This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.
Dunbar advocates putting problem behaviours on cue. That goes for barking, too. The idea is to teach your dog to bark on cue (through lure-reward training) and then teaching your dog to be quiet on cue (again, through lure-reward). For example, you could use the sound of the doorbell or teasing the dog with a treat to elicit a bark and act as a lure. For the opposite, you could simply present a treat to a dog (they normally start sniffing and they can’t bark and sniff at the same time) and you have lured the silent behaviour.
The idea is, firstly, you can tell your dog to quiet if it is barking inappropriate. Secondly, by putting ‘bark’ on cue and rewarding it, when the dog barks of its own accord, and doesn’t get rewarded, it may realize that is not a desirable option (i.e. negative punishment, the removal of a good reward). Finally, by having barking on cue, it means you can sometimes give your dog permission to bark! It is unfair to expect dogs to never bark, but allowing them appropriate venues to bark (when cued) means that you are not denying your dog its natural desire to bark.
Though Dunbar believes dogs should be taught bark/shush as a matter of course, he believes that Kongs are one of the simplest and easier solution to preventing and treating problem barking. For someone who ‘doesn’t have time’ to teach cues for barking/non-barking, they can easily throw a stuffed Kong to their dogs.
That being said, Dunbar admits that it is difficult to teach an alarm or ballistic barker to quiet. As always, he advocates prevention through attentive puppy training, rather than trying to remedy a problem barker.
I just found your blog this morning, and I am enjoying exploring all your great content. I think the idea of cueing problem behaviours is a great idea. I have a fence fighter on my hands. The problem is that when she gets amped up, she doesn’t care about rewards. She gets totally ballistic. I love her for it, but I want a reliable settle command. Do you or any of your readers have some advice for me?
Hi David. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the blog.
It sounds like your dog is going ‘over threshold’ and, in that state, she won’t listen to you. I’d suggest working out where she is under threshold (how far away do you have to be for her to listen to you?) and start on a reliable settle command here, before gradually getting closer. One of my readers may have better advise, however.
Sorry for the long reply time. Yeah, that’s my problem, the fact of the matter is that she is either inside the house, or outside the house. She behaves totally differently depending on what side of the door she in on. Do you suppose that a long leash might help this? It would have to be a chain or something because left on her own she would chew through anything made of fabric. Since the last time I have wrote, I have been fairly successful at getting her to come inside the house in her hyper focused state. So she is starting to ratchet down a bit. There may be hope. She’s still a puppy. One and a half year old German Shepherd.
Hi David,
Often, dogs who are tied up display more aggressive behaviour than other dogs, so it may not be a great solution to your problem.
If you have been successful of late in calling the dog back inside, then you’re obviously doing something right! If you make sure coming inside is always a good thing (and maybe link it with a food or toy reward), it might continue to add to your success.
Good luck.
Yes, that has been my main thinking. If I am the one who calls her to the door. She always gets a treat. I don’t want to tie her up. I was just thinking a leash dragging along behind her that I could grab in case she is too far gone into the “zone”. But that is not something I’m ready to do with. I’m thinking now, that the “threshold” can be the type of thing agitating her, instead of her distance to the object. We live on a very busy street, lots of walkers, bikers, cars, etc. She only gets real riled up with other dogs walking past. I can’t vary the distance, but I can vary the object she is focused on. Teach her the quiet command, and then later on apply it to dogs. I am going to try your techniques on things that don’t get her agitated so far up that she won’t come down. It’s hard because it’s Winter and often -30 C, and I can’t stand with the door open 20 times a day. (Don’t worry my pup is an indoor dog. She comes and goes as she pleases as long as someone is home. If no one is home, she is indoors.
If you are your putting your dog out in the yard and she’s becoming agitated with people walking by, you may be able to block her visual access to them (e.g. put up a solid fence) and effectively stop her behaviour.