Barking and Positive Reinforcement in Action

Barking....a common challenge faced by dog owners!

Dog's bark for a variety of different reasons but the underlying cause is an emotional response to something in the environment.  What we don’t realize is that the more our dog rehearses barking, the more likely it is that barking will increase for all sorts of unrelated reasons until it become a default behaviour for the times when they get excited.

If you think about barking as an emotional response your ability to understand it, manage it and find a solution that works for both you and your dog will be enhanced.

Yelling NO, STOP, or QUIET, increases our blood pressure and does nothing to stop the barking.  So, if you have a dog that barks, what can you do? 

My need to learn more about how to deal with barking took on new urgencywhen I brought Piper into my life.  Piper is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrieve and listening to a Duck Toller in full alarm barking mode is an experience!! 

Off I went in search of solutions. 

My research led to me to Absolute Dogs and the magic of games-based training.  Reading their “Bark No More” playbook gave me a game plan to tackle Piper’s barking struggles.  

Building calmness was our starting point and I quickly added two additional games: 

1.  Distraction Mark Treat (DMT):  a game of disengaging from things in the environment
2. The Crazy Lady game:  to help us out with barking that was triggered by sounds.

The changes haven’t been overnightbut now when she barks, I can say her calm marker word and she will stop barking and return to me for reinforcement. 

Playing games made dealing with the struggle so much more fun for both of us and it makes me feel good because I can reinforce Piper for making good choices. 

Thanks for reading and have funplaying the games that will bring you real-life results.

Heather

P.S. If you want to dive deeper into additional learning and games to help reduce barking, enroll in the Absolute Dogs"Stop Barking"mini-course! This course is jam-packed full of top tips, games, strategies, and solutions to transform ALL your dog’s barking struggles.   As a ProDog Trainer affiliate, I receive a commission (when you click on the above link) which I use to provide you with email support as you work to transform your dog’s  barking struggles.