My two-year-old dog has started barking at random strangers
March 21, 2018 10:45 AM Subscribe
We have a two-year-old Cavoodle... a King Charles Spaniel/ toy poodle cross. She's very affectionate and eager to please, but has recently started barking at all sorts of strangers, for no apparent reason. How do we stop this behaviour?
We have a two-year-old Cavoodle... a King Charles Spaniel/ toy poodle cross. She's very affectionate and eager to please, though also timid and scared by large inanimate objects such as wheelie bins. As a puppy she was happy to play with any dogs, but now she's wary of the bigger ones. She hates to be told "no" or to hear a raised voice. Her training is adequate: she sits, comes back on command, gets down when told, pleads hopefully for food at the table but knows better than to pester us. She is well socialised, and plays happily with our 18-month-old cat.
But... in the past few weeks she has become very barky. Outside the house, in cafes and parks, she has started barking for no reason at all sorts of strangers – men and women, and children too. She's not guarding us: she just seems to take exception to a few individuals. It's very antisocial, and we'd like to nip it in the bud. Do any Metadog owners have experience of similar barking problems?
We have a two-year-old Cavoodle... a King Charles Spaniel/ toy poodle cross. She's very affectionate and eager to please, though also timid and scared by large inanimate objects such as wheelie bins. As a puppy she was happy to play with any dogs, but now she's wary of the bigger ones. She hates to be told "no" or to hear a raised voice. Her training is adequate: she sits, comes back on command, gets down when told, pleads hopefully for food at the table but knows better than to pester us. She is well socialised, and plays happily with our 18-month-old cat.
But... in the past few weeks she has become very barky. Outside the house, in cafes and parks, she has started barking for no reason at all sorts of strangers – men and women, and children too. She's not guarding us: she just seems to take exception to a few individuals. It's very antisocial, and we'd like to nip it in the bud. Do any Metadog owners have experience of similar barking problems?
I am dealing with a leash reactive dog (with a problem not with people but with other dogs) we adopted, and from what I have read it seems like the sooner you break the association of "person > dog sees > dog barks" the earlier the better, so it's good that you're looking into stopping this (in our case just replace person with dog and it's the same thing).
We are awaiting our training sessions but have had some success with giving our dog a good treat (like beef jerky) when he sees another dog but before he starts to bark, or turning away and keeping our distance whenever possible. The issue is that it's hard to get your dog's attention when they're already upset and barking, so practicing at home and in situations that aren't really distracting is key so your dog can learn what you want them to do.
Is your dog barking when she's on a leash? She might feel somehow threatened by certain people for whatever reason. Children can be a trigger if children are known to run up to pet her. If she's being left tethered to a post in busy areas she might feel threatened too.
posted by lafemma at 11:32 AM on March 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
We are awaiting our training sessions but have had some success with giving our dog a good treat (like beef jerky) when he sees another dog but before he starts to bark, or turning away and keeping our distance whenever possible. The issue is that it's hard to get your dog's attention when they're already upset and barking, so practicing at home and in situations that aren't really distracting is key so your dog can learn what you want them to do.
Is your dog barking when she's on a leash? She might feel somehow threatened by certain people for whatever reason. Children can be a trigger if children are known to run up to pet her. If she's being left tethered to a post in busy areas she might feel threatened too.
posted by lafemma at 11:32 AM on March 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Good for you for looking to nip this in the bud. I let this go on way too long with my dog (it started at a time when I was really busy and preoccupied with a big life change, which I imagine is not a coincidence!) and it's so much harder to reverse once the dog has gotten used to it.
In my case, my dog barks at other dogs, not people, but these are some things I've tried:
- The focus command mentioned above. If you can actually get your dog to the point they will look at you (or touch their nose to your hand, for instance) whenever a new person or dog comes into view, you will be doing very well. It's great for other things too, like controlling your dog at the dog park. This has not worked for me, unfortunately, but it has worked for friends of mine. You have to be really, really consistent about practicing it with your dog.
- Distraction. Especially if you think this may be a fear response, and if you have quick reflexes, give your dog a treat whenever a new person is about to approach (or right before whatever the normal trigger is). If done right, this will actually have the knock-on effect of teaching your dog to focus on you whenever a new person comes on the scene. This does require you to be quicker than your dog though! My record with this is about 50-50.
- Removing him from the environment. This was what a trainer suggested I focus on. So if I see someone coming the other way down the street walking a dog, I just cross the street, or go the other way. If I can't cross the street, I pull him to the side, put him in a sit, get down on his level, and talk to him until the other dog has passed. This sounds like avoidance, but honestly, I've been shocked at how well it works in general. I've found that in situations where I can't remove him, he's now less likely to bark. I don't know if this is a direct result of the tactic, or just that he's getting older, but it's actually worked quite well for him.
I think trainers tend to suggest the last tactic because while the first one is very effective when done right, the humans involved have to be very consistent and vigilant about practicing it, and most people who are not dog trainers are just not going to be that good. So if you think you have the reflexes and stamina to really consistently work with your dog on this (and so does everyone who takes him out in public), then definitely try the first two. If you're not sure, or you want something to do in the meantime, definitely try removal/distraction.
posted by lunasol at 12:13 PM on March 21, 2018
In my case, my dog barks at other dogs, not people, but these are some things I've tried:
- The focus command mentioned above. If you can actually get your dog to the point they will look at you (or touch their nose to your hand, for instance) whenever a new person or dog comes into view, you will be doing very well. It's great for other things too, like controlling your dog at the dog park. This has not worked for me, unfortunately, but it has worked for friends of mine. You have to be really, really consistent about practicing it with your dog.
- Distraction. Especially if you think this may be a fear response, and if you have quick reflexes, give your dog a treat whenever a new person is about to approach (or right before whatever the normal trigger is). If done right, this will actually have the knock-on effect of teaching your dog to focus on you whenever a new person comes on the scene. This does require you to be quicker than your dog though! My record with this is about 50-50.
- Removing him from the environment. This was what a trainer suggested I focus on. So if I see someone coming the other way down the street walking a dog, I just cross the street, or go the other way. If I can't cross the street, I pull him to the side, put him in a sit, get down on his level, and talk to him until the other dog has passed. This sounds like avoidance, but honestly, I've been shocked at how well it works in general. I've found that in situations where I can't remove him, he's now less likely to bark. I don't know if this is a direct result of the tactic, or just that he's getting older, but it's actually worked quite well for him.
I think trainers tend to suggest the last tactic because while the first one is very effective when done right, the humans involved have to be very consistent and vigilant about practicing it, and most people who are not dog trainers are just not going to be that good. So if you think you have the reflexes and stamina to really consistently work with your dog on this (and so does everyone who takes him out in public), then definitely try the first two. If you're not sure, or you want something to do in the meantime, definitely try removal/distraction.
posted by lunasol at 12:13 PM on March 21, 2018
I got my squirrel reactive & bike dog out of it by teaching him the "Let's Go" command. Basically it means we're changing the subject. The second they start barking, you say "Let's Go" and immediately change direction, do a sharp 180 and walk away as if you expect your dog to follow then keep walking until they calm down. Basically it's the changing focus method, because dogs tend to be very forward moving they focus on what is in front of them & removing the stimulae.
If it's reacting because it wants to go up to people/chase squirrel etc, so that the cause of the reaction would be a reward for the dog. Then when the dog has calmed down & stopped barking you can try approaching again, preparing to turn at the first sign it's going to bark. Basically you look like a fool moving back & forth on the pavement, but eventually your dog learns if I wants to approach thing that it's reacting to it has to be calm.
If it's barking because it's scared then you will want to work on the focus command as mentioned above. Keep talking to your dog the whole time too. In a calm but firm reassuring voice can help keep it's focus on you as can a pocket full of treats. The trick is getting the treat to your dog between seeing the person & not barking to reinforce the not barking part, so you might want to look into clicker training. There are a lot of great videos out there, and then when you are out walking you can simply click when your dog is doing the behaviour you want, in this case seeing a person & not barking and they will know a treat is coming because of the thing I was doing when I heard the click. I like treats so I want to hear more clicks I will do x more often.
posted by wwax at 1:42 PM on March 21, 2018
If it's reacting because it wants to go up to people/chase squirrel etc, so that the cause of the reaction would be a reward for the dog. Then when the dog has calmed down & stopped barking you can try approaching again, preparing to turn at the first sign it's going to bark. Basically you look like a fool moving back & forth on the pavement, but eventually your dog learns if I wants to approach thing that it's reacting to it has to be calm.
If it's barking because it's scared then you will want to work on the focus command as mentioned above. Keep talking to your dog the whole time too. In a calm but firm reassuring voice can help keep it's focus on you as can a pocket full of treats. The trick is getting the treat to your dog between seeing the person & not barking to reinforce the not barking part, so you might want to look into clicker training. There are a lot of great videos out there, and then when you are out walking you can simply click when your dog is doing the behaviour you want, in this case seeing a person & not barking and they will know a treat is coming because of the thing I was doing when I heard the click. I like treats so I want to hear more clicks I will do x more often.
posted by wwax at 1:42 PM on March 21, 2018
One of the things I did with our pit/border collie/Shephard mix was to teach her "Keep walking." When nothing was going on her walk, I would say "Keep walking" in a happy voice and give her a treat. Then as we got better at that, I would tell her in advance of something disturbing like a squirrel or an another dog, "Keep Walking" and I'd repeat it and give her treats all the way through the process.
Eventually, I could stop with the treats and just tell her to keep walking when something was problematic. She wasn't perfect every single time, but it stopped a lot of the lunging and barking for 90% of walks.
posted by teleri025 at 3:13 PM on March 21, 2018
Eventually, I could stop with the treats and just tell her to keep walking when something was problematic. She wasn't perfect every single time, but it stopped a lot of the lunging and barking for 90% of walks.
posted by teleri025 at 3:13 PM on March 21, 2018
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posted by praemunire at 11:08 AM on March 21, 2018 [10 favorites]