Challenges

We all have challenges with our dogs. Something they do or don’t do that really bothers us, but doesn’t seem to bother us enough to make us do something about it. We get frustrated or even angry. We might even yell at the dog for the behavior, yet we don’t actually take positive steps to change the behavior. Punishing for the behavior we don’t want doesn’t actually change the behavior because we aren’t giving an alternative that leads to a positive outcome. So what ends up happening is that the punishment becomes a negative reinforcement for the behavior.

Barking is one of these behaviors that often follow this pattern. Dog barks, we yell, dog barks more, we yell more… eventually the cycle stops and everyone walks away – the dog thinking that was a wonderful interaction and the human feeling exasperated that the dog never seems to learn. The dog learned… if I yell, the human yells and interacts with me. Great fun!

So what is a way to stop the nuisance barking? First you have to figure out its trigger and I’m going to wager the biggest trigger is boredom. A secondary trigger is often movement or noise outside a barrier (i.e. fence, window, door, etc.).

Boredom is an easy thing to combat. Keep the dog busy. Games that combine mental stimulation with physical exercise are optimal for defeating boredom in dogs. Best of all you can play quick, short sets of games throughout the day and before you know it, you’ll have a much happier dog. Below are two games you can try for yourself or modify to work for you

My first game is hide and seek. You can hide a favorite toy, treats or whatever you think your dog will search for. Start with the game being easy – confine the hide to a small space, maybe even let them watch you hide it. Slowly make the game harder and harder. If they get really good, teach them to search for different things based on the command given and then set up complex hides where you send them throughout the house or yard looking for a variety of things.

My second game is to set targets throughout the house or space and then send my dog to the different spots to then do another command (sit, down, stay, etc.). Again, you start with a single target in a small space and build complexity and space as the dog’s skills increase with the game. Remote treat dispensers can really help with this game, especially as you start doing distance work and even having them go to other rooms of the house.

My third game is turning the room into an obstacle course. I have them crawl under furniture, go through openings, go over the top of objects on the floor. Mix it up and move it around. I create tunnels, platforms, hurdles and weaves out of objects in our space. Use boxes as targets to get bodies into and spinning chairs as a challenge for balancing and sitting on. I call it living room parkour.

Once I have a well exercised and balanced dog, I can start working on the triggers for the unwanted behaviors as necessary. Whether it’s the coming and going of the mailman, knocks on the door, the doorbell, etc. Each can become a new game and exercise. Teach that the door bell means get on a certain dog bed to get a special treat. The mailman coming means bark twice to get a reward and now I know the mail is here. Turn those problem behaviors into positives for you and your dog.