Copyright 2007 Dog Training Institute. All Rights Reserved.

Transcription

1 Unauthorized distribution, resale, or copying of this material is unlawful. No portion of this book may be copied or resold without written permission. Copyright 2007 Dog Training Institute. All Rights Reserved.

2 Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Barking Equals Communication...2 Chapter 2 - Barking is Just Part of the Package...4 Chapter 3 - Barking Becomes a Problem...9 Keeping Track...10 Chapter 4 - Types of Barking...12 Excitement Barking...13 Excitement When Guests Arrive Excitement When You Come Home Excitement When He Sees People or Dogs Excitement in the Car Additional Things to Remember About Excitement Barking Frustration Barking...26 Possible Solutions for Frustration Barking Loneliness Barking...29 Solutions to Loneliness Barking Alerting...31 How to Control Alert Barking Guarding...34 Solutions to Guarding Behavior and Barking: Objects Solutions to Guarding Behavior and Barking: Strange Dogs and People Territorial Barking...43 Solutions for Territorial Barking Fear Barking...47 Why is the Dog Afraid? Breaking the Fear Down into Small Parts Solutions and Strategies for Fear Barking When Your Dog is Afraid to be Home Alone Attention Related Barking...64 Learned Barking...66 Strategies to Unlearn Learned Barking Chapter 5 - Final Considerations on Barking...71

3 Chapter 1 - Barking Equals Communication As people, we are a very verbal species from the time we first come into the world. We learn to cry, scream, and babble to receive attention as a baby, and we learn, hopefully, more methods of verbal communication as we age. There are universal verbal communications we have that everyone understands, even if the language is not shared. Yelling, voices raised, whispered words, or shrill voices are all verbal communication that includes emotion that would be universally understood. Yelling or raised voices almost always mean a state of arousal, intensity, and usually anger. Whispered words could be a sense of secrecy, not wanting many to hear. Shrill voices indicate a level of emotional upset. There are many more than these. This is no different than our dogs. They use a variety of vocal communications to express themselves within their own group of canines. Dogs also attempt to use these same communications with people, sometimes not with a high level of success. While we readily understand non-word communications between people, we often have a harder time understanding what our dogs are telling us. Unfortunately, barking is a dog s primary way to expressing himself to us. There are additional sounds he may make like: Growling Yips or short barks Baying Howling And barks of various sounds and lengths We don t always fully understand exactly what the dog is trying to say, but the fact remains that this is his way of communicating a variety of things. Unfortunately, he might be saying one thing, and we interpret it another way such as: He s saying: Look, there s someone outside! We re thinking: Again! That s just the neighbor. 2

4 He s saying: That person is really scaring me. I don t want them to touch me. We re thinking: The dog is really mean and must hate new people. He s saying: Can you play with me? We re thinking: He knows I hate his barking; it s so irritating! He s saying: I m so excited to see you (while jumping and bouncing around)! We re thinking: He s so disobedient; he knows better than this! He s saying: Ouch! That hurts when you touch me there like that. We re thinking: Oh no! He s trying to dominate me. I can t have that. These are just a few typical examples of how we can totally misunderstand what he is saying and feeling. Additionally, how we react and feel about his barking can greatly influence how we handle the situation. If we think he is mean, but he s really afraid, we may fully handle the problem the wrong way and create a bigger problem. If we are better equipped with knowledge and understanding, we will be more patient when the dog barks and will employ better techniques to help limit the barking. It is important to note that barking is really, really normal. It is not a realistic expectation for people to think that their dog should never, ever bark. This would be first unrealistic for your dog, and second it would be plain mean. It would be the equivalent of someone walking up to you and saying, I hate the sound of your voice. From this day on, you can t ever talk again for any reason at all! Instead of making such a declaration for your dog, it is important to work to understand what is behind your dog s barking and then work on a strategy to reduce to amount of barking to a realistic level. 3

5 Chapter 2 - Barking is Just Part of the Package Dogs are more interested in body language than they are in verbal communication. You ll easily see this if you watch your dog. Try a little experiment: First, try asking your dog to do something he knows how to do or ask him about something like going for a car ride or going outside for a walk. See how he responds. Now, wait a little while and do the same activity with no words at all. If you re doing the example of a walk, I ll bet he gets just as excited if not more when he sees you put on shoes, get ready, grab the leash, etc. He knows what this means without you saying anything at all. People are often surprised at just how well dogs read body language. It is instinctual for them to read the body language of others, and as it happens to turn out, they have developed the skill of being able to take cues from us. In fact, they are better at this skill than many other animals. Trying sitting in front of your dog with two of his toys placed on the floor. Try pointing at one toy. What is most likely to happen is that your dog is likely to look down at where you are pointing to. For most dogs, this hasn t been specifically taught to them, but they are watching a body cue from us. It is harder for us to pick up on body cues from our dogs, but this can be one of the key components when working on reducing a barking problem. Dogs just don t bark within a vacuum meaning that other things are occurring or they are feeling a certain way, and it is being expressed through their body language. The vocal communication is just a secondary side effect that we tend to pick up on easier. If you can learn the signals that dogs give off that indicate stress, arousal, excitement, fear, etc., you will have a better chance of helping the dog through a 4

6 situation and possibly either eliminating the barking or greatly reducing it in those situations. Body language cues are important to learn. Most dogs use the same or similar body language cues so that once you know them, you will have a better understanding of not just your own dog but also others you encounter. Some to look for include: Calming signals: These are signals dogs use to calm a situation, diffuse stress or conflict, or avoid conflict. These may be used with people or with other animals. They commonly include things like sniffing the ground, licking their lips, looking away, yawning, among others. 1. Example 1: Two dogs are playing and chasing each other around. One dog senses the play is getting too intense and all the sudden appears to catch the scent of something really interesting and stops play to smell the ground. Dog number two joins in. This is the use of a calming signal because the first dog became concerned that play was becoming too intense and might turn into something else. He interrupted the play to avoid possible conflict. 2. Example 2: You are getting frustrated with your dog and you begin to raise your voice at your dog. He lays his ears back and begins licking his lips while breaking eye contact. This is the dog s way of trying to diffuse the stress in the situation and calm you down to avoid conflict. Distancing signals: Many dogs use verbal communication along with body signals to attempt to increase the distance between the dog and some other individual. Most of the time the dog does this behavior because he either feels frightened or threatened in the situation. Most of the time the dog will bark or growl, but he can also lunge towards the individual, charge at them, or snap. 5

7 1. Example 1: You re walking down the street with your dog, and he sees a dog walking his direction. He immediately tenses up and begins barking quickly at the dog while attempting to lunge towards him. 2. Example 2: You ve invited a guest into your house, and after a few minutes of being in the home, your guest reaches out to pet your dog. Your dog immediately growls and air snaps near the guest, and your guest retracts his hand. In both of these examples, the dog is using body language combined with vocalizations to tell someone to leave him alone. He wants to increase the space between him and the offender, and nine times out of ten, it is a very effective method to increase space. Signs a dog is frightened or feeling defensive: The dog normally gives off clear stress signals when he is feeling frightened or defensive. Dogs may not exhibit all signals, but a few signs of stress can include: ears flattened against his head, dilated pupils, seeing more white in the eye, tail lowered and even tucked between legs, shaking, attempts to hide, attempts to run away, sinking down into a lowered body position, release of bladder or bowels, sweating from the footpads, excessive panting, sudden excessive hair loss. Dogs may whine, bark or growl (particularly if they can t get away). 1. Example 1: Your dog is at the vet for his annual wellness exam. Once in the exam room with the door closed, he begins pacing and you notice sweaty foot prints on the tile floor. As the veterinarian enters the room, he attempts to hide behind you and growls when the veterinarian approaches. 2. Example 2: You re in a training class, and the instructor insists that he take your dog away from you to work on a skill. Your dog pulls 6

8 back towards you and whines. The trainer drags the dog with him, and the dog snaps at him when he puts his hand near him. Signs of arousal: Arousal is simply a state where a dog is more attentive, but in many cases of aggression, there are signs seen prior that indicate signs of arousal. Some of these signs may include things like: raised tail high in the air, ears pricked or positioned high on the head and forward, direct eye contact, slow and deliberate tail wagging, if any, and piloerection of hair over the shoulders or along the back. This doesn t mean a dog will become aggressive with these signs, but it does indicate he is more aroused and problems arise faster in these situations. 1. Example 1: The neighbor dog is running down and back along the fence line that borders your yard. Your dog at first notices and then immediately charges towards the fence and starts running and barking too. 2. Example 2: You re standing outside with your dog on leash when he sees several rabbits and squirrels running around and playing the yard. Your dog stops what he is doing, immediately target the animals. His tail goes up and he starts whining. Next thing you know, he reaches out and grabs your pant leg and starts shaking it. (This is aroused, probably excited, and likely frustrated too!) Excitement signals: We re normally a lot better at reading a dog whose body says he s excited, but he normally has signs like a soft, inviting expression, jumping and bouncing around, full wagging of tail in a faster manner, licking or kisses, and attempts to be pet. 1. Example 1: You ve been gone at work all day and when you enter the house, your dog bounds towards the door doing a happy dance and barking in joy. 7

9 2. Example 2: You start picking up your keys, and your dog immediately thinks a car ride is coming! He starts running back and forth from you to the door, wagging his tail vigorously, and barking excitedly. 8

10 Chapter 3 - Barking Becomes a Problem Barking becomes a problem when it branches from occasional barking into nuisance barking or gets an owner into trouble. Sometimes it becomes a problem when an owner has unrealistic expectations of the dog and/or the dog is not properly matched to his home. Some dogs simply bark more than others. This is why knowing what a breed is like and what characteristics that breed has is important before you decide to add that dog to your home. Generally speaking, breeds that have herding backgrounds like shelties and corgis and terrier breeds and some smaller breeds of dogs that are quick to alert to sounds are far more likely to bark than large, sedate dogs. This means if you match up a breed of dog that instinctually likes to bark a lot with an apartment setting, you may be setting both yourself and your dog up to fail. Additionally, we often create scenarios that increase the barking of a dog for a variety of reasons. One of the most common examples of something that happens to many dogs is lack of exercise. We don t always correlate how lack of daily exercise can contribute to a barking problem, but it is often directly related for a good chunk of dogs. How? Imagine you re living in a house but never get to leave it. Okay, so maybe a couple times a day the person lets you out to walk around or sit in the yard. Other than that, you ve got little to do. You d end up feeling stir crazy. This is why former prisoners report solitary confinement as being the absolute worst part of jail as you re not allowed to do anything but be confined for 23 hours a day to a tiny jail cell. A dog without daily exercise can be compared in many aspects to that prisoner. Dogs have energy needs, and it is imperative that they are released each day in safe ways. Most dogs don t get enough exercise by just being let into the yard each day. 9

11 Instead, they need active exercise. This might be a jog, long walk, fetch time, or other activities that you and your dog enjoy. This exercise helps dogs either prevent barking problems or helps to greatly reduce it. We also unintentionally increase the barking problem by allowing the dog to rehearse the habit. What this means is that the dog barks in a situation, and then when we identify the problem, we still allow the dog to continue to bark without intervening in some manner to change the dog s behavior. For example, when you have a dog that displays barking at other dogs on the walk, if you continue to put your dog into these same situations where he will continue to bark, the habit will become very ingrained in his psyche. Once a dog has the opportunity for repetitive rehearsals, it becomes much harder to break the habit he is establishing. The first step when your dog s barking becomes a problem is to work to identify what is happening in order to create the best plan to fix it. That means keeping a record. Keeping Track When a dog has an annoying habit like barking, we tend to exaggerate that problem without even realizing it. He barks ALL the time! He never SHUTS UP! These are, of course, exaggerations, and they aren t helpful in modifying the barking. Instead of exaggerations, we need hard facts about what is occurring. The only way to do that is to keep a journal. That journal should be a record of not just when the dog barks, but it should also include what is happening at the time, how long it occurs for, what your response was to it, etc. If you keep a journal like this, over the following weeks you should be able to see a concrete pattern start to develop. Training professionals who ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of dogs can figure out a likely pattern very quickly and determine a dog s motivations behind it, 10

12 but it is much harder for the average owner to do with just this one dog as a reference point. Below is the link to a Dog Barking Journal you can use for this purpose, but you can also expand from this for your own purposes: A journal like this helps you put in one easy to find place exactly what your dog is doing. It shouldn t take long to see what you ve been doing or contributing that isn t working along with what your dog is doing. This pattern will be key to figuring out the best way to modify his barking habit. Very often, you will see your dog is barking for multiple reasons combined. For eg: your dog is barking at other pets. It can either be excited or it can be territorial barking too. Or, your dog is barking at your walks. Again it can be excited barking or even frustrated barking. Once you identify what the dog is trying to communicate, it will be easier for you to solve the problem. 11

13 Chapter 4 - Types of Barking Once you ve kept your journal and started to form a pattern of how the barking occurs, you can compare it with the different types of barking. There are classic reasons why dogs bark. While there are times where overlap occurs between types, you should be identify a primary reason and be able to focus on that. Here are the primary reasons a dog will bark: 1. Excitement: When a dog is very excited, it s natural for him to want to express that excitement. Normally there is lots of happy body language to go along with it! 2. Frustration: When a dog becomes frustrated and has no ability to relieve that frustration, barking often results. Frustration often, but not always, comes as a result of excitement. 3. Loneliness: This is when a dog is alone or socially isolated and feels lonely. 4. Alerting: This could also be referred to as a warning bark, but this is when the dog hears a sound or sees something it feels it should warn the rest of the pack about. 5. Guarding: This can be looked at in two ways: protective guarding of family and then guarding of objects in a possessive manner. 6. Territorial: This can be placed with guarding barking, but I think it deserves its own designation. This relates to a dog barking about strangers (people or other animals) on his property. 7. Fear: This is one of the most common reasons for barking and happens as a result of the dog feeling threatened or afraid of something. It may relate to either genetic fear issues, lack of socialization, or both. 12

14 8. Attention: This is when the dog is trying to get your attention for some reason. 9. Learned: This isn t a true separate classification, but understanding that many times barking has a learned component to it is important. The dog learns that his barking, for whatever reason, works to some end. We ll go into each type of barking in more detail with situations on how it might occur and possible solutions in individual sections to follow. Excitement Barking Most everyone has experience with this kind of barking with their dog. Simply put, the dog is barking out of pure excitement. It can be when he is in the midst of the activity or when he anticipates the activity. He may bark, whine, or bay (if he s a hound). For many dogs the pitch of the vocalization is higher pitched, and there is a series of barks rather than just one or two. Normally it is accompanied by happy body language that is bouncy in nature. In some cases the barking can even sound a little frantic in nature depending on how excited the dog is. There is an element of stress when a dog is very excited, and when the intensity of excitement is high, it can also have an element of frustration to it. For example, let s say you take your dog to the dog park. As you approach the road that leads to the bark, your dog begins to whine and let out short barks as you near the park. As you pull into the park, he begins to jump around the back of the car and bark louder and higher. As you get him out of the car he attempts to pull you all the way to the park entrance, and the closer you get, the higher pitched his barks 13

15 become and they are almost clipped off rather than full barks. His excitement level is so high at this point that he is stressed and full of frustration. This kind of stress is generally fairly harmless, but it is best if we can keep a dog below this ultimate level of excitement. Some issues can arise with certain breeds and personalities of dogs when they are not only excited but also become frustrated. Namely, redirected aggression happens. Redirected aggression is when a dog becomes so frustrated that it can t reach something (like other dogs, animals, people, etc.) that he turns and grabs whatever he is near. This can be you, the leash, other objects, etc. He may just nip whatever it is or he may grab it fully with his mouth and tug it severely. The best way to avoid the potential for redirected aggression and lower his stress level is to not allow his excitement levels to rise to this level in the first place. Most people will see excitement related barking in a lower level such as when you return home from work, and your dog eagerly greets you at the door. Other times a dog will use excitement barking when he is playing with another dog, when he is playing toys with you, sometimes when he is playing all by himself even or just running crazy around the house or yard. The point is he is expressing the joy of the moment. Generally, it seems a bad idea to fully try to limit this kind of barking from the standpoint that he is happy and it s an expression of joy. Punishing him for that joy seems counterproductive and not nice so long as it stays below the threshold of severe stress and frustration. What is the best way to control excitement barking? First, how we interact or react with the dog is a major part of the equation. If we are excited or loud, it only serves to further excite the dog. Imagine the dog is barking in rapid fire succession and then we re trying to yell louder over that. He just views that as you joining in! 14

16 It s also similar to why a dog appears to bark a lot and run around when the dog is with children versus why he seems calmer when it s all adults. Adults tend to be calmer. Kids like to run around, yell and scream, and do lots of body movements all of which serve to elicit excitement or over excitement in a stimulated dog. But, if you can manage the children and get them to remain calmer, you will often notice pretty quickly that the dog also seems quieter and more subdued too. Dogs have a tendency to mimic what the rest of the pack does, especially as they age into adulthood. If you are sitting calmly, dogs will learn to mirror that behavior and settle down. If you re jumping up and down and waving your hands, bets are your dog is jumping up and down too. Barking at your other pets can also be an excitement barking. However, it may also be alert barking or territorial barking. You will need to note your dog s body language to understand what kind of barking is that and then frame up how you want to solve it. Second, for a lot of dogs, they simply like to have things in their mouths. You might try keeping a toy on hand that be given to your dog at the moments you know will elicit barking in your dog. It can be very effective to see that your dog is getting excited and have that toy right there. As the habit of grabbing a toy instead of barking becomes ingrained, most dogs will either out of habit grab the toy off the ground (instead of you having to give the dog the toy) themselves or you can ask the dog to go get his toy. This method of using toys can be especially helpful for situations like when visitors come to the house and the dog is overly excited about greeting guests. Try keeping a basket of toys near the entrance for this exact reason. We ll look at more specific situations in which excitement barking happens plus solutions for those situations next. 15

17 Excitement When Guests Arrive First let s talk about the extra excitement that many dogs experience when visitors come to the house. Not only do they bark, but they usually jump on guests, bounce around, run around the house, etc. While the dog is happy, there should be some control to this. How can you handle this extreme enthusiasm? 1. For a dog that has mild barking when guests arrive, sometimes teaching the dog to pick up his toy is enough. Keep a toy box near by with several toys and in the beginning before he fully knows how to get one himself, hold one in your hand in order to give to him. Many dogs will not bark once they have the toy as they will be proud to show it off to the visitors. 2. When the doorbell rings, try waiting a few seconds before getting up to answer it. Remember, dogs tend to mimic the pack behavior, so if you don t jump right away when the bell rings but rather leisurely respond to it, he will be more inclined to settle down. 3. As you approach the door, try getting him into a calm position. If a dog knows sit, it can be useful to ask the dog to sit for a few seconds. Try keeping your face and front towards him as you move towards the door so that you can see him. 4. Try holding a finger or flat hand extended upright out away from your body. This can become a signal for the dog to settle and hold still momentarily and many dogs seem to recognize it. Wait to open the door for just a few moments. 5. Open the door a crack, and if your dog comes towards the door or begins to bark, wait to open the door further. Use your body as a block and position yourself in between the door and the dog. 6. Again hold your finger or hand up, wait for him to settle and stop barking, and then slowly open the door a few more inches. Explain to your visitor (if you haven t beforehand) that your dog is in training and it will be just a 16

18 moment. A nice little sign hung on the door that explains that can be even better! 7. As long as your dog remains calm, continue to open the door and invite your guest in. 8. It s best for everyone to remain calm and ignore the dog. Have your guests just move into the main room and then when the dog is not barking and is calmer, he can be pet and included. Dogs normally catch on quite quickly if no provides him attention when very excited. 9. Additionally, don t underestimate the power of exercise. If your dog becomes overly excited for guests, try taking a walk before you know visitors will come. Another idea that can be used with guests coming in the home is the idea of having your dog run to a particular spot when people visit. This requires more training, but can be an excellent option especially if your dog also jumps in his excitement. Where can he go to? Well, you can train a dog to run to a specially located mat or dog bed that is out of the way. This behavior is known as Place. It means he goes to that spot and stays there until you tell him to come off of it. Alternatively, he can be taught to run to a specific room and wait there until called. Remote reward training devices, like the Manners Minders device, work well at rewarding your dog in the specific spot via remote control. Lastly, if jumping is a real concern, sometimes using a leash to help you is the best way to go. A second person or even you in the absence of a second person can hold the dog on leash. This way the dog can be part of the action, but the leash helps the dog not self reward himself with jumping on people and allows you to prevent anyone from petting him before he is calm. Once he has calmed down, allow the dog to greet people. The only time that the leash will not work or shouldn t be part of the equation is if the leash causes frustration in your dog and eventually leads to excessive levels of 17

19 barking. This is the minority of dogs, but if it s your dog, you ll have to evaluate if the leash will work or not. Excitement When You Come Home Many, many dogs love to see their family return home. They are just so excited to see you again that it s hard to contain themselves. This is a behavior that is an example of neotony, or behaviors that are puppy-like but retained by the adult. This can be seen in wolf puppies that excitedly jump at adult wolves and their faces. They repeatedly bounce around and lick at the face of adults. There are various reasons why wolf puppies do this, but this behavior ends once the wolf grows up. For our dogs, this behavior actually stays past puppyhood in many dogs. When you return home, your dog greets you in a puppy-like manner befitting a King or Queen. This can be either very flattering or highly annoying, depending on how you look at it. Part of this ritual can be enhanced by how we respond to the dog. Take a look at your behavior in the equation. Do you talk to the dog particularly in higher pitched, happy voices? Do you touch the dog? Do you yell at the dog or push him away? If you do any of these things, you are actually encouraging the dog to continue barking out of excitement when he sees you. What can you do instead? 1. Try entering the home calmly with little fanfare. This takes some of the extreme excitement out of greetings. 2. Some dogs do very well with a calm, simple hello and others can t handle any type of communication. Depending on which dog you have, a quiet hello and pat on the head may do the job. If that only serves to excite the dog further, you re best to walk in and wait for the dog to calm down before interacting. 18

20 3. Don t just stand in one spot waiting. Instead, calmly go about your routine. Come in and go through your mail, put up your stuff, use the restroom, change clothes, or whatever the case may be. This diffuses the excitement in the moment. This goes back to your dog learning to mirror you and how you are acting. 4. If you have a fenced yard or the ability to get him outside, try letting him out for a quick run and potty break. Sometimes this is entirely enough to calm him down. 5. If you have been trying to hold your finger or hand up as a settling signal (as in the previously discussed excitement with guests), you can try this to settle your dog down for a moment before petting him. One note about excitement when you return, evaluate how long your dog has been without anyone home. There can be an overexcitement or frantic nature to his behavior at your returns if he is being left home alone for long durations. He may bark more out of desperation and loneliness or the excessive need for the restroom. If you evaluate your schedule and it appears he is being left alone for long, long durations without contact, consider the option of doggie daycare, a pet walker to come walk and play with him, or even the option of a second dog for a companion. Excitement When He Sees People or Dogs Many dogs become overly excited on outdoor walks when they see other people and dogs. This can look terrible and many people will not come near your dog for fear he is being aggressive or will bite. One of the easiest ways to know that this is excitement related barking is by its sound. It will normally be rapid fire barking that is high pitched or appears frantic in sound. The dog will often jump, pull you, or end up standing on two hind legs as he walks. Normally if these dogs get near the people or dogs they eagerly greet them. This is very different than the other type of barking at dogs and people on walks where the dog actually feels threatened. 19

21 Even though this is excitement related, it is barking that needs to be controlled. The average person can become worried about your dog, and for many other dogs, this can trigger a bad reaction. Some dogs will react poorly enough to bark back at your dog or even bite him. There are reasons that this kind of barking happens. Normally there are two primary reasons a dog will excitedly bark at people or dogs on walks: 1. If your dog has been allowed to play with every dog or person he s ever seen on walks, he can become frustrated when he s not getting to someone fast enough. With strange dogs it can also be that not only does he get to greet dogs often but he also plays intensely. This can be the case for many dogs that only greet other dogs in dog parks or dog daycares where play is fast and furious in style. 2. The other reason this might occur is that you have a very friendly dog who has limited opportunities to greet others. When he does see them, he has limited social skills and becomes overly excited. It is important for puppies and dogs to develop social skills by meeting new dogs and people, but it has to be done in a particular way. To prevent problems: Your dog should have ample social opportunities so that seeing a dog or person isn t a one time event. Try taking walks around the neighborhood, in the park, stores, and other places that allow dogs so that he has a lot of exposures. Don t greet everyone you meet. This just isn t realistic. Instead, some people or dogs he can meet and others not, so there aren t expectations that he always will. Play dates with other dogs are great, but that shouldn t be the only access he has to other dogs. Attend training classes so that he has 20

22 opportunities to visit and be around other dogs but also learn to focus on you too. When your dog does have play dates, practice interrupting play every so often so that your dog doesn t reach frenzied levels and is able to be called to you. Now there are times when a dog has developed an issue accidentally or perhaps was adopted as an older dog that already has it. There are things you can do to help with overexcitement at that point. Try these techniques with dogs that have established habits: People and dog watching: It s a great idea to do exercises of just people and dog watching. Go to a location where you and the dog can see people and dogs but be at a distance from them. All dogs will settle at a further distance away. This gives you the chance to walk around but have a more relaxed dog. At each stage he calms down, you can gradually get closer and closer in the people and dog watching. Calm walking: Try asking people you know like neighbors, friends, or family that have other dogs to do parallel walking with you. If they have a calm dog, that is best. Take long walks together where you walk on opposite sides of the street in a parallel fashion and ignore his attempts at barking. When he is calm, gradually decrease the distance between you and other person. The idea for him is to gradually learn to be in the presence of another dog, straight line walking, and relax. If he fully relaxes, he can say hello at the end of the walk when he is calmer. Interrupting him: When you are walking by yourself with your dog and you spot another dog or person and he excitedly barks, turn and go the other direction for about 6-10 feet. Then turn and approach the person and dog again. Each time he barks, make that turn. What you are doing is interrupting the bark and showing him that you will continue to walk towards the people or dogs if he isn t barking. 21

23 Additionally, something else you can try is to provide your dog with a little exercise prior to your walk. Play a game of fetch in the yard to take some of the intense excitement out of the walk. Excitement in the Car It can be frustrating to take your dog for a simple car ride only to have him bark, bark, and bark again! This is normally related to a high degree of anticipation or excitement over where you are going. We accidentally create this problem by taking the dog for specific things. For example, let s say a few times a week you take the dog to the local dog park. This also happens to be about the only time you take the dog in the car. Guess what happens? Pretty soon your dog thinks the car automatically is going to the dog park even if that isn t where you re going. His excited barking is the result of a learned pattern and his anticipation of where he is going. This is actually the same thing that happens when a dog never goes in the car and the only time he does is when something he views as negative is going to happen. Imagine if the only time he went in the car was to visit the vet! He might not be that eager to get into the car. It is easier to prevent this problem in the first place by routinely taking your dog for short trips to a variety of places, some interesting and some boring, random trips. This way he is used to car rides but they don t occur in ways he can anticipate. Once the problem occurs, the best way to solve the problem is to take the excitement out of the car ride. This can also help if your dog dreads the car. Try to plan out short, boring trips each day. Take more than one if you have the opportunity. 22

24 These can be very quick trips. In the beginning it might just be down the road and back. The dog doesn t get out of the car all time. Some times take him out to sniff the grass, walk around a parking lot, etc. and then load back up. Other times he doesn t get out at all but rather is along for the ride. Gradually make the car rides longer each time so that he has to have more patience while in the car. There are two other methods that can be used if the first method doesn t work as well. 1. Method 2: You can do a start and stop method of driving. This works best if you have a road that isn t too busy to use. Start the car and go forward, but if the dog barks at any point, pull the car over and stop moving. Wait for him to settle down and when he s been quiet for at least 15 seconds, begin to drive again. 2. Method 3: Some dogs bark because of visual stimulation outside the car like other cars, dogs, and people. If you have the possibility of darkening your windows, this can help with visual stimulation. You ll need a second person to help you, but you can put a barrier behind your front seats and cover it with fabric. Close off the other windows as well. Now he can t see out at all. When he remains quiet for several seconds at a time, gradually remove a piece of the cover behind the front seats. If he barks, the cover is closed again. If he can remain quiet for a few more seconds at a time, gradually bring down a little bit more of the cover. Eventually the goal is to gradually take down all the window covers. In lieu of covering windows, you can also use a crate cover, if your dog rides in a crate, in the same manner. 23

25 Additional Things to Remember About Excitement Barking Many forms of excitement related barking are heightened when a dog is excessively stressed or under exercised. It is your job to prevent these occurrences in order to help with the excitement barking. Exercise: There are many, many dogs in the world that just don t get enough exercise each day. For some breeds of dogs, low to moderate levels of exercise are okay, but for many active, energetic breeds of dogs, that s not enough. Most breeds of dogs that were bred to have a job need more exercise than just lying around the house or yard each day. How much exercise a dog needs is relative to the dog s breed or mix thereof, age, and personality. The goal should be for the dog to be happily tired each day whatever that takes. Ideally, every dog should have outdoor exercise each day. A walk is normally the easiest way to do this, but a jog is excellent for some dogs that need extra. Additionally, think of other activities that both you and your dog can enjoy like Frisbee, fetch, hiking, playing in the water, biking, or performance sports like agility. Tailor exercise activities that fit both of your desires, needs and abilities. Stress: When a dog is chronically stressed, it affects all parts of him from his behavior to his physical state. There are many things that can create chronic stress in your dog. Any time your dog has a barking problem, but particularly excessive excitement barking, evaluate your dog s life and see if you can identify areas that might be causing stress. Some examples are: Does your dog get enough sleep each day or is he receiving constant interruptions? Just like people, a dog needs a solid amount of quality sleep or he s not operating at full level. How noisy is your home? It is important that even in busy environments, there are plenty of moments of down time. Can your dog get away from all the excitement? Is your dog matched for the home? For example, if you re 24

26 adopting an adult dog, make sure he can handle what you have in your home. Not all dogs do well with little kids running around and screaming all day long or whatever the case may be. Do you confine your dog and if so, for how long at a time? Crate, kennels, or blockaded rooms are tools to assist you when a dog needs constant supervision, but they aren t to be used because you can t handle the dog and need away. They also shouldn t be used so that you can be gone for long extended periods of time. Dogs need to get out, stretch, exercise, and live. Prolonged confinement can create large amounts of stress in a dog and can very much increase the excitement when the dog is free. It creates a vicious circle sometimes: dog is confined and then let out. He is hyper and annoying so person puts him back in the confinement. The longer he is in confinement, the more hyper he is each time he gets freedom. Remember, these are only tools for training and for short periods of time. Is your dog able to go the bathroom when he needs to? Don t expect him to hold it super long durations every day. Just like you, he needs bathroom breaks, and it can be very stressful if he is forced to try to hold it everyday. If you can t walk him, you need to change your situation in some way so that he has the opportunity to relieve himself. Does your dog get to be part of the family and get quality time with you? While it is important for your dog to also have him time so he learns how to entertain himself, it is also important that he gets to spend time with you. Dogs that suffer from social isolation suffer from excitement issues greatly because when they are finally in contact with you, it s almost overwhelming for the dog. How you interact with the dog is also an important component with excitement related barking. We often play a huge role in the whole package. Rewards: Consider how you might be rewarding your dog. There are many things that a dog will consider as a reward that we might not. For example, any type of contact is a reward. That means any talking, looking, or touching the dog. So, let s say your dog barks at you and jumps on you when you enter the door. If you push 25

27 him away, you re actually rewarding the dog (not punishing him as you might actually think). You need to reward the behavior you want to see not the behavior you don t want. The more frequently you spend your time rewarding your dog for calm and quiet behavior, the more frequently you will see calm and quiet behavior. If you choose to reward excitable, hyper, barking behavior, you will see more of that behavior. Frustration Barking Frustration barking occurs when a dog has something going on he cannot control. Because he is unable to control the environment or circumstances, barking can develop as a side effect of that stress he is feeling. Frustration barking is normally intense and possibly continuous. It occurs as a result of a dog becoming overly excited but unable to do anything about his excitement. This is the type of barking that occurs most frequently when barriers are involved. Barrier frustration occurs when a dog is separated physically from something. The barrier can be a fence, gate, kennel, or even a leash. The point is that whatever that barrier is doesn t allow the dog to reach what he wants. The frustration reaches a point where it is expelled via barking and normally intense running, spinning, jumping, or biting at things accompanies the barking. Example 1: Your yard backs up right next to your neighbor s yard and has a fence that is easy to see through. Your dog likes to charge out the door to get to the fence line and immediately begins running the fence line looking for the neighbor dog. If the other dog is out, your dog immediately begins barking intensely and running faster. He doesn t seem to even hear you talking if you say his name. Example 2: Your dog loves to chase after things that run. It s very exciting for him. One day he goes out into the yard and spots a couple of squirrels in the yard. They catch his eye and he chases after them, but they run right up the tree. He jumps and 26

28 scratches at the tree barking. He continues to see them up in the tree but can t reach them. Any time the dog experiences a level of excitement but is blocked by the circumstances, frustration can certainly occur. There are times when we create scenarios that cause repeated episodes of frustration. We may or may not know we do this, but the end result is the same. When a dog has frustrated barking, we always need to evaluate how we may contribute to the issue and what we can do to reduce his stress and frustration. Possible Solutions for Frustration Barking The aim of any solution for frustration barking is to clearly limit the dog s frustration. If you can t, it will be much harder to solve the issue. Barrier: When the barking occurs due to a barrier like a fence, you have to work around the problem. This most commonly occurs with a fence that borders a neighbor s yard and that person s dog. This is different than a dog that routinely barks along the whole perimeter of his yard and fence. That is territorial barking. With barrier frustration, your dog will run back and forth along that one area where he is excited. Typically, you ll end up with your dog running back and forth almost frantically while he watches another dog in another yard or runs with that dog. This sometimes occurs because he can evenly see everything. Sometimes just using visual barriers helps immensely. Try putting dividers into your fencing to limit some of that visual stimulation. Plant shrubs along the fence line. Anything that makes your dog less able to run there as well as makes the area less visible is helpful. There are some dogs that experience high levels of barrier frustration, and it might even look like they want to eat the other dog! Assuming your dog is generally dog 27

29 friendly, it s not likely the case. You might ask your neighbor to take their dog for a walk with your dog. Letting dogs meet outside of the backyard and the barriers can often hold the key to reducing the overall barking. Leash: The leash can also serve to frustrate your dog. Of course it is a necessary item, but once you ve identified exactly what it is that excites your dog and causes the frustration, you can help to fix it. Probably the most common example is the dog on leash that is on the walk and becomes almost hysterical about seeing other dogs. We discussed this briefly in the excitement barking category, and normally a lot of frustration also comes along with excitement. Your dog has to understand he can t greet every dog he sees. That s important, and often times it means doing a lot of dog watching (taking him somewhere he can see them at a distance and relax but not be too close). Additionally, interrupt his barking by turning away from dogs he barks at. This way is discussed in section 9 for excitement barking directed at people and dogs. You might also consider speaking with a trainer. Many trainers will allow dogs like this to come to their training classes. The trainers normally have their own facility and can employ the use of visual barriers, if need be, to help your dog learn to settle down when he sees other dogs. Focus and Redirect: What focus and redirect means is that you don t just tell your dog what not to do (like Shut Up! Quiet!, or Stop That!) but instead you give him an alternate thing he can do to release energy. For example, many herding breeds like border collies and corgis have a hard time watching something run and not chase after it. Imagine you re in an agility class waiting your turn to go, but your dog is becoming very visually stimulated by sitting on the sidelines watching other dogs run. He barks and squeals. 28

30 The best thing to do in a situation like this is not to punish him as it is hard for him to control this impulse. Instead, give him other things (redirect) to do. Have him work on skills or tricks he knows how to do and give high reward frequency for that. Teach him to focus on you this way. Additionally, you can have focus on something besides just you. Try using a Kong toy that has peanut butter smeared inside. He can sit and lick away at this and stay focused on a task rather than the dogs running. Even if you re not ever going to be in an agility class, this is a technique that can be used in a variety of situations including leash frustration. Even if you re just walking around the neighborhood, you can always use this technique by pulling yourself off the sidewalk several feet. Have your dog come to face you and then work on redirecting him into other skills like watching you, sitting, lying down, tricks, whatever so long as he stays busy. The better he gets at learning how to redirect his energy and focus on something other than his frustration, the better and more natural it will become for him. Loneliness Barking Loneliness barking is just what it sounds like: your dog is feeling very lonely and barks or perhaps howls to bring you back together. This barking is repetitive in nature and can vary in tone. Some dogs just bark a stream of lonely barks that might end in a howl. Other dogs will howl and howl and howl. This is normally only one of the behaviors that can be seen in dogs that are lonely. You can also see a variety of other behaviors like digging, licking, chewing, chasing light and shadows, etc. This normally stems from a dog living in social isolation. For example, let s say there is a dog that is kenneled outdoors by itself. He only sees people twice a day to be fed and watered. Perhaps the plans were different when the owner acquired the dog, but for whatever reason he doesn t get the dog 29

31 out for walks, playtime, or anything else. It is likely he will see higher levels of excitement during the times he feeds the dog. The dog is left with little to do to use up his energy. So, he resorts to barking, especially after his owner has left. Additionally, he develops an obsession for lights and shadows since those are his only entertainment. This is actually a very common scenario, and some dogs develop neurotic type behaviors like tail chasing, excessive self licking or mutilation, and more. These are all symptoms of the larger problem of loneliness. This style of loneliness barking is most common in the socially isolated dog. You can also see loneliness barking in young puppies too, and it is more about pure separation than just loneliness. Their bark is more frantic and often includes a lot of wailing. This is seen most commonly in young puppies just away from their litter that are uncertain in their new home. It happens when they are crated at night or are away from their new human family. Solutions to Loneliness Barking The solution to both situations is fairly simple, but it is different for each one. Adult Dogs: For adult dogs going through social isolation, the absolute only remedy is to stop socially isolating them. Bring him in to be with the family; give him another dog to spend time with; you need to spend time with him. Take the dog for a walk everyday and play toys with him. Make him a family member instead. The barking will cease to exist. Puppies: With puppies that bark and cry, it can be tempting to comfort them. In order to help them learn to be okay during times of separation (normal separation, not social isolation), we have to let them cry it out. 30