Thanks for Barking

Bentley

Bentley was a foster that barked at everything. I had heard of this method and read a slightly different version that I tried with Bentley. This is the very short version:

One day sitting outside ready to go with a clicker (which he had already been introduced to) and treats – I clicked the moment he barked at something. He immediately turned around and I dropped a small handful of treats on the ground. We went inside where I gave him another reward. This was also to prevent more barking. Over the next week or so the more I marked that first bark, the less intense his barking was. He went from barking constantly at the neighbors to a few barks then seeking me out if I wasn’t already close by. After some more time it went from alarm barking to a few disgruntled woofs and Bentley walking over to me and lying down. From there he was able to mostly regulate himself. I never corrected any barking. If it became excessive I called him into the house. At the very worst I had to clip his leash on and walk him inside.

From the Kiki Yablon Dog Training Blog October 2021

Here is the breakdown of the process from the person that came up with it. The link to the original article, which I recommend reading, is below.

Note about the article: There is a video example of barking at the door. It’s not a horrible example but in my opinion the session went on for too long.

Step 1: Preventive Management: Temporarily prevent rehearsal of the behavior as much as possible when you are not actively training or ready to train. For example:

• For visually stimulated dogs, this may be as simple as closing the blinds. Translucent window film halfway up the window can still let light in and preserve the humans’ view.
• For dogs who respond to sounds, close windows. Play music or white noise, or run a box fan or window AC.
• Block access to any window or door where your dog tends to bark using doors or baby gates.

Sometimes, this is enough. If this solves your problem, it’s perfectly fine to stop here.

Step 2: Preparation

• Choose a cue that does not already have a long history of not working to get your dog’s attention or get them to come. “Thank you” may be a good choice because it’s unlikely you’ve said it to your dog, but there’s no magic imbued in those particular words.
• Prepare some soft, small, highly preferred treats and store them in a location that will become predictable to your dog. This could be a pocket or treat pouch, in which case you are the location. Or it can be a container on a mantle, shelf, or console table. It can also help to have a target like dog bed or mat directly under the container and always deliver the treats there—the predictability makes it easier to know what to do.

Step 3: Training Prerequisite Behavior Start when your dog is not already barking, is somewhat attentive to you, and is in the mood for food.

• Stand or sit near your dog.
• Give the cue, then dispense 10-15 treats–or go directly to the designated location and dispense them there. Make sure the cue precedes any movement to dispense the treats. It needs to have predictive value.
• Give the treats one after the other right in front of you if you are the “location,” or scatter them on the mat or bed.
• Dispense the treats whether your dog comes to you or follows you to the location or not. This is very important, as this is how your dog will learn to go to the location.
• When the dog starts to look excited upon hearing the cue, you can start to say it when the dog is not already paying attention to you.
• Continue to deliver the treats reliably if you said the cue, whether your dog has looked or come to you.
• Practice from different parts of the house. Practice near the window or door where the dog usually barks. Practice with no one outside. Practice several times a day when your dog is not already barking. Practice with distractions that are interesting to your dog but not the things they usually bark at.

Step 4: Reinforcing the Barking (Or, Even Better, Precursors to Barking) When your dog whips around quickly upon hearing the cue and starts to move toward you or the location in anticipation of the treats, begin to work at times when there are things outside that your dog would normally bark at.

• Give the cue the instant your dog begins to bark, or even better, right when he alerts or starts to move. So: before he starts barking or after just a few barks.
• If he does not respond, get closer to him before cuing again (or next time), use higher value treats (next time), and practice more near the problem location without the trigger, or with less intense versions of the trigger (e.g., passers-by across the street, known people instead of strangers)
• When he’s responding to the cue with the trigger present, start to increase your distance from the dog again a few steps at a time. Work farther away only when your dog is doing well with you at the current distance.
• The ideal time to give this cue, once trained, is as soon you see the dog alerting to a sound or starting to go to the window. But because this procedure is best for situations where you can’t get ahead of what your dog is perceiving, it’s likely you’ll be giving it after a bark or three. That’s OK! An initial goal is for the dog to come away from the window to find you on cue after a bark or two at most.
• Make sure that your dog is perceiving an actual stimulus outside. Don’t thank your dog for barking when you didn’t hear and can’t see anything, or you may create a different barking problem.

Step 5: Moving the Reinforcer Down the Line When your dog is responding rapidly when you cue, or you see that he starts to look at you as if expecting to be thanked after a few barks, test.

• Don’t call your dog when he first barks.
• Watch for the dog to turn back to you, or turn away from the window, after the usual amount of barking that he does before you cue him. He is likely to do this after the usual number of barks that you reinforce by calling him.
• When you see that behavior, immediately cue him! Mark for any movement and reinforce in front of you or at your treat container location.