barking help (:
Okay Corgi lovers, you have been so helpful so far, so I am hoping you may have advice here.
My pup hasn't been a particularly yappy puppy, but suddenly at about 14 weeks old she really started barking. She barks at inanimate objects (tape measure, hair brushes, my soda stream-I actually understood that one the first couple of times as when it carbonates it is really loud). She also has a thing about singing apparently. Every time I sing (and I am a singer, so no not just off key) she barks (and this includes when she sees pop singers too- aka the super bowl halftime show).
But the worst so far is the telephone. Anytime she sees me pick up a handset she barks. And continues to bark until I am done. Then she settles down happily.
I do NOT want this to become a thing, so if anyone has any advice as to how to nip it in the bud please I am all ears! ^-^ Thank you!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Deltina Hay on
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Campbell is 17 weeks, and is also finding her voice. I have read a lot of good advice in here (you may want to do a search or look in the FAQs).
Right now, I am trying verbal commands. I decided not to use "no" or anything harsh. Instead, I use "hush" and "shhhh" while giving the universal quiet hand signal (pointer finger to mouth). I found that the "shhh" sound is interesting enough for her to look at me inquisitively and stop barking. This is great since I can then reward her for not barking.
If you can find something soothing like that that makes her stop barking and look at you, you should be able to condition her to figure out that means not to bark.
And, you are right to start now - the earlier the better!
If I can't get that to work all the time, I will likely try the water bottle. I may need to start that tactic to keep her from picking on the cat, too.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Barking is a self rewarding experience, which means it will continue and will escalate if allowed to do so. The longer the barking behavior is allowed, the harder it will be to counteract the habit. To stop it you need to make it a priority. If the pup barks you stop whatever you're doing and you deal with it immediately. I use the word " Quiet!" at the fist bark, if I get a second bark it's No! then Quiet! If that does not stop it completely, go get the dog and restrain it. You can put a hand around the muzzle, close your hand just enough that the dog cannot open the mouth to bark, but without squeezing or applying force. Never do this in an angry way, you are just helping the pup comply with your request. Hold briefly repeating quiet, and then release with "Good quiet", said in a soothing low voice once the pup is calmed down..
If the pup barks at an object that is unfamiliar, use your quiet command and, when possible, encourage the pup to approach and investigate and offer a treat or two as the pup does this ( but no barking as he approaches ). Step up your socialization, this is the age when lots of exposure to all kinds of things, people and situations is necessary so that all that is a normal part of your life becomes identified as safe and familiar.
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Permalink Reply by susan on
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It might help to teach the behavior "Speak", so you can then teach the behavior "Quiet". Anna's method seems like a good way to go. You could also try ignoring him when he barks at you by turning your back on him. First say quiet, then if he doesn't quite turn your back. When he is quiet, turn back and pet him. If he is quiet right off, praise and treat him and say "Good Quiet". I would have fake phone calls and work on it a few times a day. Same with singing. Don't expect overnight success. You'll have to be very consistent about how you approach it. If you do not deal with it in some manner, he will learn that if he just barks a little more or a little longer, he'll get what he wants. Good luck!
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Oh, and a past trainer I used to work with used to say that letting them have a "Bark Fest" once in a while is a good way to let them let off steam and wear them out a little bit. You have to give them permission, and they have to stop when you ask. Again, it puts it on command.
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Not a good idea to give treats in response to the word quiet. Most dogs are really smart and soon learn the whole sequence: they bark, you say quiet, they stop, they get a treat.... I never use rewards for stopping any unwanted behavior. You can however warn the dog with the word "quiet" BEFORE he starts to bark, if you know the occasion is coming up and, if he does not bark, you can reward that with a treat.
I don't like the bark fest idea, however there is nothing wrong with appropriate barking which warns you about something you need to pay attention to ( you are the judge of what that may be ) as long as you can turn it off at the FIRST request.
As Susan suggests, teaching a dog to "speak" on command is an excellent way to also teach "quiet". In this case you alternate giving a treat to reward whichever behavior you have asked for ( never just being offered by the dog, ONLY when you have specifically asked ). Use a soothing voice as a reminder not to bark, and a more commanding voice to stop it.
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Permalink Reply by Doglover on
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I had similar problems with barking with my Corgi in her first year of life ... she would bark loudly and incessantly to get my attention or what she wants. One day, I decided to take 10 minutes and teach her the commands "bark" and "quiet!" When she did those respective behaviors, I rewarded her with a treat. I repeated this 8-10 times and she quickly learned these two commands w/in 10 minutes. Later, at other times, when she'd start barking for whatever reason, I'd say "quiet" and she would do so, even without a treat. Then, at 10 months of age, she outgrew her annoying barking stage. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Hayley Roda on
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Thank you everyone! I started doing the "shh" quiet command, and it appears to be improving things! I have been treating to start with but will have to wean her from that as she is a smartie and will learn that bark-->quiet--> = treat (:
Out of curiosity, how do you teach talk? And what exercise did you do to get the corgis to learn speak vs quiet? I'd love to get this right :-)
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To get the bark, you start by asking the dog " do you want... whatever? ( a high value treat, or toy, or going out, whatever gets the dog excited ) and then you say "speak, speak", in an excited tone. You then reward even the smallest of whimpers, or vocalizations and you work on that until you consistently get the desired response, which will increase to a bark. Once the dog can bark on request reliably, then you introduce "Quiet".. You do one first with Bark and a treat, then pull out another treat and say "quiet". The dog may bark, say No! quiet! in a calm, lower tone of voice and count slowly to 5, then reward. After that, play this game alternating the two commands so the dog is sometimes rewarded for speak, sometimes for quiet and has thus learned the meaning of the word. You can then reward in other ways, for instance are you hungry? or do you want to go out? etct., but only respond with the desired outcome if you have been the one to ask, not so the dog is training YOU to respond to its barking. Slowly transition from treats, to petting or praise, always with an occasional treat.
As mentioned earlier, never any treats for stopping unwanted behavior.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I would work on desensitizing her to common household items so she does not find them threatening. Let her sniff objects like hair brushes so she sees they are safe.
When it comes to alarm barking, it is up to you how much barking you want. It suits us to have an alarm-barker who errs on the side of suspicious; we live near a big park and while our neighborhood is generally safe, the park also draws the sorts of people at night that empty places in cities everywhere tend to draw, and so we find it useful to have a dog that barks when he hears people outside or odd noises. Jack barks more than some people would be comfortable with.
So for us, what we do is when he alarm barks at anything outside, we look out to assess the situation and then say "I see it Jack, thank you." That is usually enough for him to stop, but if not he will stop when I say "enough." We never had to take the steps that Anna outlines because for some reason he always just responded. He's a sensitive dog who wants to please and that is probably why.When he barks at something we don't want him barking at, like the mail carrier, we just say "Jack, no." That way he learns that those things are not to be barked at.
When he was about 5 months old or so, he started alarm barking at objects in the house that were at all unusual, such as things left on the counter. Rather than correct him, I told him "It's ok" in a soothing voice and encouraged him to approach the object to see that it was no threat. Older puppies go through what is called a fear stage where they suddenly start to see anything unusual in the environment as threatening. You want to be careful to ease them through this transition by working regularly on socialization and exposing pup to new objects and things in a positive way so they learn that if you have it in the house, it's already been vetted as safe.
Both of mine look curiously at anything I carry into the house or bring downstairs, and I always let them sniff at it so they can see what it is. Corgis (and most herding dogs) are genetically programmed for what I call the "Things are different and that is wrong" response. Anything new might be a threat on a farm. It's the dog's job to alert to the new object and the owners' job to determine if it's a threat. So you want to work with these instincts to help the dog trust your judgement about objects you bring into the house.
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