see the following recent thread Barking
Al depends on what the plan is. Keep in mind stoping the barking does not solve the problem Thake the place of the other dogs and engaging the pup in play does. but if you do not want the puppy to learn that barking is the way to get someone to play ie you or the dogs then you need to teach him a more appropriate behavior that works. It does no good to teach the dog to sit quitely in front of you to intiate play if in the end that does not work as well.I was not sure whether I should work wit him so he does not do it for s long or not.
unless of course the ocassional give in in which case he is variably reinforced making ending the behavior via extinction nearly impossible. Also if the extinction does work I doubt his desire to play or engage them in play will deminish so he will simply seek out other behavior that might be more effective. ie humping, the big paw, squashing etc.have a feeling his barking at them for long stretches will taper off because they do not give him the attention he wants. His bark
I Reward the dog. Just not with the Reward they would prefer
If for example the dog is jumping and nipping for attention I reward the Behavior. BUT I reward it with something like me going away. "Yippie, you win! I bet I know what you would like! Your Reward is my disappearance." I know that it is semantics on one level but on another level it is really a completely different methodology.
I don't do "penalty yards" (TM pending, Lana Horton). "You pull on the leash... Yippie! We get to walk backwards or stop." If the dog thinks I am an idiot... Great!
"Bob, you fool. I am not trying to get you to walk backwards. Hmmmm... what do I need to do to get this idiot to stop going the wrong direction???"
If my attitude remains that I am having a great time and even better if I am acting like I think that the Undesired Reward is what the dog wants I am not setting up a conflict. But I am motivating the dog to reexamine its choices. I am encouraging the dog to try and educate me as to the best thing to do. And when the dog figures out that biting and nipping me is the stupidest way to get me to play they will look for a better way. And when they think that the reward I offer is not worth the effort it weakens the probability of that behavior continuing to be offered.
Puppy license and adult behavior–STOP SEPARATING PLAY.Many pet owners are quite shocked to find that suddenly at about 4 ½ to 5 months of age adult dogs will appear to ‘turn’ on their cute and adorable puppy….it also comes as quite a surprise to the pup! So what’s probably going on here?
that what I mean by being pro active over time hopefully it will become even less still but a lot depends on how the other dogs react to the barking. If he is rewarded for it it will continue Husbands and children are not the only ones to sabotoge training how the other dogs react can as wellI have been taking turns walking my dogs with him and they interact alot outside so he is barking less today because they are hanging around him more.