When walking barking at people and dogs

[Kenneth]

Hi thanks for helping in the other situation which I think is cured he just does excitement peeing now which I hope he will grow out off.  Sorry another problem. When taking my puppy for a walk he does pull and also he barks at other dogs and just wants to get to them. Please if there is any advice he is eight months old. Thanks 

[Adrienne]

Hi Kenneth,

I am glad to hear things are going much better with the peeing in the crate behavior. In regards to the behavior on walks, we usually see mainly two forms of barking in puppies: the fearful/defensive barking seen in puppies who weren't socialized much with other dogs and who therefore aren't too friendly and the excited/frustrated barking of puppies who want to go meet and greet all dogs on walks. I will go a bit more in detail on both forms of barking. 

Barking Due to Fear/Defense

Some puppies may bark at dogs on walks for the simple fact that they aren't comfortable with them. In such cases, the barking is a distance-increasing signal, meaning that the puppy would prefer to put more distance and avoid the situation as he's stressed and anxious about it.

We see this type of barking mostly with puppies/young dogs who were under-socialized as puppies (especially during the critical socialization window which goes from about 3 weeks to 12-16 weeks) . Under socialized puppies may bark this way as their first line of defense against what they perceive as a threat. Young dogs who feel threatened, on top of barking, may also lunge, growl and appear overall aggressive.

Barking Due to Excitement/Frustration

On the other side of the spectrum, some puppies bark due to excitement/frustration. We see this type of barking especially with young, super social dogs who are easily excitable and who haven't learned enough impulse control. These pups often have a history of being off leash and playing well with other pups and dogs when off leash.

The excited barking in this case is therefore usually a  distance-decreasing signal, meaning that the dog would like to go meet and greet dogs and wishes to reduce distance, getting closer. The puppy is often pulling and barking/whining, eager to say hello.

However, when a dog is super excited and cannot go greet and meet as he would normally do if he wasn't on leash, he may start getting frustrated. As the frustration builds up, this leads to a dog who lunges, barks and even growls, giving an aggressive appearance, because he's frustrated with the whole situation, leading to what is known as  barrier frustration.  https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barrier-frustration/

Now, telling the two apart isn't always easy. Here is a general chart: if your puppy has a history of playing well and getting along with other dogs when off leash, then I would be more propense to think you're dealing with frustration barking. 

Now, here is where things get a bit complicated: both forms of barking require a different approach. In fear barking, we would use behavior modification involving desensitization and counter conditioning, while frustration barking requires only desensitization but also training an alternate behavior and better impulse control. I will go over both. 

For Barking Due to Fear 

When dealing with fear/defense barking, behavior modification as mentioned is needed and often incorporates methods based on desensitization and counterconditioning. 

Desensitization involves exposing the dog systematically to his triggers. Here is a read on desensitization: 

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

In order to work well, in a good desensitization program the dog needs to be kept as much as possible under threshold. Here is read on threshold levels:

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

Counterconditioning involves creating positive associations with the dog's triggers. In order to work well, a good counterconditioning program incorporates things the dog finds very reinforcing provided contingent upon the exposure to the trigger. Here is a read on counterconditioning:

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

For sake of an example, for a puppy reactive towards dogs, behavior modification may involve practicing in a T-shaped intersection. The puppy is kept at the farthest point from the intersection (at the base of the T) on leash with his handler, while another dog owner is instructed to walk by with his dog

Distance helps keep the puppy calm, allowing exposure in a way that makes the puppy less likely to react (desensitization) and that clear passage of the dog allows the opportunity for the puppy owner to feed treats, creating positive associations (counterconditioning).

After several reps, if all is done correctly, the puppy may exhibit what's known as a conditioned emotional response upon noticing the dog walking by. In other words, the puppy starts acting sort of happy because the presence of the dog walking by has been associated with treats. Afterward, very gradually distance can be reduced and if there is enough progress, similar exercises may be started in other areas upon spotting any dogs. 

*This method is based on Jean Donaldson's Open Bar/Closed Bar which you can read about here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/

For Barking Due to Excitement/Frustration

In the case of a puppy barking from over excitement/frustration, the first step is lowering the level of arousal. This is often done by providing some desensitization through the use of distance. Seeing a dog the puppy is dying to meet at a distance can help keep him more under threshold. When a puppy is under threshold, he's better capable of following our instructions so distance is your best friend. 

It will also prove beneficial in such cases, brushing up on the pup's training and teaching pups to do several steps of attention heeling contingent upon spotting another dog on walks. Puppies should be rewarded with high value treats for complying and making good choices. Here is how to train attention heeling:  I like to make a smacking noise with my mouth upon spotting a dog and then bringing a treat at eye level:

 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

Further exercises can be done even from inside the home. You can have your puppy watch a volunteer walk his dog back and forth from a window and your puppy can watch them and come to you as you feed him treats to reinforce calm behaviors. Here is a guide for this:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

As your puppy learns to be calmer, walks can also be organized with other calm puppies or adult dogs (which can act as role models). This way, the puppy learns that being around other puppies and people doesn't translate into overly enthusiastic greetings and over-the-top excitement.  These calm walks therefore teach puppies to find interest in other things around them without getting hysterical and intense upon being around other dogs. 

On top of this, it would be helpful teaching puppies who bark  due to excitement/frustration, to better control their impulses. It therefore helps training them several impulse control games for dogs. Here is a guide:  Start with some easy ones and gradually increase the challenge as your puppy matures and learns to establish more self-control.

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

The good thing is that once he gets better in controlling his impulses and is less excited over seeing dogs, people etc. he may learn to act calmer and his excitement urination may also start decreasing as he matures and becomes more confident. 

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions,

Best,

Adrienne 

 

[PatsyIppolito]

Hi, 

I'm chiming in here because I have a similar problem.  In particular, I need some guidance in how to handle a particular type of situation.

My puppy is also 8 months old.  We have been working on not barking at people and dogs on walks.  Mostly, I have been able to distract her with a heel command or using the smack.  Today when we were out for a walk, a little girl came around the corner on her bike fairly close to us - I didn't see her coming.  My puppy started to bark.  I turned around and walked the other way which definitely helped, but then a guy came running down the other side of the street with his dog and mine went nuts - barking and barking aggressively which I haven't heard before.  It seems like we are making progress in general, but when there is a surprise, I need to know how to handle it appropriately in the moment.  I used to pick her up and walk the other way, but then I read somewhere that I might be making her more afraid by doing that.  That wasn't my intention, it was just to remove her from the situation.  Any guidance is welcome.  Thanks.

[Adrienne]

Hi Patsy, 

Glad you were able to distract her with the smacking sound. I find many dogs respond to this sound much better than a verbal cue. 

With certain undesirable behaviors, we want to prevent rehearsal of the problem behavior as much as possible. This means that it would be best to prevent certain intense forms of exposure until our dogs are better able to cope with them. Emergency u-turns can help, but we need to turn before our dogs have a chance to act reactive and bark. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/

Alternatively, you can try to toss some treats on the ground and let her sniff to find them which keeps his mind busy. Jogging away with your dog may help too.

This prevents your dog from rehearsing the undesirable behavior and also prevents your dog's stress from going high gear and there won't be enough time for him to relax should another dog come his way.

I like to say that, when walking a reactive dog, we need to be "their eyes and ears." In other words, we must monitor their environment and be constantly scanning for triggers. So when I walk a reactive dog, I often do the following:

-I walk in areas where there are less chances for triggers to be around. 

-I walk in open-field areas where there are no chances for triggers to pop out from around a corner

-I use the environment to my advantage, for instance, if I see somebody coming my way,  I either turn or go to the opposite side of the road (if safe to do so).

-I may also use barriers (such as parked cars) as visual blockers.

- I walk with a helper who carries a large bag to act as a visual barrier 

This is easier said than done at times. Unexpected things can happen, but if we can avoid them as much as possible by walking in places where we have better chances of seeing triggers ahead of time/increasing distance/turning around, we are setting our dogs better for success. 

The barking at the jogger with the dog likely intensified because barking is typically a distance-increasing behavior. A dog who isn't comfortable with other dogs/people is barking for distance. Indeed, when the person or dog moves away, the dog thinks that it is thanks to his barking that he got distance and therefore feels a strong sense of relief.

In the case of the approaching jogger though, likely the barking didn't work so it intensified as he got closer and closer, "what part of my barking haven't you understood! I am saying to stay away from me! I don't feel comfortable with you approaching likes this." Also, approaching at a fast rate like that is perceived as intimidating by dogs. Indeed, with reactive dogs we add movement like that at the very late stages, once the dog has a history of doing exceptionally well with dogs just approaching by walking and then dogs jogging with owners at a distance. 

Knowledge is power though. You know know that people on bikes and joggers and their dogs are high on the list of triggers. This means that when you see people on bikes and joggers with dogs you should steer clear if they're coming too close as much as possible and aim to work on them by presenting them in their least intense forms and then build gradually. A good starting point is watching them pass by windows:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

[PatsyIppolito]

Thank you!  I am implementing some of the things you mentioned and things are getting better!

[Adrienne]

Great to hear! Keep up the great work. 

I am here if you need any support or have questions. 

Best,

Adrienne