barking Archives - Oh My Dog!

The Hedgehog Effect

06•10•16

Barking is a hot topic, huh?

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about The Magic Box, and I’m pleased to report it’s still working (mostly) well. The trick is catching Cooper before the frenzy starts, or else it’s a lost cause. Emmett, though… Since he can’t really hear the trill, and he doesn’t bark at anything outside the house anyway, well, my sweet old boy just can’t figure out what makes The Magic Box spit out treats. He’s made it a habit to check it every few hours–after naps, after walks, after going outside, etc.–just to see if there are treats there.

Anyway, this isn’t about that exactly. This is about The Hedgehog Effect.

(I have a weird compulsion to name everything, apparently. It’s my Name All The Things Thing. Also, it’s always too chaotic when we use The Hedgehog, so no pics… but here’s one I posted recently on Facebook!)

After things passing by the house, Cooper’s next biggest flip-out is when anyone comes in the house. He gets SO excited, pretty much regardless of who it is. Even strangers, the little weirdo. Part of his excitement is shrill, frantic barking. Then, he redirects. When he used to do that to Lucas, it would occasionally turn into a fight. With Emmett, thankfully, Em just walks away. Cooper also jumps up, and he also smiles. The barking + jumping + smiling makes an intimidating picture for anyone who doesn’t know him or for anyone who’s his same size… Like our 6-year-old nephew, Owen, who’s pretty much eye-to-eye with Coop.

Rewind back to 2014: We attempted to curb this problem by handing Cooper a toy whenever we came in the house. It worked wonders. It was an instant fix, actually, which almost never happens with dog training! But then three things happened to derail.

First, we almost never remembered to put out a toy and give the full explanation to guests to give him upon entry, so that relationship never formed in Cooper’s mind.

Second, WE got complacent and kept forgetting to refill the toy bin in the garage, and it became so inconsistent that we all just sort of forgot about it.

Third, the toys that he didn’t outright destroy lost their luster. We just couldn’t keep a stuffie around for long enough to work more than once, and the hard rubber toys that last are way less cool, apparently, to Cooper.

But, now that we live so close to Owen, he comes over nearly every week to have game night or movie night or cookout or whatever. All things that include the dogs. So, we talked about what toys motivate Cooper the most. Interestingly, we came to the same conclusion as the toys that motivate Emmett the most:

A hedgehog.

I don’t know what it is about these stuffed hedgies, but they are THE winner in our house.

Kroger sells the cheap version, so John bought a whole bunch. The last time Owen came over, I called him up and asked him if he wanted to help me train Cooper to be calmer whenever he comes over. Of course he said yes. So, I told him I’d set a hedgie on the step and, as the dog trainer, he needed to hand Cooper the hedgie as soon as he walked in the door.

He did, Cooper dashed off to shred his reward, and all was calm.

We repeat each time Owen comes over to great success!

A couple weeks later we had the chance to really put The Hedgehog Effect to the test. My friend, who Cooper’s only met once, was in town visiting with her mom and her 3-year-old. Then, my sister came over with Owen.

It was chaos, the kind of thing that gets Cooper riled up.

But, honestly? He was (mostly) a perfect angel!

He shredded two giant hedgies into thousands of small pieces, but he didn’t jump on anyone. He didn’t bark in anyone’s face. He was pretty darn good!

Since then, whenever we’re worried that a situation will be overwhelming for him or get him riled up, we bust out a hedgie (or two) as needed. We’re reserving it for those stressful situations and stranger greetings–we’re back to regular, boring rubber toys for when we come in the house. I want to keep the hedgie special, plus his carbon footprint is getting so big… I may have to install another rain barrel to make up for it! But, it works to keep him calm.

There you have it. The Hedgehog Effect.

Are your dogs effusive door greeters like Cooper? How do you manage it?

Happy weekend, everyone!!

Barking at the front door insanity (plus, a giveaway!)

11•14•14

Here it is: The final day of Bark Week! And this one’s a biggie! Today I’m sharing our biggest barking problem, what we’re doing to combat it, and a giveaway of the most fabulous anti-barking tool ever!

If you’re just joining us, so far we’ve discussed: how to get your dog to stop barking on cue, how to curb demand barking, and the easiest solution for eliminating excited barking.

But if your dogs are anything like mine, none of those problems even compare to what happens when – cue horror movie music – a stranger rings the doorbell. Dun dun dunnnn.

So, today that’s what we’re discussing: the insanity of barking at the front door and my new strategy to work on it!

Whenever someone rings our doorbell, it’s like unleashing a pack of gamma-irradiated-werewolf-zombie hybrids. They fling themselves at top speed into the door, barking like deranged, rabid monsters. Then, inevitably, Cooper turns that huge amount of frustration onto Lucas. Then, trying to actually get the door open and welcome our guest/sign for a package is an epic feat of wrangling them either behind the sunroom gate or into the backyard.

Does anyone else experience something like this? Please tell me this isn’t just me…

OK. So, clearly a problem. We decided to tackle this head on a couple years ago and tried so many strategies. We tried sending them to their beds whenever someone came to the door. They nailed it when we practiced – even when other people helped us practice – but these guys have done so much training that they quickly figured out practice vs. a real stranger at the door. They would either not go to their beds, or they would but would pop up the second I turned the deadbolt. Fail.

We also tried associating the doorbell with a “place” that came with treats. We rang and rang and rang and rang the doorbell, sending them to their place and raining treats upon their heads. And then we did it some more. Yet, again, they would do it perfectly… until a stranger actually came to the door, then they were like, “Doesn’t apply! This is a real threat! Abort training!” Fail.

New plan! (And this one’s working!)

When we visited PetSafe way back in the summer, they generously gave us a Train ‘n Praise, which I promptly put in the closet and forgot about because… what did we need that for? We weren’t potty training or anything, so??

Little did I know until in a random Facebook discussion, Jodi from Kol’s Notes mentioned how she was using it, and LIGHTBULB!

We went through quite a bit of trial-and-error, but here’s what we hit on as THE solution:

The Train ‘n Praise is on top of the fireplace, across from the front door (in the pic above, I’m standing in the doorway). When we push the little remote button, it spits out treats that scatter all over. The button also comes with a really specific noise to signify that treats are coming. So, what we’ve been doing is pushing that button every single time the doorbell rings and every single time someone comes in the house through the front door.

Are they 100%?

Nope!

Not yet anyway, but it’s working better than anything else we tried. The boys are OBSESSED with Ann, their pet sitter, and she told me that when she came in, Lucas ran right over to the Train ‘n Praise to collect his treat… without her pushing the button. My mom and her friend stopped by, and Cooper was so busy gathering treats, he barely had time to clobber them. Barely. Sigh.

Anyway, it’s a work in progress. We used it on Halloween, which was a seriously high-intensity practice session, and they did great. My ultimate goal is to have them just assume that when the doorbell rings, they need to run over and collect their treats, rather than barking their faces off or clobbering guests. We’re not there yet, but we’re working on it!

Sound intriguing? Want to try it with your dog?

Well, guess what! You can! I had a PetSafe gift certificate, and I used it to purchase TWO Train ‘n Praises for two of you! This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. The widget should load below in a few seconds, or if you’re reading via email or feed, you may have to click the link.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’ll keep you posted on our progress. But, for now, Bark Week is a wrap!

Do your dogs go nutso barking at the front door? Have you found any other solutions that work? If you win the Train ‘n Praise, how do you envision using it?

How we stopped the barking at the door excitement

11•13•14

Yesterday, I shared a video of Cooper’s “before” excitement of barking at the door. This is VERY different from what he does at the front door – coming tomorrow – because the back door is what friends and family use. So, it’s EXCITED! And then he turns on Emmett. Sigh.

But, you know what? This was the easiest barking problem to solve. I’m seriously amazed (ashamed?) that it took us so long to hit on this one simple idea.

Seriously.

Curbing barking at the door from Maggie Marton on Vimeo.

That’s it.

We hand him a toy.

Now, this works because Cooper LOVES toys. We first tried it with treats, but that didn’t work. He’d gobble the treat, and the barking would start back up. This keeps him focused and occupied with something other than barking. Piece of cake. By the time he loses interest in the toy, we’re in the house and settled, all before he can remember how excited he was and start barking again!

The tricky part is remembering to put a toy in the garage!

I know the first inclination is to think… isn’t that rewarding him for the behavior? I debated that for, like, one second, then realized that it’s more about the distraction than the reward. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. And it works, so I’m cool with it!

If only all barking problems could be solved as easily… 🙂

For those of you who mentioned a similar problem, have you tried a toy? Any other tips, tricks, or suggestions for stopping this barking at the door behavior? Please share in the comments!

And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the final day of Bark Week. I get to giveaway two of my very favorite tools to curb barking! Woot!

Demand barking: What it is and how to curb it!

11•11•14

Welcome to Bark Week Day 2! If you missed yesterday’s post, head on over and read all about how to get your dog to stop barking on cue.

For today, though, this one was requested many times, and it’s a big problem we have: demand barking!

So, what is demand barking? Just like a toddler throwing a tantrum in the candy aisle at the grocery store, this behavior is barkbarkbarking for something your dog wants. It comes in many forms. Cooper barks at Lucas to play with him. He barks at me to play with him. He barks at John to move over on the couch to make room for him. I posed this on Facebook, and lots of folks weighed in. One that made me laugh was Ruby from Rubicon Days barks at the closet with the “good toys” – so funny!

This type of barking can be super annoying. And it’s incredibly difficult to stop it.

Why?

Because it relies 100% solely and entirely on us keeping our “patient pants” on.

Seriously, though, we’ve been working on this for a year and have made very little progress because it’s nearly impossible to do the ONE THING that will stop this behavior.

Wait. One thing? How can that be true?! Of course we can all do ONE THING! Right?

Sigh.

All you have to do to end demand barking is… ignore it. Completely. 100%. Unwavering. That means NO yelling “shhh!” or “stop it!” or “cut it out!” Silence. You can turn your back, walk out of the room, whatever it takes to totally and completely ignore it. But everyone has to be on board, which makes it almost impossible.

Let’s look at an example: When Cooper wants to play, and I’m doing something that doesn’t lend itself to play – cooking dinner – he will stand there, look me in the face, and bark. As soon as I say, “Knock it off, Cooper,” I just acknowledged the behavior and the demand. Or, more likely, as soon as I toss him a toy – thinking it’ll just shut ’em up for a minute – I’ve rewarded the demand. Both options ensure that he’ll do the same thing again tomorrow night when I’m cooking dinner.

To make it EVEN HARDER to ignore, many dogs will go through an “extinction burst” period. They realize they’re being ignored, and they think, “Oh, man. This has always worked. Why isn’t it working? I better try harder! Louder! Longer! More barking!” And God forbid you give in at that point because that louder/longer barking fit might just become the new normal.

In a perfect world, John and I could work together (along with my mom… our friends and neighbors… our pet sitter… and so on…) to never, ever acknowledge his demands. That’s just not our reality.

So, if you (and everyone your dog demands things of) absolutely can’t ignore it, the management option requires an incompatible behavior. This won’t eliminate demand barking, but it’ll get it to stop in the moment.

In our experience, and from everyone who’s weighed in on this topic, we all know what our dog is demanding when this behavior starts up. You know if your dog wants a toy/treat/spot on the sofa/the “good toys”/scratches/whatever. Rather than offer what is being demanded, request something different.

For example: Your dog is barking to get a bite of your sandwich. Rather than give him another treat (or, worse, an actual bite of your sandwich!) ask for a simple behavior like sit or, my preference, send him to his bed. Then, give him a chew toy as a reward rather than what was being demanded.

Or: Cooper is barking his furry little face off, trying to get the stuffie back that I took away from him because he had ripped it to shreds. This one’s pretty common around here. He will stand at the pantry where the trash can is – where stuffies go to die – and bark and bark and bark and bark, usually while giving me the stink eye. Rather than toss him another toy, I ask him for a couple quick behaviors – touch, high five, whatever – and give a food reward. My goal is to keep him busy with an incompatible behavior for long enough to get him to forget about his obnoxious demands.

There you have it! Demand barking can be incredibly obnoxious. You can eliminate it, and lots of training resources are super positive about that possibility! Just ignore it, they say! That just doesn’t work for us. I wish I could tell you another (easier…) way to eliminate it, but I don’t have one. Management is our solution.

Many of you mentioned problems with this behavior. What works for you? Have you tried any other management techniques? Or have you had luck with eliminating the behavior?

“Cooper, enough!” (aka, How to get your dog to stop barking on cue)

11•10•14

Welcome to the first installment of Bark Week!

Barking has always been a constant in this house. Lucas has a huge bark, which when combined with his reactivity, means lots and lots of barking at every noise on the street. Cooper, though. Oh, Cooper. We thought Lucas was a big barker until Cooper came around. The big difference between the two of them? I mean, other than the fact that Cooper out-barks Lucas 5-to-1? Cooper’s bark is shrill.

Working from home, I needed a way to get the barking under control – not only to be able to focus on my work, but also to be able to take phone calls without hiding in the bathroom…

So, pretty much since we’ve been back in Bloomington, we’ve been working on barking. We’ve made huge strides, though it’s not perfect, but so many of you have mentioned these same struggles that I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you what has worked – and what hasn’t! Today is all about how to get your dog to stop barking on cue!

A quick disclaimer: I’m just sharing what has worked for us. I’m not certified in anything relevant, so those folks with behavior backgrounds may cringe at my methods here, but… they worked for us, so I thought it might help someone else!

OK. So, the thing is, I’m actually not opposed to them barking in general. I don’t mind it, especially since we have weird travel and work schedules, and I’m home alone very often. I didn’t want to desensitize them to things passing by the house. Instead, I wanted them to feel able to bark if they needed to but -stop when I asked them to. (Some people want to curb the barking altogether by implementing a counterconditioning process for things passing by the house. That’s not what this post is about, though.)

The first step to success was limiting Cooper’s (and Lukey’s, too, but I’m going to use Coop as the example) opportunities to practice nonsense barking. So, the stuff where he barks his face off at… leaves blowing past the front door… or kids walking to the park or whatever. We’ve left our blinds closed for a few months now, especially in the front room of our house. By leaving them closed, his line of sight is limited, so he’s less likely to bark at nonsense.

Next, choose your cue. It’s important to remember that no matter what word you choose to teach, your dog has no context with that word. If you’ve been shouting “shut up” or “knock it off”, you need to pick something else. We went with “enough” because it’s not a word that we use in other dog cuing contexts.

(And this is where those behaviorists might cringe…) Now you need to start teaching the cue. For Cooper, once he started a barking frenzy out the window, he became completely unresponsive to everything else, so I needed to snap him out of that mode. I used my “face-full-of-treats” strategy where, when he started going nutso, I’d toss a small handful of tiny treats at his head. Trust me, it snaps him out of it instantly – giving me a split-second window. As soon as he realized he was just pummeled with treats and started trying to gobble them up, I could call him to me with an even better treat in my hand. It would break the frenzy and bring me his attention.

Eventually I began to integrate the “enough” cue when he would break his attention and come collect his treat, but that step took by far the longest because he was SO fixated on barking his face off out the window. So, repeating that over and over (and over and over…) combined with blocking his views out the window, we cut down on a huge amount of the excessive barking.

Here’s how it works now (please turn your volume WAY down… Cooper barking and me calling him… it’s loud… sorry ’bout that):

How to get your dog to stop barking on cue (aka, “Cooper, enough!”) from Maggie Marton on Vimeo.

Wherever Cooper is in the house, as soon as I shout “Cooper, enough!” he runs at top speed, plops into a sit (unnecessary but nice), and collects his treat. Oftentimes I’ll ask for other behaviors, like a sit or touch, just to give even more distance from what he was barking at.

Of course, the funny thing is Lucas and Emmett dashing into the room to collect treats, too, but I want them to respond to “enough” as well, so I always dole them out!

There you have it! That’s how I taught Cooper to stop barking on cue. Now, if you’re really paying attention here, you’ll realize that “enough” to Cooper does NOT mean “stop barking.” To Cooper and the big boys, “enough” means “haul ass to lady and we get treats!” Not the same thing, but it works!!

As a quick aside, the reason I went with this method is because the old advice of “teach your dog to bark on cue, then you can teach him how to stop barking on cue” did. not. work. Oh, we taught them to bark on cue. But once they found their voices, they did not want to stop. “We’re getting treats for barking! YAY BARKING!” This method fixed that right up!

Phew! Such a long post. Sorry about that. I hope it’s been helpful!

Have you taught your dog to stop barking on cue? What methods have worked for you?