Need dog training tips and techniques

Factual Questions
1

Not sure if this is a GQ or not, but anyway…

A friend and coworker of mine recently adopted a dog from the animal shelter. Not sure what the breed is (some kind of mix), but he’s a wonderful dog. Happy, friendly, sweet, gentle, playful, generally calm, etc. He’s about 2 years old and maybe 45 pounds.

He brings the dog into the office and everyone loves him. Not sure where the dog came from, but his previous owners taught him some basic commands, and he seems to pick up new ones quickly. Normally, he’s very well-behaved.

Our office is on the second floor of medium-size office building, and we have a patio that looks out on a nearby residential street. The dog likes to sit on unused furniture and look out the windows at the street, and if the patio door is open, he’ll run outside and look from there.

The problem is - whenever he sees a dog on the street, he goes absolutely, completely nuts. Barking, jumping, howling, running around, etc. For about 10 minutes after he sees a dog, he’ll run around to his favorite people in the office and “ask” to be let out on the patio (usually when he flips out while outside his owner will take him inside). Eventually he calms down, but it’s highly disruptive.

I really enjoy having the dog at the office, and so does everyone else, but this is unacceptable. My friend, who is reasonably competent at training and controlling the dog otherwise, can’t seem to get him to stop this behavior, and the dog seems completely uncontrollable when this happens.

He normally understands the word “NO!”, but completely ignores it in this case. We’ve tried lightly swatting him on the neck, as one co-worker suggested - no luck. My friend is able to get him to stop barking by picking him up (a bit awkwardly), but the dog doesn’t seem to like that, remains agitated when he is put down, and clearly it hasn’t worked to stop him barking in the first place.

Having googled a bit and found a bunch of stuff about “positive reinforcement” techniques, I bought some dog treats with the intent of rewarding the dog once he calmed down. It seems to me like I made a bit of progress in teaching him “quickly calm down when a treat is in sight”, but not “don’t go nuts when you see a dog”.

My friend is about to hire a professional dog trainer to give him some advice, but before he does that, I thought I would ask on here.

As I said, the dog is very smart and rapidly trainable in most respects, but somehow we don’t know the right way to get him to respond when he’s in this frenzied state.

2

I have a lot of experience with dogs and even more important training by top professionals. Experience means little if you are just repeating the failed methods of the fifties. All the better trainers are using positive methods now. My experience is heavy on young Labs. The truth is, Labs usually don’t bark that much and I don’t have methods of controlling barking that I have been successful using. It isn’t even in my manual for them. The manual does have a suggested reading list. One I have read is The Other End of the Leash by Patrica McConnell.

She suggests the first step is not to yell at the dog. After all, usually if one dog starts to bark, any others around will to. So yell at your dog when it barks and it is happy to have you bark with it. Quietly tell it enough and walk over to it with a treat, doesn’t need to be very big. Let him know you have it and use it to lure him away from what he is barking at if anything, and praise him as he shifts his attention to the treat and away from barking. Once away from where he was barking, give him the treat.

This is not something I have tried and found works. It does come from a reliable source and I would trust it more than something I found on a website I know little about. I just hope he isn’t smart enough to figure out if he barks, he gets a treat plus your attention.

Dogs are very much into immediate gratification. You can sucker them into a lot with a treat.

3

I suspect this is the problem, or at least, we’re not good enough at training him to avoid letting him make this connection. He has started occasionally coming to me and barking for no discernible purpose.

4

I am pretty experienced at training challenging breeds. Barking issues can be tough, but I have learned that if you can train them to bark on command, It is quite easy to train them to cease barking with a single command.

5

I’ve been told that the way to teach a dog to not bark is first to teach him to bark on command. Then you have the mechanism to teach ‘stop barking’.

I’ll let you know if this works out. I just figured out how to get my dog to bark, so I’ll be training him to bark over the next bit, and then to shut up.

ETA: Snaked.

6

This sounds like a dog that has no experience in being around other dogs.

The owner should try taking the dog for planned play sessions with friends who have dogs. Also, check to see if your city has any dog parks, and take the dog to one of them. (Make sure the owner is prepared for his dog to get even more excited at actually meeting other dogs. Keep them on a leash, under control. And be prepared to have to leave early the first few times.)

7

Yes, many problems stem from poor early socialization. The dog may have been removed from its litter too soon, before 6 weeks. Even if not, if it was isolated from all other dogs during the prime socialization period to protect it from disease, it could still have problems.

8

Hi, I’d like to toss out a suggestion or two for your puppy friend’s barking business. This technique bypasses the whole ‘‘positive reinforcement’’ approach (at first, at least), but, like others have already mentioned, this pup probably has not been properly socialized (too often an issue), he hasn’t already learned a ‘‘bark’’ command, he’s older, with multiple owners and trainers and leaders, he’s one of those ‘‘frenzied’’ types, and…you get me; you’re behind in the game, this quickly works with most dogs and, most importantly, it’s not overly aggressive. What’s his name, that can help?

Decide on what word will be used by everyone involved for the bark command so that there’s consistency and he can understand. Make sure the pup is collared or that you know how to fix a grip on his neck. When he starts doing his thing, immediately respond by gripping him securely but gently with your weak hand, completely cupping your strong hand over the top of his snout but away from his nose so that your hand is wrapped fully around, again, gently but securely. Confidently but without yelling, call out your no bark command, making eye contact. Continue to hold his mouth shut while gently reminding ‘‘no bark’’ until he has calmed down. Gently release him and have him follow you back inside, keeping him with you (the same person who reprimanded). Leashing him to your desk might be needed to keep him close? Continue to verbally let him know that he’s being a good, quiet dog. Now is when to use positive reinforcement/doggie treat, but the cool-down period must be sufficient so that he differentiates the reprimand from reward, and again, the same person should be doing all of this.

Remember, the point is not to hurt, but to make uncomfortable. The people issuing the commands must have a positive connection with the pup; never should strangers or those with poor relationship with dog be be issuing commands, especially while he’s learning. The nose is super sensitive, so be careful not to touch while holding mouth shut. Most dogs will attempt to sucker you into releasing them by whining even though, beyond the sensation of being constrained, theyre perfectly fine. Obviously, this is not a technique I’d flippantly recommend for a vicious dog.

A friend of mine had a baby 2 months back and to help out I spent 4 weeks taking her two 5 year old Labs, sisters, for hikes every day. Great dogs, typical loving lab temperament, but while in a car they will freak out over any dog, squirrel, kid, etc., ferociously barking as long as the object is in sight, doing exactly what your friend’s pup seems to be. The owner gave up on trying to curb this some time ago, feeling it was a lost cause. Within one week of using this technique, I no longer had to hold her mouth shut (since I was usually driving, I only had one free hand, illegally at that, so I’d target the alpha-her sister’s a complete pushover). I had to stay proactive, spotting the objects of concern while reminding them ‘‘no bark,’’ but no more frenzied fits of barking. By week 3 the alpha was so cute cause she’d wanna bark but knew better, so she’d growl under her breath, but a barely audible I highly doubt that this owner’s particular anxiety and the dogs barking at what they do is a coincidence; it’s a reflection of.

Commitment and Consistency

Other thoughts: the owner doesn’t sound like the leader of the pack. Thats fine, but dog might learn faster from others and better overall. Honestly, your relationship with the dog sounds very promising. The office setting probably is not the best location for training. Too many people, too much going on, has to be confusing for the pup, who’s in a key learning phase. The least amount of distractions between the dog and trainer the better while initially teaching, and he should really only have 1 or 2 people training/issuing commands right now, not an office full. A lowkey park with other dogs, or a similar situation that instigates barking, but is controlled. Teach there, carry that over to office setting.

Anxiety: dogs are naturally very anxious creatures and the amount of exercise needed to release this anxiety varies between breed and personality. He sounds like a high energy type who would seriously appreciate two hour long hikes a day. I feel like every other day someone new is telling me about dog barking issues and my immediate response is ‘‘tire them out!’’ Would you be anxiety/bark free while surrounded by people high on caffeine if you hadnt taken a jog first?

Sorry for ranting and not having time to proofread and condense and make more sense, but I stumbled upon your post and know how hard it is to find training techniques for dogs on internet that are direct and not just on surface. Dogs rock and you seem genuinely invested in one that’s not even yours, that’s wicked cool and I hope this is of some help. If this even gets to you and in time, don’t hesitate to ask any other questions, or to let me know how things are going. For a very unruly dog you can combine another trick with this technique. BTW, im currently training a GSD. Puppy Power!