Stop barking at other dogs.

Dr. Marie replied:

This is a very tough question to answer and I'm not sure that I can solve your problem over the internet like this. But I'll give you some of my thoughts.

First of all, when a dog has a habit of barking at things (dogs, people, etc) it is an extremely difficult behavior to break because it is very self rewarding. Imagine, if we had no concept of social skills how great it would feel to be able to just yell at people whenever we wanted. There is a huge endorphine rush and then, when the dog finally passes your house there is a reward because essentially the dog is thinking, "YEAH! I yelled at him to go and then he went! I did my job!"

So, to solve this problem you will need very intensive training. If I was leading a training program like this it would start out with steps like this:



-Start by seeing if you can teach the dog to bark on command. I know it seems weird. But, it will be easier to teach her not to bark if you can teach her to bark to start with. So, to do so, get her really worked up and when she barks say, "Good bark!" and give her a treat. Then try again saying, "Bark Lilly!" and when she barks give her a treat and say, "Good bark."

-Once you've got her barking on command then teach her to bark repeatedly. So, you say bark! And when she barks say bark again! Reward her for barking. I know it seems counterintuitive, but again, you won't be able to teach her to stop barking unless you can repeatedly teach her this.

-Once you've got her barking on command then teach her the command "quiet". The idea here is that you say, "BARK!" and she repeatedly barks and then you say, "Quiet!" and once she stops say, "Good quiet" and give her a treat. You will need to repeat this a lot of times for her to get the idea.

-Once you feel she really has it then start doing the training in the yard.

-Once she's got that then enlist the help of a friend with a dog. Start off with no dog in sight. Do a few rounds of "Bark" and "Quiet". Then have your friend walk by with the dog and continue to do "Bark and Quiet". Don't get upset at her and don't tell her off if she doesn't do quiet well. But if she doesn't go quiet then no treat. You will need to have your friend and the dog walk by many many times over several days in order to accomplish this.

It's hard work, but there is no easy solution to this problem. I am not a fan of bark collars or other similar methods.

If you feel she is very anxious and this is contributing to the problem then you can talk to your vet about using an antianxiety medication such as Reconcile.

I hope that helps!

Dr. Marie


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