There have been a couple of barking threads recently, so I thought I'd start another, just to join in the party. As you may know, we live in a block of apartments. We're on the ground floor, which means we have a big terrace, where the pups can go out to toilet or play, or just sit and look into the distance, as they do sometimes. From there, they can see up onto the balconies of higher floors. In the last week or so, if someone has gone out onto one of those balconies, Willow has started to bark. This is undesirable, but understandable, behaviour. She looks so proud, protecting our home, but obviously those people are allowed to be up there! They tend to be holidaymakers, so not people we can ask to help with training, so I'm struggling to think of ways to discourage this behaviour. I don't know if it would die out if I ignore it, and I can't use the approach of clicker training a "look at that" - quiet response like I do on the street, because I'm never out there with them when it happens. At the moment, we have cold but sunny days, so the door is left open most of the time so they can go out to get fresh air when they want to. Any advice?
Re: Barking at home This is a hard one. Definitely don't ignore it - it won't stop by itself. Barking is fun. And sometimes the people go away, which means the barking is reinforced occasionally with a big payoff. One approach is to teach a 'quiet' cue so you can stop her barking. Go out with a load of treats. Take a clicker with you. I described the approach (which is Karen Pryor's method) in a thread of Jen's once - see the quite below. For 'whining' read 'barking'. [quote author=Oberon link=topic=4857.msg60555#msg60555 date=1394701401] I would try to add a cue for whining and a cue for not whining. The cue for not whining is important - just trying to put whining on cue won't work, you need to put not whining on cue also. This approach is described in Karen Pryor's book 'Reaching the Animal Mind' (brilliant book) in an example in which she teaches a dog to 'bark' and 'not bark' (page 47). Set up a situation in which you know he will whine. He whines. C&T. Then as he is munching (mouth full and therefore quiet), say 'quiet'. C&T for the quiet (even if it's only because he's munching). Wait. He whines. Say 'quiet' with a hand signal (put your hand out like a traffic cop). He's quiet. Catch that with a C&T. Immediately say 'whine'. Wait till he whines. C&T. Say 'quiet' with hand signal as he's munching. He's quiet. C&T. Immediately say 'whine'. Wait till he whines. C&T. Say 'quiet' with hand signal as he's munching. He's quiet. C&T. After 4 or 5 goes of this wait for a teensy little bit more quiet before you click. Gradually build up the time that elapsed before you click for quiet. Whining that happens without a cue does not get rewarded. Whining that happens on cue does get rewarded. The idea is that he gets rewarded for what he does on cue. You are not rewarding whining - you are rewarding responding correctly to the cue. You ultimately want to be able to use your 'quiet' cue to stop whining and then to stretch out that quiet time before the C&T (using the yo-yo method). Using that approach, teaching an 'on' and an 'off' button' may help to teach him you want silence when it is cued, not 'whine then silence'. I've used the above approach just in the last few days to really, finally, teach a 'quiet' cue to Obi that he actually responds to. I tried putting barking on cue. Didn't work. Only when I taught that in conjunction with the 'off' switch have I had real success. [/quote]
Re: Barking at home Tatze was a terror for barking at neighbours when she was that age. I did like Oberon - and did it outside when the neighbours (or any outside noises which set her off) were there. It took lots and lots of sessions - but it worked and is worth it now!
Re: Barking at home Rachael beat me to it. I was going to suggest the quiet cue that she suggested to me. It works and for us it worked quickly. ;D
Re: Barking at home Thanks, I'll try. I just have to try to get her in a situation where she'll bark. It's tricky because I never know when people are going to use a balcony upstairs. Next time there's any movement there, though, I'll be on it like a cat on a car bonnet
Re: Barking at home Hmm, she just started barking because two people were on an upstairs balcony. I went out to start on the above and she stopped. Plan B, I think!
Re: Barking at home That's ok - just click and treat for going quiet Reinforce any cessation of barking.
Re: Barking at home This is a tricky one. My previous dog was a terrible barker, I tried the cue for bark and cue for silence method and it just didn't work for me. I think it was just so much a part of who he was that I just wasn't going to be able to get on top of it. Anyhow I hope you have better luck than I did, it's heartening to heat it worked well for Jen!
