Barking barking barking for attention!

rott-pei said:

Hello everyone,

I have a 55 pound Shepherd Blue Healer mix. When we go out and play he starts barking if I don’t throw the frisbee or ball fast enough. If I turn to talk to someone he starts barking barking barking. If I go over to the neighbors and he hears or sees me he starts barking barking barking. Sometimes if I’m busy and I don’t play with him he starts barking to get my attention. He also barks at every dog that goes by and I mean barks like he’s gonna rip your throat out. It’s so loud and shrill I scream at him. I know screaming is not a good thing but I jumped out of my skin at the sound of his bark. He does stop but I’m sure the whole neighborhood hears me. Yes I am reactive. I don’t know how to stop the barking. Anybody, suggestions, help, please. I feel horrible but I’m so reactive and I don’t know how to stop his barking or me being jolted by the shrill of his bark. I’m surprised my ears don’t start bleeding bc of the sound. Thanks for any suggestions.

Robin and Buddy the Bambino K9

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It's a teachable moment.

1) He wants you to throw the frisbee.
2) He's barking to get you to throw the frisbee
3) you throw the frisbee.

See where I'm going with this? It's a learned behaviour. Dog barks, he gets what he wants....

You need to flip the script.

1) dog wants you to throw the frisbee
2) dog barks to get what he wants
3) you bring him back to a clamer state of mind.
4) the dog stops barking and "sits" (or whatever you decide indicates a calm state of mind)
5) you throw the frisbee.

My point here is that the REWARD (throwing the frisbee) must come as a result of the DESIRED behaviour (being calm). As long as you keep throwing the frisbee in order to "shut him up" then he will continue to bark and it will get worse.

See where I'm going with this?

rott-pei said:

You made me laugh too. I'm so reactive I'm an idiot. I will try to control my nerves and do the treat when I get him to a calmer state. R and B the K9

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yeah, yelling at the dog for being reactive isn't going to help. To the contrary. The dog will recieve that as "barking because I am barking". It will reinforce the behaviour.

What you can do if the dog is on a lead is to abruptly change directions in response to reactive behaviour. For example if he starts barking at another dog then literally make a 90 degree turn to the left or right. This also works if the dog is pulling on the lead.

I think you also understand, even if it's hard for you, that reacting to the behaviour also validates the behaviour. You need to set the example. If you want your dog to respond calmly then YOU must respond calmly. Insofar as your dog is taking behavioural cues from you, you must model the behaviour you want to see.

Case in point, my dog runs up t o a window in our living room and barks when he hears another dog barking outside. I will go and stand beside him (I don't admonish him for barking) and say, "what is it"? what do you see?". Once there is nothing else for him to react to I say, "OK, done!" and he stops barking. This plays in to the dog's natural behaviour but sets a boundary.