All dogs bark. Dogs bark to communicate. Barking tells us there is something wrong, that the dog is feeling some sort of emotion- fear, anxiety, stress, arousal, etc. To punish a dog for this natural behavior that it has evolved to do is cruel. However most people don't know how to solve common barking issues with their dogs, and so feel there is no choice. I plan to make a series of episodes on barking covering all barking issues and how to train your dog not to bark in those situations. In this video I will be showing you a simple exercise on how to change your dogs emotional state using clicker training or (saying the word 'yes'). When you change a dogs emotional state from fearful, stressed, aroused, to that of calm relaxed confident and happy, all the symptoms disappear (such as barking).
Hope you enjoy!
Happy training!
barking dog annoying how to train a dog to love objects that used to be scary behavior modification and counter conditioning using clicker training marker training to solve a behavioral issue.
Nice way to let a dog just sniff and get information, just like Turid would have suggested! Nice video!
Hey Em, great video! VERY useful information, so happy you are doing a series! Thank you. – T
Love it!
I had to use this with a motion sensitive, animated, life-sized witch that cackled and talked as we went by! It spooked ME when it started moving, and Dazzle about wet himself. We did a lot of work going up behind it so it wouldn’t start moving. Once he was good with that, I took him in front, but as far away as I could get while someone else triggered it. I did some classical conditioning, but by then he was ready to take a closer look even with it moving and making noise.
Hi!!! when Sweet was a puppie, she used to bark to scary objects, I tauch her the comand “touch” with normal things, and when we meet somethins scaring, I ask her “touch” and she forgets the problem and is able to think and work and don´t feel scared. Now she is adult girl and is perfect with new things :))))
Good video!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another great video, Emily. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your skills. 🙂 5*
really wonderful video again. I’m working on barking a lot at the moment so I’m really enjoying your videos on the subject 🙂 Wow, Splash is so lovely, she is such a sweetheart 🙂
great vid!! Hoping you can do one on how to get my dog not to jump on other people, he knows not to do it to me but always does it to others as he gets excited
Another winner Emily. Looking forward to the next one – as that’s the issue Milo has – scary people!
Emily, your videos are a huge help. Thank you for uploading this!!
This is so helpful, as always. Thank you!
Nice job as always. Episode 3 is the one I need since Kharma barks at people with the wrong outline (embarassing when it’s little old ladies with walkers).
fantastic video, thank you. my dog has this problem also, and what i’ve been doing is encouraging my dog to take a treat near the object, to sniff it. basically your method without the cue to check it out. i’m excited to try this out, though, especially with halloween coming up. : d
…i’m also really looking forward to your next barking video, as i’ve been struggling with that for several months (my dog is obviously in a fear period), and while it’s been getting better it’s not over yet. : (
If you think your dog is in a fear period, better to just take at a minimum a 8 day vacation- sometimes dogs can sensitize to things rather than habituate to them when they are in a fear period. Also if a dog reacts drastically to something, it might take 8 days for the stress hormones in the blood to reduce making them more likely to go backwards in training when than forwards, so its good to take a break.
I will! I promise! Lots of dogs bark at people with the ‘wrong outline’ – i love the way you said that! Splash barks at people with the wrong out line. Its normal dog behavior- a lot of trainers and owners now tend to freak out and over react about it. Dogs are dogs and they are great at spotting things out of the ordinary, and tell us about it. All we have to do is teach them slowly with pos reinforcement.
I can’t wait for your next episode. Our Bichon Frisé Lily often goes into blind panic when seeing other dogs (not all dogs though, strangely enough) or people walking past the house. She will bark like crazy and forget anything around her, including me. I’m not sure what to do.
She’s also an extremely problematic eater, so finding a training treat that actually gets her excited is proving to be very difficult. But I’m not giving up just yet 🙂
My mum’s dog is the same. Maybe it’s the breed? Did you get things sorted in the end?
@Melissa Elders She did calm down over the years 🙂 And we found a kibble that agreed with her. To be fair, I think we also grew more into our role as dog parents 😉
In any case, she lived a wonderful life for 12 years and we loved her to the moon and back <3
@Simply Suzy That is good. Great to hear you had such a long time together. My mum got her dog when she was 4. The previous owner didn’t have the time for her anymore. I call her the small dog with the big personality 😂
Wow, this is really amazing! I just I had seen it awhile ago, or it had been posted a couple years ago. My dog, Which is a Chiuahaha; Jittery and jumpy. She learned that we let her bark at things outside. and she won’t learn now that she’s set in her way…
I got an inquiry as a follow up to these 2 episodes, my dog has seased with barking towards inanimate objects, just as you taught yours, I taught her to check it out, positively reinforcing when she dared to get closer to the object.
However, two issues remain, strangers (especially males in dark clothing) and being left outside of a store.
The issue is, if I leave her alone, she barks, but if I leave someone with her, she doesn’t. So, how can I positively reinforce when I can’t be next to her?
And to continue, barking at strangers, especially males in dark clothing. Now, my dog is a German Shepherd and a British Foxhound mix (about 75/25), so she’s got quite strong guard instincts. I’m constantly introducing her to new people, luckily, I got quite a large circle of friends, and that’s… usually fine. I use positive reinforcement when she’s not barking, and calling her to me when she is. And I use the command “go greet” when I want her to say hello.
to be continued…
This really worked! In just a few days of working on this we were able to see great progress. It’s really helped to build our little dog’s confidence. Not only does he know what do when he’s spooked, he’s getting better at staying calm in new situations. Thanks again!