Out Of Control Barking

[Guest grandmagrey]

Anyone ever have a problem with this? Our beautiful 8 year old, Snowy, has taken to barking way too often. Snowy barks at her humans as though she needs something. Water, food, and potty needs are all met and still she barks. Sometimes she gets into a play stance, pawing at the floor, sooo we play until shes had enough. Or maybe not? She still barks! Right in our face! She will do this for an hour or more. We try to soothe her, love her up, tell her no barking quiet etc. She will try...small barks and other noises come out while she looks like she is sorry. We take her outside in our fenced in yard with her coat on We cannot walk outside right now because there is so much ice everywhere. I know she misses her walks....but this has been going on for awhile...even when we were taking frequent walks. I hope someone has an idea to help us esp Snowy!

[Guest Lovey_Hounds]

have you tried giving her puzzle toys in the house to keep her busy? or treat dispensing toys?

[Guest grandmagrey]

Peanut butter inside a kong works for awhile...i'm not sure what puzzle toys are?

[JJNg]

Sounds like she's getting a lot of attention for barking, and the behavior is inadvertently being rewarded. If you're sure all her needs have been met, and you've provided her with toys, I'd ignore the barking. If you need to, get up and walk away from her, without making eye contact or talking to her at all. Don't give her any attention until she has been quiet for at least a few seconds. Attention-seeking behavior can be changed by being consistent about only giving her attention when she's not engaging in the unwanted behavior. But you have to be patient and not give in, and be prepared for it to get worse before it gets better. Even negative attention (scolding, telling her 'no') is still attention and can reinforce the barking.

[GeorgeofNE]

You need to stop loving on her when she barks!

 

Which will be tough now that she's leaned how to get exactly what she wants.

 

If you make a game of teaching her "speak" (bark on command) then she may have a greater understanding of "no speak"! That's what I did with my last dog--but he wasn't a Greyhound.

 

Thank goodness George is "as advertised" and very quiet!

[Guest grandmagrey]

Thanks for the advice so far. It makes sense. Ive created a monster by responding to her when she does this. We will have to work on it.

[Guest IrskasMom]

Sounds like she's getting a lot of attention for barking, and the behavior is inadvertently being rewarded. If you're sure all her needs have been met, and you've provided her with toys, I'd ignore the barking. If you need to, get up and walk away from her, without making eye contact or talking to her at all. Don't give her any attention until she has been quiet for at least a few seconds. Attention-seeking behavior can be changed by being consistent about only giving her attention when she's not engaging in the unwanted behavior. But you have to be patient and not give in, and be prepared for it to get worse before it gets better. Even negative attention (scolding, telling her 'no') is still attention and can reinforce the barking.

Good Advice

[Guest grandmagrey]

I know it is greyt advice. This will be a hard behavior to break. Shes quite stubborn. Gotta do it. Will update....

[a_daerr]

Great advice from JJng. She'll most likely test you and throw a couple big tantrums. The best thing you can do is get a decent pair of earplugs and ignore.

[Feisty49]

Peanut butter inside a kong works for awhile...i'm not sure what puzzle toys are?

 

 

Here are some examples: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=interactive+dog+puzzle&tag=googhydr-20&index=pets&hvadid=21896386915&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=947302621529676148&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_3j2yp6p8i4_b

 

I know of a lot of dogs, Greys or not, who enjoy these. My girl, not so much. If it takes work, she's not interested.

[RedHead]

Totally agree with above...it sounds like you have been rewarding the behaviour. Dog's don't really rationalize so any behaviour that is paired with a reward will increase (e.g. comforting or feeding while barking) Also, I don't know your daily routine but in my opinion many dogs that are prone to barking do a lot better with a higher level of exercise and training/stimuation throughout the day. In addition to ignoring, I would also up the exercise and do some fun training or even some of those puzzle games/treat balls which will keep her occupied and tire her out. Your girl actually sounds like a great candidate for something fun like clicker training. Good luck!

[Sambuca]

I agree with everything above. You really need to up get exercise. Can you try to find an area that is plowed better to walk her? Or even bring done other dogs to your house for a play date to run in the yard.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Thanks for the advice so far. It makes sense. Ive created a monster by responding to her when she does this. We will have to work on it.

 

 

 

It won't be an easy or quick fix, but don't give up!!!!

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

If you make a game of teaching her "speak" (bark on command) then she may have a greater understanding of "no speak"! That's what I did with my last dog--but he wasn't a Greyhound.

 

This is good advice, and it definitely can work on a grey. I taught my grey to speak, and be quiet both.

[Guest cwholsin]

Sounds like she's getting a lot of attention for barking, and the behavior is inadvertently being rewarded. If you're sure all her needs have been met, and you've provided her with toys, I'd ignore the barking. If you need to, get up and walk away from her, without making eye contact or talking to her at all. Don't give her any attention until she has been quiet for at least a few seconds. Attention-seeking behavior can be changed by being consistent about only giving her attention when she's not engaging in the unwanted behavior. But you have to be patient and not give in, and be prepared for it to get worse before it gets better. Even negative attention (scolding, telling her 'no') is still attention and can reinforce the barking.

This. If it's bugging you enough, don't give her what she wants unless she's quiet. Ever. It won't work for excited barking, really, but if your grey only ever barks for excitement it should be pretty manageable! That's what we had to do with our puppy, who was in the habit of 'demanding' things from us.

 

Also, as several people mentioned, there will probably be 'extinction bursts' wheree she escalates to try and get the desired reaction. It is super super important to ignore these! If you reward a tantrum, she will only keep escalating the barking! You'll have taught her: if at first she doesn't get attention, get louder!!

[Guest grandmagrey]

Poor Snowy! (Kidding) is in for a rude awakening w all this greyt advice!

[JJNg]

Just wanted to add one more thing... This is implied in all the previous responses, but just wanted to make sure it's clear. All the ideas about the stuffed Kongs, puzzle toys, and increasing walks are great, but make sure you give her these when she is quiet, preferably before she ever starts the insistent barking. This way she'll learn that she gets fun things and attention without needing to bark.

[Guest grandmagrey]

My plan is to wear her out shortly after arriving home from work. Before the behaviors start. On days where the weather is bad...idk...playtime in the family room...that will be a tough one. I wonder about a treadmill?

[a_daerr]

The only treadmills I've seen for greys are the underwater ones used for physical therapy.

I feel like a regular treadmill would be dangerous. But I am curious to see some of the reponses.

[JJNg]

Mental stimulation can be just as tiring as physical exercise, and it is often better at getting a dog to truly relax rather than just being physical exhausted. This is where puzzle toys (both commercial and home-made ones) can be helpful for the dogs that are motivated enough to work at them. Alternatively, you can work on some trick training and basic obedience. Look into clicker training. I know there are some good books out there, and maybe others can give some specific recommendations.

[Guest cwholsin]

I find teaching the sighthounds 'Find it' and tossing bits of kibble to be fairly mentally stimulating. Our guys love it, but the puppy is terrible at it. Hermes keeps taking her pieces because he can find them and she can't lol. If you let them watch whe you throw it, you get the added benefit of giving an outlet for the 'chase movement' impulse.

 

To my knowledge, a treadmill is no more or less dangerous for a grey than any other type of dog provided it's big enough and the dog is trained to use it calmly.

[Guest grandmagrey]

A bit of an update: Snowy has had 8 barking episodes today 4 of which have been since i came home from work 2 1/2 hrs ago the last 4 have been directed at my husband. Each time he tried to ignore. SNOWY just got obnoxiously loud. He got up, not even looking at her and went into another room. She tried to folliw him, so he went into a room where he could close the door. She barked for a min or two after the door closed, then came back to the room where my daughter and i were sitting. She stood near us, sighed, waited a moment, and turned around and went to her dog bed. After she became quiet and lying down, i gave her a small, homemade treat made today by my daughter. Of course all 5 dogs got a treat. We dont have to worry about her weight...Snowy us a small girl who could use a few pounds. No one else is really overweight either, although i hope the intensity of training will diminish quickly. SNOWY is sound asleep as i write this. Looking at the puzzle toys on amazon.com. any opinions? Snowy is not very food motivated and easily bored by toys that arent extremely stimulating.

Opinions welcome ..are we on the right track?

[Guest Giselle]

The initial escalation in the barking is probably part of what is called an "extinction burst".

 

If you got $5 every time you rang a bell but then the $5 bills suddenly stopped coming, you wouldn't stop ringing that bell. Instead, you'd probably ring harder and HARDER AND HARDER!! You got rewarded for it in the past, so, even if the rewards suddenly stopped, you'd do the behavior with even more intensity and more persistence. This is the same mental process that's going on in your dog's head with the barking.

 

Thankfully, it's only temporary. After the second day of no $5 bills (or no attention for your barking dog), the behavior will quickly disappear. Be consistent, and you'll be fine in a week. You're definitely on the right track. Good job!

[BatterseaBrindl]

A bit of an update: Snowy has had 8 barking episodes today 4 of which have been since i came home from work 2 1/2 hrs ago the last 4 have been directed at my husband. Each time he tried to ignore. SNOWY just got obnoxiously loud. He got up, not even looking at her and went into another room. She tried to folliw him, so he went into a room where he could close the door. She barked for a min or two after the door closed, then came back to the room where my daughter and i were sitting. She stood near us, sighed, waited a moment, and turned around and went to her dog bed. After she became quiet and lying down, i gave her a small, homemade treat made today by my daughter. Of course all 5 dogs got a treat. We dont have to worry about her weight...Snowy us a small girl who could use a few pounds. No one else is really overweight either, although i hope the intensity of training will diminish quickly. SNOWY is sound asleep as i write this. Looking at the puzzle toys on amazon.com. any opinions? Snowy is not very food motivated and easily bored by toys that arent extremely stimulating.

Opinions welcome ..are we on the right track?

 

[Fruitycake]

Definitely on the right track. And you have my sympathies, because I have had the same problem with our Monty, and the extinction burst is a really hard thing to live through, but you MUST NOT respond to it, or you continue to train that they just have to be even more persistent.

 

Good luck, and keep up the good progress!