Happy Barking While Trying To Train

[bret]

Hi all, just want to ask a quick question,

my 2.5 yr old border who is easily trained, loves to bark LOUD when we are doing stuff like learning to spin, and other more high energy tricks. the problem is that her barking at being excited is not only loud, but it is distracting from the training, as well as making me deaf the more we do it.

anyone have any ideas on how to reduce this super happy barking when we are trying to play,

?

bret

[Bjelkier]

Hi all, just want to ask a quick question,

my 2.5 yr old border who is easily trained, loves to bark LOUD when we are doing stuff like learning to spin, and other more high energy tricks. the problem is that her barking at being excited is not only loud, but it is distracting from the training, as well as making me deaf the more we do it.

anyone have any ideas on how to reduce this super happy barking when we are trying to play,

?

bret

I have exactly the same problem with my Samoyed, he only does it for certain tricks like drop and sit, cant for the life of figure out why but it does get annoying. I wont treat or praise him when he barks, its not what I want and there for he gets nothing, I turn my back on him for a few seconds and then give the command again, only treating when he performs quietly.

I have no idea if this would work for your dog but its been working for my boy so far

[Luke W]

I had a problem with this type of behavior too.

I've pretty much extinguished it by using the same technique Wolfsong described above. My 'few seconds' was more like "ahhh (my no reward marker)...following by a brisk back turn and 5-10 seconds of time out"

For full on barking, the timeouts get longer.

Sometimes I've had to give a sharp 'ahh' and briskly walk him away from the training area.

Note:

Don't continue to give commands if the dog barks. If your dog enjoys training the next command is a secondary reinforcer and will cement the barking behavior.

This is what you want to avoid:

"Sit"

Bark, sit.

"Sit"

Bark, sit.

"Sit".

Sit.

"Click, treat"

and remember, consistency is the key!

No matter how good the behavior was, don't reward if he barks.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Luke W

[bret]

cool thanks

i will give that a go

bret

[Cairo1]

Mary Ray has a border collie in her demonstration team that does the same thing!! She makes her carry a ball in her mouth and that seems to do the trick!! This is a classic example of training an 'incompatible behaviour'!! Best of luck!!

I know it must be annoying but you have to think that your dog is having a fabulous time and that is the best way to train - with fun!!!

So, try a ball :wink:

Cheerio

Cairo1