hi, my three year old Labrador retriever has an impatience and protection issue, he doesn’t allow me to talk with anyone even for a few minutes, he has a very loud bark. We have tried introducing cue words for quiet and rewarding, tried that he can say hello to the person when quiet, also tried that he gets a sharp tone and then a good boy praise when quiet......please help. Car loading, I have an adapted car, with a ramp at the back, and a crate he travels in. He travels no problem, it’s getting him in the car to start with. First few months he got in the car ok but then for no reason he wouldn’t. Tried, feeding meals in the car, giving kongs in the crate, playing games in the car, reverse psych so can’t get to a treat in the crate and then allowing, and each time when gets in the crate we have clicked and rewarded. Any help please as he will not go in, and not meaning taking up to ten minutes trying, we have spent up to near an hour in car parks with passer boys helping me as I’m disabled and struggling with this. Any tips you can help on either please do suggest, we need your suggestions to try. Thanks
You are going to need to set up training scenarios where you get someone to talk to you, and have instructed them to completely and absolutely ignore the dog - no matter what he does. You will just keep on talking to each other and totally ignoring the dog, until he eventually is quiet - at which time, you suddenly 'notice' him, click the silence and give him lots of treats. He will need to be quiet for at least 2-3 seconds before you can mark it with the clicker. This situation arises because it is very difficult to ignore a barking dog if you are really trying to talk to someone. Owners end up saying 'shush, Fido', bending over, giving them attention and stroking them in a 'reassuring' way - and strangers end up looking at the dog and laughing at him and giving him attention for it. All of this only further trains the behaviour in. The only way to get rid of it is to do the opposite - and to know that there will be a LOT of loud barking you will need to persevere through and ignore, before he gives up. And it will take many, many reps of this before he learns that it doesn't work. (Which is why it's far better not to inadvertently train a dog to do this in the first place!) Is this car loading problem only happening at the end of a trip out, when you are loading him to come home? Or does it also happen at home, when you are loading him to go out somewhere?
Good plan suggested by @Jo Laurens. Might I suggest you go to music store or hardware and buy ear protectors to cut down on the volume of the barking while you talk to each other. The ear protectors are small enough that your dog will not notice them.
We have tried the talking situation for over two months now, luckily I have a store nearby who were willing to help based on doing that idea. But we haven’t got anywhere with improving the behaviour. I went in nearly everyday, but recently due to health I haven’t managed too. Car loading, he will not load at home either
For the car loading, where do you typically take him in the car? For reluctant travellers, I make a point of driving 5 minutes to somewhere really fun for a walk/swim/play/train everday for a week or two. They quickly associate the car with fab times and can't wait to get in.
Science tells us that if there is something reinforcing the behaviour, and we remove that reinforcement, the behaviour will cease. That's science. If you've been trying to do this and haven't noticed an improvement than either: 1. There is another source of reinforcement for the dog in this behaviour, which hasn't been identified. (Hard to imagine what that could be really, since he is on a leash at your side and clearly what he wants is your attention or for the walk to continue.) OR: 2. You have not adequately and fully removed the reinforcement, but are sometimes still giving him attention (or the other person is) or you have stopped the training before the point where he has given up making noise, thereby only reinforcing him - through the walk continuing and the standing still having stopped. I strongly believe 2. is highly likely and you will need to ensure that both people having the conversation are completely ignoring him - not looking at him, not laughing at him, not smiling at him, not talking to him - and also that you remain like that *until he is quiet*. Which may be a very long time if this behaviour has been reinforced strongly before. I'm afraid science tells us that there are no other explanations than the above...
I can think of a third alternative: Dogs can find barking to be a self-rewarding behaviour. If so, then barking needs to be put under a cue, with the prospect of teaching the dog quiet (no bark) which can be also rewarded.
I've not heard of barking to be self-reinforcing, Michael. That would mean there is no external cause of it, or reinforcement for it. I've never experienced that, in any dog...
@Jo Laurens, My understanding is that barking, albeit not all barking, can be intrinsically rewarding. https://www.dailydogdiscoveries.com/intrinsic-reinforcement/
I'm not sure 'Daily Dog Discoveries' is an authority on canine behaviour! Barking is not an intrinsic reinforcer. That would mean that dogs just enjoy doing it, for the sake of it - like they enjoy eating food, sniffing, or having sex. Instead - ALL barking has a cause. Whether a dog is barking at an intruder (to drive them away - reinforcing), or because they want your attention (which they often get - reinforcing) or because they want to elicit play from another dog (reinforcing).... Dogs don't just bark for no reason. Even in situations where there isn't an obvious reinforcer (like the dog is startled and responds by barking once), the cause is clearly the external thing which startled the dog - not some innate enjoyment of barking for itself. I can't think of a single dog I've known which finds barking intrinsically reinforcing. There's always a cause for barking - which is good, because once we've established it, we can work on that cause - so that the barking stops.
The article is quoting some of Steven Lindsay's work. I think Lindsay is an authority on dog behaviour. Self reinforcing does not mean there is no cause. It just means there isn't any extrinsic reinforcement. No claim is being made that all barking is self-reinforcing.
