Labrador Barking For Food

[Just love my dogs!]

Personally I use the same sort of techniques as Masons Mum with my labs but maybe another idea is try to intercept the behaviour. If he is predictable enough feed him just before he starts to bark for a while (maybe a week) then start moving the feed forward 5 minutes a day. If you can get it to a reasonable time of morning without him barking then start varying the feed times. I've never tried it and I can see it might backfire if he figures out the new time and just barks earlier but it might work and it will keep him quiet while you work on it, anyone else have an opinion on this idea?

I think this is a good idea and I'm willing to try it and see if it helps. Thanks!

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Citronella collars aren't going to fix the problem, they often work for a while but then the dog continues to bark.

Citronella collars cover an issue. You need to put some effort in to training him - have you gone onto the Training Forum as I suggested?

30 mins a day is nowhere near enough exercise for him either. I won't have any young dogs anymore (under 4 years of age) because even with an 1-2 hrs of exercise, I still had issues while at work, barking, destruction etc. I foster dogs so I have rehomed them to better situations but I now don't foster and won't ever adopt a young one, my lifestyle just doesn't allow for it.

Edited April 28, 2010 by dogmad

[Just love my dogs!]

What you have to do is wait for a break in the barking and then reward him by feeding him or playing his favorite game. Its going to be hard but you need to train him that he only gets good things when he is quiet.

Have you had this problem with your labs? I guess we can give this a try. It does sound difficult though!

I havent had the problem of him barking for food but he went through a phase of when he was put outside when I was cleaning the floors or I had guests etc he used to bark loudly at the door to be let in. It was so annoying but I used to just let him bark and only when he stopped he was let back inside again. He hasnt done it since he was about 7 months old though, he is now almost 13 months.

Off the topic (Sorry) but I'm guessing that's your dog in the picture? He is beautiful and looks very similiar to my boy Jett

Yes that is my boy, he was naughty for the first time and chewed up the chair for my outdoor setting today

Oh dear! Jett's done that before too!

[Just love my dogs!]

You can order one of those bowls that has like cyclinders sticking up to make them eat slower, also do you soak his kibble ??( if thats what he gets) because it may help with the vomiting, I never soaked my other dogs food and they sometimes threw up after meals but with mason i always soak it and he never does even though he eats as fast as anything!

No, I've never soaked his kibble. How much water do you need to put? This could work!

[Just love my dogs!]

Citronella collars aren't going to fix the problem, they often work for a while but then the dog continues to bark.

Citronella collars cover an issue. You need to put some effort in to training him - have you gone onto the Training Forum as I suggested?

30 mins a day is nowhere near enough exercise for him either. I won't have any young dogs anymore (under 4 years of age) because even with an 1-2 hrs of exercise, I still had issues while at work, barking, destruction etc. I foster dogs so I have rehomed them to better situations but I now don't foster and won't ever adopt a young one, my lifestyle just doesn't allow for it.

I have gone into the training forum. I'll have to have a better look though because I couldn't find the Triangle of Temptation.

[black magic]

Imaker,

Just wondering...

do you show your dog or does someone else do it?

Do you have any experience breeding dogs?

[Just love my dogs!]

Imaker,

Just wondering...

do you show your dog or does someone else do it?

Do you have any experience breeding dogs?

At the moment someone else is showing him. I'm learning how to do it :S

No I haven't had any experience breeding dogs.

[Mas1981]

You can order one of those bowls that has like cyclinders sticking up to make them eat slower, also do you soak his kibble ??( if thats what he gets) because it may help with the vomiting, I never soaked my other dogs food and they sometimes threw up after meals but with mason i always soak it and he never does even though he eats as fast as anything!

No, I've never soaked his kibble. How much water do you need to put? This could work!

I dont know exactly how much water I put in but I would say that I put the kibble in his bowl and put enough water so that the kibble just floats off the bottom slightly, I wait until all the water is absorbed and then feed. If labs eat too fast they can get bloat which is why I still soak my kibble.

[Just love my dogs!]

You can order one of those bowls that has like cyclinders sticking up to make them eat slower, also do you soak his kibble ??( if thats what he gets) because it may help with the vomiting, I never soaked my other dogs food and they sometimes threw up after meals but with mason i always soak it and he never does even though he eats as fast as anything!

No, I've never soaked his kibble. How much water do you need to put? This could work!

I dont know exactly how much water I put in but I would say that I put the kibble in his bowl and put enough water so that the kibble just floats off the bottom slightly, I wait until all the water is absorbed and then feed. If labs eat too fast they can get bloat which is why I still soak my kibble.

Thank you. Willing to give this a try!

[Mas1981]

If he is undesexed he could be barking if he smells a bitch on heat, just thought of this now....

[mrs tornsocks]

I'm confused but think you've changed your name OP ?

I am wondering if maybe you might want to consider going back to some basics on training and it seems you're looking at that with TOT (it's pinned at the top of the training thread).

You have a young entire male labrador -- there is a whole lot of energy and excitement in your gorgeous boy, and throw in a partner in crime with your GR and it's a pretty big bundle to deal with. My 1yo lab was desexed two weeks ago and he is a relatively calm fella, but I think I have been super lucky with that. He's still very energetic and you never know, there could be a bitch in season nearby - how long has he been doing this ?

I may have missed it, but does he go to obedience ? How much training do you do at home ? If you can't do more than 30 mins exercise, then 10 mins of intensive training is good for both of you, and will expend plenty of energy for him.

There are a few good tips for your specific barking issue here, but the broader training issue is one to consider. Also, I don't think it's too late to crate train him. We started him early but he now sleeps cosily and happily inside his crate (both outside and in).

Edited April 28, 2010 by mrs tornsocks

[mrs tornsocks]

What you have to do is wait for a break in the barking and then reward him by feeding him or playing his favorite game. Its going to be hard but you need to train him that he only gets good things when he is quiet.

Have you had this problem with your labs? I guess we can give this a try. It does sound difficult though!

I havent had the problem of him barking for food but he went through a phase of when he was put outside when I was cleaning the floors or I had guests etc he used to bark loudly at the door to be let in. It was so annoying but I used to just let him bark and only when he stopped he was let back inside again. He hasnt done it since he was about 7 months old though, he is now almost 13 months.

Off the topic (Sorry) but I'm guessing that's your dog in the picture? He is beautiful and looks very similiar to my boy Jett

Yes that is my boy, he was naughty for the first time and chewed up the chair for my outdoor setting today

Mason !!

[blacklabrador]

If he is undesexed he could be barking if he smells a bitch on heat, just thought of this now....

Like a bitch on heat walks past at the same time every morning?

I would say that considering that he barks and then stops when he gets fed, that he simply has his owners very well trained to do exactly what he wants.

[Lab lady]

If he is undesexed he could be barking if he smells a bitch on heat, just thought of this now....

Like a bitch on heat walks past at the same time every morning?

I would say that considering that he barks and then stops when he gets fed, that he simply has his owners very well trained to do exactly what he wants.

I agree, he's done a pretty good job at getting what he wants.

If he were mine i would be bring him inside, crate and ignoring him and only letting him out when he had settled down. He will soon learn that barking only means he will be confined and ignored.

[persephone]

A 14 mth entire lab boy! he really would benefit from, and learn some manners by doing more obedience work each day, plus more on lead,controlled walking- so his brain has to work...this makes for a much more settled dog, generally.

[Mas1981]

If he is undesexed he could be barking if he smells a bitch on heat, just thought of this now....

Like a bitch on heat walks past at the same time every morning?

I would say that considering that he barks and then stops when he gets fed, that he simply has his owners very well trained to do exactly what he wants.

I was just thinking that maybe her owner lets her out into the garden at that time of the morning, it was just a suggestion I didnt claim to be an expert!

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

http://www.k9pro.com.au/pages.php?pageid=52

Triangle of temptation - above link.

I'm not sure how it would stop barking at 5am, but it does get the dog a bit more obedient generally. Well it has for mine.

My dog sometimes has a barking fit in the middle of the night, and she sleeps next to me. If it's only a cat, then I ignore the barking. I try to shut her up with distraction long enough to hear if it's burglars or people she's barking at.

She also barks a lot at meal times, but she doesn't get any dinner until she is quiet.

Another way to shut her up, is to tell her to "speak" and reward/good dog when she barks, and repeat. She shuts up while she tries to figure out what she needs to do to get the treat, and then I teach "quiet". Ie once you have "speak on command" working, then you can get "quiet" working.

But for 5am barking, I think I'd be setting alarm for 4:55am and bringing him in and putting him in a crate. If people in your household are getting up at 5am, he would be barking for attention, or to be allowed back in, more than for food. They can hear when we get up. Get Mr 5am, to shut him inside somewhere safe. Don't feed until a more reasonable time for dogs to be awake.

Also - around here, the magpies start up at about 5:30am, so there may be some outside trigger apart from Mr 5am that is setting the dog off, and you need to teach him to "leave it" or "quiet" when that happens. The best way is no attention, and you can't really allow that when he's outside barking and waking the neighbourhood up. So inside with crate. A big crate, but a confined space where he can't do any damage to anything important or expensive.

[corvus]

Have you tried letting him in when he barks, not feeding him, and going back to bed ?

Or, just paying him some attention when he barks ? Obviously this isn't something you'd do for any length of time given it's 5am, but it might sort out whether it is in fact food or attention. Then you can start looking at solutions.

Our boy gives one or two barks when he's ready to wake up (he sometimes sleeps in the laundry), we just put him outside so he can do his business and spend a bit more time exploring and until we're ready. We walk him, then feed him a bit later when we're ready (and when he's settled down from walk). Usually ends up being around 7.30-8am.

That would make the situation worse. He would be being rewarded for barking and it would continue. I certainly wouldn't be happy getting up at 5am because the dog wanted attention.

Well, not necessarily. Steven Lindsay made the point at the NDTF conference that you can't reinforce something a dog is doing using a reward other than that they were wanting. So if the dog wants food and you reward with play, you're not necessarily rewarding the food-seeking behaviour.

HOWEVER, IMO you have to be careful not to then create a new expectation for whatever reward you do use instead. I think the trick with these things is to keep moving. Don't let the dog learn a new routine until it's the routine that you want. You have to keep changing what happens until you've got him where you want him.

If this were me, I'd do the thing where you bring him in before he starts barking and feed him then and gradually move it forward every day as well, only I'd be inclined to give him something like a Kong with peanut butter in it or a pigs ear rather than his meal and then give him his meal later when you want him to have it right from the start and inch the Kong towards the meal time. I would also be inclined to phase the Kong out as fast as possible. Depending on how bad he is, maybe not even every day. You could try a Kong some days and just a cookie on others, for example. Or give him a cardboard roll with a bit of vegemite or something smeared on it so it's only just barely food, but something to chew on and keep him busy. I'd prepare these things the night before so he's not hanging around watching me make them at 5am and we can get back to bed asap. I think it's important when you are trying to break a habit to just do whatever needs to be done to prevent the habit being practised and then shape the behaviour you want. I'm more comfortable distracting and rewarding before the problem behaviour starts and then fixing up anything I might have accidentally rewarded later than punishing or ignoring.

[Just love my dogs!]

I'm confused but think you've changed your name OP ?

I am wondering if maybe you might want to consider going back to some basics on training and it seems you're looking at that with TOT (it's pinned at the top of the training thread).

You have a young entire male labrador -- there is a whole lot of energy and excitement in your gorgeous boy, and throw in a partner in crime with your GR and it's a pretty big bundle to deal with. My 1yo lab was desexed two weeks ago and he is a relatively calm fella, but I think I have been super lucky with that. He's still very energetic and you never know, there could be a bitch in season nearby - how long has he been doing this ?

I may have missed it, but does he go to obedience ? How much training do you do at home ? If you can't do more than 30 mins exercise, then 10 mins of intensive training is good for both of you, and will expend plenty of energy for him.

There are a few good tips for your specific barking issue here, but the broader training issue is one to consider. Also, I don't think it's too late to crate train him. We started him early but he now sleeps cosily and happily inside his crate (both outside and in).

Sorry! I did change my name! Since bringing both dogs inside, we are having a little bit of a break through!

My husband's alarm went off at 5:30am and Jett barked once. My husband growled at him by saying "NO! Uh uh uh!" He was then quiet until 6:30am (when my alarm went off). He barked once again and I growled at him too. He was then quiet again. After he was quiet for about 10 minutes, I fed them. I'm hoping to try this again tomorrow morning.

[Just love my dogs!]

A 14 mth entire lab boy! he really would benefit from, and learn some manners by doing more obedience work each day, plus more on lead,controlled walking- so his brain has to work...this makes for a much more settled dog, generally.

We did obedience school with our Golden Retriever and have been applying the same principles with Jett. I'm beginning to think that this is not enough though and we will need to take him too.