Hiya,
I’ve had some advice on this before, and I’m trying it, but it’s not having much of an effect. Nina’s demand barking seems to be worsening, not improving - even though I never give into her.
At least, if she barks to say she’s done with her nap, and wants out of her crate, I wait for a quiet lull and then let her out, or otherwise she works herself up. And this is part of the problem. Previously our schedule had her sleeping nearly until dinner time. Now, she gets tired and sleepy at the same time - but she wakes up sooner, and refuses to go back to sleep. I’m finding that for the entire hour before dinner time, she’s barking intermittently, scratching at the food cupboard, and doing her, “I need to go out” attitude, before leading me instead to the cupboard where her food is.
I’ve been trying to teach her “quiet”, as advised here, but the problem is, she doesn’t bark continuously. So, it’s really hard to be clear that you’re rewarding her stopping barking. She barks loudly once, then stares meaningfully at you for a minute or two. Then barks loudly again. So, it’s really hard to get the message across that “this treat is for not barking”. The short, sharp bark is basically over before I reach her - but it does cut through your skull!
She also barks like mad when I am eating. We have nearly resolved it when I eat at the kitchen table, but it is a huge struggle when I try to eat on the sofa (which I prefer). She’s only just grown big enough to actually jump on the sofa herself- so previously she would bark and I would ignore her and keep eating but now she will bark and crawl into my lap and try to take sneaky bites. Again, she’s never been rewarded for this (except once when she barked so loud I startled, and some cheese fell on the floor. But I got nearly all of it before she did…). I do give her a distraction at these times but really it’s only food that keeps her attention and there’s only so much of that I can give in one day. She finishes her puzzle toys far faster than I finish a meal.
She has also begun barking when I’m working and she’s bored. Again, she has all the toys I can think of, and we train every day and go on either two or three good walks and have two decent playtime sessions… But she doesn’t like to play alone (and I have to get work done).
If it is sunny, she barks to go outside at all times, and most our toilet training accidents are when I haven’t realised her bark has changed from a demand bark, to a toilet bark. (I always take her outside on the first bark, and see if she needs to go - but sometimes she really keeps at it, and I don’t realise the situation has changed.) Also, on sunny days, I leave the back door open, so it’s probably more accurate to say, she barks because she wants me to go out with her…
Bless her, she’s loving and intelligent and communicative, but I think sometimes she thinks I’m an absolute idiot, and just don’t understand her message. (E.g. I gave her a chew toy with some peanut butter on it once, as a treat, and every five minutes for the rest of the day she would bark and try to get me to go with her, and when I did, she would lead me up to the counter where I’d prepared the treat…).
I’m making it sound worse than it is - she gives up eventually and just flops on her bed giving me puppy dog eyes. But it is really getting on my nerves. Is there a different way to teach quiet for this kind of intermittent barking? Or, the trainer says we’ll learn “settle” next week. Is that likely to help? It is so frustrating - and actually, kind of throws my timings off if I have to wait for her to stop barking before doing the things I was planning to do at around that time anyway!
Bless her, her dinner time is still half an hour away and she’s been barking at me on and off for the last half hour but is now flopped on my feet looking tragic.
I’ve had some advice on this before, and I’m trying it, but it’s not having much of an effect. Nina’s demand barking seems to be worsening, not improving - even though I never give into her.
At least, if she barks to say she’s done with her nap, and wants out of her crate, I wait for a quiet lull and then let her out, or otherwise she works herself up. And this is part of the problem. Previously our schedule had her sleeping nearly until dinner time. Now, she gets tired and sleepy at the same time - but she wakes up sooner, and refuses to go back to sleep. I’m finding that for the entire hour before dinner time, she’s barking intermittently, scratching at the food cupboard, and doing her, “I need to go out” attitude, before leading me instead to the cupboard where her food is.
I’ve been trying to teach her “quiet”, as advised here, but the problem is, she doesn’t bark continuously. So, it’s really hard to be clear that you’re rewarding her stopping barking. She barks loudly once, then stares meaningfully at you for a minute or two. Then barks loudly again. So, it’s really hard to get the message across that “this treat is for not barking”. The short, sharp bark is basically over before I reach her - but it does cut through your skull!
She also barks like mad when I am eating. We have nearly resolved it when I eat at the kitchen table, but it is a huge struggle when I try to eat on the sofa (which I prefer). She’s only just grown big enough to actually jump on the sofa herself- so previously she would bark and I would ignore her and keep eating but now she will bark and crawl into my lap and try to take sneaky bites. Again, she’s never been rewarded for this (except once when she barked so loud I startled, and some cheese fell on the floor. But I got nearly all of it before she did…). I do give her a distraction at these times but really it’s only food that keeps her attention and there’s only so much of that I can give in one day. She finishes her puzzle toys far faster than I finish a meal.
She has also begun barking when I’m working and she’s bored. Again, she has all the toys I can think of, and we train every day and go on either two or three good walks and have two decent playtime sessions… But she doesn’t like to play alone (and I have to get work done).
If it is sunny, she barks to go outside at all times, and most our toilet training accidents are when I haven’t realised her bark has changed from a demand bark, to a toilet bark. (I always take her outside on the first bark, and see if she needs to go - but sometimes she really keeps at it, and I don’t realise the situation has changed.) Also, on sunny days, I leave the back door open, so it’s probably more accurate to say, she barks because she wants me to go out with her…
Bless her, she’s loving and intelligent and communicative, but I think sometimes she thinks I’m an absolute idiot, and just don’t understand her message. (E.g. I gave her a chew toy with some peanut butter on it once, as a treat, and every five minutes for the rest of the day she would bark and try to get me to go with her, and when I did, she would lead me up to the counter where I’d prepared the treat…).
I’m making it sound worse than it is - she gives up eventually and just flops on her bed giving me puppy dog eyes. But it is really getting on my nerves. Is there a different way to teach quiet for this kind of intermittent barking? Or, the trainer says we’ll learn “settle” next week. Is that likely to help? It is so frustrating - and actually, kind of throws my timings off if I have to wait for her to stop barking before doing the things I was planning to do at around that time anyway!
Bless her, her dinner time is still half an hour away and she’s been barking at me on and off for the last half hour but is now flopped on my feet looking tragic.
