Solutions to Barking and Lunging on the Leash

Without a boring introduction and further ado, cause this is a longer post, I’ll share with you how I address barking and lunging on the leash; behaviors so many dog owners are struggling with.
Here are the Dos and Don’ts.

DON’T allow yourself being pulled toward whoever your dog wants to get closer to. Even if he just wants to say Hi, seeks friendly interaction but is impatient, letting him pull you reinforces pulling and lacking impulse control.
DON’T let your dog off the leash when he is tense, even if you believe that he behaves better off than on. We have leash laws everywhere in North America, and letting every dog loose is not an option. DO relationship and leash work, so that he trusts you, and it, in a problematic situation.
DON’T move closer to whatever/whoever when your dog is on the leash and tense, even if he doesn't pull.
Check in front of a mirror what it looks like when you contract your muscles in your face and body. On your dog, you might see a fold between his forehead, still ears, no blinking, the mouth clamped shut, shallow breathing. The whole dog is still, perhaps only the tail tip quivering a bit, or the tongue tip rapidly, snake-like flicking in and out.
In my last post I said that sometimes an anxious dog becomes more relaxed when he has the opportunity to sniff the other, but the underlying emotional issues: insecurity, fear, nervousness, are not addressed, and the trust in you and leash not strengthened, and as a result the dog will continue being unsure and tense whenever he spots his triggers, typically dogs and/or people. Furthermore, depending on the other dog’s reaction, or a person’s for that matter who can act erratically when presented with a tense dog sniffing his legs, hands or crotch, things can escalate quickly. Allowing a tense dog within teeth range to anybody is never a good idea.
DON’T wait too long when you have an appropriate on-leash greeting before you move on. Keep it short and sweet, and then be on your way with a happy “let’s go” command.
DON’T collar correct, zap or punish your dog. It will do nothing to change his mind about the stimulus he feels queasy about. To the contrary: being jerked back arouses him more, and he might lunge again with increased power.
If the reason for out-of-control actions is frustration because he can’t get to a potential playmate fast enough, corrections can turn a dog who initially sought friendly social interaction into an aggressive one. Force and pain cause distress where there was none before, and remember from the last post, possibly - probably also to the leash.
Regardless of motivation, overreaction to environmental stimuli means the dog is already disengaged from you, and discomfort coming from you will lead to more mental avoidance. Your goal is the opposite: you want your dog to connect and take his cues from you. Not the leash, not the collar, but you.
It is a realistically achievable goal, which brings us to the Dos section.

DO give your dog the information he needs when he is in conflict. If you don’t, he will react like a dog who is frightened or excited. Dogs have to act on how they feel. They have no choice. Most humans do too, despite our rational brain capable of overriding emotions.
Information comes in form of words and gestures, commands, and they have to be taught and practiced before they become, from the dog’s point of view, useful. In other words, the dog must understand them as information.
Some commands dogs can learn by your capturing and naming behaviors. For example, “Let’s go” is our cue for moving in the same direction together, and I say it each time we do exactly that. It is a command that feels good to my dogs, one that is rehearsed often, and one I can also use to guide them away from a stimulus. “This way” serves the same purpose, but I use it when I change directions, and “over” when I curve out to increase distance to a stimulus.
"Walk away”, is a command I only use in conjunction with a subject or object I want my dog not just to ignore, "leave", but to walk away from. When something is on your dog’s radar, but before he loses his mind, turn 180 degrees and bring him with you simply because he is on the leash. Walk away without jerking or luring, and generously reinforce as soon as he mentally disconnects from the stimulus, and reconnects with you. Catch that moment and play a game, toss treats out, playfully jog. I especially love chase games because moving and catching up is intrinsically reinforcing for most dogs, more than tug. Plus, you are using yourself as the reward, which means you have an always handy reinforcement if you forget treats and a toy. When you invite your dog to chase you, be upbeat and animated. I use a  staccato-like "quick-quick-quick" to egg mine on whenever I want them to close the distance to me, so when I want them to follow or heed the come command.
When the interesting, or scary, stimulus is stationary, so not approaching closer provoking an outburst, waiting the dog out until he shifts his focus on his own is an option I like, cause whenever a dog finds a behavior, whenever not prompted, it is internalized; the dog owns the behavior. After he shifts his focus, continue with the same "walk away" routine.
In time, you can get closer and closer to the trigger and tell your dog to: “walk away”. Rehearsed enough, it should become your dog’s conflict copout, which is much better than barking and lunging.
“Leave” has to be trained, but when it is solid and generalized, it can jog a dog’s memory to shift his focus away from a stimulus - leaving it alone and reconnecting with his person. The way I teach it also includes a follow-up word that tells him what to do next. "Walk-away" is one, but also "say hello" when he can greet, or "get" when I permit access to an object or allow chasing a squirrel.
It is critical that a dog learns the meaning of words a person can then use as information. Not teaching that is one of my biggest peeves with Cesar Millan. He doesn’t give dogs information prior to their making a mistake, only corrects when they walk into the trap he set up.
There are two commands people often use in an attempt to settle their reactive pooch: “sit” and “watch me”.  Typically neither is very successful, because when a dog is asked into a sit outside, the trigger often approaches closer, and the situation becomes more difficult for the dog. Hence, complying with the sit command is punitive, and not only will he be reluctant to obey in the future, but because the word predicts pressure, it also raises arousal. “Sit”  becomes a poisoned cue and backfires.
“Watch me” only works if the dog trusts his human without reserve, and it takes a lot of trust to be able to look away from something that is frightening and might come closer.
Imagine you walking with someone in a dark alley and a shady character is appearing, and perhaps looking at you, making you his visual target. Could you sit still and ignore him on demand? Look away?  Comply with the person you’re walking with? Would handing you a five-dollar bill every 30 seconds make a difference?
Perhaps you could trust your partner or parent explicitly because they proved again and again that they have your back and are able to keep you safe, but you probably wouldn’t trust an acquaintance or even a friend that absolutely. So, don’t expect that level of trust from a dog you adopted a couple of weeks ago.
The pleaser or treat-bribed dog might hold it together, but like the punished one, will feel pressure, is internally aroused, and still feels the same about whatever he is worried about.

DO pay attention when the dog’s mood is changing, to subtle signals. When you take action before he is in an emotional outburst, you have the best chance to successfully guide him into an alternate behavior.
Common scenario: a person walks the dog and a human friend joins in. The people yak away and don’t pay attention to the dog and what happens around them. Meanwhile, he is bored and focused on the environment, and spots something that first alerts, and then excites or concerns him. His mouth closes, ears pop forward, eyes become rounder, tail stops wagging or wags frenziedly, and breathing might increase. He yawns or flicks his tongue, lags or pulls – and perhaps even looks at his person for information what “that” is and what he should do about it, but the owner misses it all and keeps moving in the direction of the stimulus that might move head-on toward the dog at the same time. Eventually, the pooch loses it and barks, and suddenly gets his person’s attention.
The oncoming person/dog combination typically reacts as well at that point and likely retreats, creating more distance. Barking worked: his human paid attention and the trigger backed away - the situation changed, and because barking was reinforced, it might be the dog's first and preferred course of action in the future. Barking and lunging on the leash becomes an operant conditioned, learned behavior trait.
Eye contact, the dog reorienting to you, is your clue that he might need something. Eye contact is the primary and natural way for a dog to connect and communicate directly that he needs help. Pay attention to that and provide information and guidance.
Don’t expect your dog to only connect when it matters to you. When I walk with friends, it is an unspoken rule that I might interrupt in mid-sentence if my dog needs me. If I don’t take charge then, and the scary thing comes closer and closer, and she’s got no viable copout, she’ll act in dog-typical ways: lunge, bark, growl, snap.
If your dog erupts because you miss the subtler hints, are on a narrow trail and can’t avoid a conflict, or a dog or person suddenly pops around the corner or stealthily creeps up behind you and startles you both, get through the situation the best you can. Increase the distance the safest way you can, but don’t give it any other attention. Walk with conviction and confidence, but without anger and anxiety, and bring your dog with you without jerking on the leash.
If you are thinking with me, you might argue that increasing the distance reinforces the barking and lunging, and depending on the dog’s motivation, you are correct. But you really have no other choice at that moment. You have to do something, and it is better to guide your dog to walk away than to wait until the environment, which you can’t control, takes action. When you act on your dog’s behalf, you become trustworthy. Doing nothing and letting the environment decide makes you a useless bystander from the dog’s point of view.

DO pay attention to your two friends: Distance and Alternate Behavior.
Regardless if your dog’s motivation is to make the opponent disappear because he is afraid, or seeks social stimulation and is frustrated because he can’t get to it quickly enough, distance and fun interactions with you are the two key components that will authentically change his behavior.
You need distance because when a dog is too close to the stimulus he is unable, not unwilling, but unable, to respond to you.
After an outburst most people go home. A dog’s acting out leaves people feeling discouraged, frustrated, or even defeated, and understandably they want to retreat to their safe cave. But if the goal is to change the dog’s emotional response to the trigger in the future, what they should be doing is to turn the troublesome event into a positive learning experience by interacting with him in the proximity of the trigger, but at his comfort level.
The threshold distance is when the trigger is on the dog’s radar, but when he is still able to voluntarily shift his focus away from it and back to you, and the emphasis is on voluntarily, so no prompting or luring. That distance is different for each dog and situation, so pay attention to subtle signals. When he reconnects, stay engaged: have fun, do tricks, toss treats or a ball, work the area in a positive way. Yes, it might be counterintuitive to interact playfully with a dog who acted “aggressively” and embarrassed you just moments prior, but remember that it is not his choice. He is not being bad on purpose, his actions not a calculated move to tick you off. Rather, he acts on how he feels, on emotions, and your job is to remain rational and make the area a safe one – a safe one again, and interacting in familiar and rewarding ways together does that. Always aim to end the outing on a high note, and then you go home.
That said, if the dog absolutely can’t chill out, but reacts to more and more triggers from farther and farther away, he is too charged up and too overwhelmed, perhaps even just by virtue of being outside, and then do abort your walk and go home. If that happens often, you might have to give the dog a complete break for a couple of weeks, and then very incrementally introduce stimuli back into his life.

When you interact with your dog in a way that is rewarding for him, you are the big deal, not the environment. The anxious dog will have a viable copout that involves you – and you might be surprised how many dogs are agreeable when an alternative is opened. I met many forward lunging dogs that were almost relieved when controlled retreat, walking away and doing something else, was made an option.
And of course spending quality time with you also works for the bored pooch who lunges and barks because he wants to play with, or herd and control, other dogs.
There are two German words occasionally bounced around in behavioral and dog training circles: One is Umwelt, the other Merkwelt. Translated, the first one is “Surrounding World”, the second “Remembering World”. Umwelt includes all stimuli in the environment the organism lives in and encounters; Merkwelt are the things that get stuck in the brain’s memory center – and yes, dogs have that. You can imagine what happens when everything the dog encounters on a walk is Merkwelt for him; stuff that, from his point of view, matters and is relevant. Not only will he be perpetually overstimulated, but he’ll also be unable to focus on, and be responsive, to you.
Engaging your dog with you forms the contrast between what should be irrelevant: environmental stimuli at large, and what should be important: you, things you do together, guidance you provide in conflict situations – the safety and pleasure you facilitate.
You can’t avoid that the Umwelt is on the dog’s radar. Of course he registers the world around him. A dog should be allowed to look at dogs, people, cyclists, horses, cows, cats, squirrels… and be allowed to sniff, play and greet when appropriate, but you should always be more important than anything else. And if a trigger is already a big deal in the dog’s mind, don’t make it an even bigger deal by either punishing the dog, or treating him when he looks at it. You want to reinforce when your dog willingly looks away from it, and it is up to you to orchestrate many situations that set him up for success. Remember distance? Practice where you have enough space to increase it when you have to.
With a dog who has unlearned to connect with his human once outside - they are typically the ones who were neglected or punished on walks at one point - initially accept and reinforce the shifting away from the trigger, but the end goal always is authentic mental and emotional connection with you, signaled with prolonged eye contact.

DO make sure your dog is comfortable when you are out and about together.
Make sure that he is not hungry or thirsty, and free of pain and discomfort, which includes the equipment you are using. A head halter, such as a Gentle Leader, feels very uncomfortable to many dogs. It adds pressure around the dog’s sensitive nose, often leads to sudden neck twists when he lunges, and that, like a startling neck pain coming from a choke or prong collar correction, or an electric shock, causes or contributes to stress.
I like to use a 6-foot leather leash and a front buckle body harness. My favorites are the Freedom Harness at www.wiggleswagswhiskers and the Sense-Ation harness at www.softouchconcepts.com. Likely you won’t find either in your neighborhood pet store, so check for a local distributor on the manufacturers’ websites, but also compare prices. Sometimes even with extra shipping costs, shopping from someone farther away can save you money.
The body harness allows your dog unrestricted head movements and to communicate freely, it is perceived as comfortable by almost every dog, and you still have good physical control.

DO stay calm.
I despise the term calm-assertive because, although synonyms include confident and self-assured, it also implies forcefulness, pushiness and aggression, and none of those attributes exuded from the person the dog depends on will help him out of emotional conflict.
What happens at the loop end of the leash is very important. When a dog is charged up, the person must remain centered. The dog’s lunging and barking means that he is literally out of his mind at that moment. If you become agitated as well, you’re adding fuel to the fire.
If an insecure dog’s companion conveys with muscle tension, jerky hand movements, rapid patting, increased breathing, and fast-spoken words that there is reason to worry, the dog’s fear intensifies. Dogs don’t have the brain-ability to talk themselves into being rational. They need us to direct them.
Instead of jerking your dog back, or hands-on pushing his butt into a sit, or patting him on the head, or worst of all pinning him to the ground, anchor him: keep a loose leash as much as you can, and confidently, calmly, increase the distance. Use your information words you rehearsed.
Hands-on-body often arouses a dog more, so only physically handle him if you have a certain touch that brings about relaxation. It could be scratching his ear, or for our Will it is drawing a diamond shape with my finger between her shoulder blades. It became a conditioned feel-good touch because I do it each morning when we snuggle in bed.
If you are anxious, sing a song. Your dog will hear your normal sounding voice, and that, unless you regimentally bark orders, should be a conditioned feel-good cue. Plus, singing loosens your facial muscles and regulates breathing. Tell yourself mentally that what other people think doesn’t matter;  your dog's welfare does.
Rehearse your copout steps: the shortening of the leash by bringing your hand closer, the leave command, the “let’s go” or  “walk away” distance increasing maneuvers, the whatever fun interaction that follows. Rehearse when there are no triggers, so that you don’t have to think about everything at once when one appears.
Calm role modeling will take conscious effort, but is key to success. A calm and confident dog can be a great helper, but be careful with that. The anxious, pumped, or excited dog usually influences the grounded one more than the other way around.

DO teach impulse control. Duration position stays, “leave”, and delaying the reward after a behavior teach the dog patience.

We began with Don’ts and here is one more for the finish:
DON’T be lured into quick-fix, look-good on TV and YouTube solutions. The dog you see after he is rehabbed in 5 minutes or less might not bark anymore because he is intimidated and zapped into silence, but the unwanted expressions are only suppressed. There are others. If you watch closely you typically see stress panting, cowering, whale eye, a tail tucked under the belly, lot's of blinking, or a dog frozen shut. Those dogs are subdued, not calm. You see no fluidity, no offered eye contact, no active communication, no social interaction seeking and inquisitive behaviors. So don’t be fooled: Just because the dog doesn’t bark and lunge anymore doesn’t mean he isn’t distressed anymore.
For that matter, I caution against adopting a dog from a rescue organization or humane society that applies methods that suppress expressions. You have no idea about a dog’s true disposition and behavior if the part of his communication that signals how he feels is quelled. He might show wonderfully at the shelter or foster home, where and with whom the punishments happened, and when under surveillance, but explode in anxiety and stress outbursts in the new, less skilled one.

Why Dogs Bark and Lunge on the Leash

If I’d dig up all my clients’ files from the last 15 years, I bet half my dog book collection that on-leash aggression was the single most problem behavior owners hired me to help them with. On-leash aggression, or rather reactivity, is very common.
The typical explanation most laypeople, and some trainers, offer for the kind of barking and lunging that makes everyone’s head turn, frightens the targeted individual, and embarrasses the owner, is that the dog is protective, dominant, thinks he is in charge. It seems plausible: after all, the dog is moving forward, toward the target, and he is loud and threatening. However, “This is my space/mom/kid” - fill in the blanks – “get lost” is typically not the motivation that drives leash reactivity, and more enlightened dog pros know this.
If not dominance, what are the reasons for a dog flipping out? Well, there are several, rooted in following underlying emotions: fear, distress, excitement, frustration.

Failure to socialize, meaning that the pup didn't have enough exposure to a variety of environmental stimuli during the critical developmental stages, is generally blamed when a dog is fearful. Like the dominance angle, it makes a lot of sense to people and indeed, puppies raised in a bubble or in isolation can become neophobic: will fear and react to anything new. That is compounded when the odd novel encounter was unpleasant, and if the pup felt alone - didn't have a safe refuge zone and the loyalty of his owner.
But it is not just the unfamiliar that can cause dogs to overreact. Things known, but associated with discomfort, can provoke an undesired response as well.
Dogs make a blink assessment, based on their life experience, when presented with a stimulus.
Is it familiar?
Depending on the dog, if it is unfamiliar it is automatically perceived as a threat.
If it is familiar, does it announce: Pleasure? Or Discomfort? It is safe? Or not?
Whenever a dog anticipates discomfort, the stimulus is perceived as a threat; a threat to his safety, and that always causes distress. The barking, lunging and growling are the expressions, the symptoms of it.
Familiar stimuli are cues that predict a consequence, and dogs react to cues.

One might expect that dogs perceive other dogs generally as familiar. Shouldn’t a pooch identify another as a conspecific being? Innately “know” a dog as a dog?
Not necessarily: We have a vast variety of breeds that differ in structure and behavior, and if the pup only experienced his own, he might not recognize others as familiar, but as threats.
The other aspect to consider is that dogs to each other are providers: initially food, then entertainment, but also resource competitors. Dog-dog relationships can be complex, with each unfamiliar one a potential rival, and a familiar one a known rival, unless experienced otherwise. In my professional world, lunging and barking directed at dogs is more common than toward humans.

When a fearful dog barks and lunges, his motivation is to increase the distance, to drive the perceived threat away. Yet, many owners report that their pooch relaxes once he gets close enough to get a good sniff in. Why the obvious contradiction of wanting distance, but behaving better when it decreases? There is an explanation: Information reduces anxiety because it makes the unknown more familiar and predictable, and dogs’ preferred way to gather intelligence is through the nose. When there is no information forthcoming from the owner - information that, from the dog’s point of view, provides a copout, he has no choice but to get it from the other dog, and so he’ll attempt to get closer even though emotionally he wants him to disappear.

It is not always fear, though, why a dog acts out. Frustration plays a big role, and there are several reasons why a dog can be frustrated. One, again, has to do with information seeking.
Greeting rituals exist to find out more about a stranger while preventing and defusing potential conflict meetings. That is true with humans and dogs. When we shake hands, smile, bow or curtsy, and introduce ourselves, perhaps hand over a business card, the other understands that we don’t wish confrontation. Socially normal dogs first communicate from a distance: might raise or lower their bodies, lean back or forward, open their mouths or close it, lay back their ears, orient to the opponent directly or avert their eyes, and hold or wag their tails a certain way. Depending on the back-and-forth signals, at one point they might agree to sniff each other, typically in the head and/or anogenital region, to gather detailed information. Out-of-control barking, of course, isn’t part of normal greetings, but neither is being restricted from it. When the rather dense dude at the loop end of the leash prevents his pooch from behaving normally, perhaps even from communicating properly when he manipulates him with a head halter, frustration and its expressions result.
Fear is added to frustration if the dog is choke, prong, or worst of all, shock collar punished when he reacts; when he experiences pain for being curious, for wanting to communicate, for attempting to greet in a, for his species, appropriate way. In short, if a dog’s normal social behaviors and emotions are stifled with force, the stimulus, a dog or person, becomes a cue that triggers a stress response. Even if the consequence only happens sometimes, the dog will respond accordingly all the time.
Not only that, any detail that is part of an unpleasant event can become a cue, for example: the leash, the collar, the person who dished out the punishment, and the area where it happened.
When the leash in itself is an issue, the dog is already tense before the trigger even appears. Frenetic pulling and sniffing, and completely disconnecting from his person once outside, are common signs that the dog is distressed by virtue of being on the leash and/or outdoors.

Anything in a dog’s life that has a big impact leaves a big impression and provokes a big reaction in the future. If it is other dogs that were relevant events in the pooch’s history, he'll react whenever he sees/hears/smells another dog. Big deal suggests pressure and discomfort, but that is not always the case.
Dogs who repeatedly experience other dogs as primary facilitators of physical and mental entertainment, the ones who go to daycare or are chauffeured to the dog park and let loose once a day come to mind, have a certain expectation when they encounter a dog - any dog: fun and romping begins. If it doesn’t manifest because of the leash, or not quickly enough because the person who holds it is a slow-footed creature, the pooch, you guessed it, becomes frustrated, and the outburst can look very similar to the fearful dog’s, especially to a layperson.
And by the way, that kind of frustration, when something that’s expected doesn’t happen, is not reserved to people and dogs. During a “leave” exercise, a 12-week-old beagle pup soulfully bayed at me because he couldn’t access the treat I had tossed.

There is one more aspect that falls in the frustration compartment, and it is not fear or information seeking, and also not exactly play-motivated.
Some dogs, typically ones belonging to the herding group, have a heightened sensitivity to motion combined with an innate urge to control anything that moves. Steve White calls them: “Born with a badge on their chest”. These dogs have a strong natural drive to bring order back into the perceived chaos of animated dogs – or children, and become mighty agitated when the leash prevents them from doing their self-appointed job, but also often behave improperly when off the leash, at least from others’ point of view. Even though at times jokingly referred to as “fun police”,  some dogs and most humans have little tolerance for a pooch who stalks and chases; is locked, loaded and controlling. The bossy dog also doesn’t have much fun: He is easily overstimulated when presented with ongoing commotion in a busy dog park or daycare center, and overwhelmed with the task to organize and tone everyone down a few notches. A trained herding dog knows what to do and has the guidance of his handler - and is successful. A dog who has the drive but no training, the instinct but no clue, let loose on uncooperative other dogs and trailed by a yelling, irate owner, is not successful - and distressed as a result, and reactive on, but also off the leash.
On a little side note, the serious always-on-the-job dog can also be short-fused when another butts in while they work. In that context, the ball fetching Border collie who snaps at a space-encroaching retriever is not resource guarding, but annoyed by the interruption. I recently had an Australian cattle dog client where that was clearly the case. Believed to be dominant and aggressive, she was simply so focused on her human and what he had in his hand, and if he might throw it, that anybody who'd pop in her face got a sharp and clear: "Buzz Off!" Unfortunately, in an dog park or off-leash trail, it is exactly that kind of focus that gets other dogs' attention and provokes them to "check out what that dog is so interested in".

Frustrating situations make dogs irritable and pumped, and when confronted regularly with the triggers, the cues, they become sensitized: have a heightened sensitivity to predictors, motion and sound, probably also scent, and act more and more out of control from greater and greater distances. The collar and leash, because of the restraint and discomfort they represents, amplify the problem.
The question one must ask when a dog barks and lunges is what he expects to happen next. Play? A job? Emotional discomfort? Physical pain? That expectation is based on the dog’s experience, and is what dictates future behavior. Expectation dictates behavior.
I bet what you all want to know next is what to do about it. I will tell you – in the next post, but I’ll give you a hint right now: neither clipping the leash off, nor allowing yourself being pulled closer to the trigger, is it. Oh, and commanding the dog in a sit position and coercing him to watch you isn’t it either.

About Barking - Part 2

Two major reasons why dogs bark are because they are under-, or over-stimulated.

Under-stimulation is boredom, in other words. The dog barks to solicit for attention and interaction. The simplest solution is to provide more stimulation, and typically it is exercise of the mental kind they are more in need of. Especially sensory sensitive dogs, often ones belonging to the herding group, can be under-stimulated on one paw if all they ever get are mindless physical activities, and over-stimulated on the other with the many sights and sounds in the environment, and in that case venturing to the park more often can make matters worse.

Exuberant excitement is expressed in barking and jumping - another common nuisance behavior. The dog is so happy that he can’t contain himself and releases his joy in dog typical ways. It is a common scenario when a pooch’s beloved and sorely missed person comes home from work. He hears the key in the lock and promptly freaks out in his crate, or mobs his person at the door.

Now, we’ve been told for years by both traditional and positive reinforcement trainers that we should not reward lack of impulse control or demand barking. We are told not to give in to our dog’s soliciting behavior; his signal that he wants something from us, because then we would reinforce that, and the dog would bark more, and be out-of-control more, and demand more, and may even become – quiver - dominant and challenge us for the steak we have for dinner that night. Okay, that stretch of thought typically only traditional trainers come up with.

In any case, I disagree. For starters, in a functioning relationship each member should be allowed to solicit for what they want. It doesn’t mean they always get it, but they should be able to ask and be acknowledged. And yes, I too prefer a polite gesture to a spit-loaded bark in the face, but that can be taught. In fact, in a good functioning relationship dogs are generally subtler and polite(r). As far as excitement goes, of course dogs should be allowed to get excited. Cesar Millan’s expectation of “calm submission” at all times and in every circumstance is unrealistic, unreasonable and impossible for any organism. Once again, some people demand more from dogs than what we highly-evolved humans are able to do. Have you ever been in a hockey arena or football stadium? So, a dog sometimes being jubilant is normal, and we should neither ignore nor subdue him, but channel the expressions into ones that are less annoying and more acceptable.

There is another problem with ignoring barking when it starts. Rarely does a dog stop right away just because a person doesn’t pay attention to it. To the contrary, he becomes frustrated because nobody listens and turns it up a few notches, and the now more intense vocalization most people find difficult to ignore. In real life, at one point the person does give it attention, perhaps negative one, but attention is attention and maintains behavior, and when that happens the dog learns that “crazing out” is the way to get noticed.

Confined dogs, for example when in a crate, can be especially noisy because there is added restraint frustration. Eager to get out, the pooch quickly charges up when no one opens the door, and he might bark himself into state of extreme agitation. A layperson will be hard-pressed to tell the difference between a minor, passing tantrum and true anxiety that intensifies out-of-control behavior at the moment, but can also contribute to secondary problems. And even if the dog has learned that the door only opens if he stops barking, being quiet is nothing but a trick and not authentic calmness. It is fake, and typically followed by an explosion of unwanted actions as soon as he is freed: bark-bark-whine-bark-bark → quiet tension → you open the crate door → dog pops out and begins to mouth, bark and jump. So, nothing is accomplished.

I suggest opening the crate door immediately and regardless what the dog does, and then direct him into a short, interactive game. You can toss a handful of small treats away from you and tell him to find them, send him to the toy box to fetch a ball and then play for a minute or two, teach him to target your hand or perform a few tricks he likes. That is structured attention right away, gets your dog out of the barking and into the thinking mode, and brings four-paws-to-the-floor in a positive way.

And if you’re of the swift sort and manage to open the crate door after two or three barks, or are able to at least quiet your dog till you reach it, then barking two or three times, followed by patiently waiting till you set him free, becomes a habit. Everyone should be able to tolerate a couple of barks. If you can’t stand any vocalization, don’t get a dog.

The same rules apply when a dog just can’t wait to get out the door to have some fun with you. He might sit quietly, staring at the door for it to open, and perhaps is even trained to let you exit first, but if it’s just a trained trick and he is internally charged up, he will pull the moment he steps on the driveway or sidewalk. Again, you gain nothing. Instead, wait for attention and offered eye contact before you open the door, give the let’s go command when you exit together, and engage your dog right away into a quick game of chase, or find the treats, or target, or whatever you like, and then continue the walk with not only a calmer dog, but also one who is likely more focused on you.

Giving attention and redirecting into a fun and acceptable behavior after 2-3 barks works regardless why the dog is yapping it up. It doesn’t matter if he greets you cheerfully at the door, or sees someone walking by the house. In that case a “Brutus, it’s just aunt Jenny get your ball” can move and keep the dog away from the window. In the beginning, you might have to guide him away, perhaps with a leash, but if you use the same words consistently you’ll eventually be able to direct him from the distance. And if you always redirect into the same activity, at one point the whole sequence of: person passing by, dog barking trice followed by getting a ball, will be automatic.

True, in a technical, operant conditioning sense we reinforce an unwanted behavior – barking - if we pay attention to it and if the dog gets what he wants, but from a relationship point of view I think we should do it anyway. Baby Signs® found that crying and tantrums decreased when what babies and toddlers’ tried to convey was understood. I feel that is the same with dogs. Their frustration outbursts won’t escalate if we respond to the initial bark, instead of snubbing them and their attempt to connect with us.

Barking occurs when a dog perceives an associated cue that announces a fun event and he can’t wait to get on with it. Going for walks turns Will’s crank, and she has learned that me drinking coffee and then using the bathroom happens every morning just before we head out. As soon as the toilette flushes, Will starts barking, impatiently wanting to go outside. Because it annoys me, I ask her in a down position after two barks, and she obeys that because it is well practiced. Down is incompatible with barking – at least with Will, which means that when she follows orders she shuts up as well. Then I fit her harness on, reinforcing the quiet, and open the door. It didn’t take long before Will stopped barking altogether, as if to avoid the extra delay the down position brought on.

Events that the dog connects with another that follows are predictors of fun stuff, but also unpleasantness and discomfort, and that can also trigger barking. For example, putting on a certain kind of shoes, or grabbing the car keys, are precursors to your leaving for work and can provoke barking, jumping and nipping with a dog who has separation anxiety.

I am not discussing outside run or fence barking, and barking at the end of a chain, because I believe that dogs should not be put in situations, often constantly, that cause stress, anxiety and frustration they then release in behaviors nobody wants. It is not the dogs' barking that is the problem here, but peoples' uncaring actions.

Restraint frustration is often the underlying issue why dogs bark at the end of their leash, or flip out when grabbed by the collar. Primarily the root is fear and anxiety, but sometimes it is because the pooch wants to socialize, greet and play, or herd and control, and you and the leash are holding him back. Which one it is can be difficult to discern for the layperson, and I recommend hiring an experienced and positive dog pro to help you sort things out. I will talk about leash reactivity sometime in the near future.

One more reason for barking I want to point out is that a sense of competition towards another animal, commonly referred to as jealousy, can also provoke barking, jumping or general pushiness. In its root it is anxiety. I wrote a blog post about Intraspecific Competition and how to approach it.

And dogs also bark when they are anxious, or ambiguous about a person, including one they live with.

I had canine clients who bark a whole lot because several, sometimes all of the above, reasons apply. They are mentally under-stimulated and demand bark, but also sensory over-stimulated and in a chronically low-level aroused state, caused by where they live, and/or by the activities their humans choose for them to participate in. In addition, often they were given attention to when in a full outburst, when their people couldn’t stand it any longer, but the attention was punitive which created anxiety, or at least ambiguity, and that always compounds the problem. Ceaseless barking sometimes goes on for years and is a well-established behavior, and therefore not an easy task to modify. But I believe that even with those tough cases improvement is possible, but there is no quick fix. Modification requires a lot from people: patience, consistency and sometimes lifestyle and routine changes, at least temporarily.

All About Barking - Part 1

Last year in November I talked about why many dogs bark when the doorbell rings, and what to do about it. Of course, that is not the only reason why pooches yap it up.

Why do dogs bark? Because it is a normal part of their communication, that’s why. Anatomically, it is impossible for a dog to say: “Heya Bob, can you git over here and open that door? I gotta pee.”

Dogs’ vocalizations, for the longest time in our common history, came in handy. The watchdog let humans sleep restfully at night, and the guard dog deterred two- and four legged intruders from entering home turf. Barking benefitted us, and because we humans are so clever in manipulating environments to our liking, we selectively bred for that. Bred dogs that announce an unfamiliar noise or trespasser, announce that they found game, vermin or the scent of it, and vocally “tell” livestock animals where to go.

Nowadays, the behavior we once desired we don’t want any longer. Many of our modern dogs live in urban and suburban neighborhoods and are bombarded with sounds and motion all the time. Their endless announcing is bothersome at best, and a real problem at worst.

Dog owners and neighbors of dog owners want it stopped, and dog pros and manufacturers, sniffing easy money that can be made, eagerly produced a variety of ways to stop it - most unpleasant or painful for the dog, and typically unsuccessful. Unsuccessful, or counterproductive because constant sound and motion stimulation can make the dog irritable and permanently fired up, and punishing, intimidating or throwing something at him – making more noise - disquiets him even more.

The good news is that, like any other problem, excessive barking too can be modified in a dog friendly fashion.

Barking is dogs' default form of expression, some breeds more than others, and they do it for a variety of reasons, which I’ll discuss. All of them, or at least all I can think of, in this post and the next one.

One common motive is to be let outside, or back into the house. Because people like a housetrained dog, they initially obeyed the vocal request and opened the door, and each time that happened they reinforced the behavior they don’t want. The dog learns that barking works and will do it again, and soon not just when he has to potty, but whenever he is bored and wants your attention, check out a noise, or dig up the flowerbed. The catch is that, especially with a puppy or newly adopted dog, you don’t want to ignore the bark, because if he really has to go and nobody opens the door he’ll piddle on the rug, and thereby learns that there is an “appropriate” inside voiding spot.

There are two solutions to the dilemma: One is timing the dog and giving him ample opportunities to go outside. You decide, and before his bladder is so full that he can’t hold it any longer, you prompt your pooch to follow, then open the door and go out with him and mark “potty” when he does it, thereby putting it under command control. That is how we do it in our home.

The other is to hang bells at the door. A dog can’t say: “Heya Bob…”, but can learn to touch a set of bells with his nose or paw to signal that he wants the door opened. You might wonder what good that does? Instead of barking, he’ll now ring the bell nonstop, which is just as annoying, right? Wrong. You can’t remove the dog’s bark, or at least not without cruel surgery, but you can remove the bells and convey that you are temporarily unavailable. With consistency, you are teaching your dog an acceptable way to signal that gets him the desired result, but at the same puts you in control. Brilliant, eh – like we say in Canada. I wish I had thought of that, but the credit belongs to Suzanne Clothier who shared that, and many such wisdoms, at a seminar I attended a few years ago.

And, by the way, when you are available, it doesn’t matter why your dog wants to go out; if he really has to go pee, or wants catch a whiff of fresh air, bake in the sun, or play. You should open the door because he can’t and needs your help. Said that, I am not a fan of leaving a dog outside unsupervised for long, and also keep in mind that if he continuously pesters you, he might be bored and could benefit from mental and/or physical stimulation.

More about that, over-stimulation, excitement and anxiety in Part 2.

Every Time the Doorbell Rings

The autumn leaves that paint the Canadian Maritimes into magical colors are gone, and the beaches are void of people and bugs. Sure signs that winter is approaching; a time of year that heralds in festivities that bring friends and family together. Aside from the traditional gatherings to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, when it gets colder outside, many people’s homes become warmer, and not just because the furnace is on. It is the sharing of food and rituals that brings about a cozy and peaceful feel – only disturbed by: Your dog’s crazed barking every time the doorbell rings. Right? I know because my dogs are like your dogs. Or rather were like your dogs, because we worked on it, and now they do something other than announce that somebody is at the door.

Dogs react to the doorbell because it has become their cue that something is about to happen at the entrance point of the house. In other words, there is a relevant consequence the dog has learned that follows that specific sound: someone entering. Depending on the dog, the anticipation of the predictable event the bell, or a knock, announces triggers either anxiety or excitement. Either way, the pooch erupts in annoying barks because both emotions increase arousal and decrease impulse control. The dog, at that point, is out of his mind; he has you tuned out, which means that you won’t be able to shut him with a “no”, “come” or “sit”.

What most frustrated owners do next is catch up with the canine and body block him away from the door, which seems rather clever in theory, but in reality the human ends up playing goalie in the entrance space, and the dog is becoming more and more skilled in dodging his person. If that sounds like it would irritate the human and arouse the dog even more, you are correct. It does, and what typically happens next is the owner grabbing the collar, which also doesn’t work because it adds restraint frustration, and the dog then totally flips out.

That is often the point when the dog trainer is called in, and depending on what philosophy she follows, might diagnose dominance and advise to exile the pooch into another room or outside, or sharply correct him into shutting up.

I deal with the issue differently. I teach my dog an alternate behavior.

The cue will always be the cue, meaning that the bell will ring when someone requests entrance into your home. That is impractical, or impossible, to change. What we can alter, however, is what meaning it has for the dog.

Some people have a hunch that changing the pooch’s mind might be the solution and hang a treat basket by the door, for guests to give the dog a cookie as soon as they enter. But that is another idea that sounds good on paper, but is ineffective in real life and can increase arousal because the dog is, in addition to being excited about the person, now also excited about the expected treat. Or, if he feels queasy about the visitor, the cookie creates conflict because he still doesn’t like the stranger at the door, but wants what she holds in her hand.

My goal is the opposite. I want the whole entrance space to be dog free when I open the door to let someone in. The sound of the doorbell ringing still has relevance, and my dog can still get excited about it – and probably will cause calm-submission doesn’t magically happen just because I wish it so, but it announces that good stuff will materialize elsewhere: in the kitchen or living room, and that it comes from me, not the person at the door.

Once your dog habitually moves to another room, you can deal with the visitor in a casually calm and relaxed fashion, which brings the pulse rate down in dog and person.

Sounds like exactly what you want, doesn’t it?

The first step to achieve that is to find something that really floats your dog’s boat. For many it is a human-food stuffed Kong, and there could be a couple readymade in the freezer at all times. When the bell rings and the barking begins, walk to the door and shout out that you’ll open in a second, then happily clip a leash on your dog’s flat collar or harness – no choke or prong collar cause it is not about correcting the badness out of the dog - lead him to the freezer and hand over the Kong. With the yummy treasure between his teeth take him to his favorite mat, and perhaps loop the leash around a bannister or heavy piece of furniture to keep him put while he munches away, and then you open the door. (Separately, using yummy treats, practice down stays on the mat a lot, so that it becomes a desired spot to be not just when company arrives.) Repeat, repeat, repeat. Only doing it conditions a new behavior. Maybe you can recruit neighborhood kids to legally push the bell and run away.

Provided you have found something your dog can’t resist, and provided that you consistently follow the same routine, in no time, perhaps even before the Christmas crowd arrives, the sound of the bell will be your dog’s cue to run to the freezer and then, with his loot in his mouth, to the mat. No leash no more required.

The Kong works with most dogs, but some are more obsessed about toys. That was the case with our Aussie Davie, who loved all her humans without reserve, but was equally passionate about biting strangers. I assume that was the reason she was surrendered at the tender age of 16 weeks. For Davie it was an Airdog football that did the trick. Within weeks after she landed in our home, instead of charging the door she ran to the doggie-drawer in the kitchen where we kept her beloved toy. It came out each time the bell rang, and disappeared as soon as the visitor left. Dogs can’t bark if they have their mouths full with Kong or ball. No, let me correct that, Davie still managed to, but it was muffled and not annoyingly high-pitched, and she was happy and not aggressive, because company coming meant a quick play session with us.

Self-evident, I hope, is that the guest should ignore the dog until he is calm. Greeting should only happen if both dog and person want to, and only after the owner gives a specific release command. I like “say hello”.

And just to be clear, don’t deprive your pooch of toys and treats, but what he values most, the very special prize, only appears as the consequence of the doorbell ringing, and is always retrieved from the same place so that it, not the entrance point of your house, is where he’ll run to.

So, that is how I deal with the maddeningly barking pooch charging the door. There is another way, equally clever and dog friendly, and effective provided you have the time and opportunity to build the desired mat behavior incrementally before the dog is confronted with the big deal event: a stranger entering the house. You would first teach and practice going to the mat. I like free shaping it, which means you start reinforcing your dog’s interest in the mat, and then gradually raise the bar until he lays on the mat, and after that you gradually increase duration and distance he stays in position on the mat. I’ll put up a post up in the near future how I teach a position down stay.

Once your dog can be prompted to go to the mat – I like the word “mat”, or you could use the German word “platz” if you have a German shepherd, combine the verbal cue with the doorbell ringing. The last step is to omit the verbal cue, and the dog will go on his mat whenever the bell rings. The sound has become his conditioned cue to lay on the mat, and stay there.

Extinction Burst

Is an operant conditioning term and happens when a reinforcement that followed a behavior routinely in the past doesn’t manifest any longer. That is frustrating, and frustration needs a release; the organism is forced to do something and either tries the known behavior harder, frantically or furiously even, or tries another, new behavior to elicit the consequence it expects.

If you’re stopped behind a car at a red traffic light, and then the light turns green, you expect the car ahead of you to start driving because that is what you learned normally happens. If the car doesn’t move, likely you will do something: Honk the horn, yell, swear, snap at your partner sitting beside you, try to back up and drive around the car, or get out of yours to check if the person not moving needs help if you are a nice person, or to stab him if you have extreme road rage. Which one it is depends on your personality, what kind of a day you’re having, and how important it is that you get to your destination fast.

Dogs also learn that a certain event leads to a predictable outcome, and once learned anticipate and expect it. They learn it when we purposely reward a “good boy”, or clicking sound with a treat, and when we accidentally always play ball at the same park or grab the leash to go for a walk at a certain time.

Sequences of routine events that are important to the dog lead to a dog who anticipates and expects what comes next as soon as the first cue in that sequence presents itself. And if what should come next is not forthcoming, the dog becomes frustrated just like we would at the green light, or when the chocolate bar doesn’t come out after we put the coin in the vending machine, or when our employer doesn’t pay us.

And as it is with humans, the intensity of a dog’s frustration outburst depends on her personality, pre-existing stress level and how important the expected event, the reward is for her. Most dogs paw, jump, whine or bark – behaviors often described as nuisance and bratty ones, and some dogs can be quite persistent in turning it up a few notches. Some aggress, hard-stare, growl and warn, and once I was bitten in the hand when I did not release a treat right away.

We humans have a bigger and better cerebral cortex than other animals, which means that our rational brain can overrule the frustrations we feel. We know that we can complain to the manager and get the coin back, know that we’ll eventually get to our destination even if the car in front doesn’t move right away, and know that we can sue the employer for the money that is due to us.

The dog just reacts. Not because he is bad or dominant, but because he has no rational options. That doesn’t change the fact that dogs’ frustration behaviors annoy people, which leaves us with the question what to do.

How can we avoid the barking and whining when we begin an extinction procedure to challenge our dog for better behaviors? How can we still play ball in the park without having the dog bug us for one more toss?

One way is to change the consequence; change what happens next. That lowers the expectation for that specific reward and raises attention to you at the same time. You can still reward mark with a clicking sound or “good-boy”, still shape for an automated behavior, but you wouldn’t always follow up with a cookie, but vary the rewards and interact, play a game, use any life reward your dog likes.

Another is to teach your dog an off-switch command. Mine is a verbal “all-done” combined with a hand signal that looks something like slicing the air in front of my chest. An off-switch command gives the dog needed information that nothing further will happen, and information always lowers frustration. That’s how I got to stop Davie from insisting, with high-pitched, super annoying barks, for yet another ball throw.