I wonder if anyone could help me with a problem that I think I've created for myself and that I am possibly making worse every day. Luna is 11 weeks old and has an injured paw which means she's in a small, carpeted pen area for a couple more weeks and only able to go on lead walks for 10 minutes in the garden. My boyfriend and I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen with her when working from home to keep an eye on her and make sure she's not chewing her bandage etc. But she's got used to having us around and now she's barking when we're not in view. We both work from home and it's proving impossible to get anything done - especially getting away to work in the study for an hour or so. We are ignoring any attention barking religiously and then trying our best to reward the quiet moments, but it's not working. If it's a continuous bark (which is rare unless she's really worked up) then I'll wait for a break in the barking and use the clicker to mark it and follow with a treat. I'll then repeat this again and again - edging further out of the room, clicking and coming back in with a treat when it's quiet. Invariably it's a burst of barking, then long silences, then another burst of barking in which case I won't use the clicker but I'll go to her in the silence when I've counted to 10, give her a treat, and say "Good Girl Quiet". The problem is, after the treat, she'll start with a renewed energy as soon as I leave the room or turn my back. Its as if she's expecting the treat. I'm worried I'm making everything worse rather than addressing the situation What's making this harder is that her bark for attention sounds identical to the noise she makes when she wants a wee. On a few occasions, I've ignored her barking only to find that she has in fact been trying to tell me that she needs to go out. On the flip side, sometimes I'll incorrectly think she's barking for a wee and take her outside which only serves to reward her barking with a sniff around the garden and a chew on some grass which she loves. Sorry for the long post, but any pearls of wisdom would be very much appreciated.
Hello and welcome to the forum from me and Joy, a little black Lab, here in West Yorkshire. I'm no expert, but I would say your little Luna is so, so young that it's possible that she hasn't even worked out for herself what she wants yet when she barks, just that she needs SOMETHING! NOW! I was very much in your situation a year ago and there were times when I ignored Joy's barks, only to have her wee in the house out of desperation. This now hasn't happened for about 10-11 months and she's such a good, settled little girl (mostly!) The Puppy Phase is hard, hard work, but although it feels like it's never ending, it really doesn't last for long in the great scheme of things. Other people here on the forum may be able to give you better advice, and may well have more experience than me. All I can say is hang on in there, keep loving your sweet pup, keep in touch with this forum and I really think all will eventually be well. Very best wishes to you and Luna. What colour is she?
Hi Candy and Joy - lovely to hear from you and thank you for your reply. Luna is a little black lab - she's so beautiful and full of character and as I write this she is fast asleep (bliss!!). How old is Joy now?
Hi there, just to reassure you that this is normal. As long as you ignore them, the barking sessions when you leave will get shorter and shorter and eventually stop. That's because she will learn that the quickest way to get you back is to stop barking again. You may find it helpful to give her a stream of little treats with intervals between, and gradually increase the gaps between them, to break the habit more quickly. I have an article on this technique somewhere I'll try to dig it out.
That's great - thank you so much. I gave it a try today after ignoring some barking at the cat, only to realise that she'd in fact just done a wee in her pen while I was ignoring her. She got an almighty reward for doing that wee!! Give me strength - I'll start getting this right soon!!
Sorry - one more question on this if anyone can help. If she remains quiet for an extended amount of time (e.g. 5 or 10 minutes and relatively settled and calm), do I keep returning and rewarding to maintain the behaviour? I'm trying to apply this to when she barks at the cat. As soon as she's laid down and calm when the cat is around, I'm rewarding her. Provided the cat doesn't move, she'll stay settled for a while.
The basic premise is that rewarding behaviour increases the likelihood of it happening again so anytime she’s doing something you like and you have a reward on hand then go for it!
Personally, I would. Saying that I wouldn't "mark" the behaviour, instead opting for placing a treat between the paws, this serves two purposes, firstly your behaviour isn't alerting...ie a clicker can be seen as exciting! By placing a treat quietly, means your pup doesn't need to move out of position. I did get into the habit of a quiet verbal cue but avoided eye contact at the same time
