Found her voice?

I think my non-barking corgi may have found her voice. Up until last week she rarely barked, sometimes when playing and at one neighbor. The trick or treaters on Halloween alarmed her, and she barked at most of them. I gated her into the living room, but she could still see them out the window.

Yesterday we went to a corgi bash. There were 11 or 12 corgis there. I think they taught her to bark! She went from being the only silent corgi there to kinda vocal. Today she has been doing a lot of low woofs. If there is something to bark at I can't see it. She is often looking out the same window she would have seen the trick or treaters out of though.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I would like her to bark if there is someone at the door, but not be a barking fool. How should I reinforce this?

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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth and Indy on November 4, 2012 at 9:56pm

I'm having a similar problem. Indy wasn't very loud, but as a trick, we taught him to 'speak/bark' and 'sing/howl.' Now, he does it all the time. I would also like Indy to be an alert dog, but sometimes it is just not necessary for him to be barking.

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Permalink Reply by Beca and Mishka on November 5, 2012 at 3:50pm

Our trainer suggested sitting with Mishka and praising him for not barking - right before he would bark. So, on the porch, for example. No one can really approach, but he does feel like he has to alert. It takes some careful timing, and a lot of treats - I've been using duck jerky because by the time he has chewed through it, the bark trigger has passed by.

When he alarms at the window, I've started bolting upright at his first bark, and showing that I've been alerted. And then if he doesn't bark again I praise him. I figure he needs to have a job, so his job is now to tell me once and then let me take care of whatever it is.

Timing is really the key. I can tell when Mishka has understood because he'll bark and then look at me, rather than continuing to bark. For Halloween he barked at the first couple crowds and then decided I had the situation under control and went off to chew his antler. Also helped to open the door before anyone rang the doorbell.

Also, this doesn't work overnight. I've been working on this for a year, and only hit on the "make it his job to bark a specific way" idea about six months ago.