My male chocolate lab is almost 9 months old and this week he has developed the habit of barking at me, when I'm just sitting in a chair, reading a book, doing some other non-dog related stuff. Today, he has had two walks already, two Kong wobblers filled with kibble, I had a little training session with him, gave him a new toy (which he ignored after 5 minutes of play), … (and it's only one a clock in the afternoon!). I certainly haven't spent too little time with him. I've been home a lot, so he has been left alone in his crate only for short stretches of time. He barks for more attention, I guess. I just ignored him barking while writing this. Fortunately he stopped (some times he doesn't ) and now he's finally snoring. When he stops, I give him attention, telling him he's a good boy. But sometimes it seems like it's going to go on forever! It has driven me completely mad, I'm feeling sorry for my neighbors (no complaints yet, fortunately, they are very understanding). May this be a developmental phase? A friend of mine told me she feared she had to rehome her 9 month old lab because he was being very silly at that age, because of his hormones. My dog is not neutered and I'm not planning to do so. I hope I'm doing the right thing by ignoring his barking and praising him when he stops. Fortunately he becomes very quiet and calm in the evening and night. Part of the problem may also be a blessing: I'm the only person in the house, so he's very attached to me and has his attention on me almost constantly. Might be a great benefit in training him. I hope this phase passes quickly, because it's cracking my nerves . Sometimes I'm afraid to move in my own house. When he's finally relaxing, I try not to move, because simply going to the toilet can make him overexcited again. So silly! I feel like I can not do what I want anymore in my own house!. He's such a nervous dog, or maybe I'm the nervous one and we are igniting each other…?
Ignoring will work - if he's truly barking for attention. This is one of those "know your dog" things. If he's not barking for attention but for some other reason, then a) withholding your attention won't stop the barking and b) giving attention while he is barking won't reinforce the barking because that's not what he wants. Take my girl Willow. She can bark at the other dogs if she has a kong and they come too close to her. Me withholding attention doesn't stop the barking because she's not barking for attention; she's barking because she's afraid she'll lose the kong. Similarly, giving her attention when she barks doesn't reinforce that barking - I can make myself a barrier between her and the others so she knows they can't steal the kong (they won't anyway, but that's what she's scared of) and that stops the barking. Making her feel "safe" stops the barking because she's no longer worried. On the other hand, my youngster barks pretty much exclusively for attention. As a young puppy, she was a nightmare - she would wake up and bark immediately. I unfortunately had little alternative but to reinforce this at nighttime because of nightmare neighbours where I was staying at the time; at least yours sound good - maybe pop them round a bottle of wine and explain you're aware of it and working on it - at least then they won't get frustrated thinking you're doing nothing. Once I moved away from that situation, I was able to work on it more effectively, but it persisted for a long time and intensified at around the age of your boy. I found then that the most effective management tool was firstly pre-empting it so there was less chance it would be rehearsed. This meant working out when her trigger times were and making sure I gave her a bit of training, play or a kong right before those times. And in those situations where I got it wrong, I would get up and walk out of the room immediately she barked. Just ignoring her wasn't a strong enough method; walking away underlined that she actually lost the presence she already had if she barked.
Thanks for the quick response and advice. I'm rather convinced it's barking for attention. He rarely barks at people or other dogs (only if they are being offensive and stare him in the eye). He's very friendly and not often afraid of things. Doorbells, airplanes, fireworks, drills, … they don't make him bark. I will keep on 'reading' my dog the best I can and hopefully, things will get better.
I would also teach him some self-control type exercises. One would be to teach him to go and lie on a mat on cue. There are instructions in here: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/attention-seeking-dog/ Another thing to do would be teaching him to be quiet and do nothing when out on walks. When on a walk periodically stop and sit down and wait until he lies down and is quiet before walking on again with him (this’ll be easier if he’s on lead). Being able to walk on again is the reward for being quiet (assuming he wants to walk on again!). You can also reward him with treats when he lies down and is quiet.
Yup the above is important to do with my Squidge. She's slowly learning how to be bored, but it's taking time. My other two didn't have the same issue and learnt to chill out and wait for good things to happen at a much younger age. Not that she's go-go-go; she snoozes away most of the day. It's just when she's awake she struggles to not do anything.
It will certainly be useful to practice this with my dog. Training starting tomorrow . Thanks for reminding me of the existence of this article.
