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Post by alfiemummy on Oct 6, 2014 18:08:43 GMT
Alfie has a real problem with barking at everything - and I mean pretty much everything and anything.
The main things he barks at:
- Anyone coming to the door & certain things at the front window (cars pulling up, cats etc) - If you stand up too quickly from the sofa (he thinks you're going to the door, even if nobody is there)
- Strange noises he doesn't like. In particular we have a new problem, we just got a new oven and he barks whenever the timer goes off, the oven makes other beeping noises which he doesn't care about. He never used to bark at the old oven timer. He also barks at certain noises on the TV. I don't mind that he barks at things but the real problem is that it is almost impossible to get him quiet again, I have tried to train him but don't seem to get anywhere. I think I mentioned this problem before and was advised to teach him to bark in order to teach him to be quiet, he learned to bark perfectly fine (of course) but the quiet part didn't really work. I have tried distracting him with treats and teaching him quiet that way but he is too wrapped up in the barking to really care about the treats until he's decided he's barked enough.
I have had progress with his barking when we are playing with toys, he gets really excited if we play something like fetch. He is finally getting that he doesn't get the toy thrown again until he is quiet.
Does anyone have any tips? He is driving us all insane with the constant barking.
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Post by scallywag on Oct 7, 2014 14:09:52 GMT
Sounds like Beau LOL when my steamer pings Beau immediately starts barking and running up and down, he knows that food is on offer LOL I tell him enough which usually works, my other distraction also is 'what's Mummy Got ? ' he then concentrates on me, for his treat. Shame the treats won't work for you alfiemummy. Shame that so called behaviourist never came back on after their one post LOL
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Post by AnnaAmber on Oct 7, 2014 18:19:24 GMT
Personally I would still work on training him to 'bark' and be 'quiet' on cue. Did you use a clicker to teach him how to bark? You can then click in the split second he is quiet and reward him, so that you catch it. Otherwise you can say 'yes' as a marker word but this generally takes longer IME. Then I would build on that so he will bark and be quiet whenever you ask, so that if he starts barking at something you can say 'quiet' and then he'll stop. Our Holly is a barker so I've been working on teaching her this, which she is progressing well with so if she's told to be 'quiet' she mostly listens
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Post by alfiemummy on Oct 7, 2014 19:33:54 GMT
I will persevere I found today that if he is on the sofa while he's barking, if I tell him to get off (which he does begrudgingly) then he will be quiet more quickly. I didn't use a clicker so I will try that. Think I will also use some better treats as what I used before obviously aren't good enough lol!
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Post by smilesbetter on Oct 11, 2014 9:14:07 GMT
Hmm, I suppose one of the main problems is that when he barks, he is rewarded by a result of some sort. For example, if someone knocks on your door, you go and answer it and that person maybe even comes in. Therefore he has alerted you to someone being there. Or if the postman comes up and puts something through the door then walks away, Alfie probably feels that he has scared away an intruder in this case.
So I guess you need to look at all the times when he barks and find out how he is being rewarded for it, and take away those rewards.
So for the first one two I mentioned there, you could get someone to come to your door and knock, and continually knock occasionally until Alfie stops barking. Only when he stops barking can you get up and let them in. Obviously that is gonna take aaaages at first, but he'll begin to get the message. Best if you do this with a few people, and best if you can arrange it so that everyone coming to your house knows to do this (you could maybe put a sign up on your door saying something like "Dog training in process, can only answer door when he stops barking, please be patient"). You could also get people to come along and pop bits of paper in your door till he stops barking, before waiting a little then walking away, to get him to stop barking at the postman haha. Sounds stupid, but once the reward for these activities stops coming during the barking, and only comes after the barking, you should find that his barking reduces and he may even stop altogether.
Also I don't know if you do this, but we have a rule in our house that no one pays Rosa any attention when they first come to visit. It's not for barking, but to remove any excitement from people coming through the door into the flat. It has worked fantastically well, so now if a delivery person comes to the house, she will wait patiently for them to give her any attention rather than charging towards them and potentially knocking my tea out of their hands haha. It also makes the house a little nicer for our non-dog-loving friends to visit, as it means she is less likely to jump up at them and harass them, and will wait patiently for them to offer attention. She goes a bit mad with excitement when offered attention from visitors, doing forward rolls at their feet, so it's better she waits to do this till she's invited haha. What I mean by this is, perhaps if you do something like this with Alfie too, then someone knocking at the door will seem much less exciting and he will get the reward for being calm when they give him attention after a little while of being there, thus completely removing association of attention from the sound of the knock.
As for the other situations, can you set the oven timer to go off repeatedly until he stops barking, then keep it going off for a little after silence before switching it off and rewarding him? Also, when he barks at stuff like this, don't try telling him to be quiet, as that is rewarding him with your attention and perhaps even teaching him that he's right to be scared. Instead, completely ignore him in all situations when he barks, make him feel like you're deaf and can't hear him barking, he might get frustrated at first and even try harder, but he'll begin to see that it doesn't work, barking gets him no results and no attention, yet when he doesn't bark he gets lots of attention and interesting things like people coming to visit etc happen.
Anyway just a few ideas for ya! Keep us updated on how you get on, love hearing about your training with Alfie.
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Post by alfiemummy on Oct 11, 2014 14:24:38 GMT
Thanks for the tips smilesbetter! We do not have that rule when people come to our house lol - I wish we did (and I bet our guests do too!). He is just a whirlwind of excitement, although he does settle down quickly especially if they ignore him (such as when the accountant or a plumber visits and just gets on with the job). We have been trying with the oven timer going off repeatedly but haven't had much progress so far. We are also a bit worried about annoying the neighbours so it's not quite so easy to just let him keep barking all the time.
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Post by smilesbetter on Oct 11, 2014 19:55:31 GMT
Thanks for the tips smilesbetter! We do not have that rule when people come to our house lol - I wish we did (and I bet our guests do too!). He is just a whirlwind of excitement, although he does settle down quickly especially if they ignore him (such as when the accountant or a plumber visits and just gets on with the job). We have been trying with the oven timer going off repeatedly but haven't had much progress so far. We are also a bit worried about annoying the neighbours so it's not quite so easy to just let him keep barking all the time. Haha well I'd give them a try anyway, maybe you could talk to your neighbours about it and agree a time limit (I.e between certain hours he can bark all he likes haha). I'm sure if they know that when he's barking, you're actually trying to train him not to, then they'll mind it a lot less. This kind of training can take a while, but then it takes a long time to break a bad habit and as long as you are consistent with the training, ignore him completely when he barks until a little while after he's stopped (and increase length of time), get people to ignore him when entering your house and don't give up, you'll get there eventually. If you don't remove the rewards for barking, he will never stop doing it. If he barks when someone knocks on the door, and even a few times gets lots of attention, he will continue to do it. Also if he barks when you or your family come home, wait till he's stopped for about a minute then enter, ignore him for a bit and then praise once he's settled for about a minute. It might feel horrible at first ignoring your dog, but it does work. My family dog Sasha used to owe with excitement when we came downstairs in the morning and when people came to visit. We started the ignoring thing and it has worked wonders for her. I haven't seen her pee on anyone or in the wrong place for years now and she is a seriously excitable dog. She no longer associates us coming down in the morning or people coming to the door with attention so she doesn't get excited for them, just waits till she is offered attention.
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Post by alfiemummy on Oct 11, 2014 20:02:25 GMT
That's the one time he doesn't bark at least smilesbetter (hooray it's not all the time! ) - when one of my family comes home. He definitely notices that they are coming as he can see through the window but he is very quiet and patient. Excited, as his tail is going and he will come to the door, but he is nowhere near as bad as when a guest arrives. I do ignore him for a minute or two as I take my shoes and coat off and put things down/away first before sitting on the sofa to greet him. We have a routine now lol, he waits for me to finish and I'll take my glasses off and sit on the sofa for my thorough face licking and wiggle dance
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Post by smilesbetter on Oct 11, 2014 20:18:52 GMT
That's the one time he doesn't bark at least smilesbetter (hooray it's not all the time! ) - when one of my family comes home. He definitely notices that they are coming as he can see through the window but he is very quiet and patient. Excited, as his tail is going and he will come to the door, but he is nowhere near as bad as when a guest arrives. I do ignore him for a minute or two as I take my shoes and coat off and put things down/away first before sitting on the sofa to greet him. We have a routine now lol, he waits for me to finish and I'll take my glasses off and sit on the sofa for my thorough face licking and wiggle dance Haha well if you can get him like that for guests too, then you'll be sorted fir the barking there!
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