frustration barrier barking?

[clairebear_ces]

Hello,

 

(I don't think I saw any posts with this same issue, but if I missed something please direct me :) )

 

I had posted awhile back about our puppy's biting behavior, but we have that under control now. Woohoo! I'm now moving on to her barking issues...She is a cattle dog/jack russell mix from the humane society and is about 5 months old. We have had her for 5 weeks. Whenever we go on a walk or have her on a leash, she ALWAYS freezes, and then barks and pulls on the leash when she sees other people and other dogs. It doesn't matter if we are in an unfamiliar place, inside our house, or in our backyard, if she is on a leash she does this. After watching her, I'm thinking it is barrier frustration because she just seems very agitated and sometimes bites at the leash while she's barking and pulling. She is also very friendly towards strangers and other dogs when she is OFF leash. She will run up to them, wagging her tail, and trying to give them kisses. So i'm thinking she's frustrated she can't do that when we're on a walk? Anyway, we are learning to heel, and she does great with that inside with no distractions. We're currently working on heel with her outside with people at a distance.

 

I guess my questions are: if you think this is barrier frustration? (I can provide more info if needed) Or if we should try to find a trainer in person and what type of trainer? (We live in a small city so our options are limited). If the heeling is a good thing to be focusing on or if we can be doing more?

 

Thanks,

Claire

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi Claire,

I am not sure if you read the article on barrier frustration yet, but in case you haven't, the link is here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barrier-frustration/ You may need to log in as a member in order to access that.

 

I will be glad to go over more information based on what you are describing. Sometimes, telling whether a dog is barking and pulling due to barrier frustration or fear/aggression may be challenging. In general, I expect it to be a fear-based behavior when some of the following criteria are met:

 

-The puppy's body language denotes fear (puppy backs up when barking, has ears folded back, tail tucked)

 

-The puppy has a history of acting fearful around other dogs

 

-The puppy has a history of acting fearful around humans

 

-The puppy hasn't been socialized with people or other dogs during the prime window of socialization which closes around 16 weeks.

 

-The puppy's barking is contingent upon seeing/hearing stimuli that frighten him. Barking on leash may be seen more because of more encounters with stimuli (compared to being at home) and because with leashes there is not much opportunity to retreat

 

-The puppy has a tendency to readily bark when something novel is encountered and is hesitant/very leery to investigate

 

-The puppy has been rehearsing barking behaviors for some time in other circumstances with the result that other dogs and people move away and the dog gives signs of feeling relieved by that.

 

In the case of a frustrated barker, in general, I expect it to be a frustration-based behavior when the following criteria are met:

 

-The puppy's body languages doesn't appear fearful (however it may often resemble aggression)

 

-The puppy has a good play history with other dogs

 

-The puppy has been well socialized with people and other dogs

 

-The puppy's barking behavior is contingent upon being leashed/behind a barrier (does well when off leash or no barriers)

 

-The puppy loves people and hasn't show any signs of being overly cautious in approaching people

 

-The puppy has been allowed to pull and greet people in the past or people have approached when the puppy pulled

 

-The puppy has a tendency to bark when frustrated and struggles with waiting or not having immediate access to things

 

Now, things aren't always cut-and-dried when it comes to dog behavior. There may be instances where puppies may feel both excited and somewhat fearful about the approach of people and other dogs. These ambivalent emotions are not uncommon. Many puppies engage in approach/avoidance behaviors and barking may be due to the conflict. These puppies may require a combo of behavior modification and training.

 

If this would be truly a case of pure frustration barking (it does sound like that may be your case, but then as mentioned, sometimes we can see mixed emotions in some dogs), then yes, I would fully support training an alternate behavior such as heeling/attention heeling. A dog barking due to frustration is often a dog who simply needs to better learn impulse control and frustration tolerance .

 

Puppies are in many ways like children: they can become quite persistent when they want something, and when they don't have it, they may get "temper tantrums." Now, these temper tantrums are not a sign a puppy is spoiled or trying to be bossy and have it his way, it's just that the puppy wasn't given a chance to learn how to cope with his emotions in a productive, socially acceptable way.

 

Now, something to consider is that often barrier frustration is simply the manifestation of an extinction burst. If you have allowed in the past your puppy to go meet and greet people and other dogs on walks every time your puppy showed an interest in them or was actively pulling, by now your puppy has come to expect that.

 

But what happens should you suddenly one day decide not to longer allow this? Very likely, frustration will set in. This leads to pulling with more force and barking when the pulling no longer yields the desired encounters. If the puppy is allowed to greet other people or dogs sometimes yes and sometimes, no, this can make the behavior more difficult to eradicate.

 

Regardless of whether your puppy has a history of being allowed to meet people and dogs while on leash or not, the way to tackle barking due to barrier frustration is different than tackling barking due to fear. There are no negative emotions to work on. The dog already has a positive emotional response to other dogs and people only that it is magnified excessively and needs some level of "buffering."

 

Training per se' entails for a great extent implementing impulse control. Young puppies love to move about and explore everything, and when you are training puppies stationary exercises (like sit/down/stay) you are teaching them to control their impulses. Puppies will therefore need salient incentives initially to accomplish this, and then, as time goes on, with proofing and the puppies maturing, they will become more and more capable of dealing with their impulses.

 

Tackling puppies barking at other dogs and people therefore entails initially keeping the puppy under threshold (gradual exposure and walking at a distance from people and dogs which evoke the pup's "bark,bark, bark, I so badly want to go greet" behavior) and training alternative responses to the barking and heavily reinforcing them.

 

My favorite alternate response to barking are heeling exercises because many puppies struggle to sit or lie down for long especially when excited. These exercises can be made super fun and are dynamic offering the pup the opportunity to release some frustration under the form of movement (in lieu of barking or performing displacement behaviors).

 

There are however several other options of alternate behaviors such as training the puppy to perform an emergency u-turn or doing several reps of hand targeting or fun recalls as you walk backwards to just name a few. Whichever behavior you choose, make sure to start training it in a quiet area at first (at home) until you obtain a fluent response and reward it generously. Then, practice in the yard, then on walks with no triggers and then at a distance from triggers gradually reducing distance. Setbacks are always possible, and in those cases, they are a signs that you have gone too fast in the process or your dog wasn't ready for encounters with stimuli of a certain intensity. In those cases, a few steps back in the process are needed.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Now, if dog owners have the time, will and financial means for hiring a professional, by all means I always recommend that because it is the ideal option. Sure many committed dog owners can and will succeed without the assistance of a professional if they implement everything correctly and have good knowledge of body language (to readily recognize signs of a dog going over threshold) and the time and motivation to practice all on their own. However, there are several pros with working with a professional.

 

Enlisting the help of a professional is important for safety and for correct training or behavior modification implementation. The expert can help in several ways such as:

 

-Identifying what evokes the behavior (fear? frustration?) and what consequences drive the behavior (increase distance, decrease distance?) through a functional assessment.

 

-Helping find strong reinforcers to create strong associations and/or to motivate and maintain behavior

 

-Suggesting effective training tools that may help in training and gain better control of dogs (clickers, no-pull harnesses, head collars)

 

-Ensuring the dog is not over threshold

 

-Helping gauge signs of progress and instructing on how and when to increase criteria (progress to the next step)

 

-Helping gauge signs of setbacks and instructing on how and when to lower criteria (go back a few steps)

 

-Ensuring dog owners don't progress too fast but keep going at the dog's pace

 

-Taking preventive measures and precautions to ensure safety of dog owners (puppies and dogs who bark due to frustration can get so worked up that this can lead to redirected bites -targeted towards the leash or even the handler at some point) and those around them.

 

-Coaching through the process and providing clear instructions based on observations.

 

-Answering any questions and troubleshooting problems that may arise.

 

Now, in regards to the type of trainer to use my answer is that it depends. If this is truly frustration barking, then a dog trainer using positive, humane training methods is the ideal option. If there is a component of fear, then that would ideally require a behavior professional. It is in the dog's and owner's best interest to find a behavior professional who is highly experienced and who uses humane behavior modification (no harsh methods and no use of aversive tools).

 

Training focuses on conditioning dogs to perform operant behaviors such as sitting, heeling, coming when called etc. Behavior modification focuses on modifying a dog’s emotional response to a specific situation, and along with that, by default, modifying the dog's behavioral responses. In the case of a fearful dog, the latter would be needed.

 

 

I hope this helps!

Let me know if you need any further assistance.

 

Disclaimer: dog training/behavior modification comes with risks. If your dog is acting aggressively or is exhibiting behavior problems, please consult with a professional for an in-person assessment and for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Adrienne Farricelli

[clairebear_ces]

Thank you so much! This is all so helpful and I hadn't found the barrier frustration page yet so I'll look at that too. From what you've said and from many hours reading various other training articles, watching videos, and watching our puppy, I'm 99.9% confident it's barrier frustration. She also has somewhat poor (but always improving!) impulse control with everything else so we will just keep working on our training! Thanks again.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

You are very welcome! Happy training and keep us posted on her progress.

Best,

Adrienne