Behavior issues, not sure how to approach

[maybe532]

Let me preface by saying that I have a private lesson scheduled at my house this weekend but I would like to be armed with a little knowledge before hand.

Koda is an almost 2 year old Golden/Newfie mix. She has a great temperament, decent manners, etc. I haven't been working with her much in the last 6 months, I had a baby about 5 months ago. She knows the basics, sit, stay, wait, kennel/kitchen, off, down, etc. She does not jump and is relatively calm.

So, what my two main issues with her are barking at wildlife (squirrels mainly) and neighborhood cats both through the back door/windows and while outside. I obviously cannot keep them from entering my yard so I need to get her not to bark excessively at them. I have tried telling her to hush, to go to her place, keep the blinds closed, come inside when she does bark (she is an inside dog, fyi), squirting her with water (she liked it), and stuff like that. I have read on here to teach her to bark on command, does that really work? We have cats that go outside and she does not bark at them, just the neighborhood cats, if that makes a difference. She also will bark at the neighbors and in reply to other dogs barking. We live in a subdivision so I don't want her being a bother to my neighbors that are only trying to enjoy their yard. Shock collars are not an option.

Second, often when someone comes to the door or we let her out of the kennel upon returning home (or to run to the door to bark at animals) she will run straight through the kids and knock them down. She is not jumping on them, she is actually bumping in to them or running under them. The kids are 4 and 3. Koda is 50-ish lbs. This REALLY ticks off my husband, not to mention hurts the kids when they fall. I feel that she is not purposely hurting them, more that she is acting oblivious to them in her excitement. Again, she is NOT jumping. I do not know when someone is going to knock or a squirrel will enter my yard so I don't know how to get ahead of the situation to curtail the behavior.

After this private lesson I am signing up for a group obedience class to strengthen her skills and get her CGC certified, as well as rally lessons. I just found out what those are and I am so excited.

 

[Doberluv]

Teaching a dog to perform a behavior that you want to have control over and stop when needed, is a viable method. It shows him the contrast between starting and stopping the behavior and can be very effective. In other words, the dog barks because you CUE him to bark. (not that dogs don't bark sometimes anyhow. It's a very natural behavior) Often for problem jumpers, people will teach their dog to jump on CUE and not without a cue. This helps put the behavior on stimulus control. It shows him that jumping only happens when cued and not at other times. (you prevent reinforcement at those other times)

Anyhow, for manic barking, I used a method where I taught my dogs to bark ON CUE and to "enough" (stop) on cue. It works very well.

However, if you aren't comfortable with that, then here's another method that should work just fine:

ClickerSolutions Training Treasures -- Retraining Manic Alert Barking

It sounds like you're a very responsible and great dog owner. Kudos. I think working for the CGC and rally will be a blast. Good luck!

 

[maybe532]

I can try to teach her to bark on cue, I just wanted some first hand experience so as to not teach her a behavior that will backfire on me. I will go check the link out that you suggested as well. I know barking is normal behavior and I don't mind a few barks, it is the barking rapidly and loudly that drives me nuts. It's like she is on a fox hunt, so annoying.

I did CGC with Lucy about four years ago and it was a lot of fun. I think it will be more fun with Koda because Lucy has that stubborn terrier quality and pleasing me is not on her list of priorities. Thank goodness she is a good dog!

Thank you Doberluv for pointing me in the right direction with the barking issue. I am excited to try to get her to bark on cue.

 

[Doberluv]

Were you able to find that method printed out somewhere? It is a lot of work and the sequence must be done just so. But it's amazing how fast they get onto it. It's the building of it and transferring it to different scenarios and getting the dog not to start right in again that is tricky and hard to stay dedicated to and consistent. Let me know if you can't find the post with the exact sequence and method written out.

 

[maybe532]

I didn't realize it was that in depth, I just thought you meant teach her to speak on cue, whoops.

 

[corky]

Thanks for the info. I'm working on barking, too.

 

[Doberluv]

I didn't realize it was that in depth, I just thought you meant teach her to speak on cue, whoops.

That's just part of it. Teaching her to bark on cue will not teach her to stop barking. It simply seems to show her a contrast as she learns to volley back and forth between "speak" and "quiet." You gain control of these behaviors.

Here it is: http://www.chazhound.com/forums/t111908/

If it seems too complicated or too much work, go for the other method in Clicker Solutions which I posted the link for in a previous post. That looks great too.

 

[Maura]

Try this. When she barks, tell her "thank you" go to her, praise and treat. The treat should be something chewy rather than something she can quickly swallow. Get her to follow you away from the window and treat her again. Do this every time she barks at a squirrel or cat or just barks too much. You want to reward her for two or three barks. She will learn to bark, then go to you for a treat. If she isn't treat motivated try using a favorite toy. Use the opportunity to otherwise distract her if you find she goes back to the window after the walk away and treat.

 

[maybe532]

Doberluv, I think that is why I was always hesitant about it working, I was not sure how teaching her to speak would get her to quiet down. Now I get it.

Maura, that is a good suggestion. I am going to try that first, as it seems the easiest for me to do. I normally don't opt for the easiest way out but with the infant I often times can't get up to correct Koda, like when I am nursing the baby. And then I can work on the other method when my husband is home.

I am so excited about my private lesson tomorrow!

 

[Doberluv]

What Maura wrote is somewhat what that link in the Clicker Solutions article I posted above describes. Be careful though. If you go to her and reward her, this is likely to reinforce the excessive barking. Read through that article and see what she describes exactly. The dog needs to quiet first. Coming over to you first distracts her and gives you a few seconds of quiet TO reward. If you go up to her and reinforce right away, you risk reinforcing the obnoxious window frenzy. If she doesn't make the connection between the cue word you use to quiet her and the treat, but instead associates the act of coming to you with the treat, there will be a missed association between your quiet cue and the quiet plus treat. She is going to be guessing for some time what it is she's being rewarded for. Is it for coming over to you or is it for being quiet? It will take many reps in a variety of contexts, some where she is not coming to you to rule that out of the equation. That is why I like the other method because you are directly tying the cue word to the cesation of barking....well....more directly at any rate. You're right there, you give the cue, you prompt the quiet and you reinforce.

If you go this route, you'll still need to gradually increase the duration that she remains quiet before getting her treat. You'll also need to generalize the behavior to all kinds of triggers and utilize various locations and contexts. Well, that's all described in that article.

The other method in the link to another thread here (from Culture Clash), is very systematic and effective. I used this method on my Chihuahuas. And everyone knows that they can be alarmists and can really have a set of lungs. LOL. Anyhow, it worked well. I didn't follow through with all the scenarios....like people coming to the door. But it is normal and I want them to bark when people come to the door. They settle right down, once I answer the door. But my goodness, they can raise the roof top until I answer the door. I should work on their being quiet when I give the cue in that scenario, not endure until I open the door. But, I'm not too bothered by it, as I hardly have anyone coming to my door. LOL. But when they hear something outside or a little ways off, that can set them off and that is where the training has definitely paid off. There are noises around here and lots of wild animals. So, I'll look out the window sometimes, shrug it off and then tell them, "enough." They are indeed little drama queens and have a very keen sense of hearing. Certain vehicles that go on the road (500-600 ft away) might set them off, if it's not a vehicle they're use to hearing...a big, noisy engine or diesel sometimes. They are then very responsive to my cue to quiet.

Good luck!

PS....if you use a behavior marker, such a clicker or unique sound or word, and catch those few seconds of quiet, then reinforce, that can be most helpful. Once the dog gets onto how a conditioned reinforcer (clicker) works, your timing then becomes more precise and it is more clear to the dog what behavior he's being reinforced for. Read up on clicker training, if you wish.

Oh! And good luck at your private lesson. Let us know what you learned.

 

[maybe532]

Well I sure learned a lot! The trainer thinks that Koda is bored and gave me a lot of information on how to enrich her environment. I already knew about a lot of it (like kongs) but some of the stuff I hadn't thought of. I am supposed to feed all of her food in some interactive way, whether it be a kong, inside a 2 liter bottle, bowl inside a box, etc. Basically to just make her work for her food. She gave me several handouts as well as some internet reference sites for more ideas.
I am also going to try to have my father come by 1-2 times a week and either watch the kids so I can go to the dog park (no kids allowed there in my town) or take her for me.
Specifically for the barking I am going to temporarily block off the windows with cardboard to prevent much of the behavior until we work through her problem barking. I am moving the kennel into the dining room (near where she barks the most) so that when she barks I am to say "enough" and then wait a few seconds. If she stops barking, yay for her and click/treat? (I need to email to clarify that part). If she does not stop barking I am to say "time out" and lead her to the crate for a time out of up to 1 minute. After some repetition it is my understanding that she will learn the cue "enough" so that she may bark but will stop when I say so.
I have some other stuff to work on, and she has already figured out her first cue, to touch my hand with her nose, and that encourages me that she will figure all of this out quickly.
As for the excitable running into the children I am to crate her when I know something will trigger the behavior (when expecting guests, etc.) while I work on teaching her to go to her place. I am having to do it broken down into baby steps, like for now I am teaching her to sit on her rug/blanket and eventually she will go lay down on it when I give her the command. And a big "duh" to me, just like I would with my kids, if I can prevent the behavior then I should, like lead her to the backdoor instead of letting her run there, knocking down the children.
So I have a long list of stuff to do but it is all manageable, the trainer really seems to know her stuff and is understands that I have my hands full with the kids and tailored the program so that I can work in 4 minute training sessions at a minimum of 3 times a day.
Thank you all for your advice and I will definitely update you on our progress. I am so excited to get working with her and already stuffed her a kong and it is in the freezer for her to have in the morning. I cut up bits of cheese and meat to use as treats tomorrow.

 

[Doberluv]

It sounds like you have some great ideas from the trainer and lots to work on. One thing that stood out for me, that you can even run by your trainer if you like is the following:

when she barks I am to say "enough" and then wait a few seconds. If she stops barking, yay for her and click/treat? (I need to email to clarify that part). If she does not stop barking I am to say "time out" and lead her to the crate for a time out of up to 1 minute. After some repetition it is my understanding that she will learn the cue "enough" so that she may bark but will stop when I say so.

This stood out to me. Don't give the cue, "enough" and then leave it up to chance that she'll stop. If she doesn't stop, she can miss the association between the cue and the stopping. See....at this point, she doesn't know what "enough" means, so as an elicitor, it's likely to fail. If she keeps on barking upon hearing the word, "enough," (which she very likely will do) she will eventually associate the word, "enough" WITH barking, not stopping the barking. Leading her out for a time-out is too much of an interval of time between the "crime" and the time when she heard the cue for her to make the clearest association. (when she's first learning this) Later, once she's been reliable for a long while, then you can use that time out because she will have already paired the enough cue with stopping. So, then you can turn to "plan B" and remove her from the action for about 30 seconds, if she fails to stop when cued.

Soooooo....you need to go to her and make sure she WILL stop barking when you distract her with the treat. You will say, "enough" and then immediately....a split of a second after.... hold the treat in front of her nose and don't give it to her until she gives you 3-5 seconds of quiet. The sequence must be like this or the treat will become a bribe. No good. It already kind of is. (Well...it's being used as a prompt rather than a bribe, but that's splitting hairs) She must give you quiet before she gets the treat. And you must see to it that the cue word precedes the quieting by only a second or two. Dog barks, you cue and distract with treat right in front of her nose as you squat down all in one fluid action almost...bam, bam, bam. Dog is quiet for 3-5 seconds, you furnish the treat. Gradually build on duration that she must be quiet. When she gets onto it, stop showing her the treat first, but still give her the treat for stopping upon hearing the cue. Get the treat from a near by table. You can use a clicker if you like to bridge that time gap between her stopping and getting reinforced. Well....read through that other method again, if you like.

Later on, when she has tied the cue and the treat/behavior together, you can try using the cue as an elicitor for her to quiet. But not at first. Not until she's made the association.

Normally, with most everything, you don't use the cue to elicit the behavior until the dog has paired the cue with the behavior. However, in this case, you're getting her use to hearing and pairing "enough" with the stopping of the barking. You're ensuring you'll get the behavior immediately after hearing "enough." It's like a crash course....very pro-active. Nothing is left up to chance and there sould be no fuzzy communication.

 

[maybe532]

That does make sense, I can email the trainer to see what she has to say. I think the trainer believes that by enriching her environment she will be less likely to bark as it is her belief that Koda barks because that is the most fun thing to do in her little boring world. Fortunately Koda exhibited the behavior in front of her so that she knows what exactly it is that Koda is doing. I am so glad I had an in-home training session. Otherwise it would all be hearsay and guesswork.
So far she hasn't barked at all today! I portioned out her kibble before bed last night and used some of it to stuff her kong, along with a pb plug and I froze it. So first thing this morning I did a training session and then she got her kong in the crate while we all ate breakfast. I did another quick session before lunch and she is now eating her meal. I put it in a 2 liter with some table scraps cut up really tiny to entice her to investigate the bottle. She took about 10 minutes to figure out what to do and is now passed out in the kitchen next to the empty 2 liter.
Today has been great so far and it really hasn't taken much time out of my day to do these little things that have seemed to improve her life. Yay!

 

[corky]

I'm sorry to threadjack, but I wanted to post to say that I've been using Doberluv's ant-barking techniques all day today with The Corkster and offering a treat while commanding "Enough!" really works. I've got a few more days off so I'll keep at it. Hopefully soon he'll listen even when there is no jerky available.

 

[maybe532]

That is good to hear! I still haven't heard Koda bark, other than twice while outside but she stopped and ran inside when I opened the back door. I didn't even say anything. I know it's only day one but I think she was just so bored and is enjoying all this positive attention.