Hi there I’m taking my 6 and a half month old puppy to puppy classes, she is fine for the first part but then will start barking and won’t stop! The trainer said to tell her ‘no’ firmly and keep telling her no but she isn’t interested and will just keep barking anyway, and try and pull away from me while on her lead. She also does this when I take her to the pet shop when she has to stand still for a short time. Also when at home, she will sometimes stand in front in me while I’m sat and just start barking, again she won’t stop until I put her in her crate for a few mins which seems to work. Any help / advice would be greatly received. Thank you!!
I think your trainer is wrong to tell you to keep saying ‘no’ -it’s pointless. Your puppy could either be anxious or frustrated/bored. If the class is organised in such a way that you each take turns at an exercise, then it could well be frustration while waiting and you could either take a chew toy / Kong , if there is sufficient room between the dogs for this, or do some quiet exercises with her in your own space - sit, down, twirl, hold object etc. If the class is organised so that you are all working at once, your puppy may be excited or stressed, and in either case I’d try to give her more space from the others and give calm strokes and feed.
I agree with Joy. Your puppy isn't being naughty, so telling her off is inappropriate. She is trying to communicate with you, and it's your job to listen and work out how to solve the issue. It's likely that she's frustrated or over-aroused, as Joy says, and so it's up to you to train her to either be able to cope with that frustration (by very slowly building up the time where she is expected to sit out watching) or to train her to be able to be calm in that environment (by teaching her how to settle and increase the level of distraction around that settled behaviour). Both of these are very valuable and should be taught to any puppy. In either event, if your trainer isn't giving you the skills to do that, I'd question their credentials.
My blood runs cold each and every time I see someone post something like Saying 'No' has, as you have discovered, no effect whatsoever - it is just human noise with no meaning; however when saying something like this to a barking dog can encourage it to continue barking as your vocalisation can be taken as joining in by your dog and encourage more barking.
Thank you for the replies its much appreciated! The class is only 1 or a couple of dogs working at a time so when its her turn she is fine, its only when we have to sit. I’ll difintely try taking a chew toy for her next week and try doing some training while we’re waiting. Thanks again for the advice!
