Excessive Barking - but only at one person

[SusanZipf]

Hi - we adopted a min-pin/pug mix from the humane society. She's a sweet little dog - but hates my oldest son.

She has always been very reluctant to make friends with any male (except my 3 younger sons).

When most people come in, she barks at first, but she calms down when they sit, and gets in their lap, trying to lick their faces. NO sense of personal space. Then when they get up to leave, she barks her fool head off again.

But with Neal, she just continuously barks. He had to move in for a few months, and when he's home, she sits at the top of the stairs, looking down at his door, barking - for 4-5 hours at a time. When she hears any sound at all down there, she returns to her spot, barking. I've tried everything. Squirting her, petting her, trying to calm her, even those silent dog whistle things. She avoids the water, but still barks; she responds as if she hears the whistle, but still barks.

The funny thing is, when we're holding her, or he comes and sits near her, she will take treats from him, and will beg him to pet her. The whole time she's barking, she's wagging her tail. When he comes upstairs, she runs and hides, still barking.

This has gone on for two years. Nothing we do seems to make a difference. THIS is why I purchased this program. Praying it will help.
Any suggestions?

[Adrienne]

Hi there, 

Welcome to the forums!

That's a whole lot of barking if your dog does it for 4 to 5 hours at a time!

From your description it sounds like your dog isn't comfortable with your older son. It could be because she's not too familiar with him (you say he moved in for a few months), it could be that your son may have done something that startled her, it could be for some reason she hasn't felt comfortable around him enough to form a circle of trust.

Often, a dog may decide to categorize a person as not worthy of trust due to some rather innocent behaviors (from our perspective) which dogs though perceive as a big deal. Small dogs in particular, can be quite sensitive to certain things. For example, she might not like how your son moves (maybe he walks fast and in a decisive way), she might have heard her cough or sneeze and this once startled her, she might have not liked that he carries things (bags, large items) in and out of the door or that he may slam the door or that he might laugh loudly when he talks on the phone. Perhaps she is struggling with him going in and out of the house often versus staying home most of the time. These are just assumptions. I have witnessed big and small dogs react to the most subtle things. 

Just last week, for instance, we had guests and some of them bought along their small dog. This small dog was initially quite confident around all of us, but then, out of the blue, she decided to bark at a friend the moment he entered the room. This friend didn't do much different, other than lately I recalled that he was imitating certain tones of voices of people. I imagine this dog must have found it disturbing for a person to assume such variety of tones and she must have therefore labeled him as "odd" and not trustworthy and therefore worthy of being barked at. 

We sometimes may never know exactly what triggers dogs to do the things they do, but this is just to point out how sensitive some dogs are and how certain rather innocent-looking behaviors may have an impact on them. 

I assume your little dog may have a hard time with changes in postures and movement. Indeed, you describe her as doing well when guests are all seated, only to bark when they get up and leave. With your son, she seems accepting of attention and treats when your son is sitting nearby her, but she then struggles (running, hiding and barking) when your son walks up the stairs or hears your son downstairs.

Important would be to therefore identify what possibly triggers her to bark and then working on behavior modification. A good dog behavior modification plan for such a fear-based case would involve the use of desensitization and counterconditioning. It would therefore be helpful to familiarize with such methods.

You can read more about desensitization here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

And here you can read about counterconditioning:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

On top of these methods, it's important to learn more about threshold levels in dogs. When we carry out behavior modification, we want to avoid putting our dogs into situations they are not  yet prepared for. This only leads to more problems down the road and setbacks. You can read about threshold levels here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

The fact that she likes to sit at the top of stairs is likely indicative of the fact that she feels safer there so that she can watch your son't movement from the above and manifest her discomfort through barking but without the risk of getting too close to him. If she feels safer here, this may be a good starting point, until she's more comfortable.

So behavior modification may entail exposing her to certain things your son does that trigger her barking, but presenting them at a level that doesn't put her over threshold (no barking, no distress) and creating positive associations.

You can often start with noises using the "hear that" method outlined here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/

So for instance, when she's upstairs, you can be with her and ask your son to make sounds that seem to trigger her barking, but purposely presented at a lower level. So for example, if you know she reacts to your son coughing, you can ask him to just clear his throat while he's downstairs and you toss/give her a treat every time he does that. Then, once she seems comfortable with that, you can ask him to cough a little more and you toss a treat. Progress gradually to louder coughs, but if at any time you notice she barks, that's a sign she's not ready yet for that level of exposure, so you need to go back to coughing a little less loud and feed treats until she's ready again for the next level. 

Once you have this pat down, you may notice what's known as a "conditioned emotional response." In other words, once she hears the cough, she'll be looking in your direction for her treat. This is a great sign meaning that you are working your way towards changing her emotional response. 

Now, we can then do similar exercises with visual aspects. For example, let's say she barks when your son is walking up the stairs. You can have your son walking up a step as feed several high-value treat as h e goes up one step. Repeat several times until she's comfortable with that. Then, you can increase criteria and ask your son to start walking up a little more, always feeding treats as he performs the action. Once he's back down, no more treats. Gradually, your son should get up the stairs a little more each time, until you have a solid response of your dog anticipating treats every time he goes up the stairs. If at any time your dog reacts by barking, it's a sign you are going too fast through the process and you need your son to go back to taking a smaller step.

A similar exercise can be done with your guests when they are leaving. Practice having them stand up from the couch and you feed treats, then sit back down and then stand up again and take a step, and you feed treats, then progress to them standing, taking several steps and walking towards the door as you feed treats etc until they exit the door at which point no more treats are fed to make it clear that treats happen only when in presence of your guests. 

For barking when guests enter your home, you can here find a guide using the same method:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/

Now, behavior modification takes time, several sessions and a certain level of expertise to prevent setbacks. The biggest mistakes are going too fast in the process, not recognizing signs a dog is going over threshold and incorrect timing (giving treats at the wrong time). For safety and correct implementation, it is therefore recommended to enlist the help of a dog behavior professional using force-free behavior modification to provide in person-guidance and walk you through the process.

When we aren't doing behavior modification, it is best to not expose the dog to triggers and situations that distress the dog, causing her to bark. This can mean blocking off an area of the home that's more quiet so that she can relax there without being constantly in fear of your son. The more a dog rehearses a behavior (in this case barking) the more it puts roots and becomes more difficult to eradicate.

You mention this behavior has been going on for two years, so it won't disappear overnight unfortunately. But I love the saying "when there is will, there is a way" and those who take the time and determination to work on changing behavior are often rewarded with progress. It may start initially with a little trickle of improvements and over time more and more steady and impressive ones. It can be very rewarding to watch these dogs bloom!

Dealing with fearful dogs is not easy. It requires a multi-faceted approach tackling the triggers directly, but also taking a holistic approach in a way that we instill trust and confidence in our dogs through brain games, training and confidence-building exercises (clicker training and dog sports). Your can read more about the work needed with these fellows here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/helping-fearful-rescue-dog/

I hope this helps you. If you have any questions or need elucidations on anything, please do not hesitate to ask. If you have compiled a list of your dog's triggers and would like some examples on how to implement behavior modification specifically on them, post them here and I'll be glad to split these triggers into smaller components and develop a more specific plan.

Best,

Adrienne

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping) for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques for direct in-person guidance.