• Sounds that are not audible to humans
• Smells that their sensitive noses detect but humans can’t
• Boredom and attention seeking
• Pain
• Something they want
• Anxiety

Determining the cause of barking depends on the individual context. I always talk to my dogs to tell them what was going on, and you should, too.  Expert Kathy Callahan, a Whole Dog Journal contributor, explains this beautifully in her article, “How to Talk to Your Dog,” clearly demonstrating how important this can be.

For example, I have categories for my dogs and dismiss them with an “I’ve got this” tone of voice. Years ago, I attended a seminar by noted dog trainer Pam Dennison. She taught us to name people seen by the dogs, like saying, “It’s just Uncle Fred” and sounding dismissive. It works wonderfully with my crew.

My categories include:

• It means just that. It means, “You’re fine. It’s nothing.”
• This is someone we will greet/who comes into the house.
• A person we see regularly but don’t greet.
• People we see in the neighborhood who are working, like mowing.
• Vehicles with sirens.
• A passing vehicle.
• Any delivery person.
• Not here. A sound that’s far away and safe.

This is a growing list of categories that I use to communicate with my dog.

Why Is My Dog Barking All of a Sudden?

Your dog has sensed something that our human senses cannot pick up on. It’s not nothing; it is an alert thing. When it happens, it happens. Some categories of things that cause your dog to appear to bark at nothing include:

Sounds: Your hearing will never be as astute as your dog’s.  Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of going to the door/window that your dog is focusing on. That sound may become vaguely audible to you or you might see a chirping squirrel that your dog can hear but you cannot. Dismiss this with, “It’s nothing.”

Smells: Scent is another thing that can fall into my “it’s nothing” category, if I cannot detect the source. It’s worked well thus far with my super sensitive adolescent livestock guarding dog. The trick is to sound confident that you have things handled and dismiss the thing with your voice. Follow that with some soft verbal reinforcement when your dog accepts your decision.

Boredom: It’s important to know how much enrichment, both physical and mental, that your dog needs every given day. All dogs are different. Age, activity level, intelligence, health, and fitness status need to be taken into consideration. Truly, all dogs need both mental and physical enrichment. The higher energy the dog, the more mental enrichment they need. Keep that in mind when determining the cause of the barking. Your dog may be bored and need to go for a walk.

Pain: If the barking is new, especially with no identifiable cause, consider pain. It’s never a bad idea to rule out a medical issue. Pain causes so much mental anguish in any sentient being.

Desire: Is their toy stuck, do they want to play, are they hungry, do they want to be closer to you? Look around and see what the context is. We humans spend so much time zoning out with electronics these days, we often miss things that are right there, like our dog needing help fetching his toy under the couch.

Anxiety: This is another potential cause where the context needs to be thoroughly looked at. Is your dog only barking at night? The dark can cause anxiety in some dogs, especially those who may be losing their sight or feeling vulnerable in some way. Sudden barking, especially at night, may also mean that they sense something going on outside that you haven’t.

Note: Barking at night or barking for no reason can also be a sign of canine cognitive dysfunction in  your dog, including the same sundowner’s syndrome that people get.

So, before you exclaim, “Why is my dog barking at nothing?” put your detective hat on and find the something. Then, start working on an “It’s nothing” cue that tells your dog you’ve investigated the problem, telling your dog everything is just fine.

The post Why Do Dogs Bark at Nothing? appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

The owner was at her wit’s end—a common place to be during puppyhood—saying, “We need to be able to eat in peace!”  She had read that she should teach the puppy “place” so that he’d calmly lie on his bed during dinner hour.

That is a lovely vision, indeed, but it’s a very high bar for a 9-week-old puppy. There’s a more realistic way to create a peaceful kitchen table scene for the humans that works beautifully for your puppy, too.

Why Is he Acting This Way?

First, let’s think about this from the puppy’s point of view. (That is, of course, the smartest kick-off to solving any dog issue. If you want your answers to be long lasting, they have to work for the canine partner, too.)

So, why is the puppy being so annoying during the family dinner? First off, his nose is basically screaming at him: “OMG, there’s food!” A dog has more than 200 million scent receptors in his nose compared to our measly six million. If dinner smells good to you, just imagine what it smells like to him!

Combine that with the deeply rooted survival instincts that tell him to grab nutrition whenever he can, and of course he’s going to make a beeline for your plate.

If that weren’t enough, consider another motivating factor: togetherness. This little puppy only recently left his real family, where he spent every waking hour surrounded by littermates and mom. He’s not used to being alone, and wow does it feel terrific when this whole new family is all together, particularly if they were off at work and school all day.

So, to recap, this little pup is very naturally over-aroused because of the excitement of the food and the thrill of the togetherness. Now that we think about it, we humans can’t get cranky about that, right? As the adults in the room, we just need to help our little toddler navigate this moment in a way that works for us all.

Planning Ahead to Meet your Puppy’s Needs

Since we can expect a pup to have big feelings around our human dinner hour, that means we’re able to make a plan ahead of time. What can we do? How can we structure this regular occurrence to bring out the best in the pup and teach him the behavior we’d like to see? Try putting this three-step plan into action at mealtimes:

1. Address the food issue with a frozen Toppl. Rather than keeping the pup on a different eating schedule, give the puppy his dinner at the same time you sit down at the table, so that he’s busy enjoying his own delicious meal instead of lusting after yours.

If you’re thinking, “But it only takes him 20 seconds to snarf up that scoop of kibble,” you’re right! That’s why you’ll want to freeze his dinner to make it last.

Take that same scoop of kibble, add some water and a spoonful of plain yogurt to make a slurry. If you’re inspired, add a dollop of peanut butter or canned pumpkin. Even more inspired? Add a few veggies like carrots and beans.

Use that concoction to stuff a few Toppls, and then freeze them. (Toppls, a chew-resistant toy made by West Paw, have a wider opening than Kongs, so the pup is more likely to enjoy them to the very last drop.)

If you’re thinking it feels a little mean to make food harder to eat, remember that it is natural for a canine to forage for his food. In fact, this session of chewing and licking will be deeply satisfying for your puppy. Studies have shown that for dogs, chewing and licking can be calming, lowering heart rates and reducing anxiety.

2. Address the togetherness issue with a nearby crate. Rather than isolating the puppy elsewhere during this rewarding moment of family togetherness, make a plan to help him be a part of it.

My favorite way to structure this is to have the puppy’s crate in the kitchen, so that he can enjoy his Toppl while being included in the family dinner. He can listen to his people, smell and see everything — but you’re helping him develop the habit of lying quietly nearby during mealtimes. Keeping him confined but happily busy keeps him from practicing unwanted habits like jumping, biting, barking, and whining.

3. Address the engagement issue with timing. If the Toppl and crate don’t work well immediately at your house, think about what happens for the hour before dinner. Has the pup had a chance to engage with everybody in the room? If they just walked in the door after being away, it may be hard for the puppy to settle.

Try adjusting your timing a bit. Build in a high-engagement 15-minute game in the yard or the rec room to give your pup a chance to connect the way he needs to, before asking him to sit quietly just feet from his favorite people without touching them.

Over time, all of this becomes a deeply ingrained pattern, and trust me when I say that patterns can be the unsung heroes of a relaxed interspecies life. When something simply becomes “how we do it,” there’s no need for a bunch of cues and direction. In this case, the pup starts to look forward to your dinner hour as the time he gets to run to his crate and enjoy chewing and listening.

If you still want to work toward using “place” during dinner, this is a wonderful first step. You are teaching how to hang out quietly nearby the family while they’re eating. Next you can start separately teaching how to go to “place” for a few seconds, then for a minute. As you strengthen those behaviors over time, one day you can marry them in that beautiful “place” on the bed during dinner. But for now, with your little one? The well-timed Toppl-and-crate combination will do the trick.

The post Is Your Puppy Ruining Your Family Dinners? appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

First off, in most cases, simply saying “no” (even if you say it loudly) doesn’t work. (If saying “no” did work, I’m quite sure my phone would stop ringing and I’d be out of a job.) In addition, when we use intimidation to stop our dogs from doing a behavior we don’t like, we may damage our relationship with our dog. Lastly, saying no provides no direction to your dog; it does nothing to tell your dog what she should do instead.

So if saying “no” isn’t the answer, how do we stop unwanted behavior? Here is a formula that you can apply to almost any unwanted behavior for great results:

1. Start with liberal doses of management.

“Management” is dog trainer lingo for prevention. It means making sure your dog doesn’t have the opportunity to “practice” the behavior you’d like to stop. Whether that behavior is chewing your shoes, jumping on your kids, or barking as your neighbor’s dog walks by your house, the goal is to figure out a way to stop your dog from doing it until you can teach her what she should do instead.

This may entail getting creative – or at least putting your shoes in the closet. Use baby gates, crates, window blocks, and leashes. If you have a puppy, you may need to keep a toy in your hand when you pet your pup to keep her from mouthing. If your dog habitually barks at things she sees out the window, you may need to apply a visual block so she can’t see outside. If your dog jumps on visitors to your house, you may need to put up a baby gate so your pup can’t charge up to people when they come in the door. You get the idea. Once management is in place, you can move on to step two.

2. Remove reinforcement.

There is always a reason a dog does something that we don’t want her to do. It may be an expression of normal dog behavior and we need to provide other outlets for that behavior. The dog may be anxious and exhibits the behavior to alleviate anxiety. Dogs practice some behaviors we don’t like because they are fun (such as jumping on us), but sometimes these behaviors are an expression of frustration or fear (such as barking or tearing up the carpet).

Try to figure out why your dog does the behavior. Does jumping on you get your attention? Does getting into the garbage alleviate boredom? Will racing around the house with a sponge entice you to play the keep-away game? Does pulling on the leash mean the dog gets to drag you to and make you wait at the source of an interesting odor? Before you can effectively stop an unwanted behavior, you have to be able identify what is reinforcing the behavior and either remove that reinforcement or meet the dog’s need in another way.

3. Teach the dog what you want her to do instead.

Remember, saying no fails to tell your dog what to do instead. Teaching your dog what to do instead of (fill in your behavior issue here) is a major factor in successfully solving that problem behavior. For most of us, this is a huge change in our thought process.

• Instead of jumping up, I would like my dog to greet people calmly with all four paws on the ground.
• Instead of begging for food when we sit down to eat, I would like my dog to go settle on her bed.
• Instead of barking out the window, I would like my dog to come and tell me if there is something to worry about outside.
• Instead of lunging toward dog friends, I would like my dog to sit while I snap off the leash before play.
• Instead of pulling on the leash when we walk down the street, I would like my dog to walk next to me.
• Instead of running off into the woods, I would like my dog to stay within 30 feet of me on off-leash jaunts.

When we come up with something our dog can do instead of the undesirable behavior, we have identified an achievable goal. And from there we can lay out a training plan to meet that goal!

4. Use a positive interrupter.

Don’t we ever get to say “no” to our dogs? Setting limits and having boundaries (both physical and behavioral) are important in life, as well as with our dogs. It is okay to stop your dog from doing something that is unsafe or even just annoying. The key here is how you stop her. Clear and consistent feedback can be effective.

For example, if you can see that your dog is considering jumping on the couch and you’d rather she didn’t, you can calmly and consistently interrupt the behavior and redirect her to her own bed.

I like to use something called a positive interrupter (PI). There are different types of PIs. The one I find most valuable is a noise or word that means, “Disengage from whatever you are doing and pay attention to me!” It is remarkably easy to teach initially, but it does take a lot of practice to generalize it so that it will work in more difficult situations.

To teach a positive interrupt:

a) Choose a word or noise.

Many people use a kissy noise or tongue click. Some people say “Watch!” or “Look!” Alternatively, you can use a more traditional approach and say “Leave it!” or “No!” The word doesn’t matter; what is important is the way you say it and the meaning you give to the word. The word is simply a cue; it’s not meant to be used to threaten or intimidate the dog. Use it in a clear and cheerful tone, as you would with any cue.

This is extremely important if you choose a word like “No!” as your PI. Most humans frequently use “No!” as a stern command or a threat of punishment, and find it nearly impossible to always say it cheerfully and happily. Try to think of it as just another random cue and say it cheerfully!

b) Say your PI and then immediately give your dog an amazing treat.

This is a time to bring out the big guns: chicken, roast beef, or whatever your dog loves most. Say your PI cheerfully and immediately feed your dog several pieces of roast beef, one right after the other. Repeat this a dozen or so times, or until your dog looks expectantly at you when he hears your PI. You are using classical conditioning to build a conditioned emotional response (CER) to the word. This step will help your dog respond even around really tempting distractions later on.

c) Teach your dog to disengage and look at you.

Cheerfully say your PI when your dog is mildly distracted. If he has developed a CER to the word, he will look back at you expecting the roast beef. At this point, “mark” the moment when he looks back with a signal of some kind, such as the click of a clicker or the word “Yes!” and then give him several pieces of roast beef in a row. Repeat this step until your dog is happily and joyfully orienting to you each time he hears the PI.

d) Practice around distractions.

Start with easy distractions such as a piece of paper or a boring toy. Gradually work with more difficult distractions. For those really tough distractions such as a squirrel running in the trees, you may have to practice at a distance first. Keep reinforcing your dog when he orients back to you until he will do it in most circumstances. At that point, you can begin to use your PI to interrupt your dog when he’s doing something that you would prefer he didn’t do.

Interrupters work in the moment, but they don’t necessarily teach your dog not to do the behavior in the future. An interrupter is a temporary solution. If you consistently follow your interrupter with a cue for an alternative behavior, you are more likely to have long-term success. For example, if your puppy starts to chew on a table leg, you can say your PI and then redirect your pup to chew on a toy instead.

5. Use force-free corrections sparingly.

Yes, there are ways to “correct” a dog without resorting to pain or intimidation.

Timeouts are one example. A timeout removes the opportunity for reinforcement. If your puppy bites your hand in play, you can “mark” the moment the teeth touch your skin with an “ouch” or other noise and stop playing for five to 10 seconds – then resume play. When repeated several times in a play session, the puppy should figure out that his teeth on your skin makes the play stop – bummer! He will try to avoid mouthing you in the future in order to keep the play session going.

Other similar corrective measures include walking away from your dog, putting toys or treats away, or preventing your dog from engaging in an activity he would like to do. This approach can be successful at stopping behaviors that are reinforced by your attention.

That said, however, timeouts require very good timing and must be used consistently. If your dog is not clear about what is stopping the play, for example, he may just get frustrated, and frustration can lead to an increase in unwanted behavior. Use timeout techniques sparingly, if at all.

Customize the Plan

In most situations, the first three steps (putting management into place, removing reinforcement, and teaching an alternative behavior) will work to stop unwanted behaviors. Interrupters may help for behaviors that are more difficult to manage, and timeouts can be used sparingly for behaviors that are being reinforced by you.

Keep in mind that stopping unwanted behaviors doesn’t always follow a linear path. Sometimes you will need to reevaluate and rework your training plans until you find the right formula for you and your dog.

The post How to Stop a Dog’s Unwanted Behavior in Five Steps appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

The trouble with having a dog who barks for a variety of reasons is that there isn’t one easy answer for getting her to stop. People often see barking as a single problem; just last week I was asked by several students in my class, “How do I stop my dog from barking?” I couldn’t give a simple answer. The solution to barking problems depends on understanding several factors:

1. When and where is it happening?

2. Why is it happening? What is the specific trigger?

3. What is the dog getting out of barking? What is reinforcing the behavior?

And if your dog, like mine, barks in several different situations, has multiple triggers, and the reward varies, you may need more than one solution to help your dog live a quieter life. But once you can identify the when, where, why, and what, you can come up with a training plan to solve the problem.

Different Reasons, Different Solutions

Remember that barking is normal behavior for dogs. It is a form of communication. Most dogs bark some of the time and often for very good reasons. Here are some of the most common:

They are excited! There are many potential triggers for excitement barking. Perhaps your dog barks when you first come home or when a friend comes to the door. Dogs who bark when they are excited may bark in play, or when they see something they like, or when they are amped up for no apparent reason.

They want something. This is often called demand barking, but in my house, we call it bossy barking. I live with herding dogs and they do tend to take charge. “Hey, don’t you know it is time for a walk?!”

Demand barking is also common when training with food – when dogs get frustrated because the treats aren’t coming fast enough, for example, they may bark to remind you to keep the food flowing. Barking is also one of the ways that dogs have to ask for what they want or need. A dog may bark when she needs to go outside to potty, and this may be a very good thing!

They are alerting to something. Most dogs alert-bark to some degree. They may bark when someone comes up to the house, or when there is an unusual noise, or when another dog in the neighborhood barks.

Most of us appreciate some degree of alert barking (for example, I’d be very happy with my dog if she barked if someone were trying to break into my house). The problem with alert barking comes when our dogs are barking at things that people think are inconsequential or when they continue barking when we think they should stop.

They are afraid. We all have things that scare us and so do our dogs. Recently, I was walking with my dog on a familiar path, a place we walk almost daily. As we came around a bend, there in the middle of the path was a pile of boulders. My dog was so surprised by this new thing in our path that she became very afraid -and barked like crazy.

This type of startle barking is relatively common in adolescent dogs like Shadow. Once she stopped barking, we went and investigated the boulders and she realized they were just rocks and all was good. Some dogs, however, have more significant fears – they may be afraid of men, or kids, or other dogs, or hats, or skateboards. When a dog barks because of an ongoing fear, that fear will need to be addressed before the barking problem can be solved.

They don’t do well when alone. Many dogs will experiment with barking when they are alone and bored. Maybe they bark at the squirrels or the neighbor’s dog. Boredom barking often has elements of alert barking, excitement barking, or demand barking. But barking when home alone can also be a symptom of separation distress or anxiety. When dogs are barking when home alone, we need to figure out why in order to effectively help our dogs.

How to Stop a Dog from Barking!

Once you have identified why your dog is barking, you can follow these steps to solve the problem:

1. Management first.

Management means finding ways to prevent your dog from barking while you are working on changing the behavior. Your management steps will vary depending on your dog’s trigger.

For example, if your dog barks each time someone walks by the front of the house, you may need to block the dog’s view of the street with window coverings or plan to have the dog in the back of the house when you aren’t actively training.

For a dog who barks when scared, you may need to avoid those things that make your dog afraid while you work through a behavior modification plan. For a dog who barks when playing with his pal, you may need to interrupt the play often so that the dogs don’t become quite as excited. These are all forms of management.

2. Change your dog’s reaction to the trigger.

Sometimes solutions to barking problems are as simple as changing your dog’s relationship to the trigger (notice I said simple, not easy!).

So, for example, if your dog barks excitedly when you come home from work, you may find success with being a little less interesting when you first come home. If you (the trigger) become less exciting, your dog will be less likely to bark. For a dog who is afraid of men, embarking on a counter-conditioning program with a qualified trainer may help solve the problem. When the fears are alleviated, the barking will likely stop on its own.

3. Teach an alternative behavior.

This can be a key component in solving barking problems. What else can your dog do instead of barking (and the answer can’t be “not barking”)? Here are some ideas: If a dog barks at other dogs on a walk, you can teach her to look at you and get a treat each time she sees another dog. If a dog barks at the front window, you can teach her to run and find you in the house rather than bark. If a dog barks in excitement, you can teach her to grab a toy and play when excited. If a dog barks to get you to take him for a walk, you can teach him to sit in front of you to remind you it is time to go out instead. With enough practice, those things that previously triggered your dog to bark will now trigger the alternative behavior instead.

4. Change the consequence.

Let’s face it, most barking is intrinsically rewarding to the dog. A dog barks when someone walks by the house, the person continues walking – and the barking is reinforced by the person going away. Your dog barks at you for attention, you turn around and ask him to stop – and the barking is rewarded by your attention, even if it is scolding.

Changing what happens after he barks can impact his barking in the future. For example, if your dog barks at you for treats, putting the treats away instead of giving him one may be part of the solution.

As another example, if a dog barks when he sees his best pal, you may help him learn that approaching quietly means he will have the opportunity to say hi or to play – and that barking as he gets closer causes you and the other dog’s owner to part ways, ending his opportunity to play.

5. Teach an interrupter.

You can teach your dog a “quiet” cue that can interrupt a barking cycle. The key to teaching this is to do it when the dog is not barking, rather than trying to teach it when the dog is already barking.

When your dog is already being quiet, say “Quiet,” mark it with the click of a clicker (or another marker, such as the word “Yes!”) and then reward your dog. Once your dog hears the word “Quiet” and starts orienting to you in expectation of the treat, switch to marking and rewarding the orientation.

Once you’ve practiced a few dozen times, you can give it a try when your dog is barking – preferably, a low-key sort of bark (don’t start when she’s about to lose her mind over a squirrel on the sidewalk right in front of you!). Say “Quiet!” and then when your dog glances at you, mark (click or “Yes!”) and give her a tasty treat.

Teaching a “Quiet” cue will seldom completely solve a barking problem, but it can interrupt the barking long enough for you to direct your dog to do an alternative behavior.

6. Help your dog learn to be calm.

Barking is almost always coupled with overexcitement. A dog engaging in a calm activity is less likely to bark than a dog engaged in an arousing activity. While helping your dog learn to be calmer isn’t directly addressing barking, it can have a big impact. You can help your dog learn to be calmer by:

– “Capturing” calm by rewarding your dog when she is already settled.

– Teaching your dog to settle on a bed or mat.

– Practicing impulse-control exercises can help a dog focus when excited. Examples of these exercises include tug-sit-tug, down before ball tosses, and asking her to sit and wait quietly before you put her food bowl down.

– Providing low-key exercise and activity rather than lots of ball or chase games. Often when we have easily overstimulated dogs, we want to wear them out with activities such as fetch or dog-to-dog play. While these are great activities for many dogs, they can also wind dogs up – and amped-up dogs are much more likely to bark. Long leisurely walks or scent games can tire your dog without getting her overexcited.

7. Be realistic.

Dogs bark. Barking is perfectly normal behavior and not something that is likely to be eliminated completely. For example, instead of expecting your dog not to bark at all when people come to the door, consider allowing a few barks, and then giving the cue (and rewards) for quiet. And if your dog barks out of fear or anxiety, remember that those issues must be addressed before you can realistically expect your dog to stop barking.

Just Say No to Bark Collars, Air Horns, Squirt Bottles, and Other Punishments

There are several reasons I don’t use this type of punishment for barking.

First, I don’t like to do anything to my dog that is intimidating or that causes pain or fear. Shock collars work by creating pain, noisemakers such as air horns work by scaring the dog, citronella collars and squirt bottles work by startling the dog or creating an unpleasant sensation. I do not want to do any of these things to my dog.

Also, I don’t think they are particularly effective in most situations. I will confess that in my distant past, I have used all of these in attempts to curb barking behavior. While I sometimes saw a short-term change in the behavior, in the long run the barking always returned. (And the few times I have seen punishment effectively stop barking, a kinder choice would have worked as well.)

Finally, the fallout from using these devices can be significant. Shock collars can cause aggression issues, noisemakers can add to startle and sound issues, and squirt bottles can make your dog want to avoid you! Enough said.

What About Timeouts?

A timeout works by taking away the opportunity for reinforcement. I am not a huge fan of timeouts. They are difficult to do well and are often used unfairly, creating unnecessary frustration or stress for the dog – and are totally inappropriate for a dog with separation anxiety. However, I will very selectively use timeout for one type of barking – demand barking – but only after other criteria have been put into place.

In my opinion, it’s unfair to use a timeout for a behavior before a dog has been taught an alternative response – in this case, something he can do instead of barking to ask for what he wants. If your dog barks to go outside, you can teach him to ask with a gentle nose nudge instead. For dogs who bark to get you to play, teach the dog to bring you a toy instead of barking. For dogs who bark to demand treats, teach “settle” as a default behavior when food is present.

In addition, before using a timeout, dogs need to understand an “all done” cue – something that lets them know that the opportunity for whatever reinforcement they want is no longer available. “All done” means there is not a chance that they can get the reward they are looking for.

Once the dog understands that another behavior can get him what he wants and he understands that sometimes he cannot have what he wants, only then, if it is still necessary, I will use a five- to 10-second timeout to let the dog know that barking is not an acceptable way to ask for what he wants. Here’s how it works:

– When my dog wants to play, she can go grab a toy. When she brings me a toy, I immediately engage with her. (This is especially important when you are first teaching your dog an alternative response – it has to work for her, too!)

– If, instead, my dog barks to get me to play, I mark the second the barking starts by saying calmly, “Too bad!” and I get up and walk into another room and close the door. I return in five to 10 seconds (assuming the barking has stopped). If my dog barks again, I repeat. If my dog grabs a toy, I play.

– If my dog comes and asks me to play and I cannot at that moment, I will give her the “all done” signal so that she knows that playing isn’t an option at that moment. But I will take note that she needs some attention and will give it to her as soon as I can.
If a timeout is done well, you will generally see a dramatic reduction in barking in just a few short training sessions.

Back to the Barkaholic

Unfortunately, many dogs who bark excessively do so in more than one area. This means that you have to get creative and proactive to help your dog learn to live a quieter life.

Following the multi-step approach above, we came up with a training and behavior modification plan for my barkaholic, Shadow. Remember that she barks when she is excited, in response to other dogs barking, when she is startled, when she wants something, and at the squirrels in the yard, and more recently as she’s grown up, alert barking has joined the list. Basically, she was barking almost all the time!

To reduce her excitement barking, my partner and I worked with her to be overall calmer and more focused in a variety of situations. Some of the exercises we are using to do this include impulse-control games, settle exercises such as mat work, and counter-conditioning specific triggers to reduce excitement.

For her alert barking, we taught alternative responses like redirecting to us when she sees or hears something that she would ordinarily bark at, such as another dog barking or the neighbor’s car door slamming.

For her startle barking, we are using straightforward classical conditioning; things that surprise her make treats rain from the sky!

For demand barking (such as for treats or attention or a ball toss), we have taught her to ask in other ways (by bringing us the toy, for example, to solicit play).

Because barking at the squirrels had elements of excitement, alerting, and demand barking (she would bark to make the squirrels run across the treetops), we’ve had to get very creative.

First, we employed management by limiting her access to the yard and by blocking her view of the squirrels through the windows. We also kept her on leash in the yard when we went outside together at the beginning of this training.

I worked with Shadow to be calmer around the squirrels by doing basic obedience and mat work at a distance from “the squirrel trees,” then gradually moved closer until she could respond when we were near those trees.

Also, I have been teaching her to come to me, away from the squirrels. We started at a fair distance from the trees and are slowly moving closer and closer to the trees to work on this. When she sees a squirrel, she now runs to me for huge rewards – and this has helped reduce her fixation. We also use brief timeouts if she did start barking.

By employing all of these techniques, Shadow has gone from being a dog who barked in most situations to a dog who only very selectively barks and who is learning to bark less and less every day. Her barking is overall about 80 percent better, a huge improvement!

I have to admit that it has been a lot of work and has taken about six months to get to where we are today – from non-stop barking all day long to a dog who only barks occasionally and mostly appropriately. It is a work in progress, but the effort is totally worth it because we will now have many, many years of a mostly quiet life together.

Mardi Richmond is a dog trainer, writer, and the owner of Good Dog Santa Cruz, in Santa Cruz, California.

The post Barkaholics: How to Stop a Dog from Barking appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

– Reframe your thinking about “demand behaviors” so that you can value your dog’s attempts to communicate with you.

– Teach your dog a more acceptable “ask” behavior to avoid frustration for both of you.

– Teach your dog a “That’ll do” cue so you can communicate clearly to her that it’s time to stop asking – for now.

Your dog wants another treat. She barks at you, her shrill voice grating on your ears like fingernails on a blackboard. You’re typing at your computer and your dog wants you to toss her beloved tennis ball. She nudges your arm persistently with the treasured yellow orb clenched firmly in her jaws, and paws at you when you ignore her nudging. Your dog needs to go out, and you hear her scratching at the back door, adding new gouges to your recently repainted door frame.

These are demand behaviors, often regarded in the dog world as annoying and inappropriate. But what if we looked at them from a different perspective?

A dog’s demand behavior is her effort to communicate her wants and needs to you. Her demand behaviors increase in intensity because she is frustrated when she doesn’t get what she wants. Imagine how frustrating it would be to keep asking for something and have someone deliberately ignore your requests. No wonder she gets frustrated!

When you think about it, it is a true marvel of our unique relationship with the canine species that they are able to communicate so effectively with us, and we with them. Rather than spurning this gift, perhaps we should value and appreciate our dogs’ attempts to make the world work for them – a world in which they often have very little choice or control.

“The power to control one’s own outcomes is essential to behavioral health.” This compelling quote is from Dr. Susan Friedman, faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. (See “Training a Dog to Make Choices,” November 2016.) Susan is an outspoken advocate of changing behavior through facilitation rather than force. With this quote in mind, I propose we reframe our perception of demand behaviors in order to give our dogs more power to control their own outcomes. Instead of calling these behaviors annoying, we could look at them as invaluable communications with potential to enhance the behavioral health of our canine family members, and figure out how to facilitate those communications.

Does that mean we have to always give our dogs everything they ask for? Not at all. It means that we need to give our dogs an acceptable forum for communicating their wants and needs. And we must also be clear about when we are not willing or able to give them what they want, in order to teach them to stop asking when we have signaled “Not right now!”

Let’s look at how this communication could work for demand behaviors like scratching at the door, pawing, nudging, and barking. Then we’ll discuss how to install the “off” switch.

Scratching at the Door

Many dogs learn this behavior as a way to communicate to their humans that they need or want to go outside. It’s important to make a distinction between the two.

Years ago, I had dinner with a friend whose blue heeler, Ranger, scratched at the door to go out – or come back in – literally every three minutes throughout the entire dinner. There is no way this dog had to eliminate that often, but to my friend’s everlasting credit, she calmly got up and let him out – or in – every time he asked. Annoying indeed, but my friend never raised her voice or refused her dog’s request. After dinner, he settled calmly on the living room rug as we chatted.

Some years ago, the dog training world came up with the idea of teaching dogs to ring a bell when they wanted to go out, thus saving thousands of door frames from potty-request damage. Humans who teach their dogs this behavior can now proudly boast of their dogs’ brilliance and bell-ringing prowess. That alone, however, would not have forestalled Ranger’s frequent door requests. Some humans know their dog’s elimination schedules, and just don’t respond to the bell when they know the dog is “playing” them to go out. That risks frustration on the dog’s part, as well as the possibility of human error, with a serious consequence of not letting the dog out when she really does have to go.

What if, instead, you taught your dog two different cues – one that means “I have to go to the bathroom,” and one that means “I want to go out and play”? They are, after all, two distinctly different behaviors!

You can stick with the bell-ringing behavior as your dog’s potty-break cue, and use a different mechanism altogether, such as a buzzer or talking button (such as the Staples “Easy” button), for the play-break cue. Or simply acquire two bells that look and sound very different, one for potty and one for play. To make it easiest for your dog, you could install the potty bells at one door, and your second sound device – let’s say a buzzer – at a different door.

First, teach your dog how to activate each sound device by shaping her to touch them with a nose or paw. (For more information about shaping, see “Shaping Your Dog’s Behavior,” January 2017, and “Methods to Produce Better Behavior,”August 2014.) Then add your verbal cue – a different verbal cue for each sound device.

Say, “Want to go potty?” (or whatever phrase you plan to use), and encourage her to ring the bells. A jingle gets a verbal marker and an escorted trip outside to her favorite bathroom spot. (I use “Yes!” as my verbal marker – but you could say “Click!” if the word “yes” creeps into your vocabulary too often, which could weaken its power as a marker.) When your dog eliminates, click, treat, and praise, and take her back inside.

When she is doing this easily, hang the bells at her potty door, and gradually ask the question from farther and farther away, until she gets the idea of going to the bells herself from anywhere in the house to ask to go out.

Meanwhile, add your cue for the play buzzer, by saying “Want to go out and play?” and encouraging her to activate the buzzer. When she does, give your verbal marker and take her out for a round of her favorite game – fetch, chase, dig, or whatever she loves. Sometimes you can just let her out to play on her own, assuming you have a safely enclosed yard.

Again, when she is doing the behavior easily, attach the buzzer near the play door and gradually increase distance until she will go to the buzzer on her own to ask to go out.

Now you’re ready to add the “off” switch. (See “Install an ‘Off Switch’ on Playtime“.) If she buzzes to go out to play, you can let her out to play or, if it’s not a good time or you think she’s been out enough, use your “That’ll do!” cue to let her know that there’s no point in asking again. You can also do this with the potty bells, but only if you are absolutely sure she doesn’t really have to go out. Err on the side of generosity with this one, but if you routinely take her out, wait for her to go, click, treat, and then bring her back in, she’s less likely to give false signals with the potty bells.

Barking, Nudging, and Pawing

Dogs bark for a lot of reasons, but when they are barking at you with “that look” in their eyes, it’s usually because they want something from you. This behavior can be particularly unwelcome because the repetitive barking can be quite annoying – to your neighbors as well as to you. Persistent nudging and pawing tend to not disturb neighbors, but can still be bothersome when you are trying to focus on something else.

As with scratching at the door, your first line of defense for these behaviors is to teach your dog a more polite way to ask for what she wants, whether that’s a treat, a toy, or your attention.

If you want this to work, you will need to be sure to be observant so that you see and can reinforce the new “ask” behavior a good percentage of the time. If you don’t, she’ll likely revert to the old barking, nudging, and pawing – because those almost always work to at least get your attention. It’s hard to ignore a dog who is barking in your face, or putting long scratches down your arm! Here are some more acceptable behaviors that you can teach your dog to perform in order to “ask” for your attention:

- Go lie down on an “ask mat” provided specifically for this purpose.

- Nose-target to a plastic container lid attached to the wall. (One in each room, for easy communication.)

- Pick up a specific designated “ask toy” and drop it at your feet.

- Lie down and roll over or play possum (lying on back, tummy-side-up).

- Push a talking button provided for this purpose.

- Stand with front paws on a stool provided for this purpose.

You can see that the possibilities are endless – pick a favorite behavior or teach your dog something entirely new to be her “ask.” Then, anticipate and preempt her barking, nudging, or pawing by cueing her “ask” behavior when you see her heading for you with intent in her eyes. Be sure to reinforce the behavior when she does it! Also, watch for her to offer her “ask” behavior, and reinforce her when she does.

Meanwhile, studiously ignore any inappropriate barking, nudging, or pawing so these behaviors can extinguish. Be aware that when you extinguish a behavior by removing all reinforcement, the behavior may get worse before it gets better. This is called an extinction burst, as the dog tries very hard to obtain reinforcement for a behavior that’s worked well for her in the past.

Be careful! If you inadvertently reinforce your dog during an extinction burst, you will have taught your dog that the increased intensity level of behavior gets reinforced, and she will go there more quickly next time. (Note: If you have neighbors who will be inconvenienced by your dog’s barking during the extinction process, I strongly recommend you let them know you are working on it – and provide a dozen home-baked chocolate-chip cookies when you do.)

Finally, be sure to use your “That’ll do” cue when you end your reinforcement for the “ask” behavior; then, avoid reinforcing any “ask” behaviors that your dog engages in after your “That’ll do.”

He Can’t Always Get What He Wants

The bottom line here is that you get the behaviors you reinforce. If your dog does things you don’t like in her efforts to communicate her needs and wants, help her to learn how to communicate more effectively, thereby reducing frustration for both of you. It’s up to you to find a more appropriate way to help her control her own outcomes and be behaviorally healthy. You’ll both be happier for it!

The post Stop Your Dog’s Demanding Behavior appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

1. Identify the cause of your dog’s whining so you can determine the appropriate modification response.

2. Implement other procedures and products that can help your dog be more calm.

3. Seek veterinary assistance if your dog’s anxiety is excessive.

I’m pretty tolerant of annoying dog behaviors, and still, I have to admit, whining gets on my nerves. Our beloved Kelpie, Kai, whines. When he does, I have to remind myself that, rather than getting annoyed, I should value my dog’s efforts to communicate, and figure out why the whining is happening. The “why” can be an important first step in modifying many behaviors, especially those that involve vocalization of some sort.

Why Do Dogs Whine?

Dogs whine for a variety of reasons. Understanding your dog’s motivation for whining will lead you to the appropriate modification approach. Misinterpreting the whine, or simply chastising or otherwise punishing your dog for whining, can exacerbate the behavior and even give rise to other more serious behavioral issues. Consider these possible causes:

• Pain or Discomfort. When your dog is whining, the very important first step you should take is to identify and treat – or rule out – pain or discomfort. If your dog hurts, all the modification in the world isn’t going to fix it.

Your dog may be too cold or too hot. Adjust the environment accordingly. Maybe his bedding is soiled. Give him a clean, dry blanket. Perhaps he’s crated and really has to go to the bathroom. (This was explained to me recently by my dog Bonnie, when she was suffering from loose stools and had to go out at 3 a.m. If I had ignored her whining instead of rushing her outside, or worse, reprimanded her for disturbing my sleep, I would have paid a heavy clean-up price for being so unfair to my dog.)

It can be difficult to determine if dogs are in pain. Sure, sometimes they limp, flinch when you touch them, or otherwise make it clear that they hurt, but sometimes they don’t. Dogs can be pretty stoic. Plus, if they have bilateral pain (hurting equally on both sides) there’s no point in limping; it just makes it hurt more on the other side.

If you think your dog may be in pain and your veterinarian can’t find anything, ask about using carprofen or some other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) as a diagnostic tool. If the behavior stops when he is medicated, and returns when the medication stops, it’s a good indication that it’s pain related.

While NSAIDs (such as Rimadyl) can have the potential for gastrointestinal, kidney, and liver side effects, long-term pain results in very poor quality of life. Some studies indicate that as many as 20 percent of dogs over the age of one year may suffer from osteoarthritis. Certainly, many dogs face increasing loss of mobility as they age due to the onset of arthritis. If your dog is whining due to pain, help him be comfortable. (See “Don’t Fear NSAIDs for Your Dog,” below.)

• Stress. Stress is the other major reason that dogs whine. (Pain is a stressor too, so in reality all whining is due to stress, but let’s take a look at the non-pain-related stressors that can cause whining.)

• Anxiety. This is probably one of the most common causes of whining. The answer seems obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: To reduce anxiety-related whining, you need to reduce your dog’s anxiety, whatever the cause.

Distress over separation or isolation (and the anticipation thereof) are two common anxiety-related behaviors, but there are countless other reasons your dog may be anxious. Anything that causes him to be fearful can contribute to this type of whining, and some breeds even seem to have a genetic predisposition to whining.

To help him be less anxious so he will whine less, make a list of things that cause your dog fear or stress, and pick two or three to start counter-conditioning, that is, changing how he feels about those things, so they no longer cause him stress or fear. When you can tick one stressor off your list, pick another to begin working on, until you have addressed enough of them that whining is no longer a problem. Additionally, anxiety-induced and the other types of whining may improve with the application of the ever-growing list of various tools and protocols we have to help our dogs be calm. (More on this below.) Click here for more information about reducing your dog’s anxieties.

• Frustration. This is also one of the more common causes of whining – and it’s the whining that our Kai does. I include “demand whining” under this heading; while some sources list it as a separate category, I consider them the same. A dog who is whining to “demand” something is frustrated that he isn’t getting what he wants – hence, the frustration whine.

The best way to help a frustrated whiner is to take away his frustration, preferably by preempting the behavior. I know that Kai will whine at agility class as he impatiently waits his turn to run. I can preempt his whine by giving him a stuffed Kong or other food-dispensing toy to take his mind off his troubles until it’s our turn. If you do this before the whining starts, you won’t reinforce the unwanted behavior.

• Excitement. Yes, some dogs whine just because they are so happy they can barely contain themselves. It’s not as common as anxiety and frustration whining. Although this is happy whining, there is still some stress involved, though it is eustress (good stress) rather than (bad) stress. Excited whining is often part of a greeting behavior, so I would be less concerned about this compared to the other types of whining that stem from distress.

However, if you do want to reduce your dog’s excitement whining, ask him to engage in another behavior as part of your greeting ritual to shift his brain from excitement mode into thinking mode. One example: Keep a basket of toys outside your house, and as you enter, toss a toy for your dog to retrieve or play with.

• Appeasement. This is another not-so-common presentation of whining, and generally offered in social interactions with other dogs. In this case, it is a healthy communication, and not one you want to interfere with.

Don’t Punish Your Dog for Whining

Some sources recommend punishing a dog’s whine by using a squirt bottle, or worse. Others suggest a more benign form of punishment – removing your attention from the whiner. Generally I am vehemently opposed to the use of positive punishment (dog’s behavior makes a bad thing happen), but when appropriate, I am not opposed to negative punishment (dog’s behavior makes a good thing go away).

That said, I do not believe it’s appropriate to use even negative punishment with a dog who is stressed; it’s removing your support when he needs you the most!

I know all too well that whining can be annoying, but I feel it’s important to keep foremost in your mind that most whining is a function of stress; while you may suppress the whining with punishment, you add another stressor, which is likely to exacerbate other stress-related behaviors. A better plan is to figure out why your dog is whining, reduce the stressors in his life, and help him change his behavior.

Teaching Calmness to Dogs

Fortunately, as the force-free training movement blessedly continues to gain momentum and we understand there are far better ways than punishment to help our stressed dogs be calm, our access to resources to help us accomplish that goal continues to grow. Here are some of the many options, in addition to counter-conditioning and desensitization, for helping your dog be calm. (Note: Some of these may work on some dogs and not others. Keep trying until you find what works for yours.):

- Exercise. Not only does exercise use up energy your dog might otherwise expend in anxiety-related behaviors, a good round of aerobic exercise causes the release of feel-good endorphins (think “runner’s high”) that actually can help your dog be less anxious.

- Choice. According to Susan G. Friedman, PhD (psychology), “The power to control one’s own outcomes is essential to behavioral health.” Teaching your dog a “choice” cue and looking for opportunities to give him choices in his life can help ease anxieties.

- Positively reinforce for calm. We tend to pay attention to our dogs when they act up, and ignore them when they are calm. Remember to quietly reinforce your dog when he is calm (soft praise, a calmly dropped treat) and you are likely to see more calm behavior.

- Dr. Karen Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation. Dr. Overall is a veterinary behaviorist with an unflinching commitment to force-free training and handling. Her very detailed day-by-day protocol can be used to help your dog relax. It’s laid out as a 15-day protocol, but you can take longer if your dog needs a slower pace, and break the small steps into even smaller ones as necessary to help your dog succeed.

- Karen Overall Protocol for Teaching a Dog to Take a Deep Breath. I know that your dog already knows how to breathe! This exercise, a calming form of biofeedback, teaches him how to cease stress-related panting and breathe through his nose. Think of times that you were stressed and your friends may have reminded you to “Breathe!”

- Massage. Done properly, massage can be as relaxing for your dog as it is for you (assuming your dog does not find touch aversive). If used in conjunction with a scent such as lavender, which has calming properties of its own, you can then use the scent in other venues to help your dog calm himself, due to its association with the calming massage.

- TTouch. Another form of calming touch developed by Linda Tellington-Jones, TTouch uses specific types of touch, movement, wraps, and other equipment to help a dog learn to relax.

- Calming Cap (also known as Thunder Cap). Similar to the hood used to keep a captive falcon calm, the Calming Cap reduces the intensity of visual stimuli to help your dog stay calm. Your dog can see through the Calming Cap, but details are blurred. It can be very useful for dogs who have difficulty staying below threshold. Remember to associate the Calming Cap with treats so your dog learns to love having it put on.

- Thunder Shirt. This product (or other snug-fitting dog-shirt) functions on the same principle as swaddling an infant. Studies show that infants who are swaddled cry less, and the extrapolation is that dogs can also be comforted by the feeling of being held; the Thunder Shirt seems to work for many dogs.

- Adaptil. Previously known as Comfort Zone, Dog Appeasing Pheromone, and DAP), this is a synthetic substance that is meant to mimic the natural pheromones that are emitted by a mother dog nursing her puppies. The biological effect of the natural pheromone helps calm the puppies; this product purports to do the same for adult dogs. It is available in a spray, plug-in, and collar. While some professionals report good results with the product, others feel strongly that it is snake oil. We put it in the “can’t hurt, might help” category.

- Through a Dog’s Ear. This is music, specifically selected for its potential to calm dogs. The Through a Dog’s Ear music selections are sold as CDs, or in a marvelous, small (21/2 by 3 inches), portable unit called the iCalmDog that has amazing sound quality. It’s very calming for humans; if I play it in my office while I’m working I’ll fall asleep at my desk! Play this music when things are calm in your home to help your dog relax and so he forms a very good association with it, and then you can also use it during counter-conditioning practice to give him the same calm association that he had when it was playing at home.

- Nutraceuticals.These products, isolated or purified from foods, are generally sold in medicinal forms not usually associated with food. A nutraceutical is demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic disease. Two that are FDA-approved for use in dogs are Anxitane (L-theanine) and Zylkene (casein). If they interest you, discuss them with your veterinarian to be sure she is comfortable with their use for your dog. If so, you can get them through your vet or online. I have had success with over the counter L-theanine. I buy the capsules, so I can open them and sprinkle the contents on my dog’s food. If you get the chewable tablets, be sure you do not get any that contain xylitol, which is deadly toxic to dogs.

Medication for Dogs with Anxiety

In addition to all the things mentioned above, there are a variety of psychotropic drugs that can help ease your dog’s stress and anxiety. I tend to recommend the medication route to clients when their dogs have a level of anxiety that is clearly destructive to the quality of life for canine and/or human. These must be obtained from a veterinarian, and here’s the rub: Most veterinary schools do not require vet students to take classes in behavior, and most veterinarians aren’t very well-informed about behavior modification drugs. Well-meaning as they are, they can easily prescribe the wrong medication – sometimes even (unintentionally) recommending a medication that makes behavior worse instead of better.

As a non-veterinarian, it’s not appropriate (or legal) for me to suggest specific medications to clients. The good news is that many veterinary behaviorists offer free phone consultations to other vets who want information regarding appropriate medication selection and dosage for their clients’ animal companions. Even if your veterinarian charges you something for her time to do the research, it shouldn’t be cost prohibitive, and the consult will be well worth the cost.

Your vet can find contact information for veterinary behaviorists on the website for the American College for Veterinary Behaviorists.

Don’t Fear NSAIDs for Your Dog: There Are Worse Fates!

When Rimadyl (carprofen) first came into general usage in the early 1990s, there were alarming reports of dogs who suffered from liver and kidney damage after being given the drug, including some fatalities. However, two-plus decades later, reports indicate that the actual incidence of negative side effects is exceedingly low (.02 percent) and that most (70 percent) of those affected are geriatric dogs. Initially, veterinarians advised regular blood tests for dogs on Rimadyl as long as the dog was taking the drug. At least one recent study suggests that dogs who are going to have a bad reaction to the drug will have it early, and ongoing regular blood tests may not be necessary.

My first Kelpie suffered from severe arthritis in the mid 1990s at the age of 12, after a decade-plus of energetic activity. I was very close to euthanizing her to relieve her pain. When my veterinarian, Dr. Diana Phillips, suggested Rimadyl, I balked.
“I’ve heard some pretty bad things about Rimadyl,” I said.

Dr. Phillips responded bluntly, “You’re thinking about killing your dog tomorrow … how bad can the Rimadyl be?”

Oh. Duh.

Rimadyl bought me two more years of quality life with my beloved Keli, she suffered no ill-effects from the drug, and Dr. Phillips’ words have stayed with me. I often share this story with clients who are reluctant to consider pain relief for their dogs who are hurting. A simple pain relief medication just may make your dog look (and, of course, more importantly) feel so much better that you may forget he’s got anything wrong with him at all.

Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She and her husband Paul live in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Miller is also the author of many books on positive training. Her newest is Beware of the Dog: Positive Solutions for Aggressive Behavior in Dogs.

The post Ways to Stop a Dog from Whining appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

As I write this I can hear my Kelpie, Kai, in the backyard barking at . . . something. Kai barks a lot – at squirrels, cats, birds, horses – anything that moves! I can empathize with dog owners who live in closer quarters, where a barking dog can be the catalyst for neighbor feuds, animal control citations, and civil lawsuits. And I thank my lucky stars that our nearest neighbors are a half-mile away and not likely to complain about occasional bouts of canine cacophony.

Barking is a natural, normal canine behavior. If you have a dog, you need to understand and accept that sometimes dogs bark!

That said, some dogs bark a whole lot more than others. Dogs also bark for a variety of reasons. How you work to manage and modify your dog’s barking will depend, at least in part, on what motivates him to bark.

Step one of any good barking-modification program is minimizing your dog’s need and opportunity to bark. Exercise, an important element of many good behavior modification programs, is useful here as well. A tired dog has less energy, hence less need to bark, and a well-exercised dog tends to be emotionally healthier as well.

Meanwhile, good management minimizes barking opportunity. Close drapes or put up baby gates to deter out-the-window barkers. Use white noise or calming music to muffle sounds that set off your dog. The more your dog practices his unwanted barking behavior, the more often is it reinforced (barking makes the mail carrier go away!), and the harder it is to modify.

Finally, in order to successfully modify barking behavior, you have to understand why your dog is barking.

Reasons Dogs Bark and How to Modify It

Again, how you manage and modify your dog’s barking will depend on what’s motivating him to bark. You might successfully ignore a demand barker’s utterances and reinforce him for quiet, but ignoring a dog who is barking from anxiety can exacerbate the behavior.

Here are the most common reasons that dogs bark, and how to resolve them:

Alarm Barking

A dog who alarm-barks may save his family from a fire, inform you that Timmy’s in the well, scare off a rapist – or just go bonkers every time someone walks past your house on the sidewalk. This dog is doing his job: letting you know there’s something to be seriously concerned about. Alarm barkers can save lives, but sometimes their judgment about what constitutes an alarm-appropriate situation can be a little faulty.

To manage alarm-barking, reduce your dog’s exposure to stimuli that cause his arousal. Perhaps you can baby-gate him out of the front room, move the sofa away from the windows so he can’t jump up and see out, close drapes, or tape poster board over the windows. Outside, install a privacy fence, attach a solid barrier of some kind to your see-through chain-link fencing, or put up an interior fence to block his access to the more stimulating parts of the yard.

You can also use counter-conditioning and desensitization to modify barking at things he really doesn’t need to be alarmed about. Sit with him at the window. As soon as someone comes into view, let him look, feed him a high-value tidbit, let him look again, feed again, until the passerby is out of sight. When you’re not there to feed, prevent access to windows that look out on passersby.

Given that alarm barking will inevitably occur, it’s also useful to teach your dog a positive interrupt – a cue, friendlier than “Shut up!” that you can use to stop him in mid-bark. (See “The Positive Interrupt,” below.) However, your dog might be barking because something really is wrong. Before you use that positive interrupt, take a moment to see what your dog is barking at. Perhaps your house really is on fire.

Alert Barking

This is your dog’s less-aroused approach to letting you know that there’s something of interest afoot; a squirrel on the back fence, or Dad’s car pulling in the driveway at the end of the work day. It can be managed and modified in the same manner as alarm-barking, including use of the positive interrupt, but is usually easier to work with because the emotional level is much lower.

Anxiety Barking

Barking due to anxiety can be manifested as a number of behaviors, including hysterical barking and sometimes howling. This is a complex and challenging behavior to both modify and manage, because true anxiety is a real panic attack – the dog truly cannot control his behavior.

One of the most common presentations of this condition is separation anxiety – a very difficult behavior to live and work with. (See “Relieving a Dog’s Separation Anxiety,” WDJ July 2008.) Real anxiety usually requires the intervention of a good positive behavior consultant, and often, behavior modification drugs. If your dog’s barking is due to anxiety, consult with a professional behavior counselor, and manage his environment to minimize his exposure to anxiety-producing conditions while you help him learn how to cope. (Note: The use of shock collars, not something I would recommend in any case, is a horrifically poor choice here, almost guaranteed to increase your dog’s stress and anxiety.)

Boredom Barking

Dogs are social creatures, and the backyard dog is lonely and bored. Boredom barking is often continuous, with a monotonous quality: “Ho hum, nothing else to do, I may as well just bark.” This kind of barking is most annoying to neighbors, and likely to elicit a visit from a local animal control officer.

The answer here is obvious and relatively easy. Bring the dog inside. Many outdoor barkers are perfectly content to lie quietly around the house all day, waiting for you to come home, and sleep peacefully beside your bed at night. If your dog isn’t house-safe, use crates, exercise pens, dog walkers, lots of exercise, and even doggie daycare to keep him out of trouble until he earns house privileges. You can also enrich his environment by giving him interactive toys such as food-stuffed Kong toys to keep his brain engaged and his mouth busy. See “Must-Have Chew Toys,” (WDJ 2016) for some of Whole Dog Journal‘s favorites.

Demand Barking

This behavior is more likely to annoy you than your neighbors, but it’s annoying nonetheless. A demand barker learns that he can get what he wants (usually attention or treats) by making noise. It often starts as a gentle, adorable little grumble, and can quickly turn into insistent, loud barks – your dog’s way of saying, “I want it, now!” You can preempt the development of demand barking by remembering to randomly give your dog attention and treats for being quiet, before he starts barking.

Demand barking, once it starts to occur, is easiest to extinguish early. The longer a dog has been reinforced for demanding stuff, the more persistent he’ll be when you try to ignore him. However, ignoring him is the best answer to this behavior. No treats, no attention – not even eye contact. The instant the demand behavior starts, utter a cheerful “Oops!” and turn your back on your dog. When he’s quiet, say, “Quiet, yes!” and return your attention – and treat – to him.

Beware “extinction bursts” and “behavior chains.” When you’re trying to extinguish a behavior by ignoring it, your dog may actually increase the intensity of his “I WANT IT NOW!” behavior. This is an extinction burst, akin to you kicking the soda machine that doesn’t deliver after accepting your coins. If you succumb to your dog’s increasing intense barking, thinking extinction isn’t working, you have now reinforced the more intense barking, and your dog is likely to get more intense sooner next time. If you stick it out and wait for the barking to stop, you’re well on your way to making it go away. You have to be more persistent than your dog.

A behavior chain is a series of behaviors strung together. You dog may learn that if he barks once or twice, you will turn your back, say “Quiet,” and then feed him a treat. His short behavior chain is “bark . . . and then be quiet.” To avoid this, be sure to acknowledge and reward him frequently before he barks even once.

Frustration Barking

Often confused with anxiety barkers, dogs who have a low tolerance for frustration bark persistently when they can’t get what they want. Unlike anxiety barking, this is an “I WANT IT!” communication similar to demand barking, but with more emotion. It’s usually directed at the thing he wants, such as the dog he wants to go play with.

You can use the positive interrupt to redirect frustration barking. If you consistently offer high-value treats in the presence of frustration-causing stimuli, you can condition your dog to look to you for treats when the other dog is present (dog = yummy treats) rather than erupt into a barking fit.

Greeting/Excitement Barking

“Yay, Mom’s home! Mom’s home!” If your dog hails you with hellos when you return after a long (or short) absence, it’s time to shift into ignore mode. Stand outside your door and wait for the cacophony to subside, then enter calmly; no rousing hug-fests or “I missed you so much!” sessions. When your dog is calm and quiet, then greet him. If he starts to bark again, mark the barking with an “Oops!” and ignore some more.

If his loud greetings are directed toward arriving guests, you’ll still need to go into calm mode. If you use loud verbal reprimands you add to the chaos and arousal. Rather, use your positive interrupt to invite your dog to you, and calmly put him in another room or on a tether – then greet your visitors. Alternatively, you can use counter-conditioning to get your dog to look to you for treats rather than erupting with barks when visitors arrive. You may want to tape a note to your door advising guests that you are training your dog and it may take you a moment or two to answer the door, so they don’t give up and go away.

Play Barking

This is common behavior for herding dogs, the cheerleaders of the canine world. As other dogs – or humans – romp and play, the play-barker runs around barking (and sometimes nipping heels). If you’re in a location where neighbors won’t complain and the other dogs tolerate the behavior, you might just leave this one alone. With children, however, the behavior is not appropriate, and the dog should be managed by removing him from the play area, rather than risking bites to children.

If you do want to modify play-barking behavior, you can use negative punishment: The dog’s behavior makes the good stuff go away. When the barking starts, use a time-out marker such as “Oops!” and gently remove your dog from the playground for one to three minutes; a tab (a short, six- to 12-inch leash left attached to his collar) makes this maneuver easier. Then release him to play again.

Over time, as he realizes that barking ends his fun, he may get the idea. Or he may not – this is a pretty strong genetic behavior, especially with the herding breeds.

The Positive Interrupt

The positive interrupt is a well-programmed, highly reinforced behavior that allows you to redirect your dog’s attention back to you when he’s doing something inappropriate, like barking. Ideally, you want your dog’s response to the “Over here!” cue to be so automatic that he doesn’t stop to think, he just does it, the way your foot automatically hits the brake of your car when you see taillights flash in front of you on the highway.

Here’s how to teach a positive interrupt:

1. Install the cue in a low-distraction environment. Use a phrase such as “Over here!” or “Quiet please!” as your interrupt cue. Say the phrase in a cheerful tone of voice, then immediately feed your dog a morsel of a very high-value treat, such as a small shred of canned chicken. Repeat until you see his eyes light up and his ears perk when you say the phrase.

2. Practice with the cue in a low-distraction environment. Wait until your dog is engaged in a low-value activity – wandering around the room, sniffing something mildly interesting – then say your interrupt phrase in the same cheerful tone of voice. You should see an immediate interrupt in his low-value activity, and he should dash to you for his chicken. If he doesn’t, return to Step 1.

3. Add distractions to your practice. Still in the low-distraction environment so you can control the distraction level, add moderate distractions – one at a time – and practice the interrupt. Gradually move up to major distractions in the low-distraction environment. If you lose his automatic response at any step, return to the previous step.

4. Move your lessons to an environment with real-life distractions. Go for a walk around the block with your dog on leash. Use the interrupt when he’s sniffing a bush, or eyeing a fast-food bag on the sidewalk. Start with mild to moderate real-life distractions if possible, but if a major distraction presents itself, including a stimulus that causes him to bark, give it a try!

5. Use the positive cue to interrupt barking. When your dog automatically turns his attention to you in response to your cue when confronted with major real-life distractions, you have a valuable tool for interrupting his barking. Be sure you practice occasionally with mild distractions to keep the cue “tuned up.” And remember to thank him and tell him what a wonderful dog he is when he stops barking on your request.

Barky Breeds

Some breeds of dogs are notorious for being vocal, and even within breeds there are some lines that are known to bark more than others. There is a genetic component to a dog’s vocal behavior (as behavior is always a combination of genetics and environment – nature and nurture.) Note that when we say a behavior is “genetic,” what we really mean is that the dog has a strong inherited propensity to be reinforced by the opportunity to engage in that behavior. By definition, behaviors that are reinforced increase; a dog who finds barking reinforcing and has opportunities to bark will bark more.

Most of the herding breeds have strong opinions about things and aren’t afraid to express them. Think Shetland Sheepdog, Collie, Border Collie, Australian Shepherd, Australian Kelpie . . . . Barking is part of the constellation of behaviors that were selected for over the years as these dogs were expected to be “large and in charge” when directing the movement of sheep and cows – animals many times their weight and size.

Scenthounds (such as Beagles, Bassets, Bloodhounds, etc.) have also been bred for their “voice.” As they chase game, their excited baying tells their humans where they are, and enables hunters to find them when their quarry is treed or goes to ground.

Many small breeds of dogs (Chihuahua, Yorkshire Terrier, Miniature Pinscher) are known to be quite vocal. They have earned a reputation as “yappers” – making up for their diminutive size by making a lot of noise.

Then there are the dog breeds known to be at the quiet end of the canine vocalization continuum. Many of the Giant breeds – Danes and Newfoundlands, for example – are generally less vocal.

There are also many smaller breed dogs, including the French Bulldog, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and Shiba Inu, that have reputations for being non-talkative. And then there is the Basenji, which doesn’t bark, but is capable of making a number of other alarming and annoying vocalizations. Rather than bark, these dogs can scream, growl, even yodel in a canine sort of way.

Whether you are looking for a quiet dog for townhouse living, or a vocal one to ward off trespassers from your rural home, knowing which breeds bark less is a good place to start. That said, it’s also important to remember that, despite breed tendencies, every dog is an individual. You can find a Great Dane who will rattle your apartment walls, and a Sheltie who wouldn’t speak if the safety of your farm depended on it. If voice, or lack thereof, is important to you, make sure you look beyond simple breed stereotypes to actual behavior when selecting your next canine family member.

Be Proactive with Dog Barking Modification

Uncontrolled barking can be frustrating to the human. I know this all too well, with two vocal herding dogs currently in my own family. However, our dogs sometimes have important and interesting things to say. There was the time I was engrossed in writing an article and our dogs were alarm barking ferociously in the backyard. Resisting the urge just to tell them to stop, I reluctantly got up to investigate. No, the house wasn’t on fire, but I did find a sick groundhog in the yard.

You do want to be able to have some control over your dog’s voice, but don’t lose sight of the value of his vocal communications – he may be trying to tell you something important. If you ignore him, your dog might do combat with a rabid skunk in the yard, a burglar might make off with all the bikes and tools in the garage, or Timmy might drown in the well!

The post Why Dogs Bark and How to Stop Them appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

It’s a rare dog owner who hasn’t, on one or more occasions, had to retrieve something from her dog that the dog wasn’t supposed to have. In the best of circumstances it’s something of little or no value that the human would merely prefer the dog not ingest – a used tissue, say, or a dropped vitamin tablet. In the worst of times, it’s something invaluable – a family heirloom, for example – or something toxic to the dog, that the human must get away from the dog.

In years past, I instructed dog owners and my student dog trainers in the fine points of teaching dogs a “Leave It” behavior. To teach this behavior, I would place a high-value item (such as a cube of freeze-dried liver) under my foot, and generally, a dog would try to get it by pawing at or pushing my shoe with his nose. I would wait patiently, then mark and reinforce the dog for any behavior other than trying to get it out from under my foot – even just a brief glance away.

There is more to the technique (most recently discussed in “Teaching Your Dog to ‘Leave It’ on Cue,” in the August 2008 issue), but I won’t go into it in more detail, because I have abandoned this method for much simpler and more effective methods!

Today, my preference is to teach dogs a “Trade” behavior for those instances when the dog already has something in his mouth that I don’t want him to have, and “Walk Away,” which can be used whether the dog has a forbidden item in his mouth or has just spotted a forbidden item. Since I have incorporated these behaviors into my dogs’ and my students’ behavior repertoire, I have noticed that the behavior I want happens much more quickly and with less frustration for dogs and humans.

One possible reason for the greater success of these behaviors (compared to “Leave It”) is the fact that in these protocols, you teach the dog something to do, which is far easier for a dog to understand than something to not do. In teaching “Trade” or “Walk Away,” we show the dog how to earn treats by doing something (either trading or walking away), rather than just refraining from doing something else (grabbing or eating a certain item). These behaviors offer the dog a clear path to success!

Our 13-year-old Corgi, Lucy, has long known the “Leave It” behavior. I recently taught her the “Walk Away” behavior, and then did an experiment, setting up parallel high-value challenges and cueing “Leave It” one time, and “Walk Away” another. I randomized the cues, so that sometimes “Walk Away” came first, and sometimes “Leave It” was cued first. One hundred percent of the time she responded more quickly to the simpler “Walk Away” cue, and with softer body language, than she did to the more difficult “Leave It” cue. This small trial made a believer out of me!

Whether your dog has snatched up something he shouldn’t have, or is about to, the likelihood of your success in getting it away from him is considerably greater if you stay calm, rather than freak out and start to yell and grab or chase the dog. The potential for success skyrockets if you have previously taken the time to teach your dog one of the protocols that follows, so your dog actively, happily, and willingly relinquishes that or any other object on cue.

Note: These behaviors will be easiest to teach if you haven’t already created an adversarial relationship with your dog over his ill-gotten gains. If you’ve attempted to forcefully remove things from your dog’s mouth and he is now a serious resource-guarder, enlist the help of a qualified force-free trainer before attempting to teach “Trade.” (See “Resource Guarding and What to Do About It,” WDJ August 2015, for more information about resource-guarding.) If you’ve chased him when he had things he ought not, he may think “keep away” is fun, in which case, you’ll need to convince him that “Trade” is a better game.

Teaching Your Dog the ‘Trade’ Cue

In teaching your dog “Trade,” you are promising to give him something of value in exchange for the valuable item he has in his mouth. (Cat poop may be abhorrent to humans, but it is of very high value to many dogs!)

Here’s how to teach “Trade.”

1. Say “Take it!” and give your dog a low-value object.

Offer your dog something he will easily and willingly give up in exchange for the high-value treat you will offer him next. (If his first instinct is to take the item and run, you may need to put a leash on him and step on the leash or tether him to something solid, so he can’t run off with the item before he realizes there are more potential benefits to this negotiation!)

2. Offer your dog some high-value treats.

You may need to hold the treats close enough to his nose that he can smell them, but don’t try to push them into his mouth; anything that resembles coercion will likely increase his resistance. Make sure you have a large enough supply of the high-value treats that it will take him a few moments to eat them.

If he doesn’t drop the object he has in his mouth in favor of your treats, you need a higher-value treat (think meat, not dry biscuits) and/or a lower-value item to trade for.

Notice you didn’t use a cue yet. We don’t add the cue until we know the dog will drop the item.

3. When your dog drops the item:

Click your clicker (or use a mouth click or verbal marker, such as the word “Yes!”), and while you keep him occupied nibbling at the high-value treats in one hand, with your other hand, pick up the object and hide it behind your back. This part is really important. You must use two hands! If you let him eat the high-value treat and them try to race him back to the object, you’re likely to lose the race – and you may elicit resource-guarding.

If you feel at all uncomfortable reaching for the item as your dog munches on the treats, you can sprinkle the treats in a short “Hansel and Gretel” trail, starting under his nose and leading to a spot a foot or two away from the dropped item. Engage his mouth with the treats in your hand after he follows the trail, while you pick up the item with your other hand.

4. As soon as your dog finishes eating the treats in your hand:

Bring out the object from behind your back, say, “Take it!” and give it back to him. This teaches him that he doesn’t always lose the item; he can trade with you and then get the item right back. This will make him more willing to trade again in the future. He gives you his good stuff, he gets more good stuff, and then he gets good stuff back again. It’s a win/win for him!

5. When you can reliably predict that your dog will drop the item when you offer your treats, add the cue.

Give your cue first (“Trade!”), and pause for a second or two. Then offer the treats, click (or say “Yes!”) when he drops the item, and pick up the item with your free hand while you keep his mouth busy nibbling treats from your hand.

6. After several repetitions, sometimes pause a few seconds longer before offering your dog treats.

Your goal is to get him to drop the object when you say, “Trade!” before you offer the treats. When he will do this reliably, it means you have the behavior “on cue” – that is, he is dropping the object because he heard and understood the cue, not just because you stuck high-value treats under his nose.

While ideally you will always have something in hand (or in pocket) to offer your dog in trade, if you train this behavior well enough and practice it often, in an emergency your dog will still give up that poisonous mushroom (or whatever) when he hears the “Trade!” cue. This is most likely to work if you use your cheerful “training game” voice and not an “Omigosh, it’s an emergency” panicked voice. Your training diligence might even save your dog’s life!

Teach Your Dog to ‘Walk Away’

In addition to the invaluable “Trade” cue, you can also teach your dog a very useful “Walk Away” behavior. This is particularly useful before your dog has a forbidden object in his mouth, but it can also be effective after he has picked up something you don’t want him to have.

I was introduced to this protocol by friend and fellow behavior professional Kelly Fahey, PMCT2. Fahey created this approach, based on Patel’s “Drop it” protocol (described below), as a simpler and less-frustrating alternative to “Leave It.” It can also be used to help modify resource-guarding.

Note: If at any point during the protocol you see resistance, tension, or signs of aggression in your dog, back up a few steps and proceed again more slowly, with more repetitions at each step. If your dog is prone to guarding and you are concerned about your safety or the safety of family members, seek the assistance of a qualified force-free professional to help you modify his guarding behavior.

Here’s how to teach “Walk Away.”

1. Say to your dog, “Walk away!” in a cheerful voice and toss several treats on the ground.

Point at the treats as the dog finds them (at a safe distance if your dog is likely to guard the food). Repeat 10-12 times (or more) until dog eagerly responds to the “Walk away!” cue.

While in most cases, you add a cue only after you are reliably eliciting a certain behavior, in this case, you are giving your dog a positive association with the cue before you introduce the potential for conflict with having something in his mouth. And by pointing at the food, you give your dog a positive association with your hand in the vicinity of treats on the ground, to avert or reduce the potential for resource-guarding.

2. Place a neutral object (one that’s not valuable to your dog) on the ground.

When your dog sniffs it, say, “Walk away!” and toss several treats on the ground, about two to four feet from the object. Point at the treats as the dog finds them; again, and in every single step that follows, point from a safe distance if your dog is prone to guarding food. Repeat at least 10-12 times (or more), until your dog immediately moves away from the object in response to the cue. Use a variety of objects as the neutral object if necessary to keep your dog interested in approaching and then “walking away” from them.

3. Place an object that is of relatively low value to your dog on the ground.

Perhaps a toy that he sometimes plays with (not one of his favorites) or a type of biscuit he will only sometimes eat. When your dog approaches or sniffs it, say, “Walk away!” and toss several treats on the ground, about two to four feet from the object. Point at the treats as the dog finds them. Repeat at least 10-12 times (or more) until your dog immediately moves away from the object in response to the cue. Use a variety of objects if necessary to reignite his interest.

4. Place an object that is of slightly greater value to your dog on the ground.

When your dog sniffs it, say, “Walk away!” and toss several treats on the ground, about two to four feet from the object. Point at the treats as the dog finds them. Repeat at least 10-12 times (or more) until your dog immediately moves away from the object in response to the cue. Use a variety of objects if necessary.

5. Place an object that is of high value to your dog on the ground.

When your dog sniffs it, say, “Walk away!” and toss several treats on the ground two to four feet from the object. Point at the treats as the dog finds them. Repeat at least 10-12 times (or more) until your dog immediately moves away from the object in response to the cue. Use a variety of objects if necessary.

6. Place an empty dog food bowl on the ground.

When your dog sniffs it, say, “Walk away!” and toss several treats on the ground, about two to four feet from the object. Point at the treats as the dog finds them. Repeat at least 10-12 times (or more) until your dog immediately moves away from the bowl in response to the cue.

7. Put a handful of relatively low-value dog food (such as dry kibble) in a food bowl and place it on the ground.

When your dog sniffs it, say, “Walk away!” and toss several treats on the ground, about two to four feet from the object. Point at the treats as the dog finds them. Repeat at least 10-12 times (or more) until your dog immediately moves away from the bowl in response to the cue.

8. Put a handful of higher-value dog food (such as kibble mixed with a little canned food) in a bowl and place it on the ground.

When your dog sniffs it, say, “Walk away!” and toss several treats on the ground, about two to four feet from the bowl. Point at the treats as the dog finds them. Repeat at least 10-12 times until your dog immediately moves away from the bowl in response to the cue.

9. Put a handful of high-value dog food (such as canned food or meat) in a food bowl and place it on the ground.

When your dog sniffs it, say, “Walk away!” and toss several treats on the ground, about two to four feet from the bowl. Point at the treats as the dog finds them. Repeat at least 10-12 times until your dog immediately moves away from the bowl in response to the cue.

10. When your dog is relaxed and happily moving away from objects and/or food bowls:

Add a “pick up the object or bowl” step into the protocol. Say, “Walk away!” and toss treats, then pick up the object or bowl, hand-feed him a few treats, and put object or bowl back on ground as you toss a few additional treats near the object/bowl.

Teaching Your Dog to ‘Drop It’

British trainer Chirag Patel, CPDT-KA, DipCABT, owner of Domesticated Manners in London, has developed another alternative, an innovative protocol for asking your dog to give up something in her mouth. It’s demonstrated beautifully in a video you can watch on YouTube.

Patel starts with a dog who actually has nothing in her mouth. He gives a signal – a bright, cheery, “Drop!” – that is immediately followed by high-value food treats being immediately tossed on the ground near the dog. He points to and even flicks the treats on the ground with his fingers, to bring the dog’s attention to each little tidbit; this helps the dog become accustomed to and comfortable with a human hand reaching down and toward the dog’s treats.

Patel recommends practicing many repetitions of this exercise, and incorporating it into every sort of activity around the house and yard: while sweeping the kitchen, carrying a bag of trash out to the garage, sitting on the couch, and so on. The goal is to get the dog to understand that you might give the cue at any time, in the midst of any activity, and it always means treats are about to be flung her way!

Once the dog understands the cue “Drop!” as a signal that treats are on the way, and she starts scanning the nearby ground for the treats immediately after hearing the cue, Patel introduces an item to the training environment that the dog shouldn’t have much interest in. If the dog so much as looks toward the item, he gives the “Drop!” cue, and tosses the treats, pointing each one out to the dog each time.

After many repetitions, the next step is the introduction of a low-value toy; Patel waits for the dog to sniff or pick up the toy, and then gives the “Drop!” cue and tosses the treats. If the exercise has been sufficiently practiced, the dog should immediately drop the toy and enthusiastically pursue the treats as she has so many times before.

The exercise is repeated many times with increasingly valuable toys, and even food items, as the dog becomes completely comfortable with the concept that “Drop!” means treats are on the way, and her human will even help her find each one.

In the video, Patel demonstrates that with enough repetitions of the Drop exercise, the dog becomes completely unconcerned about immediately dropping whatever she might have in her mouth and allowing the person to take the item; she learns that the cue signals that she will certainly gain lots of terrific treats, and will almost always also be given the item back.

Use the Trading Tool Most Useful to You

These protocols can get you and your dog out of a lot of difficult situations. I daresay “Trade” saved my relationship with Bonnie, another one of our dogs, which could have gone very badly if I was still an old-fashioned coercion-based dog trainer when we adopted her (see below).

In addition, numerous clients have shared stories with me where “Trade” has literally saved their dogs’ lives, by enabling them to retrieve a toxic object from their dogs’ mouths, hassle-free. If you have an inspiring “Trade,” “Walk Away” or “Leave It” experience, we’d love to hear it!

Dogs Who Understand Currency

Our dog Bonnie, now 12 years old, has always been very oral, so “Trade” has been a life and relationship-saver for us. Even now as a maturing senior, she will pick up random objects she finds on the floor. In fact, she has learned that if she brings me small pebbles from our driveway that get tracked into our house on our shoes, I will reliably trade her for a treat.

In the old days (more than two decades ago), prior to my crossover to force-free training, I would have found this annoying at best, and probably punished her for her naughtiness. Today, instead, I take pride in her cognitive abilities – she recognizes the value of currency!

Think about it. Those wrinkled pieces of green paper in your wallet have no intrinsic value. You can’t eat them, they don’t keep you warm, and they aren’t entertaining. They are only valuable because you can trade them for food, shelter, clothing, tuition, books, tickets to movies, and other goods that do have intrinsic value. Pebbles have no intrinsic value to Bonnie. She can’t eat them (well, she could, but they have no nutritional value or taste), she can’t buy her way into a movie theater, and they don’t keep her warm. But she has learned that she can trade them for treats – she can buy food with them. She has learned the value of pebble money. If you ask me, that’s pretty smart – and pretty darned cognitive!

Author Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She and her husband Paul live in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Miller is also the author of many books on positive training. Her newest is Beware of the Dog: Positive Solutions for Aggressive Behavior in Dogs (Dogwise Publishing, 2016).

The post How to Teach Your Dog to Trade appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Like many other expert food thieves, Chip is quite careful in his pilfering decisions. He will steal only when we are not in the room or when we are being inattentive. The parsimonious (simplest) explanation of this is a behavioristic one: Chip learned early in life that he was more likely to be successful at taking forbidden tidbits when a human was not in the room, and more likely to be unsuccessful if someone was present and attentive to him. In other words, like many dogs who excel at food thievery, Chip learned what works!

However, while a behavioristic explanation covers most aspects of selective stealing behavior in dogs, a set of research studies conducted by cognitive scientists suggest that there may be a bit more going on here.

Do Dogs Have a “Theory of Mind”?

Many dog owners can attest to the fact that dogs will alter their behavior in response to whether a person is actively paying attention to them or is distracted. For example, in separate studies, dogs were more apt to steal a piece of food from an inattentive person, and would preferentially beg from an attentive person. (Cited references1,2)

One could explain this in very simple terms, based on well-established observations about how animals learn. For example, a dog could learn over time that human gaze and attentiveness reliably predict certain outcomes, such as positive interactions and opportunities to beg for food. Similarly, a lack of eye contact and attention might reliably predict opportunities to steal a tidbit (or two or five).

But it’s also possible that, just like humans, dogs use a person’s gaze to determine what that person does or does not know. This type of learning is considered to be a higher-level cognitive process because it requires “perspective-taking”- meaning that the dog is able to view a situation through the perspective of the human, and can then make decisions according to what that individual is aware of. The import of this type of thinking is that it reveals at least a rudimentary “theory of mind” – the ability to consider what another individual knows or may be thinking.

So, while it’s established that dogs are sensitive to the cues that human eye contact and gaze provide, it’s not clear whether they can use this information to determine what the person may or may not know.

Enter the cognitive scientists!

The Toy Study

Here’s one approach to teasing out “theory of mind” evidence: Researchers set up a scene that causes the test subjects to change their behavior based on the inferences they draw from watching another being, whose own view of the scene is limited. They wanted to see what a dog does when he can see that a human may or may not be able to see what the dog sees.

In 2009, Juliane Kaminski and her colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology set up a clever experiment (reference 3) in which they used a barrier that was transparent on one end and opaque on the other end. A dog and a human were positioned on opposite sides of the barrier, and two identical toys were placed on the same side of the barrier as the dog. The dog was then asked to “Fetch!” They found that the dogs preferred to retrieve the toy that both the dog and the person could see, over the toy that only the dog could see.

The results suggested that the dogs were aware that their owners could not know that there was a toy located out of their view, and so retrieved the toy that they (presumably) assumed that their owner was requesting.

An additional finding of this study was that the dogs were capable of this distinction only in the present, at the time that the owner’s view was blocked. When the researchers tested dogs’ ability to remember what the owner had been able to see in the past, such as a toy being placed in a certain location, the dogs failed at that task.

Food Thievery Study

Recently, the same researchers (reference 4) provided additional evidence that dogs are able to consider what a human can or cannot see. Twenty-eight dogs were tested regarding their tendency to obey a command to not touch a piece of food under various conditions; the variation had to do with the commanding human’s ability to see the food.

The testing took place in a darkened room that included two lamps, one of which was used to illuminate the experimenter and the second to illuminate a spot on the floor where food was placed. During the test conditions, the experimenter showed a piece of food to the dog and asked the dog to “leave it” while placing the food on the ground. The experimenter alternated her gaze between the dog and the food as she gradually moved away and sat down.

In two subsequent experiments using the same design, the experimenter left the room after placing the food, and the degrees of illumination were varied. For each experiment, four different conditions were tested, and the dog’s response with the food in each set of conditions was recorded. The conditions were:

1. Completely dark; both lamps off

2. Food illuminated, experimenter in the dark

3. Experimenter illuminated, food dark

4. Both food and experimenter illuminated

There were several illuminating results in this study (sorry, I could not resist this opportunity to make that pun):

1. Dogs steal in the dark.

When the experimenter stayed in the room, dogs were significantly more likely to steal the food when the entire room was in the dark. (They do have excellent noses, after all). If any part of the room was illuminated while the experimenter was present, the dogs were less likely to steal. Conversely, when the experimenter was not present, illumination made no difference at all and most of the dogs took the food. (Lights on or off; they did not care. It was time to party!)

2. Smart dog thieves work fast.

Within the set of dogs who always took the food, when the experimenter was present, they grabbed the tidbit significantly faster when it was in the dark, compared to when the food was illuminated. This result suggests that the dogs were aware that the experimenter could not see the food and so changed up their game a bit. (“I’ll just weasel on over to the food and snort it up, heh heh. She can’t see it and will never know. I am such a clever dog!”) Chippy would love these dogs.

3. It’s not seeing the human that matters, it’s what the human sees.

Collectively, the three experiments in the study showed that illumination around the human did not influence the dogs’ behavior, while illumination around the food did (when a person was present). This suggests that it is not just a person’s presence or attentiveness that becomes a cue whether or not to steal, but that dogs may also consider what they think we can or cannot see when making a decision about what to do.

Take Away Points

Without a doubt, gaze and eye contact are highly important to dogs. They use eye contact in various forms to communicate with us and with other animals. We know that many dogs naturally follow our gaze to distant objects (i.e., as a form of pointing) and that dogs will seek our eye contact when looking for a bit of help. And now we know that dogs, like humans and several other social species, can be aware of what a person may or may not be able to see and, on some level, are capable of taking that person’s perspective into consideration.

As a trainer and dog lover, I say, pretty cool stuff indeed. Chip, of course, knew all of this already.

Just One More Thing

I was excited about this research because these results continue to “push the peanut forward” regarding what we understand about our dogs’ behavior, cognition, and social lives. Learning that dogs may be capable of taking the perspective of others, at least in the present, adds to the ever-growing pile of evidence showing us that our dogs’ social lives are complex, rich, and vital to their welfare and life quality.

That said, because these studies had to do with dogs “behaving badly” – i.e., “stealing” food – I was a bit hesitant to write this article. These studies provide evidence that dogs have a lot more going on upstairs than some folks may wish to give them credit for. And as can happen with these things, evidence for one thing (understanding that a person cannot see a bit of food and so deciding to gulp it on down), may be inappropriately interpreted as evidence for another (“Oh! This must mean that dogs understand being ‘wrong!’). Well, no. It does not mean that at all.

If you have ever thought, “My dog knows he was wrong!” or “I trained him not to do that; he is just being willful!” or “He must be guilty; he is showing a guilty look!” – then I have a message for you: These studies show us that dogs understand what another individual may and may not know, based upon what that person can see. This is not the same, or even close to being the same, as showing that dogs understand the moral import or the “wrongness” of what they choose to do. Chippy knowing that I cannot see that piece of toast that he just pilfered is not the same as Chippy feeling badly that he took it. (For more on this, see “Debunking the Myth of the ‘Guilty Look,’ ” WDJ October 2015.)

The bottom line: These studies show us that dogs may be sneaky, but neither the studies nor the results say anything at all about whether the dogs feel guilt when they sneak a bite of food they’ve been told to leave alone.

Linda P. Case, MS, owns AutumnGold Consulting and Dog Training Center in Mahomet, Illinois. She is the author, most recently, of Beware the Straw Man (2015) and Dog Food Logic (2014), and many other books about dogs. Check out her blog at thesciencedog.wordpress.com.

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I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me, “I don’t give my dog ‘people food’ because I don’t want him begging at the table while we’re eating.” If this sounds like you, I’ve got good news for you, and maybe even better news for your dog!

Many people avoid offering their dog any type of food that they themselves might eat for fear that the dog will acquire a taste for it and develop an annoying and invasive habit of begging for food during family mealtimes.

While preventing “begging” is a good goal, it can be achieved no matter what you feed your dog. The type of food isn’t what will determine whether or not your dog will learn to beg at the table. Rather, his behavior will be shaped by where, when, and how he gets access to food. Luckily, this is entirely under your control.

How Your Dog’s Behavior is Built

To get a clear picture of how begging inappropriately for food can develop, let’s start from the beginning. We know that food can be an excellent reinforcer for a dog. Delivering food as a reward immediately following a behavior is likely to produce more of that behavior.

When you are sitting at the table to eat your meal, if your dog nudges your elbow, stares you down, barks, whines, licks his lips, or paws your leg, and immediately gets access to something yummy, he learns that this is an effective strategy to get food, and a beggar is born.

The same principle applies to dogs who hang around the kitchen while meals are being prepared and who are occasionally rewarded with tidbits of food. Their access to food in the kitchen might be intentional – like when the household chef shares a few ingredients with the dog who expertly offers a sad face – or it might be the result of simply acting fast enough to swoop in and gobble up food that is accidentally dropped to the floor from the counter. Regardless of how or why the dog has access to food, the bottom line is that the kitchen area has become very attractive (and reinforcing!) to him, and is now a location where he is likely to hang out in the presence of food.

It’s the fact that there was a reinforcement (rather than the specific type of food) that creates and maintains this behavior; understanding this is key to figuring out how to prevent it from developing in the first place, and how to change it if it already exists.

While not all of our foods are appropriate for dogs to eat, many of the foods we eat are just as suitable for dogs as they are for us. For those of you who do want to share some of your food with your dog, but choose not to for fear of creating a beggar, rest assured that there is a way to teach your dog good table and kitchen manners and allow him to enjoy some of the same foods as you. Those who prefer not to share “people food” with their dogs can just as effectively teach them polite manners around the dining room table and in the kitchen.

Nothing to See Here, Now Move Along

Remember the old joke that describes a patient complaining to his doctor about pain in his elbow when he bends his arm, only to be told by the doctor, “Then don’t bend your arm”? The same sort of logic can be applied here. If you don’t want your dog begging for food at the table, don’t ever feed him at the table. If you don’t want your dog begging for food at the kitchen counter, don’t ever feed him at the kitchen counter.

Management plays a crucial role in helping your dog figure out that there is no benefit to hanging around the table or kitchen. (If your dog has a history of stealing food off the table or kitchen counter, avoid leaving food unsupervised in these places at all times!) Set up the environment to make it easy for your dog to behave well, and to make it difficult – or impossible – for him to make a mistake. Make sure everyone in the family is on the same page regarding your dog’s access to food: No food delivered at the table means no food delivered at the table, from anyone.

You may want to feed your dog his meal before you sit down to eat. He won’t be as hungry, and therefore not as interested in the food on your plate as he might be, on an empty stomach.

Alternately, feed him at the same time as yourself. If his mealtime doesn’t coincide with your own, arrange for your dog to have somewhere to go, like a crate or a cushion, where he can get busy working on a bone or an interactive food toy filled with a light snack while you sit down to eat. Add an indoor tether if your dog has trouble staying put on his cushion and keeps coming back to you at the table. An indoor tether is an excellent management tool for young dogs, especially as they learn your household rules.

Even Sharing is Okay

I mentioned earlier that it is possible to share your food with your dog, without creating a beggar at the table. I love to give pieces of various foods to my dog while I cook, and even while I eat. I simply deliver the food to her in a way that encourages her to stay far away from me while I cook or eat.

For example, while I work at the kitchen counter, I might look at my dog and show her a piece of whatever vegetable I’m chopping. She responds by sitting in the adjoined dining room, where I toss her the veggie bit. Through repetition, she has learned that the only way she’ll get food from the kitchen is if she sits 10 feet away in the dining room. That is where the food is delivered whenever I’m working in the kitchen.

If I’m sitting at the dining room table and want to share a piece of food from my plate with her, I’ll toss it a few feet away, into the living room. My dog has learned that her chances of receiving food while we eat at the table are increased if she sits far away, in the living room. She has never received food while sitting next to us at the table, and therefore has no history of ever being reinforced for this behavior. If she lurks close to the table, she may be ignored or she might receive a pat, but she will never receive food.

The same rules apply when we are eating food in the living room. There is a very good chance that snacks during movie time will be shared, but only if my dog moves into the dining room a few feet away. Because of our reinforcement history, and where and how food is typically delivered, my dog can snuggle peacefully next to me while I eat a snack on the couch, and if she is offered a piece of food – a bite of apple or a chunk of watermelon, for example – she will rise and head for the dining room, where I’ll gladly toss her a few pieces.

Just Once?

Keep in mind that your dog will not differentiate between official household rules and those “okay-then-just-this-one-special-time” occasions. If every member of your family adheres to the general rules, your dog will have an easier time understanding what is expected of him. Establish the rules and stick to them. As a guideline:

1. If you don’t want your dog to eat “people food,” don’t give him any. Ever. (Although it really is quite alright to do so, barring any dietary restrictions for medical reasons.)

2. If you don’t want your dog begging for food at the table, don’t give him any food while he is next to the table. Ever. Not even his own food.

3. If you don’t want your dog in the kitchen area while you cook, don’t give him food while he’s in the kitchen. Decide where you want your dog to be instead, and reward him for being in that spot (whether you choose to reward him using his own food or “people food”).

4. Decide where you want your dog to be while you eat. Make that area a great place for him to be by giving him something enjoyable to do while you eat. Manage his mobility while he learns this new rule by using a crate, tether, baby gate, or closed door to restrict his access to the table.

5. If you do want to share your food, decide where you want your dog to be while you eat, and deliver the food in that place. If you catch your dog spontaneously going to that place while you eat (without your having asked), go ahead and reinforce this by going to him and rewarding him, or by tossing some food to him.

It’s okay if the food is tossed from the table or the kitchen counter, as long as your dog is already where you want him to be before you toss the food. In other words, food being tossed to your dog is conditional on him being in a certain location. If your dog is already begging at the table, don’t toss the food in order to get him to move away from the table, as that would actually be reinforcing the wrong behavior.

Remember, you will get whatever you reinforce. As with all behaviors, decide what you want the dog to do, set things up to make it easy for your dog to choose that particular behavior, and then reinforce it!

Nancy Tucker, CPDT-KA, is a full-time trainer, behavior consultant, and seminar presenter in Quebec, Canada. She has written numerous articles on dog behavior for Quebec publications focusing on life with the imperfect family dog.

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There are many sticky myths in dog training and behavior that have the potential to be destructive to dogs and their owners. Here are some of the stickiest myths that need to be unstuck, the sooner the better, for dogs’ sake:

The “Alpha Dog” Myth

This myth is also known as the dangerous “dominant dog” myth, and it comes in a seemingly endless variety of forms, all of which are destructive to the canine-human relationship and the believer’s real understanding of behavior and learning. In fact, it’s probably the all-time king of false and destructive sticky dog-behavior myths. Some of its common variations include:

– If your dog jumps on you (gets on the furniture, pulls on the leash, grabs the leash, sits on your foot, walks ahead of you, humps you), he is being alpha/dominant.

– You must eat before you feed your dog to show him you are alpha.

– You must spit in/handle your dog’s food with your hands before you give it to him to show him it’s yours and you are alpha.

– You must go through doorways before your dog does to show him you are alpha.

– If your dog misbehaves in any way he is challenging you and you have to roll him on his back to show him you are alpha.

This myth goes back decades, and is rooted in flawed research on wolf behavior. While “dominance” is a valid construct in behavior, it refers very specifically to the outcome of an interaction involving a resource. It is not a personality trait.

If two dogs meet in a doorway, Dog A may say, “I would like to go through the doorway first,” and Dog B may say, “Sure, you go ahead.” Dog A was dominant in that interaction. The same two dogs may meet over a bone, and Dog B may say, “I really want that bone,” while Dog A may say, “Oh, I wouldn’t mind chewing on it, but you clearly want it more than I do; you go ahead.” Dog B was dominant in that interaction. Neither Dog A nor Dog B is a “dominant dog.”

In reality, your dog isn’t trying to take over the world or even your household; he is just trying to figure out how to make his world work for him. He wants to make good stuff happen, and make bad stuff go away – just like we do. It has nothing to do with being “alpha” – but when you believe that it does, it sets you up to be confrontational in almost every interaction with your dog. Figure out how to make sure your dog gets good stuff for behaviors that you like, and doesn’t get good stuff for behaviors you don’t like, and you’ll find your dog is more than happy to accept his role as your compliant pal. (See “Alpha Schmalpha,” WDJ December 2011.)

The “Dog Looks Guilty” Myth

Humans naturally ascribe ulterior motives to each other, and given the fact that we live so closely with dogs, it makes a certain amount of sense that we also try to explain our dogs’ behavior with ulterior motives, too. But we give them a lot more credit for remorse than they are probably capable of.

To us, a dog’s normal appeasement behavior (avoiding eye contact, lowering body posture, flattening ears) smacks of “Guilty!” when in fact the dog is just reading the body language of his unhappy/angry/aroused human and trying to avoid any unpleasant encounters with said human.

Let’s say you come home to find the contents of your kitchen garbage can strewn across the floor. Your face tightens, your body tenses, and as you say your dog’s name, your voice has an unmistakably emotional tone.

“Ruh-roh,” your dog thinks. “My human is upset about something. I better be at my most appeasing self so nothing bad happens to me.”

You see his appeasement body language and think, “See? Look at him acting guilty – he knows he did wrong!”

Fortunately, studies have shown what ethologists and educated dog trainers have long claimed: that a dog’s “guilty” (appeasement) behavior is dependent on the human’s body language, not on what the dog did – or didn’t do.

The “Destruction Out of Spite” Myth

The spite myth rears its ugly head most often when a normally well housetrained dog either soils the house or does something destructive when left home alone. The misinformed human thinks the dog did to “get even” with the owner for leaving.

In fact, far more often than not, this is a dog’s stress-related behavior, and frequently is a sign of separation or isolation distress or anxiety.

It makes matters worse when an owner punishes the dog for the behavior. The punishment will not only prove useless, as it is too far removed from the behavior itself to have any effect, but also will make the dog more stressed the next time he is left alone, as he learns to anticipate the bad things that happen to him when his owner gets home. (See “Scared to be Home Alone,” July 2008.)

The “His Tail is Wagging So He Must be Friendly!” Myth

Somewhere in our history, it seems the entire human species latched onto the sticky myth that a wagging tail means a happy dog. As a result, humans across the millennia have been bitten as they attempt to pet a dog whose tail was wagging.

In fact, a wagging dog tail is simply an indication of some level of arousal. Certainly, sometimes it’s happy arousal and it’s perfectly safe to pet the wagging dog. On many other occasions, however, it may be tense or angry or fearful or reactive arousal, and you pet the wagging dog at your own risk!

Here’s a general guide to how to tell the difference:

– Low, fast tail wag, often in conjunction with lowered body posture, and possible whale eye, ears back, and submissive urination. This dog is fearful and/or appeasing; pet at your own risk.

– Half-mast gently swishing tail, combined with relaxed body language and soft eyes. This dog is probably safe to pet.

– Tail mid to three-quarters raised, wagging quickly, combined with some animated body language and happy facial expression. This dog is more aroused, but may be safe to pet. Use caution.

– Tail wags in a circle, combined with calm or animated body language. This dog is happy/excited and probably safe to pet.

– Tail vertical, swishing slowly. This dog may be calm and relaxed and just have a natural high tail carriage, such as the Husky, Malamute, Chow, Pomeranian, and others, or he may be becoming aroused. Since a high tail often indicates a higher level of arousal, it’s even more important to be aware of the other body-language cues of these dogs. This dog may or may not be safe to pet; wait for more information to go on!

– Tail vertical, wagging quickly, often accompanied by tall, forward body language. This dog is alert, tense and aroused. It is best to avoid interacting with this dog.

As you can see, it’s critical to evaluate the whole dog when determining whether his wagging tail means he is happy or not. Be advised, then, that this evaluation is too complex for small children to carry out; teach them not to pet strange dogs.

The “All Breeds are Alike” Myth

This myth is most likely to be promoted by people who are trying to sell you something, whether it’s puppies or breed-specific legislation. If someone tries to make you believe that all individuals of a given dog breed will display homogeneous characteristics of that breed, or that certain characteristics are inherent in any and all members of that breed – well, hey, would you by any chance have any interest in buying a bridge?

While dogs of a given breed may exhibit behavioral tendencies that are common to that breed, little, if anything, is universal in all the individuals of any breed. There are Labrador Retrievers who hate the water and won’t fetch a ball, Border Collies who have no interest in sheep, and Huskies who wouldn’t pull a sled if their lives depended on it.

Breed registries maintain descriptions of their ideal, and people who breed purebred dogs are supposed to be trying to produce puppies who will grow into physical and behavioral manifestations of the breed standard. The problem is, not all breeders are good breeders! Some people are just trying to make a buck, and take little or no care to choose complementary parents for their “purebred” puppies. (And why would you, if you were selling puppies that were going to be sold like interchangeable widgets in pet stores to anyone with the money to spend?) And even educated, responsible breeders who take the utmost care to choose mates for their dogs don’t always succeed in producing perfectly conformed, perfect behavioral clones of the breed standard; it’s impossible!

When a truly responsible breeder produces a puppy who has physical or behavioral traits that are atypical of or aberrant for the breed, they will not only decline to use that particular breeding again, but also will work to find the pup an appropriate home with someone who will embrace it as a fully disclosed, atypical individual.

In addition, responsible breeders and adoption counselors should advise prospective owners who are looking for a dog of a certain breed that all individuals of any breed are just that: individuals. If there are certain traits of a certain breed that most appeal to you, make sure you take the time to look for a dog who exhibits those traits, not just the first representative of that breed that you happen to find in your local shelter.

And if you are set on buying a puppy of a certain breed, take the time to talk to a lot of breeders. Make sure that they understand exactly what you are looking for. Give them as much information about your home, family, and dog experience as they need to make sure they match you with a puppy who is most likely to succeed in your family.

If, on the other hand, you don’t have a specific breed in mind, write down the qualities that are most important to you in a dog, and then go out and start looking at individuals of any breed until you find one who best matches your list of desired traits. You should neither assume that any Golden Retriever you find will love your children nor that any Pomeranian you find will be too barky to endure. Be observant and deliberate. (See “Pick a Winner,” April 2009.)

The “The Best Dogs are Eager to Please” Myth

This is one of my pet peeves – the myth that dogs exist to please us. It’s such a commonly used descriptor that dogs who aren’t perceived as “eager to please” are often seen as flawed in character.

Dogs exist to please themselves, not us. It just so happens that for some dogs, the things that please them also please us. The dogs that we label as “eager to please” tend to find it reinforcing to be in our company, happily sitting for petting, fetching toys, and participating with us in whatever activities we’re engaged in.

Dogs who are perceived as “eager to please” are most often those who have been bred to work closely with people, such as the herding, working, and sporting breeds. If these working dogs are typical of their heritage (see previous myth), it will likely please them to engage in activities that involve humans.

We’ve created a number of breeds (including hounds and terriers) to do unsupervised jobs, such as chasing game through the woods, or killing rodents in barns and fields. It used to please us if one of those dogs took the initiative to do one of those jobs well, but today, it’s just as likely that a dog who pursues one of these activities without permission will be accused of being stubborn, willful, dominant, or disobedient.

The “Pack Mentality” Myth

There is enough truth to this myth to make it extra-super sticky. The part of this one that gets dogs into trouble is their humans’ assumption that because dogs are a social species, they should be able to get along with (and play with) every dog they see. I always remind my clients that we humans are a social species, too, and we certainly don’t all get along with each other!

In fact, while wild wolves may live in close family groups we call “packs,” there is a growing body of evidence that where groups of feral dogs exist, they live in loosely knit social groups that don’t even begin to resemble a wolf pack.

Besides, a pack of familiar friends and close relatives isn’t at all the same as a bunch of ill-behaved strangers. Not unlike small children, most reasonably well socialized puppies will happily play with any other behaviorally appropriate puppies all day long. But as your dog matures he is likely to be more comfortable engaging with a limited number of dogs he knows well. This is normal, and a lot like we humans, who may enjoy wild parties as teenagers but as mature adults are more likely to be found enjoying relatively sedate dinner parties. (That said, there are always exceptions, and there are some dogs who continue to behave as the life of the dog park well into their senior years.)

Listen to your dog, not the mythologists; your dog doesn’t have to play with other dogs if he doesn’t enjoy it. If he tells you he’s having a blast at rowdy canine romps, go for it. But if he tells you he’d rather not, heed his wishes!

Resist Dog Myths and Stereotypes

These sticky myths can damage your relationship with your canine family member, and prevent you from having the fulfilling and enjoyable life experience that every dog – and every dog-loving human deserves. Don’t let them.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is WDJ’s Training Editor. She lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she offers dog-training classes and courses for trainers. Pat is also the author of many books on positive training. Her two most recent books are Do Over Dogs: Give Your Dog a Second Chance at a First-Class Life, and How to Foster Dogs; From Homeless to Homeward Bound.

The post Unsticking Myths About Dogs appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

TRAINING MULTIPLE DOGS TO STOP BARKING: OVERVIEW

1. Don’t punish! It may (or may not) suppress barking in the moment, but is unlikely to modify the behavior in the long run. In fact, it may actually make the barking worse or cause new behavior problems.

2. Teach your vocal dogs a positive interrupt so you can minimize their barking behavior.

3. Learn how to apply operant and counter-conditioning protocols to modify your dogs’ barking when you can’t or don’t wish to manage the behavior.

4. Have reasonable expectations: accept barking is normal and appropriate for dogs. Identify times when you can allow your dogs to vocalize.

It’s feeding time at the Miller household. All is calm until I pick up Scooter’s bowl to carry it to the laundry room where the little Pomeranian can eat without harassment from the larger dogs. As I lift the bowl from the counter, Scooter erupts with high-pitched barking and spinning, and Lucy the Corgi joins in with her deeper-but-still-sufficiently irritating vocals. It’s more of an annoying bit of ritual than a dangerous or disturbing one, but it’s annoying just the same, and one that would be nice to extinguish.

But how does one modify behavior if the protocol requires the offering and removal of reinforcement based on the subject’s behavior, when there are two subjects, and reinforcement for one automatically reinforces the other? Stated in plain English, how do I get two (or more) dogs to stop barking when rewarding the quiet one also rewards the barking one?

When One Dog Starts Barking, the Rest Follow

If I set the bowl back down on the counter when both dogs bark, I’m using negative punishment; the dogs’ behavior of barking makes the good thing – delivery of their meal – go away. When the dogs stop barking I use positive reinforcement; the dog’s quiet behavior results in a good thing: I pick up the bowl and proceed with delivery of dinner.

Now, here’s the dilemma: When I pick up the bowl, Lucy stays quiet, so I should positively reinforce that by continuing with dinner delivery. But Scooter starts barking again; I need to abort delivery so I’m not reinforcing Scooter’s barking. But if I set the bowl back down, I’m punishing Lucy for being quiet. Get it?

The answer to the dilemma is this: I can modify the behavior of only one dog at a time. I need to select which dog I want to work with first, and figure out how to manage the other dog’s behavior until I’m ready to work with her. In this scenario, I might change my dog-feeding routine by putting Lucy in my office before I begin food preparation so I can work with Scooter’s barking behavior. After he gets his dinner, I can let Lucy out to join the rest of the group, and feed all of them.

When Scooter no longer barks at food delivery time, I can try reintroducing Lucy to the mix. If her barking re-triggers Scooter’s barking, then I might need to put Scooter away while I work on modifying Lucy’s barking. When each can handle dinner delivery without barking, then I can try them together.

Counter-Conditioning Multiple Dogs at Once

Many multi-dog training programs break down because owners, understandably, aren’t always willing to work with the dogs separately. The prospect of implementing multiple behavior modification programs for multiple dogs can be quite daunting. We’re lucky only two of our five dogs bark at dinnertime. If all five joined in, the cacophony of barking would be overwhelming, not to mention the prospect of working with each of five dogs to modify barking behavior. They might never get fed!

Yet, individual modification work is almost always necessary for success with behaviors that involve multiple dogs. One dog’s barking just sets the other(s) off if the other’s barking hasn’t been solidly modified. Perhaps the two most common examples of multi-dog barking are when an owner walks two or more dogs on leash at one time, or when multiple dogs in a home (or in the yard) are aroused by some stimulus, such as someone at the door, someone walking past on the sidewalk, a squirrel or cat running across the yard or up a tree, a car going by . . .

I see the pained expression on my clients’ faces when I suggest to them that they need to walk their dogs individually, or at least with separate handlers. In many households, one person is in the habit of taking both (or all) dogs for a walk at the same time. I can see them doing the math in their heads; a 30-minute walk per day with three dogs has suddenly compounded into three 30-minute walks, or 90 minutes per day. That equals 10.5 hours per week instead of 3.5 hours. Wow. Who has that much extra time to devote to dog walking?

Still, it’s important. When dogs-on-leash are barking at an outside stimulus, such as another dog or a passing car, my favorite approach to modification is counter-conditioning. The instant your dog sees another dog (or the approaching vehicle), feed bits of chicken (or other very high-value treat), preferably before your dog begins barking. Pause, let him look at the approaching dog (car), and quickly feed more chicken, again before he barks. Continue with your pause/look/treat procedure until the dog (or car) has passed. Then resume your walk until the next dog (car) comes along.

Over time, your dog will learn that the appearance of another dog/car makes you feed him chicken, and instead of barking, he’ll look to you for chicken. This works whether the stimulus causing him to bark is a dog, a car, a kid on a bicycle, or anything else. In time, as his “stimulus/chicken” association becomes very strong, you’ll be able to gradually – and significantly – reduce the amount of chicken you have to feed. In time, you’ll be able to leave the chicken home and just use his regular everyday treats to reinforce his looks at you when a target passes.

As simple as this process is, it’s virtually impossible to do it with two dogs at the same time. The timing of your treat delivery is critical; it must happen the instant after your dog sees the stimulus but before your dog starts to bark. You simply can’t manage two potential barkers and get the timing right for both. Hence the mandate to walk one dog at a time – or at least one dog per handler – if you’re serious about getting the barking under control. When you have solidly established the conditioned emotional response (CER) – the “where’s my chicken look” – for each dog separately, you can begin to walk them together.

Multi-Dog Training: Positive Interrupt

You can modify multi-dog “someone’s at the door” barking in a similar fashion – but it’s harder because all the dogs are usually in the home. You could do a lot of one-at-a-time set-ups with the other dogs out of earshot. (See “Knock, Knock,” WDJ February 2010). Still, chances are when someone comes a-knockin’, at least one of your multiple dogs may bark, which just might set everyone off. The same is true with outside/backyard stimuli. Despite your best efforts to counter-condition, the arousal behavior of multiple dogs is likely to cause mutual escalation or arousal, and barking will happen.

For those times, a positive interrupt is a powerful tool. I use a voice cue (“Over here!”) as a positive interrupt for an individual dog, but in the chaos of multi-dog barking, a louder signal is called for. If you are blessed, as I am, with the ability to give a shrill mouth-whistle, that can work. If not, there are wonderful whistles for sale that are so loud you’ll need to cover your ears when you blow them, or risk damage to your hearing. My favorite is the Storm Whistle. You might want to buy several, so you can stash them in strategic locations around your house and yard.

You’ll want to “charge” your whistle in the same way you charge a clicker, to give your dog a very positive association between the sound of the whistle and something wonderful. I tend to fall back on chicken as my favorite “something wonderful” – dogs usually love it, and it’s relatively low-fat, low-calorie, so you can use it generously without adding too many pounds to your dog, and with a low risk of tummy upsets.

Charge the whistle one dog at a time. With one dog close to you and the others put away out of earshot, blow the whistle (not too loudly) and feed a treat. Blow the whistle, feed a treat. Repeat many times. When your dog makes the connection between whistle and chicken, you’ll see his eyes light up at the sound, and he’ll be looking for the treat. Next, go out in the yard where he can be farther away from you, and repeat your whistle/treat routine, until the sound of the whistle brings him running for a treat even when he’s some distance away, sniffing the ground. Now put him away and try it with the next dog. When all dogs are “charged,” try it with two dogs at a time, gradually adding dogs to the group until your entire pack will interrupt what they’re doing and come running to you at the sound of the whistle. (By the way, this doubles as a great recall tool as well!)

Now you’re ready to try it for real. If you’re confident your dogs will respond, give it a try with the whole pack. If you think that’s too much for your canine pals, start your real life trials one, or maybe two dogs at a time, just like you did with charging the whistle. Arrange a set-up that you know will trigger your dog(s) to bark. Have your whistle handy. When the barking starts, blow the whistle, and reward your dogs generously when they stop barking and come running to you. Then pat yourself on the back.

Continue practicing with set-ups for as many different stimuli as you can think of. The more you practice, the better your dogs will respond when real-life stimuli trigger a bout of barking. If you’re really good, your dogs may start running to you in anticipation of the whistle/treat game when they see or hear stimuli that used to cause barking. When that happens, you deserve to reinforce yourself with dinner and a movie.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, CDBC, is WDJ’s Training Editor. Author of numerous books on positive dog training, she lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, where she offers dog training classes and courses for trainers.

Thanks to Sarah Richardson, CPDT-KA, CDBC, Chico, California, for modeling for this article.

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