Barking with excitement

My pup is almost perfect, but he gets soooo excited when out on walks. He barks and barks. I have tried ignoring him. I have tried telling him no. My most recent ploy is to distract him with a ball - that's fine so long as I have 2 balls on the go - I throw one, as he brings it back and drops it, I throw the other one before he gets a chance to bark. That's fine and stops him barking, but makes for pretty boring walks for me and the other dogs as I am constantly watching him and checking he picks up the balls!! I have 3 other dogs (one loves her ball too so I am also having to throw/kick a ball for her!!!)
Just wondered if anyone else had this with their youngster? I have never had it before - all my other dogs are not noisy or excitable like him! Apart from this habit, he is fantastic and very quick to learn. There is just something about the excitement of going out that gets him going.
He gets plenty of exercise by the way and is 11 months old now.

I think that by throwing the balls for him when he barks you are actually rewarding the barking, and so keeping this behaviour ongoing. Personally I would try to solve this problem without your other dogs around, it may mean a bit of extra work for you, but would mean that your other dogs get the attention that they deserve.

First you can teach your dog to stop barking on command. I have done this with my own dog and the way I did it was to wait until she was quiet, which may be before any barking starts - so do this at home to start with. With the command 'quiet', or whatever command you want to use, give the command, and if your dog is being quiet reward with a titbit or the ball. Keep repeating this command, so that your dog understands that 'quiet' means a reward that it wants. Clicker training this could be a good move as well. Move around a bit so that you are giving the command and rewarding for no barking. Next take this out into the street, same thing again. The big test will be when you get your dog out on your walks, which is why you need to just have him to concentrate on. If you can, before any barking starts, give your 'quiet' command and reward. When the barking does start, this is when you need to be really firm in how you handle this. No shouting, give your 'quiet' command and then wait for the barking to stop. It only needs a split second lull to reward, but your dog will start to see that by not barking he gets rewarded. Now your dog may start trying really hard to get your attention and the ball as this has been happening before, so you could see the behaviour getting worse just for a while, but once your dog realises that no attention will be given for barking only for being quiet, this behaviour will start to subside. Try folding your arms, and no eye contact from you at all. Don't say anything until the barking stops, then praise and reward.

It will be interesting to see if this barking does occur without the other dogs around. Once you have got the problem in hand, then bring your other dogs back to walking one by one, which will still give you time to concentrate on the barker and the other dog.

Good luck with this. Regards Jan. Attachment 289

Thanks RubyRoo..... I do wait until he stops barking before I throw the first ball. I have never thrown it once on a bark as I know this would be the wrong thing to do. Once he has the first ball, it is easy as he doesn't bark - but I have to really watch him carefully so I throw the next ball when he drops the first one and so on...... I have a slight problem in that my husband is disabled so I do all the walking and just cannot leave any earlier for the morning walk because it would be even darker than it is now, so at the moment, I have to take all 4 out together. However, am on a week's holiday next week so will definitely give your tips a go. Thanks again for replying - I will let you know how we get on x

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HI

I hope that you can start to get the problem sorted out on your week off. Out of interest what breed/breeds are your dog's, particularly your youngster? Yes it is difficult if you have to do all the walking.

Regards Jan

Hi Jan
With more time next week I should be able to devote more time to sorting this with him. It really is his only vice - he is totally adorable the rest of the time.
My pup is a cavalier crossed with a poodle (or two!!!), oldest dog is a Saluki cross, next in age lab x springer and next is a yorkie! The yorkie can be a bit yappy but not on walks... just when people knock on the door, and to be honest I don't mind that as she is a brilliant guard dog. Have a plan of action sorted in my head - just hope I get to follow it through and knock this on the head before it is too ingrained.
I have wracked my brains to think back to when it began and can't really pinpoint. When he first went out for walks, he would bark all the time so we have sorted that - now it is just on arrival at place we will be walking and the first few minutes of the walk until we get into the swing of chucking the 2 balls. I am confident that if I stick to my plan (ie don't get distracted by kids, husband etc) then we will crack it!!!!
Thanks again.

Good luck with this. You have got a dog with the mixes that do seem to bark a lot as well, which is why I asked. Some breeds as you knw are more prone to using their voice than others.

If you arrive in your walk in your car, perhaps if he starts then just pop him back into the car, until he gets the message. Might take several attempts at it. Otherwise perhaps, don't walk anywhere until it all stops. Tell your dog' quiet', and reward when he is. I would certainly be teaching 'quiet' at home and other familier places, so that he understands what it means, then you will be ready to use it out.

Please let me know how it goes.

Regards Jan

If I am with my dogs, I can usually get them to settle down. My problems always come when they are alone outside. That's my biggest problem.

Years ago I had a dog who barked with excitement, it was very hard to stop him doing it. I had to make him sit each time he barked (he didn't bark sitting down) he did eventually get the message that he didn't get to do the things he wanted to do if he barked. In the end he was fine except when he went to the vet, then he made a noise like an excited chimp and we never totally solved that problem. I loved that dog so much, I still miss him.

Just to update you - we are doing pretty well. I make sure all dogs are quiet before I open the car door. The first day I sat there for 10 minutes until they were quiet - then a further few minutes once I got out before I opened the door to let them all out! Now it is only a few seconds each day, so pretty good progress.
Dexter has improved as I have discovered the one thing I thought was helping was actually making him worse - ie his ball!! Without the ball, he soon stops his yapping and runs off to play. As soon as I get his ball out, he barks with excitement again.
We are doing lots of praising when he runs about quietly and there is such a big improvement that someone I meet regularly asked where I had been the previous morning! I explained I had been there and he said he thought I must have gone somewhere else as he didn't hear Dexter barking!!!
Still very much a work in progress and some days are better than others, but we are definitely getting there!

Thanks for the update, it sounds as if there has already been a big improvement.

Well done, that is a big improvement on the previous situation.

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Well done on your hard work, not easy when several dogs are involved, but only one needs the attention.

It sounds like he is an interesting character.Does he bark at other dogs as well ?

Sorry I haven't replied sooner - I have been in hospital. Unfortunately, all my hard work has gone down the drain! My husband and son have had to walk the dogs for the past couple of weeks and it seems Dexter just barks most of the walk. It just seems to be excitement - he doesn't bark at other dogs, just barks happily as he runs around!!!!

Once I am recovered (another couple of weeks I am afraid) I will start again from scratch - I know he can do it, so just need to go back to square one and do it all over again!
At least the dogs have had their walks so although they missed me (and I missed them!) they weren't totally hyper when I finally got home late on Christmas eve!