Barking Bible

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Most people recommend "Really Reliable Recall" or "Control Unleashed" for recall and offleash control. Is there any equivalent "bible" for managing barking?

I have only ever had one problem with barking which was situational and is now fixed. I need to suggest some research and reading for someone who has quite complicated barking problems. They want to retain alarm barking but get rid of attention seeking barking. Is this realistic? Any reference material to suggest?

[Erny]

I think we need to know what the dog does when he is attention seeking barking. For example, is this when he's outside, so the owners don't know if he is alarm barking or attention seeking barking? Usually you can tell the difference in the bark, but perhaps not for this dog? What sort of attention is the dog seeking? IE Is it because he just wants to come inside the house (is he an inside dog)? Or is it that he actually wants the attention of the owners? What training does the dog have - IE Does he know commands/words? Is the dog generally obedient, or disobedient? More info please .

ETA: There is a book called "Help! I'm Barking and I Can't be Quiet" by Daniel Z Estep Ph.D and Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D. It's ok, although I remember reading through it myself and didn't gain what I had hoped to. But I wasn't reading it from a novice dog-owner point of view. It is pretty basic and goes through things such as working out your dog's barking profile; Sounds that Dogs make; Body Language and behaviours of dogs; Why dogs bark; determining cause of barking; What to do about the barking.

I think the first step the owners need to make is to be able to work out when their dog is alarm barking and when it is attention seeking barking. I also think teaching the dog a "stop barking" command (I use "enough") will be handy in the process.

ETA: Browsing the book to see if it would be of any help to your people, I see it says : "If your dog's barking is due to multiple causes, you may need a behaviour consultant to help you develop the best plan for you and your dog."

I don't think this book is likely to help, but that's not to say they wouldn't learn something about dogs and dog behaviour from it. It depends on how much they know already.

Edited May 1, 2010 by Erny

[Bully]

Most people recommend "Really Reliable Recall" or "Control Unleashed" for recall and offleash control. Is there any equivalent "bible" for managing barking?

I have only ever had one problem with barking which was situational and is now fixed. I need to suggest some research and reading for someone who has quite complicated barking problems. They want to retain alarm barking but get rid of attention seeking barking. Is this realistic? Any reference material to suggest?

The Bark Stops Here by Terry Ryan

BARKING - THE SOUND OF A LANGUAGE by Turid Rugaas

[SkySoaringMagpie]

The Bark Stops Here by Terry Ryan

BARKING - THE SOUND OF A LANGUAGE by Turid Rugaas

Thanks Bully, I ended up recommending the Turid Rugaas book and Ian Dunbar's "Woof/Shush" factsheet.

I looked up the book Ernie wasn't all that impressed with and found the one reviewer on Amazon also thought it wasn't that useful. Just looked at your link for "The Bark Stops Here" and noticed it also has a poor review on Dogwise. Did you like it?