Barking is normal dog behaviour but when it becomes excessive it can be a real nuisance.
Andy and Jude have four Sharpei and they're struggling to keep their dogs' barking under
control.
Sharpei is a breed which I fell in love with many years ago, I've had them for 25 years
now, and they're a fabulous dog to live with.
They're a hunting, herding dog and a guarding dog by instinct, so this is part of the problem,
it's an inherent thing.
When people come to the house and knock on the door, the dogs start barking.
It's pandemonium, you can't hear yourself talk or hear yourself think basically.
There's no harm or aggression in it, but to people who are - particularly people who aren't
dog people, it can be quite intimidating.
I'm worried that, you know, it puts people off and we don't get the visitors we should
have because of the dogs.
As well as three adult dogs, Andy and Jude have an eight month old puppy Chip.
They're worried that if they don't get this barking sorted Chip will start to copy the
other dogs behaviour.
Dog Behaviour Expert Jane Hanshaw has come along to see if she can help.
Hello.
Hi, come in.
Nice to meet you.
Hello.
Hello, it's a bit noisy.
Yes, when you first arrive.
Shh.
They're not taking a lot of notice of you then.
Not really, not really.
It's not working is it?
It's not working.
No, no.
I think perhaps we should go outside then to have a good chat.
Is that alright?
Okay, come on then, let's have a little bit.
Well after that noisy welcome it's easy to understand why visitors might be put off.
But if Jane's going to help solve the problem first she needs to know a bit more.
We don't want them to lose their initial guarding thing, you know, barking.
We don't.
We want to control it.
So once they've '- once they've given us that warning, we want to be able to tell them,
to say, stop, or quiet, and they do so.
In some cases Jane would advise teaching a dog to bark and be quiet on command, but in
a household with lots of dogs, it's not always practical.
So the first step is to introduce clicker training - a simple and effective method using
positive reinforcement.
That's the clicker.
Nothing special.
It just makes a noise like that.
Alright?
So what you need to do is pair that with a treat, and it's a really high value, small
tasty treat is the best thing.
Click, treat, click, treat, click, treat.
That's so that in the dog's mind when it hears that it click it knows it's going to get a
treat.
Now, if you imagine thereafter that click is a photography, that's the bit I wanted,
that's the behaviour I wanted.
The idea is to highlight the quiet behaviour.
Hello.
The click has to come when the dogs are quiet rather than when they're barking.
So the dogs get nothing for the barking but a click for being quiet and then the reward
follows.
If your dog's barking, then it's important that you don't join in.
Shouting, 'shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up,' you're just joining in as far as the
dog's concerned.
It would be more appropriate to interrupt that behaviour and train your dog to do something
else, give it an alternative strategy.
So teach it to go to its bed, where it can get a tasty treat or a toy.
The dogs are no longer barking with excitement because they're used to us being here.
But that doesn't matter.
We can still teach them clicker training.
Jane's started the clicker training with the noisiest dog first.
That's the one that leads the barking.
Dogs bark for many, many reasons.
They might be pleased to see you, they might be excited, they might be letting you know
that a stranger's come onto your premises.
What's important, if you've got a problem with barking, is that you find out just which
is the reason that's applicable to you.
Barking dogs can be a real noise nuisance and they can get you into trouble with your
neighbours.
It can be a very serious problem.
You need to address it early.
Don't leave it until you've got bad relations with all of the neighbours.
Right it's time for Andy to have a go.
Don't click.
If they hear clicking it's treat.
Alright, let's go...
Alright, you follow me.
Hello.
Right, click while she's quiet.
You have to point it at her.
And then you give her the reward.
Good girl.
Right, you don't have to say good girl.
Because the clicks tell her that she's got it right.
Hello.
There you go, click.
Now she can have the reward.
You've got a lot of homework, I'm afraid.
You need to be really, really consistent.
Choose your liberties carefully with what to do with this training and don't let them
get into that pattern.
They'll soon get to know what the format is when visitors come in.
Is that alright?
Yeah.
Has that been a help?
It's like I've got a remote.
It's not a remote, no.
It's definitely not a remote.
You can't solve a problem like this in one session.
But Jane has given Andy and Jude the tools to work with.
With lots of training - hopefully this sort of behaviour will become a thing of the past
- and the couple will get more visitors to their home.