Demanding Barking

[SaraHayner]

Hi there! I have a 1 1/2 year old husky/terrier mix who can be very demanding. He will bark non stop to get his way. Whether he needs to go outside, eat, play, or just wants a pet, he will bark in my face until I do what he wants. He barks even more if my husband and I sitting together. Like, he is mad he is not the center of attention. We have separated ourselves from him, ignored his barking, given him interactive toys, and pretty much do everything we can to keep him mentally stimulated, but then, it's like he remembers that he needs to bark at us and won't stop once he starts. I am trying to figure out what I can do to help ease him of this habit. 

[JMFS]

The only answer I have is to tire his brain out.  Huskies are wickedly intelligent and they're built for long distances.  Momo was part Husky and that boy was Always up for anything.  He had a really good nose so I would hide treats in the yard, or even throw his meals into the yard (only after the yard guys had been there within 3 days, otherwise the yard was too high).  Making him "hunt" his food quelled some of that hyperactivity.

I do know Huskies are a massively vocal breed and they're quite attached to their humans.  Are these interactive toys self-play only, or are they toys you play with him?  Sometimes having a person to play With can make the difference.  We have this guy: https://www.chewy.com/outward-hound-hide-squirrel-squeaky/dp/113786 that I use with Esther, and used to use with Gertie.  I play it with them so they learn the object of the game is to get the squirrels out, not to destroy the squirrels.  I also used this one:  https://www.chewy.com/nina-ottosson-by-outward-hound-smart/dp/175429 which is similar to the cup game Adrienne has in the brain games section.  This is another good one https://www.chewy.com/nina-ottosson-by-outward-hound/dp/175423 that was a hit with the pups.  Again, we're there to guide their play so they don't tear up the toys.  I could see their brains switch when they learned the object of the game was the prize, not the obstacles (e.g, the squirrels or the bones). 

An agility course can also be a great way to tire out both body and brain.  I just received an outdoor starter course for Esther and am waiting for it to stop raining so we can use it.  They have an indoor version as well and those are here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B017TBQ4Z2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The indoor version should be in the comparison chart further down.  Initially Esther was Not trusting that tube because inside it was slipping and sliding.  I ended up feeding her dinner in there and she got over her fear after about 5 minutes.

Terriers are Also hyper and they're prey driven so perhaps a flirt pole would work.  Mo never really caught on, but Gertie, who is ¼ AmStaff Loves it.  Esther does, too.  Momo was too old, I think, for silly games by the time I learned about the flirt pole.  Or even the game where you amp them up then calm them down.  That takes a Lot of brain work to go from high to low to high to low and it's a favorite of mine because it takes little effort on my part but a Big effort on theirs.

I know Adrienne will have more input, but I thought I'd try to get you started with some ideas.  I know what it's like to refresh the forum waiting for those words of wisdom!  😉

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Jennifer gave you wonderful advice and many great interactive toy ideas. Gotta love Chewy, they are a wonderful resource and bless their hearts for their generosity (they even once told me to keep a bag of dog food my dog didn't like when she got super picky from having cancer and they reimbursed me the amount and told me to donate the bag to a shelter). 

Please see my observations/tips under your posts. 

Hi there! I have a 1 1/2 year old husky/terrier mix who can be very demanding.

At this age, we are at the adolescent stage, and yes, this can be a challenging phase to deal with. You can read about what happens during this time here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/

He will bark non stop to get his way. Whether he needs to go outside, eat, play, or just wants a pet, he will bark in my face until I do what he wants.

It sounds like your dog may benefit from a plan where he gets all the good stuff contingent upon acting calm and not barking. For example, when you catch your dog acting calm and not barking, reward that. Be careful though to avoid a behavior chain (more on this explained below), so you need to wait that enough time has elapsed from his last bark before you reward his calm behavior. 

For example, if your dog barks as a way of begging to be petted, pet him when he is in a calm state of mind. Call him to you when he is calm and not barking, ask him to sit and pet him telling him what a good boy he is. When you are done, say ''all done!"  (add a hand signal to it for more emphasis) and get up to do something else. Make sure to be very consistent with this, all done means all done. If your dog keeps trying to demand more attention ignore and leave the area if he persists. 

Also, train him to sit before you toss him a ball  rather than him barking for you to toss it. Train him to sit before being taken out, train to sit before he is fed his meals, train him to sit when you put the leash on. More about this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance

If you are about to do something you know your dog badly wants, but he manages to bark, provide a consequence for that barking by making the likeliness of it happening decrease. For example, if you are preparing his meal and he barks as you pour food in his bowl, put the bowl away and return once he's been quiet for some time. 

I like to emphasize this a lot, like I strategically plan to prepare food when a dog is calm and in a non-barking state. If he barks though when I start, I put the bowl away. If he keeps barking I even leave the area. If he is quiet for a bit, I will go back to meal preparation, but if he barks again, it's the bowl away and me leaving the room again. Then, I try again. If he is quiet, and I am able to pour the food in the bowl, I may next walk towards the dog, but if he barks, I will turn around, and even think about walking away if he persists. Once he is quiet again, I will try again to walk towards him.  If he finally manages to stay quiet until the end, I will put the bowl down (I like to ask for a sit and then release with an "ok!" once the bowl is on the ground)

Your first meal preparations may seem to take forever the initial days, but most dogs catch on quickly if you are very clear in communicating that quiet gets you to advance in meal preparation, while barking slows you down. The goal is therefore to teach your dog that calm behaviors unleash all the rewards, when barking and acting impatient does not.

He barks even more if my husband and I sitting together. Like, he is mad he is not the center of attention. We have separated ourselves from him, ignored his barking, given him interactive toys, and pretty much do everything we can to keep him mentally stimulated, but then, it's like he remembers that he needs to bark at us and won't stop once he starts. I am trying to figure out what I can do to help ease him of this habit. 

This sounds like a form of attention barking mixed with some frustration. Of course, before assuming this,  it's important first to ensure all the dogs' needs are met (he was fed, has water, has gone potty, and has received enough exercise and mental stimulation for the day, more on this is discussed below).

Now, the biggest hurdle with dogs barking for attention is that any type of attention (even attention of the negative type) constitutes a reward.

This means that you can't shush your dog, laugh at your dog, look at your dog, smack the dog (never recommended) or even ask you dog to do something else because all of these things ultimately qualify as a form of attention!

So what's left to do? Ignoring seems to be the only option. Ignoring means just that, not paying any attention to the dog as he barks while you're both sitting on the couch, and even walking away and leaving the room if the barking persists. I know you said you tried to ignore, but in order to work well, the ignore program needs to be super strict. 

Here's the thing: when ignoring a dog who has barked and received attention for it in the past (even attention of the negative type), this situation paves the path for what's known as "extinction burst." An extinction burst causes the barking to intensify (louder or for longer) and the dog may even try new behaviors (like pawing). When we see this happen, we often assume the ignoring is not working, but if we are very adamant in ignoring the barking or any newer secondary annoying behavior (leaving the room may help with this), the barking may eventually stop, although more bouts of extinction bursts are expected in dogs with a strongly established history.

For sake of an example, it's sort of like kids that when they don't get candy at the store and they start whining. And when they see that whining doesn't work, they'll escalate to crying and screaming and putting up a tantrum (extinction burst). If we stick to our plan and don't give them candy despite all the drama, they'll learn to stop pushing it and the behavior will eventually extinguish, but if we give in though and buy it-even just that one time-, they'll always try to ask for candy because by buying the candy we have reinforced persistence. 

Now enduring an extinction burst is not easy. If we end up giving the dog any attention during this time (because neighbors may complain or we just can't take it anymore), we would yes, reinforce persistence allowing the behavior to become even more stronger than before. However, if we have no close neighbors or live out in the boonies and are able to endure the cacophony of sounds, chances are the dog may eventually give up, however, we need to consider though that the dog may still have unfulfilled needs despite what me may think.

So does ignoring solve a dog's attention seeking barking? If we can endure the extinction bursts and stick to the plan, yes, it can help, but let's consider that, barking is also a self-reinforcing behavior. This means when your dog barks, he's also venting his frustration feelings so it still feels good to bark to some extent (just as it feels good for us to talk to others when we are upset about something)

Ignoring a dog that attention barks, can therefore, yes, help a specific situation, but it's more of a short-term goal. We must remember that, our ultimate goal is to get to the bottom of the barking behavior, and pre-empting it as much as possible since barking is an outward sign of an internal emotional turmoil that needs addressed. This brings us to the need of multi-modal approach to use on top of the ignoring approach. Here are some tips:

Make Sure Your Dog's Physiological Needs Are Met

Before sitting on the couch for the evening, make sure that your dog has been fed, that he has access to a clean bowl with fresh water. Also, make sure to take him out to pee and poop. With your dog's basic needs to eat, drink, pee and poop met, you know that at least you have all of that covered.

Make Sure Your Dog's Exercise Needs are Met

Most dog breeds were crafted for specific tasks, and this required often a good level of energy and stamina. Retrievers were collecting downed birds, spaniels were flushing birds out of bushes, scent hounds were sniffing trails, sighthounds were chasing hare, small terriers were hunting vermin, huskies were pulling sleds etc. etc.

Nowadays, most dogs are unemployed, so they are very prone to getting bored and frustrated. So before sitting on the couch, it may help to go on a nice walk, relax and enjoy the present and every now and then, don't forget to let your dog sniff around as a reward for walking nicely. Just loosen the leash and tell your dog "go sniff." Sniffing can be a tiring activity too as it requires concentration.

Make Sure Your Dog's Needs for Mental Stimulation Are Met

After taking your dog on nice walk, and ensuring all his basic physiological needs are met, before sitting on the couch, make sure to provide your dog with some activity. The activity doesn't have to necessarily include you (although it would be great if you could play with your dog for a few minutes each day). You can encourage independent play by providing some entertaining food puzzles and brain games for him to enjoy using a portion or your dog's entire meal this way (no food bowl!)

Nowadays, there are many food puzzles on the market. Snuffle mats, Licki-mats, Kongs, Kong Wobblers, Nina Ottoson puzzles are just a few of the many. Jennifer has provided links to some of these. Brain games such as fun treasure hunts, bottle games, muffin games, encourage dogs to use their seeking system which promotes focus, confidence and self-control.

Make Sure Your Dog's Needs for Chewing Are Met

After being walked and provided with a cooling down brainy activity, there's nothing better than chewing on something to end the day. Chewing is a potent stress reliever for dogs and helps release pleasurable endorphins into the body. 

Providing your dog with a safe, edible long-lasting chew (ask your vet for recommendations) can help your dog feel happy after he has walked, "hunted for his kibble" and now that he has "killed his prey" he can enjoy chewing on it, so to say.  Chewing helps dogs release some stress and frustration, and at the same time, it provides dogs with something to do in alternative to barking.

Make it a habit of providing the chew on a your dog's doggy bed placed nearby the couch. Your dog can learn to lie on it for it and will look forward to his new routine.

Make Sure Your Dog Has a Quiet Place to Nap

By now, your energetic dog should feel quite satisfied about his day. He was walked, was given opportunities to sniff, he was played with and given fun food puzzles, and now he has a nice long-lasting chew to enjoy.

By the time he is done with his chew, he should be relaxed enough to feel like it's time for him to take a nap. You can provide the perfect setting for a nap by dimming the lights a bit and refraining from talking in too exciting tones.

Another thing to consider is that, if your dog has been walked, exercised, played with and given enough mental stimulation, it may be your dog is tired and getting a little  cranky. You can help a moody, cranky dog by reducing stimulation so to help him settle down, relax and nap. You can do this by taking the following steps:

• Bring your dog to a quiet place where they usually sleep (crate, exercise pen dog bed). Remember though that dogs being very social, are always happiest being near you.
• Remove access to overly stimulating toys.
• Provide a chew toy or edible chew to gnaw on top of a mat/ dog bed (these can act as pacifiers).
• Talk in a quiet, soothing tone of voice.
• Act calm. This will help dog calm down too.
• Close all curtains and blinds.
• Turn lights off (or place a blanket over the crate).
• Play calming music or keep a fan on so to cut down on any residual background noise.

Watch for the Onset of Behavior Chains!

This is worthy of mentioning, so to cover more basis. A common recommended approach that you may find in a variety of websites or dog training books is to reward a dog for moments of silence. While this approach seems to make sense, considering that behaviors that are rewarded tend to repeat and strengthen, this approach ignores the phenomenon of behavior chains. Behavior chains take place where an undesirable behavior becomes part of a chain. For example, your dog may learn to bark and then stop barking to get a reward  So be careful in what you do. When you want to reward your dog for being quiet do so only after some time has elapsed since he last barked. 

Will the Barking Stop For Good?

I am not a big fan of the word "stopping." Dogs have a voice and we can't just stick a mute button on them for the rest of their lives. We can reduce barking though. In a similar way, we aim to reduce a baby's crying in the night by changing diapers before they cause irritations and ensuring the baby is fed, but we can't expect a baby to stop crying once and for all. Of course, dog barking can be super annoying, especially when ear-piercing and getting out of hand and when he have neighbors. However, they were selectively bred for this from ancient times and it used to be a blessing back in time when we needed them to alert us. 

We also need to factor in other phenomena. For instance, while teaching a dog new routines and desirable habits, it takes time for the barking to reduce. You may therefore encounter here and there, a phenomenon known as "spontaneous recovery."

In other words, along the path, the barking behavior when you're sitting on the couch will eventually come back. It's as if the dog remembers the behavior out of the blue and thinks about trying it again. If you stick to your new habits, this too shall pass.

As new routines are established (dogs love routines as they give them a sense of security), you should see a gradual yet steady reduction of your dog's barking behavior while you're sitting on the couch.

Hope this helps,

Happy training!