New barking issue

[Rubylove]

Hi everyone. So sorry if it seems like I only come here these days when I need help with something, but life is VERY full on at the moment and all my fur-forums have been a tad neglected!

Anyway, I'm hoping I could get some advice from all the gurus here who may have something to offer that I haven't already tried

Ruby and Chester are developing a barking problem. For the entirety of their lives to date they have barked a collective total of about six times. It's NEVER been a problem (we're very fortunate in that) but recently it has started to become one.

They've even started barking inside the house when they hear a noise.

The thing is, they are well trained and happy dogs, who respond well to the clicker and well to all types of positive training methods. I have tried everything to combat this - everything. Praising when quiet, ignoring when barking, distraction, upping their exercise and so forth.

My issue is that it seems that now they have `discovered' barking, so to speak, they just enjoy it. It's a new thing, a new `game' if you like, and they don't respond to any kind of training methods I have employed.

Max and I have felt that over the past few months now that he is working nights, they have become quite bored and restless. We thought that all the extra time with us would be great for them, but actually it has resulted in them not really having to spend any time alone occupying themselves and making their own fun. They sleep a lot more than they used to, although their exercise routine hasn't changed, and I think that this is a boredom thing.

We've addressed this in recent weeks and things are getting back to normal with their routine, but they've started this barking and I think it's as a response to being inside and asleep, and not on their own to look out for themselves and find things to do for the day time, like they used to when we both worked during the day. What we thought would be beneficial for them has actually turned out to be a negative.

Their daycare tells us they are the only dogs they've never had problems with as far as barking is concerned, but I think now it's got to a stage where they've realised that barking is fun and they do it because they've discovered that it's fun, not for any other reason. I have a feeling this is going to be very hard to combat.

I'd love for someone to take the time to help me out on this, I would really appreciate any responses.

Thanks

 

[Herschel]

Ruby, what kind of dogs are they and how old?

Herschel is a schnauzer mix and he discovered his voice around 10 months. It started with barking only when he was alerted by something or if the doorbell rang. Then, it became almost constant. Every time he heard something he would let out of a storm of barking.

We taught him 'quiet", but it is tough to explain our method. Whenever he barks we say, "quiet"! When we first started, he would look at us with his head tilted. If he stopped barking, he received praise/treat. He figured out that we don't like it when he barks in the house.

Now, at around 1 year old, he is mostly silent in the house. However, when we are walking around outside barking is fair game if we don't keep him completely distracted. We basically walk two or three miles saying "watch me, good boy!" the entire time. I wish we could just teach him to be quiet without focusing on him so much!

If he starts barking at something outside there is no stopping him without walking away. The "quiet" command doesn't work if he is alert and barking, and I wish we could do better than saying "leave it" and walking away.

If you have any success or hear anything that works, please let me know.

I'm going to keep an eye on this thread.

 

[Rubylove]

They're Labradoodles and they're nearly two. The thing is, all of those methods work of course, they know `quiet' and they know when to stop barking when they're told.

It's the motivation behind it that I think is going to be hard to combat. They'll stop when I tell them and they'll be good about it, because we do praise and treat when they're quiet. But it's when we're not home that I worry, because I know they think it's fun now, and that's a very powerful motivation to keep on doing it.

Plus, and herein lies the rub, I don't have a problem if they bark at intruders, visitors or people loitering. They're dogs, that's what they do, and I encourage watch-dog qualities. They have big, deep barks - they are big dogs. People aren't to know that if they came in then they'd probably get licked and tail-wagged to death! I don't want to take their bark off them, but I don't want them to think that barking is a game. Sigh...

 

[Baron24]

Here is a ebook that you can maybe try out. They specialize in training dogs with barking problems.

Dog Barking Problems