Join us for the Barking Mad with Cookies Workshop
& Support Group!
Does your dog bark enough to drive you mad?
Perhaps they bark whenever someone comes to the door, the mailman, the garbage truck, other dogs...the list goes on and on.
While we don't want to end the communication that is happening when dogs are barking, we also don't want to hear the non-stop barking which can also lead to other behaviors that are even worse if we don't listen to what the dog is trying to tell us.
Changing the barking behavior to more appropriate communication is done with "cookies!"
Cookies are anything your dog loves; food, toys, affection, praise, sniffing for great things, etc.
Service Dogs & Barking
Obviously a dog that is obnoxiously barking at distractions in the environment is not able to do service dog work. We are not saying that you should continue working a barking dog!
But all dogs bark! It's the first language dogs learn to use. We work to teach them our language and often body language or signals we can use to create teamwork or a special form of communication that we have with our dogs. However whenever emotions run high due to fear or excitement, the dog's natural language can come back into action. That's a reaction that we shouldn't stop!
We could punish the bark to stop it, but I think we all know that punishing barking only makes it more likely that the dog would then escalate to even worse behaviors in an attempt to communicate their needs.
Instead of punishing the barking behavior, our goal should be on helping the dog learn to manage their emotions, helping them to learn neutrality around distractions, and helping them learn to communicate their needs in other ways.
Barking Adolescents
Time and time again we see novice service dog handlers washing or career changing adolescent dogs due to barking at distractions. This is especially common when young puppies seemed to be so perfectly behaved and could go everywhere with their person suddenly changes, becoming stressed in some situations leading to problem behavior. Then once this same dog grows up into an adult, they can seem to suddenly change and come back to working as a service dog. While this may not always be the case, we see this happening over and over again.
The Crazy2Calm Canine Coaches want to support these teams to help them through that adolescent stage with help to set the team up for success! The Barking Mad with Cookies group will continue that support long after our free workshop in October 2024.
Here are a few things that can help Barking Adolescents:
1. Choose training environments wisely! We should choose environments we can somewhat manage and have clear, easy exits to use if needed.
2. Learn about reinforcement types and strategies to figure out what motivates our dogs the most.
3. Build communication, teamwork, and trust using force free, games based dog training!
4. Grow confidence and resilience in the dog/handler team, supporting both human and dog through the training process.
Join our free support group Barking Mad with Cookies to get started on the road to supporting your dog through the training stages of adolescence and barking issues.
If you know what emotion is causing the barking we may have other options available!
If your dog is FIZZY and barking when they get over-excited, seeing someone they want to play with or wildlife they want to chase or any super exciting thing happens, you may want to check out the 3 FAD Workshops for some awesome games to help your dog learn to manage their own arousal. The FAD Workshops are available for free on the Yooper Paws Patreon Account for all members!
If your dog is FEARFUL and barking to get the distraction to move away from them you would benefit from joining the Helping Fearful Dogs Feel Safe Facebook Group. Yooper Paws also has a low cost Patreon membership for Helping Fearful Dogs Feel Safe with over 20 resources in the self paced library.
We do not want to normalize barking service dogs but we do want to support those trying to work through barking issues using games based, force free training instead of resorting to pain and punishment based training methods to stop the behavior.
For additional assistance, reach out to crazy2calmcaninecoaches@gmail.com.
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