Excessive barking & reacting

Hills30

I have a 3 year old rescue Labrador for 8 months. Over the last few weeks, she has increased her barking significantly. Mainly at noises in the house (washing machine, bell on tv etc. ) and when we are on walks.
She also lunges at other dogs while barking. Not at all dogs but it’s increasing recently.

Apart from this she’s a great doggie ðŸ¶

Does anyone have any advice? We’ve tried everything from 1:1 trainer/behaviourist, avoiding walks with dogs, only taking her on runs, feeding her only from kongs.
Any direction would be great to hear. ðŸ•ðŸ•

VonVix

What plan did the trainer give you to help you with this issue?

Was there a significant event that caused her to start reacting? Was she badly startled by something? Attacked by a dog?

Any changes in the home? Routine? A person no longer living there? Less exercise?

Hills30

The trainer advised on “look” technique to distract her and reward her with high value treats to keep her attention. It’s not working so far though

She does get marginally less exercise, but still gets at least 3 hours a day, with three walks a day.

We did go on holiday for two weeks over Christmas and she has probably been worse since we got home. They didn’t tell us she had a particular incident with other dogs though.

em_cat

Hills30 wrote: »

The trainer advised on “look” technique to distract her and reward her with high value treats to keep her attention.

Trainer told us the ‘look’ for distraction as well, but now if we accidentally say look our mutt barks incessantly.

Hills30

em_cat wrote: »

Trainer told us the ‘look’ for distraction as well, but now if we accidentally say look our mutt barks incessantly.

This is my fear now!!

tk123

Hills30 wrote: »

The trainer advised on “look” technique to distract her and reward her with high value treats to keep her attention. It’s not working so far though

Have you gotten back to them or have they called you back to follow up yet? Most would offer follow up support/advice... Did they come for a walk with you or just practice at home?

Hills30

They came out and came on the walk with us. Of course she react well that one time, but over the last two weeks she has gotten worse as we try to continue with it.

We did get a plan, but it is very hard to calm her down once she starts off on the barking at thin air.

em_cat

Hills30 wrote: »

They came out and came on the walk with us. Of course she react well that one time, but over the last two weeks she has gotten worse as we try to continue with it.

We did get a plan, but it is very hard to calm her down once she starts off on the barking at thin air.

You might look into clicker training, the rescue we got Mr C was having a really hard time settling. He was very reactive to all city sounds and so by shaping him to understand the clicker we have began tackling all the things that he needed to get use to. By teaching him to be quite on command and teaching him the correct bark for alarm he is now adjusted to some of the noise issues, some of which I feared where on their way to becoming phobias.

We still have times when Mr C has full blown freak outs, when that happens we get him as far away as we can & give him a frozen pumpkin purée ice cube to lap as it soothes him & calms him & then begin again.

There is some really useful information on u tube, AniEd, Canine Signals, Emma Parsons, & of course the other boardsies here in A&PI all of have been incredibly helpful with our rescue.

Good luck & remember they are never barking at thin air, there is something it’s just we can’t hear or see it at times.

Bells21

Clicker training worked well for our fella. Look up some videos on YouTube of how to introduce the clicker before using it as a tool to tackle this behaviour. When using it to tackle the barking initially the second there is a break in the barking you click and reward. Do this for quite a number of reps. Later, you increase the time that you expect them to be quite i.e. the dog stops, count to three and then click and reward. Slowly lengthen the time when they're quiet before you click. I always have a clicker handy in the kitchen and near the door as one of ours lives barking at people out the kitchen window and loves barking when people ring the bell too. It takes commitment to keep this up but will be worth it.

Also Victoria Stillwell has some good resources on her website for desensitizing dogs to everyday sounds.
In terms of the dog lunging and barking at other dogs, can you preempt the reaction and distract with reps of sit/down/paw etc with lots of treats until the dog passes?

Latatian

Jennifer Treanor in Naas does a class for dogs with similar problems, cheaper than one on one and you have readymade distractions and regular feedback. Brought my girl to one of the other classes

Hills30

Thanks Everyone. Its a really slow process with her. Currently really trying to work on the treats and distractions. It is working some time, but there are still days when it is really difficult to manage her!

Bells21

Hills30 wrote:

Thanks Everyone. Its a really slow process with her. Currently really trying to work on the treats and distractions. It is working some time, but there are still days when it is really difficult to manage her!

I know the feeling. It is very slow but imagine the peace you will have at the end. Those days when it's difficult to manage I find that the dog isn't actually any worse, it's normally me having ran out of patients or having a list the length of my arm to get through.