Demand Barking can drive dog owners crazy!
WHY do dogs demand-bark?
HOW do you find out what your dog wants?
And most of all ... HOW do you put a STOP to it?
In this video we share everything we have learned about demand barking in our combined decades of training experience!
Does your dog struggle with demand barking? What training have you tried so far, and did it work?
00:00 Introduction
01:18 WHY is my dog barking?
02:39 Barking while you're relaxing
03:43 Barking during training
05:21 Barking to demand play
06:32 Barking on walks
07:30 Barking at mealtimes
08:34 Barking to go outside
10:22 When is barking OK?
I just found your channel. So good! Thank you for all the information!
Aww thank you for the kind words! I’m glad you like it 😊 🐾
Thank you for this!
Glad you liked it 😊
Thank you so much!!
Glad it’s helpful 🐾
This is fabulous! Thank you so much. Very clear and helpful - you've done an excellent job!
I'm so glad you found it helpful!
this was so helpful!! i just got a stray dog who had some terrible terrible habits. he legit will scream and bark at 1am if he wants my attention…. even if i’m dead asleep. i know he’s not hungry, needs to go to the bathroom, or needs to play bc i legit do this about an hour before bed. his previous owners taught him demand barking and negative attention is also good attention. this has helped me understand and know how to handle his demand barking for my attention! (he’s a husky)
Thanks for reaching out! I'm so glad that you found the video helpful! It's unfortunately a very easy thing for people to teach their dogs- but a very hard habit to break! Especially for our dogs with loud and/or piercing barks like hounds, huskies, and beagles- it's very effective for them!
I have a golden retriever therapy dog that is used to visiting students with learning disabilities at a local high school. She moves from class to class and will work with one student at a time or have multiple students all giving her attention. She is nearly 8 years old and I have never heard her bark until a few months ago when she started a new job with a clinician and an aged care resident (animal assisted therapy)/ A typical visit is one hour and she is not getting the attention that she usually gets - thus the attention barking has started, I have made this a habit unintentionally by touching her, telling her to stop, getting her to lay down and then rewarding her with a treat, and now a habit has formed. Things I am trying before the barking starts - - anticipating when she might bark and distracting, teaching her find with treats, snuffle toy with treats, stuffed kong, taking her a for a little walk. Any other ideas you have would be very helpful as the unexpected bark is often loud and upsets the resident. Thank you.
If you are able to bring something like a towel or easy to roll up thin mat, I might try working on mat work/having a settle command where your dog goes and lays on a mat, and utilizing it during this visits where when we know there isn't likely to be much attention for a bit, send her to settle on the mat!
@@spiritdogtraining Thankyou - Milly has been mat trained so I will definitely take a mat with me on the next visit.
Sheltie owner here, I feel called out, lol! My 3 year old was a rescue and she demand barks in the car- when I put the car in park, shut it off, and get out and let her out. Hard to break this, as the "reward" is her being out of the car. This is a hard one. She doesn't like car rides, but lives going places. Love we're moved into our two house our trainer will come and do private lessons with us.
Hi There, Does she only bark once you get to the destination and park? Or does she bark in the car during the ride?
@spiritdogtraining when we stop and park. When I unbuckle my seatbrlt, open my door and get out, but she just stares at me the entire car ride. She at least will "lay down" in the car if I have her in a dog bed and doggy seat belt or her crate where she feels more safe, but it's like she "explodes" as soon as I park. And she tries to attack the car door once she's out and I close it. I've tried the "wait till she stops" to positively reward good behavior. She's getting a bit better with "unload" when I give her a specific spot to "sit" while I close her door. We tried meds for motion sickness. She is highly food motivated, and we do clicker training. She just passed her CGC and is working on public access. This is her only "problem." She was a rescue and had zero socialization. She was terrified to even leave the front door. We go to free service dog training for veterans once a week.
Really useful video! Our dog has got into a bit of a routine of demand barking after we've all had dinner - sometimes it is because he wants to play, but other times think he just wants attention and now it is a habit (as sometimes we indulge him and sometimes we ignore). Sometimes we shut him out of the room to show that barking = time away from us. Have you got any other suggestions?! He has a snuffle mat at lunchtime and loves tricks - perhaps we should do some trick training after? Thanks so much :)
When does he eat dinner in relation to when you eat dinner? Is it at the same time at the moment? Maybe we could use this to our advantage!
Do you have any videos/training on dog barking with visitors coming in or outside service people?
Hi There, Thanks for reaching out! We would consider this to be reactivity, and we actually have a whole training course on it since it's such a common issue and can get a little bit complex at times. You can read more about our Tackling Reactivity Program here: spiritdogtraining.com/tackling-reactivity-course/
How long do you need to wait between the bark and doing a thing? Eg feeding?
Hi There, This might vary a bit from dog to dog. If they look like they stop barking for a moment and then maybe move to sniff something, back up a few steps, sit, or lay down and seem to 'try' something else to trigger the food, I would give it then!
Can you give examples of the treat tube you use on walks? I’m having an hard time finding the best type to hike with. I’m guessing its important to anticipate the behavior and offer the treat tube before barking starts? Wouldn’t it reinforce barking if you grab it too late? My dog mostly demand barks on hikes or at the dog park when I want to stop and talk to a stranger or friend on a trail. It’s a very embarrassing behavior if your friends aren’t as patient or understanding, or when there are other dogs who react to barking in the area. I’ve even had strangers say ‘you need to do something about your dog, she’s too loud’ when I try to ignore her demand barking behavior. She’s very food motivated so I think the tube would be great to try out if I can anticipate the behavior quickly enough. Thanks!
Hi There, Thanks for reaching out! In the video here we use a condiment bottle from the dollar store. I find some treat pouches have a poop bag holder or spot for a water bottle that fits the tube perfectly. Because they already have a hole open at the top they are easier to use in situations like you're describing, because travel tubes for camping are more like a tube of toothpaste and would require opening them first- whereas the condiment bottle you can grab and squeeze right away!
Our young dog does this. It’s like a little tantrum when we won’t let her have something she wants. She’s done it in her crate sometimes. But we try not to feed into any of it.
It's a really hard one to deal with because of how effective it is for them!
My mini aussie Lucy does demand barking to play. She wants me to play with her all day! Usually she starts this after our morning walk when I go to my desk to begin working. Throughout the day she will periodically bark at me to try to get me to play with her. Sometimes I can distract her. I will tell her to go to her place and then I will get her a chew or a kong, but I'm afraid I may have reinforced the behavior. She gets 1 chew per day and 1 kong per day. We do go on short walks and play some games. I try not reward the barking with those activities though. I'd love to hear some more suggestions.
When does she usually eat her breakfast and how are you feeding it to her? What time is her walk? Just before I start to suggest things so I can get the best idea possible!
Thanks! She eats at 6:15, then we walk around 7. After the walk, I get ready for work, make coffee etc. and she follows me around until I go to my desk, then the barking begins. She also nudges me with her nose. This morning, I told her no, it was work time and she kept barking at me, so i sent her to her crate which is in the same room. I let her out after 5 minutes and then she started again, and then I sent her to the crate. Not as a punishment but more as a timeout. Hoping she will get the picture. Not sure now how to incorporate the bully stick. Wait until I let her out and she is calm?@@spiritdogtraining
@@user-fu3ic3cz5u Hi There! What about trying something like preparing half of her breakfast in a kong/toppl/puzzle toy and giving her half at the normal time and then the other half when you get home from the walk so that she's occupied with something while you go to sit down and work?
Help, please. At the member only dog park we visit, my dog will bark incessantly up close to 2 dogs are playing with each other. I distract her by throwing a ball (Chuckit obsessed). I dont know if she's telling them to stop, let her join in or what. Is there something else i should try? It's every day! She barks at me when i stop to talk to someone! That is attention seeking and i drop the ball thrower on the ground. That works for a minute. She's a 20 montg old lab.
Hi There, We do actually cover what to do when our dog barks when we stop to talk to someone within the video at 6:32 When it comes to when other dogs are playing, it may be a case of overstimulation. If she is not joining in and playing, I would go leash/remove her from the situation and give her a 'time out' to cool off and try and redirect her attention elsewhere once she is calmed down.
My dog’s bark is so deep and loud (and obnoxious in my opinion) that it scares my new puppy when my older dog wants to play so now my puppy is scared of my bigger adult dog to the point that my puppy urinates on the floor when he tries to play with him. :( Any tips? P.S. my older dog has some minor resource guarding issues (he doesn’t bite but we’re working on it) so there is a hint of frustration when the puppy has a toy that he wants.
Aww, yes some puppies get quite scared when an adult dog barks loudly! I would recommend to separate them when the adult dog gets into "wild play mode". At the same time, try to create a lot of calm interactions where the puppy can experience the adult dog as a friend (eg: shared walks, the family sitting and relaxing together at night etc.) Also: Great job working on the resource guarding! Just for safety, I would also recommend to keep the dogs separated if they are chewing bones, or having high-value toys :) I hope this helps!
Sofia my 15 month old Boxer demand barks and yelps 20 times a day to go run in backyard. It its never enough for her. Same with walks, she never wants to end walk 3 times daily. She fights me to go in house. lays down, refuses to get up grass rolling trying to break free after allot of exercise. She bites, attacks me for things. I tried everything I work at home always together almost. help
Hi There, Thanks for reaching out! I'm so sorry to hear that you're dealing with this- that sounds very stressful! Unfortunately, when it comes to a dogs that are biting, we always recommend reaching out and working alongside of a qualified trainer local to you in person. Ideally this person should have a background with this sort of behaviour. This way, they can meet you and your dog personally and observe the behaviours you are seeing and help and come up with a training and management plan to move forward. Safety is always our main priority and there are simply too many variables that need to be taken into consideration to help over the internet.
Hi, you mentioned that dogs can start barking to get outside when they don't need the toilet, our dog does this, i don't think you mentioned a solution for this. Thanks
Hi There, Thanks for reaching out! We would want to treat this similarly to the demand barking with food, and we'd want to try and get them to offer a different behaviour when they would like to go out. We could begin to ask them for something like a sit or a down before letting them out so that they start to learn that this is the behaviour that triggers the door to open, rather than the barking!
@@spiritdogtraining This is a similar issue for us. She knows to sit (without us asking) at the door before we open it to let her out, but only after demand barking. She has yet to understand that THIS (the sitting) is the behavior that gets us to open the door and still continues to demand bark/whine to get us to let her outside. How do get her to make that connection?
@@haikue Is she going to the door on her own when you aren't even over there and beginning to bark until you go over? Or does she only begin barking when you're near the door?
Hi. Thanks for this great video. My dog sleeps downstairs on her own and sometimes barks after we leave her at night. We think this might be demand barking. She wants us to come in and pet her! How can I stop this?
Hi! Thank you for the kind words :) I would recommend leaving her with something to occupy herself with as she settles down to sleep. I really like frozen Kongs, or lick mats for this! (We have a video on lick mats here: kzhead.info/sun/ZNeFdpqgg3iNnn0/bejne.htmlsi=BPr-kTsYxPhsy0Qj ) That way, she has something to do (rather than just think about how you went upstairs) and can calm down :) Let me know how this sounds!
Will try this but I have a feeling she might lick it then start barking. I’ve tried a snuffle mat and that’s what happened! Is it ok to ignore it (or try to!)? I’ve also tried ignoring but it can go on for ages and I don’t want her to get over upset
@@SallyAlexander-yu7do Hmm yes, so if food doesn't distract her and she carries on for a while then this may be more anxiety than simply demand barking. Does she show signs of separation anxiety in other situations?
Thanks for getting back again. No other separation anxiety and some nights she’s fine. We’re wondering if it’s external sounds? We have urban foxes, fireworks at this time of year. And sometimes we think it might be the sound of our cats using the cat flap.
@@SallyAlexander-yu7do Did this only recently start? Did your dog always bark on and off since the beginning, or did it develop over time and if so when did it start? Have you ever tried playing soft music/the news/white noise to maybe drown out the outside noises to see if that helps with the barking in case it is the outside sounds causing it? That may be worth a shot!
I feel like you didn’t actually answer the question of what to do if a dog is barking at you to play. You say playing with them in that moment reinforces the behavior, but then don’t elaborate on what you should do in that exact moment instead. You move right into what you should do during a play session, which is confusing.
At 6:02 we address this: "One of the top solutions for this is to teach the dog an alternate behavior when they want the ball to be thrown" This can be an easy behavior that the dog already knows, such as a hand touch, chin target or down position. So: Dog brings toy and barks - you ask for an alternate behavior (ideally one incompatible with barking) - then you play The next round, you ask for the behavior *before* the dog starts barking etc. Hope that clears it up :)
This barking if driving me nuts😭😭
I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with this- is it Demand Barking you are experiencing?