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A dog barking is part of life. Like us vocalizing, dogs can bark for a number of reasons, from when the doorbell goes, to barking at other dogs they are scared of to over-excitement vocalization.
This type of barking is normal, and barking should be a normal part of dog guardianship.
Now, barking can become a nuisance - and that is the case with Stanley.
His go-to behavior when he wants anything, gets slightly excited, gets outside, wants attention, wants food, etc etc etc is to bark.
This is affecting his guardian's quality of life and I can imagine it’s giving them a few headaches too!
There are so many different triggers for Stanley’s barking, that we are having to gradually work through each individually.
Stanley has also bitten his male guardian a few times due to resource guarding, so we need to tackle this too.
Here’s what we did:
Adding high-value food by throwing it from a distance that Stanley is comfortable with while he is eating
Teaching a follow and sit by the door as an alternative behavior instead of barking
Throwing a handful of food out into the garden for him to go out and find, rather than running along with the fence barking
Guardians to leave the room and close the door if he barks for attention - basically, barking doesn’t get him attention, but removes the thing he wants most.
There’s more to do after this, but this will be a start.
It’s going to be a difficult and tedious program for Stanley’s guardians, but a few weeks of consistency and we will see a huge change in behavior.
Watch out for our updates on Stanley soon!
If this case sounds like your dog and you are having a similar issue, or a different issue entirely, book a FREE assessment call with us by clicking HERE.