[nagdu] and... how do you get your dogs to stop barking?

[Tami Kinney]

Jennie,

Hey! I was just thinking that I need to get back to you about that.
Sorry for the delay.

Okay, one technique a puppy raiser described here some time ago does
seem to work fairly well to suppress a bark fit while it's happening...
Probably would have been better if I had learned it while my perfect
poodle guide was still a pup. She did go through a period of being a
bark monster, but she only reprises the role these days if she thinks I
have too much to do to deal with her barking... /lol/

Anyway, to stop the barking, place your two hands alongside the pup's
mouth. Um... I can't remember if the technique was described exactly
this way, but I do it from behind, with my fingers at the end of the
barking snout with my palms just under the ears on my poodle. This is
also a place that seems to work for calming touch... Anyway, for getting
her to stop once she starts, placing my hands that way does do more good
than putting my hands gently around the muzzle to hold the mouth closed.
Stubborn poodle, it appears, can bark quite well with her mouth closed.
She does have talent! /smile/

Anyway, that might work with your kiddo. With my poodle, I do find a
gentle hands on approach to those self-rewarding behaviors or to just
plain stubbornness was helpful when she was in her rebel teens. /smile/
Then reward when I would feel the body tension and resistance melt away
into submission. So treats and praise and gushing about how she's the
most wonderful thing ever (ha@!) does well for her. Or play! So she's
been going through a barky period lately, just the past couple of days,
so I'm paying attention again to what works to distract and get her to
stop... Soccer. /lol/ 

As for barking or showing other signs of stress when people approach
that she doesn't know... I finally gave up and started using treats and
praise to come to what I have dubbed a "controlled greet. Mitzi wouldn't
bark in those circumstances, just try to leap behind me or spin me in
circles if the unwanted petter was dedicated enough to chase her while
my cane got tangled in the leash and legs and, well, what is wrong with
some people.
" Sometimes, also, I would just put my hand on her side or shoulder and
press her a bit against my leg, a kinda protective but dominant hold.
And I gave her tacit permission to duck between my legs while I got
better at placing myself between her and the offending human. So she
felt safe, and she was free of her growing protective role -- in the
move toward guiding, you understand -- so that helped her. It was time
for mom to keep her safe, so it was all okay. /smile/ With a poodle,
it's in your best interest not to go head to head, just assert your
protective powers in a gentle loving way. With Mitzi, I could often just
put my hand on her rib cage and feel her heart rate to just her level of
excitement, too. It helped me judge better how to address the behavior.
If her body was really tense and resistive, then she was probably just
being a snot monster. If she was quivering and her heart was going at a
zillion beats a minute, then she was reacting to anxiety and I would
deal differently, although sometimes using the same basic techniques...

How helpful am I? /lol/ As I'm bringing her gently through this latest
bark monster phase -- she is responding to stress, so I'm going easy on
her to bring her back into balance there -- I'll clue you in. Mostly,
though it's distractions, play, gentle assertion of authority without
giving her too much hint what I'm doing... /lol/ 

If you discover anything useful, let me know! She will still
occasionally let out a yip or soft vocalization in harness if she's
startled... I know at least one other poodle guide user whose slightly
older dog does the same thing... So I'm rethinking if there's a way to
prevent that. Beyond just going out and working on dog distractions
again for refresher training. That's what really cuts that out. So I
have some plans, and we're just getting more exposure in normal life
again. Whew! But working with her on that did require some effort and
patience. Keeping her going forward, whether it meant dragging her in
leash or just sort of nudging her in early harness training seemed to do
the trick. Well, now we've had a couple of kitty distraction problems so
I need to go kitty hunting to remind her that it is possible to pass a
kittty without needing to run and leap on it to love and bond with it.
Also, kitties may not love her back, and they're not just playing
innocent keep away when they take off like that. They do not want the
poodle to chase them, really they don't. Every now and then, I'm tempted
to let her get close enough to a large and not so timid cat to let her
learn the extent to which she doesn't want it to play chase with her,
either... /smile/ Well, we were on a leash walk late the other night
with DD, and I hadn't put on the Halti, figuring it was late and she was
tired... So I had my cane and was able to just keep walking dragging my
bouncing, choking poodle behind me . Oddly, she didn't get excited
enough to bark, which was nice. Or maybe she pulled hard enough against
the collar to not be able to get one out. Sigh. Another poodle thing.
They'll hurt themselves pulling against a normal collar because of those
long necks and where their trachea is placed. I just grabbed the leash
without tracking down the Halti on the theory that my dog is leash
trained and obedient. Shows what I know. /lol/ So I need to make time, I
guess to work kitty distractions... How do you find kitties when you
actually need them?

Actually, someone else locally was talking about coming across street
kids with teenage attitudes, out of control dogs and cats. Different
part of town, so probably a different cat than the one that some guy
pulled out his backpack while we were passing a week or so ago... So I
guess when I was saying that I need to work on kitty distractions in
case of kitties randomly popping onto the scene while we're working in
public, I only thought I was kidding around... Good grief! What is wrong
with this state? Never mind, I'll keep the political opinions and
attitudes out of it. Crazy.

Tami

On Wed, 2011-09-14 at 06:30 -0500, Jennifer Piening wrote: 
> Hi!  I'm trying to get my puppy to stop unwanted barking.  So I've been 
> researching  and seeking and reading and trying to find the magical 
> solution.  I can only find  suggestions from people  of the importance 
> of getting a dog to stop barking, but have yet to find any concrete step 
> by step ways in which to make the magic happen.  LOL  So please, would 
> you give me some suggestions?  I'm trying to get my poodle puppy to stop 
> barking inappropriately.  She will bark at people when they go to touch 
> her without getting to know her first.  She will also bark when people 
> come to the door.  She will also bark when somebody startles her.  When 
> somebody is about to touch her, she lets out one or two barks, though 
> sometimes they only have to get somewhat close to her.  Maybe I'm just 
> sort of inept as I've never had the perfect pets or guide dogs like some 
> of you on here do, but I'm hoping that with advice,  I can follow 
> directtions and get her to mellow out and be a little more quiet.
>       Thanks, take care, and I'm praying that all of the sick doggies 
> get well soon.
>       Jenny
> 
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