Barking

There are many ways of viewing a barking dog.   Some people encourage it because they feel it's a way for their dog to express him/herself.  Others enjoy it because it's part of the burglar prevention program.

Most dog owners (and let's face it, neighbors, friends, etc.), on the other hand, feel like it's a nuisance but don't know what to do about it.  While there are various books, training methods, and tools that help with barking, I'm going to briefly explain one method that I find is often successful.

Bark and Spray; Quiet and Reward

Everybody who has ever done training with me has learned about positive and negative markers.  These are ways that we communicate with our dog that they have either done the correct thing or have done something incorrect.  The positive marker (click, treats, verbal, pets-whatever one or combo of these you choose), lets the dog know they performed well and encourages them to repeat that behavior in the future.  A negative marker (typically a verbal 'wrong' sound), let's them know that they performed an inappropriate behavior.  After a negative marker, it is the handler's responsibility to help the dog then perform the appropriate task so that the dog can replace the negative behavior with the positive one and thus receive a reward.  If you've done this correctly, with enough consistency and repetition, the dog will learn that an inappropriate behavior will bring no reward, but by doing the desired behavior, they get a positive reward.

If the handler and dog can learn this communication pattern, training becomes significantly easier.  Likewise, this pattern is one of the very basic components of behavior modification.  Here is our first pattern:

1. Handler commands
2. Dog obeys
3. Handler gives positive maker / reward
4. Dog is likely to obey command again

Now, obviously, if you own a dog (have children, interact with any other human being...) you know this isn't always how it works out.  Here is the second pattern:

1. Handler commands
2. Dog fails to obey
3. Handler gives negative marker
4. Handler commands dog again (and while enforcing a newly-learned behavior, helps them to achieve the goal by luring, encouraging, etc.)
5. Dog obeys
6. Handler give positive marker / reward
7. Dog is likely to obey command again

What does this have to do with barking?  As mentioned before, this pattern, once learned, is invaluable when training your dog.  It is the pattern from which this Bark and Spray; Quiet and Reward method is derived from.  While it doesn't follow exactly, conceptually, it is all the same.

• Dog barks
• Handler gives a 'quiet' command
• Dog fails to obey and continues barking
• Handler gives negative marker-here we add a squirt from a squirt bottle to the negative verbal marker-if the dog is barking like crazy, is he or she going to hear your negative marker at first? There is other psychology behinds this-ask me if you'd like to discuss it and we'll have a chat.
• Handler gives 'quiet' command again and helps to refocus the dog on the handler.  (In this situation, this part may not be necessary if the squirt bottle and negative marker from the previous step end the barking)
• Once the dog is quiet / obeying the command, the handler give a positive marker / reward.

With consistency and repetition, the dog learns the appropriate behavior pattern of not barking / stopping barking when the 'quiet' command is given.  Of course each dog, handler, and situation is different and unique and that's why dog training is an art.  However, once you get the basics down, you can adapt the training to your needs and be well on your way to a quiet pooch.