Does your dog bark bark bark in the yard? Is she stressed because you live too close to the local shooting range? Or, maybe she’s bored. Perhaps she’s afraid of the UPS truck? Well, for now, let’s just say that Bowserina barks at your next door neighbors when they try to enjoy their backyard. Here are a few steps to help you:
STEP ONE: PREVENTION.
Since she barks only when the neighbors are outside, you’ll need to supervise her when she is in the yard AND your neighbors are going to be in their yard. You’ll do this by keeping her on a leash or long line so you can call her and get her easily if she starts to bark. The other piece is to keep her inside when you’re not home so she doesn’t have the opportunity to bark while you’re away.
STEP TWO: DROOLING DOGS ARE HAPPY DOGS.
Change how she feels about the neighbor’s being outside by using delicious treats like baked chicken to reward her for being quiet. At first, you’ll keep her on a leash as you stand far away from the fence. With treats in hand, remember to reward her BEFORE she starts barking.
STEP THREE: RAISE CRITERIA.
This means that once Bowserina is reliably not barking while on leash, you can either drop the leash and give her some freedom, or move closer to the fence. The key here is to reward your dog before she starts barking. If she keeps barking and you find yourself verbally correcting her over and over, something is wrong. You want the process to be highly successful and want very few mistakes on the dog’s part: Set her up for success!
STEP FOUR: INTERRUPT BARKING if it does happen and redirect.
For example, if your pooch is standing at the fence barking, call her to you and ask for a sit and then reward the sit. (Then do some prevention or training.)
STEP FIVE: BARKING = A TIME OUT.
You can have a consequence to the barking, but you need to put in the time training your recovering barker. Once she learns it’s not going to work to bark (ie: barking means time in her crate or time out area), she will be less likely to bark. Your job, however, is to help her relax while in the yard so she can tolerate your neighbors when they are having a barbeque and dance party this summer!