Since the dawn of our species’ relationship with dogs, alert barking has been a valued trait. Many breeds and breed groups were developed specifically because of their propensity to bark. Despite it’s historic value, alert barking is not always our favorite trait! For dogs who alert bark excessively, we can use the “Thank You for Barking!” protocol.
This exercise helps our dogs understand that we are acknowledging their alerts and we no longer need them to alert us. Some dogs may not need to practice this very much before they understand that “Thank you!” means there is no threat to worry about, while other dogs may need more reassurance that they no longer need to bark. The end goal is to transform a flurry of barking mayhem into one or two alert barks.
Preparation: get a container of high value treats and put them in an easily accessible location.
How to Play
- When your dog begins to bark at something, go to the window or door they’re barking at and check to see what’s happening.
- If there is nothing outside and your dog stopped barking as soon as you stood up, you may have a demand barker on your hands rather than an alert barker. Change your tactics!
- After you’ve checked things out, say “Thank you!” or “Got it!” and go to your treat jar. Grab 5-10 treats and scatter them on the ground for your dog to eat.
- If your dog feels the need to bark after they’ve finished eating the treats, either scatter more treats for them or otherwise engage them in a different behavior until the coast is clear.
Once you’ve practiced this game, you may find that just saying “Thank you!” or “Got it!” does the trick and you no longer need to get up and check things out!
As your dog gets good at this game, you can begin slowly phasing treats out by reducing them over time.
