# Barking



## Faraday1610 (Aug 7, 2010)

Hi guys,

I am having a real problem with Lulu at the moment. She is barking ALL the time.

I have had Pitsy with us now for about 4 months and they seem to get on ok but I am not sure if this recent barking is stress related with regards to him.

She will bark at everything and will sometime stand and look at me with such a determined look in her eye just bark, bark, bark!

I would like to just ignore it but I am really worried about a visit from my neighbours. I have been trying to teach the Shush command but at the moment it feels like she is teaching me to give her a reward when she is barking - I try to wait between the shush command and giving the reward but she will just bark again which makes me think she hasn't quite got the command yet.

Any advice would be gratefully received. Some times the bark starts with a growl - particularly if it is aimed at Pitsy - I think she's trying to provoke him - I think it's an attention thing.

Advice please guys - I love her to bits but she's driving me bonkers!


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

I have stated before that I break all the rules. If Rosie starts barking at something and won't stop, I holler HEY OR NO. She is just like my children were. If I don't holler (maybe real loud voice) she doesn't think that I mean it. lol Then I point a finger at her and send her to another room or to a chair. Little barks--letting me know someone is at the door or that the phone is ringing are fine; but when she stands in the chair looking out the window and barks at the neighbor or lawnman and won't shut up, I do the corrention. I have never treated for good behavior. Just like I didn't treat my children when they were corrected. Rosie doesn't like the finger pointing, she will shut up pretty quickly. Same with her trying to get attention from strangers. Didn't use to be a problem but with all the nurses I have had coming in, she got in the habit of going to them for petting. then one came in that was terrified of dogs. I had to put Rosie in another room and shut the door. since then, I tell her no (in that loud voice) when she goes up to someone. And I tell the someone not to pet her. Rosie will just go and sit in her favorite chair then. After the nurses leave, she is back in my lap and getting good back scratching.


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

Hi, Lisa:

I did a little research to find out your name and situation and found a post from you about Lulu's barking in January when she was about 11 months old. She was probably entering adolescence and is likely still there. I hear your pain about the barking.

Dave T responded with a link and an offer to e-mail some helpful suggestions to you:

"Yeah adolescence http://www.dogstardaily.com/training...-weeks-2-years can change things. You probably have two different kinds of barking here. Eg. one is typical guard/alert barking ,and secondly you might have some attention seeking or boredom barking. I have a rather long article if you want to email me privately at [email protected] it's too long to post here. BtW great pics"

If you didn't write to him before, I would recommend doing so now. Be sure to give him lots of details about the situation [ie. Lulu's age, apartment vs. detached houe, Pitsy's barking or lack of, does Lulu use barking sometimes as a signal of her desire to play or to notify you of "danger," etc.]

With the extreme heat of Adu Dhabi, are the dogs getting enough exercise?

What kind of training have the dogs had? Have you been able to teach them to bark on command? We have tried that with Buffy along with teaching her "no Bark" or "Quiet" and continue to work with her on it.

Sometimes giving a barking dog a job to do or a place to go can help stop the barking.

Buffy runs to the front door and barks like crazy when she hears the postal truck, and the barking gets really loud when the letter carrier puts our mail into our mailbox. To counter that behavior, we have taught her to "settle" which requires her to go to a specific mat about 15' away from the door and to lay down and be quiet until she is released. We used her favorite training treats [chicken jerky from Costco] to reward her for her compliance.

She also will bark when people and dogs walk by, when motorcycles and loud trucks and cars drive by, and even when a bicycle goes by. As long as we are in the house, I can get her to settle.

My big problems are when we are outside for a walk with both dogs, who feed off each other's excitement, which makes it really hard to get both of them to stop barking at the same time and driving in the car when I have zero control over Buffy's barking :frusty: [Buster, fortunately tends to be quiet in the car.].

Anyway, maybe Dave will see this post or someone else can chime in with some ideas for you. I would recommend sending him an e-mail anyway. It can't hurt.

Good luck, and please keep us informed as to Lulu's progress.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Thanks for the email. I emailed you my article as well privately. 

Yes, your dog has you very well trained ) It sounds as though you are attempting to shape the behaviour into extinction however, the dog is starting the sequence that ends in the reward. She does it because it works. The easiest way to solve the problem is to teach her through cause and effect that it doesn't. Even asking her to “shush” is giving her attention for the barking and attention is another potent reward. Feel free to give her treats for other wanted behaviours when she is quiet but never when she barks. When she barks at you get up, go to the nearest door, go through it and close it behind you. When she is quiet you can go back out but no attention or treats. Because the barking has been rewarded you can expect it to get worse before it gets better. This is what's known as extinction. She is going to try harder before she gives up. This works every time if you are consistent.


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