I'm sort of thinking out loud here, but definitely would love to hear any thoughts you have. Honey has been a barker since a week or so after she came home with us (I'm guessing because at that point she was beginning to feel more settled). We've taught "speak" and "quiet" and had some success using those, but the barking continues, less frequently and for shorter periods of time, but continues. We reinforce not barking, but have noticed a pattern over the past few days that has us questioning whether what we are doing is a good idea, and if not, what to do instead. She has periods of craziness--zooming/barking/nipping/etc.--which we accept as part of puppyhood (though we hope late-ish puppyhood ), though we still discourage them (outdoor zooming in the yard is fine, and some barking, nipping not so much). I think she's barking and nipping at least in part because she needs to go outside (we take her out frequently but certainly if/when we realize that's why she's getting wild), but that leaves me unsure what to do, if anything, with regard to the barking. Are we making things worse by discouraging the barking? Are we reinforcing it if we take her out every time she does it? Am I completely overthinking it? (This gets OH's vote. ) She is such a delight, and has made leaps and bounds since coming home with us. She is fun and lively and very quick to learn, and I worry that we are inadvertently making things harder for her by focusing on the barking--yet I'm not sure what else to do.
I would wonder if this is the case. I admit I don't have much experience. Lilly rarely barked until she was 2 or 3. Do you think a diary of her barking behaviour could be useful? When she barks, what is she doing, what do you do etc. Might be easier if OH was to observe and note you, or vice versa. To really look at what is happening.
My Luna would bark when she needed to go out as a puppy. It is really a hard one, because when they're saying they need to go, you can't not take them out! It's best if you can pre-empt the bark by taking her out more regularly, but we all know that there will still be times she barks to go out. With Luna, I basically waited until I knew she was old enough to hold it. It was mainly at night that it would happen, so once I knew she had bladder control, I would ignore the barks. It didn't take long to stop it, but I wasn't prepared to do this until I knew she was ready, which meant I was still getting up in the early hours of morning to let her out until just a couple of months ago. Which was tiresome! She would always have a wee and a poo, so I knew she wasn't putting it on and did really need to go out. The long and short of it is that you're a bit between a rock and a hard place so you have to choose between either risking her toileting indoors or learning that barking gets results. I went with the second option and, at nine months, having spent a good while ignoring her barking, she very rarely barks now.
Our two Labs could not be more different in their barking habits. Tilly will bark when she wants something. Particularly when she wants us to open the door to the upper deck, so she can go out on the deck. Also when she knows that someone is walking by the house, or coming to the front door. Cooper seldom barks at other dogs. Even when our neighbors Pit runs the fence and barks, Cooper will sit up the hill and watch. She does bark at skateboarders on our street. Her main barking is when she is playing "bitey face with Tilly. Cooper barks continuously in a very high pitched irritating bar, and asking her to stop has virtually no impact.
I think you're right. We talked about it briefly earlier and agreed that for the time being we're going to have to risk reinforcing the barking in favor of getting her outside. The age part makes it difficult, because she's (reportedly) 2 years old (we do not believe this is accurate), so she's old enough chronologically but is still not there. We can see a changing trend in terms of her nighttime toilet habits; until about a week ago she woke once during the night to go outside. This week she's slept all night four times (twice, then up for two nights, then twice more), so it's changing. One thing at a time, right? (I have to remind myself of this often! ) She goes out about every half hour or 45 minutes during the day except during her nap, more frequently if she barks. (OH is home with her all day.) Tonight she barked to go out and didn't toilet; she just wanted to play. Then we got in and she barked, so I took her back out, and as it turns out she was barking because she was restricted from getting into the kitchen. Our previous Lab almost never barked, and if she did it was easy to figure out her reason. Honey is definitely keeping us on our toes.
I think this is part of what's happening with me--my previous Lab almost never barked, and if she did it was for a reason I could figure out. Honey's barking has diminished but I still don't feel very skilled at distinguishing one bark from another.
Jess is a bit of a barker, and I found Turid Rugaas' book on Barking surprisingly useful. Much of it is common sense - barking is a means of communication; different barks mean different things and require different responses - but it gave me a framework to analyse Jess's barking and some quite useful responses. The most useful tip I got from it was that when a dog is 'alert barking', if you put yourself between the dog and its object of concern (another dog, for example) then it will usually stop. This worked very effectively with us when Jess went through a phase of barking at the window panes (!) and when she has been barking at dogs across a fence. Jess doesn't bark as much as she used to, but she is a surprisingly effective communicator - she has a different bark for needing a pee/poo, for being frightened, for being annoyed, for wanting to play, for wanting a walk. I left her in my husband's care for the past few weeks and was impressed that he now understands her barks too! I still find it a bit tiresome sometimes, but I do find it helpful to know which barks to pay attention to and which to ignore, and I suppose I also quite like the fact that she is communicating with us and we are (often) able to respond. (And that can include telling her no - for example, if she is barking at me to play with her and I don't have time, I say "No. That's all" and she will - usually! - stop it and flounce into her bed and go to sleep).
Also – your initial question was ‘is it better to ignore barking or respond to it’ so it’s probably worth noting that Turid Rugaas’ approach is not really about stopping barking, but about understanding why a dog is barking. The idea is that if you understand the underlying driver/emotion and respond appropriately, the dog will no longer need to bark. But it doesn’t discourage the dog from barking, so you might end up with what we have with Jess – a dog that thinks it can speak! She’s not at all a problem barker, she doesn’t bark for prolonged periods of time, but she definitely uses barking to try and communicate with us, and it can be pretty annoying if I don’t know what she wants – though very satisfying when I get it right.
We've been responding to the barking as if it all means toilet needed, and 1) she is going out but not toileting as frequently, which is absolutely fine, and 2) she is barking less and nipping less (I have no idea if these things are connected, but we'll take them!). She is noticeably calmer in the last two days, and last night we gave her the option of sleeping on the bed with us. She tends to get really excited if she gets on the bed and we're lying down, and she starts jumping and nipping and barking, but she jumped up, snuggled up beside me, and went to sleep. She later went to her kennel and slept the rest of the night, but it was completely her choice. Again, no idea if these things are related or coincidental, but I'm excited to report them.
I must have jinxed us. Last night she was barking non-stop in spite of countless trips outside. That's ok--two steps forward, one step back still ends with progress.
