Advice on preventing problem barking

Vancity

Hi guys,

I've been doing some research already but just wondering whether there's anything else I can try over the next while. My puppy is 4.5months old, I've had her for 10 weeks now and we've been doing great so far. She's a miniature schnauzer, black and silver and a super happy little dog. She's teething right now so is nipping a bit and I've been redirecting her nipping with toys and if she gets overly nippy, I've been ignoring her for a minute or two and then going back to play when she stops.

The nipping isn't a worry for me, rather it's the barking! I know schnauzers can be a vocal breed and in general she has just barked to notify me that someone's at the door or if there's a noise outside the apartment etc. What now seems to be happening is that she gets really barky at night, right before bedtime. Again, someone walks past the door and she runs at the door barking loudly and keeps it up for maybe 1-2 minutes before stopping. Then when she's in her little crate at night she barks - not indefinitely but it feels like it's becoming longer stints. Once she stops she sleeps through the night until about 6.30am. I'm trying to ignore it but it's getting difficult. I notice she is worse when my partner is away - he travels a lot for work.

So - how can I stop this? I live in an apartment so I'm conscious of the neighbours and want to make sure she doesn't cause a disturbance. I don't think it is frustrated barking, she gets plenty of exercise and playtime, lots of time to hang out with me and my OH - she's on her own in her playpen in the apartment from 8.45 - 12.15 (3-4 days a week depending on whether one of us is working from home or not) and again from 1.30 - 5 so she is alone for parts of the day (one of us is always home at lunchtime and she gets a short walk then) but sleeps most of the time (we have a camera app that we check her on) and plays with her toys for the remainder - kong, bully sticks, other chew toys. We plan to send her to doggy daycare 1-2 days a week when she's a little older and fully potty trained (she's quite good - maybe 80% reliable right now).

I think we're doing well overall, it's been a big learning curve as it's our first dog but I want to make sure she's as well behaved and happy as possible and if the barking is going to be an issue I want to fix it early on!

Any ideas?

PS She is starting obedience classes next week (puppy specific - 4 puppies in the class) so I will ask the trainer as well but I want to be armed with as much knowledge as possible.

Cherry Blossom

There are two commands I taught my dogs as a combination, Speak and Quiet. You start with 'speak'. You can use a hand signal in conjunction with the word and a clicker comes in really handy as well. When your dog barks give her the command to speak and reward her for barking, yes I know this sounds odd but bear with me

Once you get to the stage where she will bark on command, this makes it easier to teach 'quiet', you can again use a hand signal in conjunction with the word. When she is barking give the command for quiet and mark the point at which she stops with the clicker and reward her for not barking, again continue with the training in a controlled environment (ie you have asked her bark in the first place) until it is reliable. You can then move on to asking her to be quiet in situations where she is riled up or barking at something. It does take time to do this training but it does work.

daUbiq

Lots of exercise can prevent many issues...

DerTierarzt

Vancity wrote: »

So - how can I stop this?

Any ideas?

1. ignore any unwanted behaviour (if biting, simply stand up and cross your hands, if barking just leave the room)
2. reward desired behaviour (basically positive reinforcement, this is most commonly done by instituting obedience training at regular intervals)
3. excessive vocalisation may be reduced by increasing environmental stimulation, and addressing any queues to bark
4. seek the counsel of your veterinarian or a trained canine behaviourist if concerned for any reason
5. keep in mind normally there's an extinction burst, whereby the undesired behaviour will escalate before it gets better

Vancity

Thanks adrenalinjunkie this sounds like a plan. I haven't come across that tactic yet She has learned her other commands pretty quickly so hopefully this one will be similar.

DerTierarzt - thanks for the tips. In fairness to her, it's not like she barks incessantly so when she does, I don't have a massive amount of time to leave the room - it's like a quick sharp staccato burst of barking and then she'll stop (except at night when she barks a little more and she's already in her crate in another room at that point). I just want to make sure it doesn't escalate in future.

We're off to the vet tonight anyway for her rabies shot so I will ask her as well what she thinks.

thanks