Dog Frustration Issues

[nathanpaul]

(2 y.o. Lab) My dog gets frustrated very easily and has resorted to barking very loudly when he doesn’t get his way.
The biggest triggers are:
1- when he can see me but can’t get to me (dog gates, long lead when I’m out of his circle, through windows etc.) he’ll freak out barking the second I leave his reach. Not separation anxiety though.

2- when I’m eating and not giving him food (this only applies if I’m not sitting at a table and my mother used to feed him scraps for tricks without me knowing which started this one)

3- when I need to leave him in my apartment for a minute or two and I don’t do our huge leaving routine (filling kong, lickmat, etc.)

He doesn’t whine, pant or show any signs of anxiety just very frustrated barking that lasts awhile.

What I’ve been doing: sitting a few feet out of his reach and rewarding him when he’s quite and lying down (if he barks I turn away from him until he’s quite)

Ignoring him or turning away doesn’t really stop him much anymore he just gets more frustrated. Any help?

TLDR; I need tips to calm an easily frustrated dog.

 

[karlx]

@nathanpaul Barking itself can be a form of anxiety so don't rule it out completely. Ultimately you know your dog though.

What worked for me is just turning my back to the barking, refusing to acknowlege or reward it.

I had a puppy that started doing this in a room we had gated off while we were still doing introductions. Every time I would leave the room to get something she would bark and it was so shrill.

What I did was use ear protection and just stand with my back facing her while she barked behind the gate. I think it took about 5 mins for her to stop herself and once she was quiet for 3 seconds I would turn and enter the room with lots of praise. You can also teach a "shh" or "quiet" type of command if you wantm.

Be as selective as you want with this but be careful as dogs trying to repress barking can turn into just whining. So wait for the whining to stop too if you want complete silence.