Our 10 week old labrador is driving me up the wall. His training was going so well and he's generally quite good at picking up new things but his barking is absolutely out of control. Before we got him I read books and read articles online on how to deal with it and I felt pretty confident and had a plan to deal with it but I clearly underestimated just how difficult he was going to be. He barks when we leave the room. Even for a second. In fact, he barks the moment I stand up and turn my back to leave. I can't go into the kitchen without him barking before I get to the door. I can't put him in his pen and go to the toilet without him screeching and gnawing at the gate. We got him a very large puppy pen and a crate for him to sleep in. We spend time playing both out of the pen and in it. He gets fed in his pen too. I've tried my best to associate his pen with all things good. I give him stuffed Kong toys to play with and that actually works for the five minutes it takes for him to finish it and then the second he realises I'm gone he's barking again. We're doing clicker training to try and stop the barking but I honestly think he's getting worse. I'll put him in his pen, and click for silence. When he stops barking for a moment I'll click, return and reward him with a treat for his silence (I've also tried rewarding him with play and a cuddle). But then the moment I stand up and leave his pen, he starts again. There has been no progress with the length of time he is quiet for. I actually feel like he's getting worse. Today we tried leaving him with a stuffed Kong and told ourselves when he finishes it and begins to bark, we would only return when he is quiet. We were stood outside for over half an hour while he just went on, and on, and on. I've tried making a short, sharp noise like "AH-AH" or "NO" but he considers it a shouting match and will just bark right back at me. We play with him and train him plenty during the day and allow him to sleep as much as he needs to. I don't believe he isn't getting enough exercise and I also don't believe he is overtired. Please can somebody lend some advice. I just don't know what to do.
Hi. Lots of sympathy for how stressed you must be feeling, know from own experience how it can get you down, but...from reading your post, 2 main things jump out at me. One, you say he barks at every move you make, but you don't say apart from the time with the Kong, what response you have made to the barking, and two, how have you trained pup to being in his pen or crate alone. Also your puppy is very young and in the early stages everything can become overwhelming when things are not going as you had expected. Take crate training first....if you read other posts on the forum, especially by Pippa and other experts, you will see that training your pup to use a crate happily, and a pen, takes time and patience. Your pup is very young yet and you need to take it slowly with him so he doesn't develop anxieties around being in there or being left. With regard to the barking, it may be just to get attention or he is anxious when you go out of sight. How you have responded is key here. If you return to him, then he will quickly learn that by barking he gets what he wants and will do so even more. If it is from anxiety, then it could be linked to the crate training. Our male lab, now a year old went through a heavy barking phase from about 4 months on. We had to learn as hard as it is to only reward silence, not to respond to the attention barking, which at one point peaked at an hour and that was major headache time as he has a very loud bark. Apart from no response, we have used the Bark, No Bark training, only we use the word 'Speak' . Hero has been through phases of barking at car doors, people passing the house, cats, birds and many other things and No Bark has been invaluable in teaching him. Thank goodness too because at a year he has the deepest loudest bark and on the odd occasion he does it now, I jump skyhigh. So the only advice I can give you is follow Pippas guide to crate training, the same for leaving pup even if only for a few moments, try not to respond to the barking, only the quiet(I know that's by far the hardest, as many will attest, myself included, who when you feel like your head is about to burst, you yell 'shut up', don't know anyone who can honestly say they haven't.).your puppy is very young and anxieties and attention seeking can become real problems very quickly. So as stressful as it feels now, if you pick up on all the advice on this forum from very experienced breeders, trainers and other owners, and work through it at a pace to suit your puppy, then believe me things do get better. And you will enjoy being a puppy owner much more. Without the help and advice of people on here I may well have caved 3 or 4 times over, but now at a year we are seeing the outlines forming of the beautiful dog we always dreamed of. So keep your chin up, do some calming breathing exercises, have the ear plugs handy....you will work through this
I feel for you, how tired and stressed you sound - puppies are hard work! I think it might help to recognise that your puppy really is a baby and isn't deliberately choosing to bark (in the same way a new-born human baby doesn't choose to cry) but it's simply an emotional response. If at all possible don't leave your puppy alone for now because it clearly distresses him. You talk about 'we' in your post so if you have someone at home to help, then share supervision - so when you need to go to the bathroom the other person stays with the puppy. This won't lead to your puppy becoming dependent it will lead to greater confidence and further down the line this will mean he will be happy to be alone sometimes. Clicker training is great but I don't think it's the best tool for this situation - because the click signals a reward for behaviour and your puppy isn't in control of his barking behaviour - it's an instinctive response. The way to go is to change how he feels and make him more secure. I know it must feel as if he's been with you for ever but at 10 weeks old he is very young and he won't be like this forever. I am a member of the Institute of Modern Dog Trainers (IMDT).
