the barking during adolescence is driving me insane

[ntenda]

Guys, i thought i was done here. i thought i was out of the woods. i posted here weekly for the first two months I had him. Stuff about house breaking, neutering, daycare, BITING. Then a flip switched and everything was magical and amazing and my dog was an angel. but now he’s 7.5 mo and he is a monster. He barks literally all the time. he barks at his toys when we throw them, he barks at us if he wants to play and we’re sitting on the couch. He barks out the window at people. he barks at friends when they come over, which he NEVER did. I live in an apartment building so while i can tolerate the barking, i have a feeling my neighbors are probably getting fed up with it and i’m feeling really bad. What do y’all do for a barky boy? I taught him speak but have yet to find an effective way to teach quiet. I taught him speak with the intention of teaching quiet as I know that’s one of the better ways to get them to hush but it’s not working. any suggestions? i don’t want this to become a permanent thing.

 

[betterdays]

@ntenda Ugh yeah, but we got our dog to ‘quiet’! The way we did it was that when she barked we would say quiet and treat her as soon as she stopped, then little by little they will stay quiet for longer periods and connects the word ‘quiet’ with being quiet. She now will usually lay down and stay quiet when we say it (although gets up quickly haha)

Edit: I also added a hand signal which is the shushing sign in front of my mouth, personally I think it’s too close to ‘look’ when you point at your eyes but she seems to differentiate it, I think it helps the process move faster

 

[ntenda]

@betterdays okay i’m going to try this when he gets barky tonight!! thank you

 

[muel89]

@betterdays This is what I had to do as well. I specifically put him in situations where I knew he would bark (drive thru, going out to potty when it was dark out, walking by the neighbors dog, etc) and treated when he listened to the quiet command and that really helped him to get it too.

 

[architectdave]

@betterdays I tried this with mine and now he barks everytime he wants a treat. Which is all the time!

 

[tilus]

@architectdave Did you give him treats outside of the barking training too? Maybe he associates barking with treats because no other behavior also gave him treats.

 

[architectdave]

@tilus He gets treats with all of his other training as well. He's figured out that the easiest way to get treats is to demand them

 

[tilus]

@architectdave Damn, then I'm out of ideas...good luck!!

 

[rzim]

@architectdave Start replacing treats with positive attention, pets, praise, etc. don’t give just treats, mix it up so they stop expecting it

 

[towerwatchman]

@architectdave This also happened with us.

 

[klonopinz]

@betterdays We did the same thing but our command is "enough"!

 

[abbyzowabby]

@betterdays This is the way.

 

[inspiredwords]

@betterdays be careful because now dog will think "I bark = I get treat"

Don't underestimate the idea that your dog could be the one training you

 

[loveallandbeloved]

@ntenda I read that teaching them to bark to teach them quiet often has the reverse effect because they've learnt that barking a) gets your attention and b) gets your reward. A bit like how dogs will sit or offer a paw in hopes of getting a treat.

 

[taeniura]

@loveallandbeloved Was about to try and teach speak. Yeah not going to do that anymore not worth the risk

 

[deerlane]

@taeniura I wouldn’t give up on it so quick! It’s been working really well with my boy (6 mo Great Pyrenees mix). Definitely takes time but I think worth the effort.

Edit: I’d say especially worth considering for breeds prone to barking.

 

[taeniura]

@deerlane I’m sure it does but my 5 month old doesn’t bark at all unless he’s playing with another dog. It would not be worth the risk of him barking at home for a trick.

 

[justincann]

@taeniura Don’t do it. I taught my guy who rarely barked and it is all the time. He then learned it was ok to bark outside from a friend’s dog and has started baking outside too

 

[nikti21]

@taeniura Don’t do it, it’s the worse solution someone came up with. Timeout works like a charm

 

[ntenda]

@loveallandbeloved he’s actually pretty good at only barking on command when i tell him to bark... he won’t just bark during training unless i ask him to