“Michele, how do I get my dog to stop barking?” that question comes up a lot with students
in my online course and in the Facebook group Puppy Training with Michele Lennon. I wish I could tell you just to do A, B, and
C and the problem would be fixed. But life doesn’t always work like that and
dogs definitely don’t work like that. But don’t go away just yet. I can help you by providing you some ideas
for what might be causing the barking, which then leads to what to do about it. Before we begin be sure to hit that subscribe
button so you never miss when another video goes live Michele here with HTTADD
Ok, let’s talk about how to get your dog to stop barking. This question is similar to “Michele how
can I get my baby to stop crying”. Well, I don’t know your baby and I don’t
know about your schedule. Is he hungry? Is he mad? Is he hurt? Is he tired? I don’t know! But together we can probably do some problem
solving to figure it out. So that’s what we are going to do today. We have to understand the full context of
the barking behavior to figure out what we can do about it. Dogs bark for a lot of different reasons and
depending on the situation, it may not be as simple as teaching the dog to be quiet. Simply suppressing a behavior can result in
further behavioral issues and can actually be rather dangerous, not to mention unfair
to the dog. All behavior, including barking, serves a
function. You heard me talk about that in this video,
where I go over some of the top training phrases that we apply to your dog’s behavior. Your dog’s behaviors are showing their emotions
like fear, frustration, stress, boredom, overarousal, or physical pain. And it’s up to our more complex human brains
to figure out what to do about it. It is extremely important to get to the bottom
of why the dog is barking and to implement all of the elements needed in order for you
both to meet common ground. Is she barking for attention? Is she reactive barking? Are there particular times or locations? What is happening in the environment when
the barking occurs? Have we accidentally reinforced the dog for
barking? As part of our online course, you can learn
how to better be your puppy’s “detective” and understand the behavior in order to shape
it to something more acceptable for your household. The more you work with your dog on training
games and learn about canine communication, the better you’ll be able to work through
this! One reason for barking is attention-seeking. In this case, we want to make sure that we
are not accidentally reinforcing the behavior by talking to, touching, or even looking at
our pup until they are quiet. Just a side note here about attention barking.. If you think your pup is trying to tell you
they need to go outside with all this barking, maybe you’d like a quieter less demanding
way for pup to signal to you? In that case, grab the free New Puppy Starter
Kit for the bell training lesson and more free resources to help you with potty training
your puppy. Now back to that pesky barking… Do not say or yell out “quiet” while they
are barking. Since puppies don’t understand what the
word quiet means, you are actually just giving attention (negative attention still counts
for most pups) and reinforcing the bark. You will also teach your pup to either ignore
the word quiet because we are overusing it, or that it means to bark, if the timing happens
to be just right. Remember puppies don't understand the words
we speak until each word is taught to them through a one-to-one association with the
behavior we want it to mean. During times that your puppy is barking at
you for either attention or something they want, take away all forms of attention. This includes eye contact, speaking to them,
touching them, etc. Wait until the exact moment your pup stops
barking and then say "quiet" while rewarding for quiet behavior. In the beginning, you will capture the quiet
behavior as soon as they offer it. Once your pup gets the hang of this, say “quiet”
as soon as they stop barking and then wait 2-3 seconds to give the reinforcement. This will help you avoid your puppy chaining
the behaviors of “bark, quiet, treat.” Later you can ask for the command "quiet"
when your dog barks and they will understand that it means stop barking. Until then, your pup just thinks that you
are barking along with him/her or that barking is what you want. The thing I like about that method is that
it teaches our pups an alternate behavior. Just like I go over in this video, when we
are trying to change a behavior, it’s really hard for dogs to simply “stop doing that”. You’re going to have much more success if
you offer an alternative behavior and put a lot of value in that. Let’s talk about dogs barking at things
outside. This is so common! Have you heard me talk about the mailman theory? That theory goes like this: the dog sees the
mailman outside. He barks because he’s stimulated by this
new thing in the environment. After delivering the mail the mailman moves
on to the next house. The dog then starts to chain the behaviors
together: mailman arrives - bark - mailman leaves. So the dog thinks that the barking is causing
that thing to go away! You and I both know that’s not the case,
but it happens like this all the time so to your dog, that’s how it works. Reinforcement builds behavior, which is another
common phrase I use to explain training concepts to my students. Dogs barking at other dogs doesn’t really
follow the same pattern, that’s why it’s so hard to advise people when they ask how
to get their dog to stop barking. Barking at other dogs often comes from overstimulation,
over-excitement, it could be fear or anxiety or even a request to play. This is where the context of the situation
plays a huge role, and we also have to look at a dog’s body language to understand what
is his intent and what to do about it. We have a great game in our training course
designed to help your dog be calm and relaxed when he sees something exciting in his environment. For all of you guys doing the DIY level of
my course, it’s in module 1 and it’s called the Blocking Game. Boredom barking is another habit that puppies
form. If your puppy is barking because they are
bored, evaluate how much mental stimulation and physical exercise they are getting each
day! Have you started decompression walks yet? I go over those in this video. These walks are designed for your dog to just
be… a dog! Sniff, explore, meander and just enjoy it
all! They are done on a long leash with a back
clip harness for safety and during these walks, your dog gets to determine where you go. Within reason of course. These walks can be really helpful in getting
out pent-up energy and emotion and can help your dog settle better at home. Puppies also bark out of fear or to give warning
that they are uncomfortable. In this case, we want to counter-condition
the pup to learn that the scary thing actually means a really tasty treat is coming their
way and they do not need to be afraid! Throughout the first 18 months of your puppy’s
life he will go through periods of more pronounced fear. Things that normally were no big deal are
now very scary - e.g. garbage cans, cars, even a chair that he sees every day. The good news is that these periods usually
don't last for too long, but there is likely to be multiple periods before he grows out
of them. Your job during these periods is to help your
puppy gain confidence by slowly exposing him to these things that make him scared and giving
him encouragement and rewards in the presence of them. Your walks during this time might look a little
bit different - you might not go very far since you are spending a while with each scary
thing. But this is an important part of the process
and resist the urge to stay home and avoid all the scary things. The exposure to new things and things that
make him scared - while you work with him to change his association to something more
positive - is important. These periods can be challenging for puppy
parents but using the familiar training games he’s known for many months can be a source
of comfort as he approaches these newly-unfamiliar objects. Before I wrap up for this week, I want to
address one final question that comes up a lot. People ask me “Michele, my puppy is barking
a lot, does this mean he’s aggressive?” Well before I share my thoughts on this, be
sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss another valuable lesson like this one “Aggressive” is not a type of dog, aggression
is a functional behavior (the threat of harm to another by using growling, snapping, biting,
barking, lunging) Do not mistake aggression with normal puppy
nipping, biting, barking, growling… the intent to harm is missing from the equation. One must understand what is normal puppy behavior
and the reason why the behavior is happening in the first place before we can determine
if a dog is acting out with aggression. Puppies often nip and bite at moving objects
including hands, kids, and pants legs. Puppies growl and bark when they want to play
or in an aroused state of mind. Dogs that are acting aggressive in nature
are doing so because the presence of the stimuli is uncomfortable to them in some way. The context of the situation plays a huge
part in determining if we have normal puppy behavior or something more serious going on. Up to about 6 to 8 months, most puppies nip,
bite, bark and growl as part of their normal interactions with humans and other dogs. This may include nipping at hands, feet, biting
on the leash, tugging at clothes, knocking little ones down if the dog is excited and
the child is moving or making noises that excite the dog. We can not label a behavior as “aggression.” It isn’t fair to label behaviors as aggression
when we are dealing with normal puppy behavior, especially when the dog has not been taught
any different skills including impulse control which comes with training, time, and maturity. As you can see, barking is a little more of
a complex topic that involves more investigation before it can really be understood. But it gets better.. With time and training. We talk in further detail about shaping puppy
behaviors and creating lasting solutions to troubling situations in the 30 Days To Puppy
Perfection program. In the comments below based on what you’ve
learned today, tell me one reason your pup may be barking.
