they
become the new
appropriate behaviors. If you're
having behavior or
training issues with your dog, I'll leave
my virtual consult booking
link below. See you
next time.
