It’s patio season at Casa de Kolchak.
It’s hot. Really hot. Here in BC, we’re in week three of a heat wave. We’re spending a lot of time out on our deck. We’ve made ourselves a cozy little space out there – small, but just perfect for the dogs and I.
Well, almost perfect. Perfect, except the barking.
If you’ve been hanging around Casa de Kolchak a while, you know that sweet, fluffy damaged Fe has some anxiety issues. We’ve talked about how we addressed Fe’s leash anxiety, how we dealt with his noise anxiety in the house and how we overcame his bad habit of barking at the door. Despite the fact that he is totally cool with noise in the house these days, turns out that noise out on the deck is still totally a trigger for his high pitched, insistent bark.
I know I’m not the only one. Judging by the number of pups we hear on our walk, dogs barking at people outside is a dog training epidemic.
On our walk tonight we went 1.5 miles and we were barked at 12 times. Twelve. A mile and a half isn’t very far! Constant dog barking isn’t pleasant to listen to and I want to be a good apartment neighbour. The problem is that I’ve always struggled with barking outside. Whether we’re on the deck at home, the patio at the lake or hanging out in the yard, my gut reaction is always to shout HUSH or KNOCK IT OFF. Um, talk about an ineffective strategy! All your dog hears when you shout in reaction to his barking is you joining in!
Barking is rarely the problem, it’s actually the symptom of a problem. The real problem is that your dog is anxious about unfamiliar sounds and the presence of strangers. You can sometimes tell that your dog is stressed, as they will show signs like yawning, licking their chops, sudden scratching or biting or shaking. Luckily, we have a secret weapon to help combat dog barking outside.
Enter the Treat & Train.
Ninja Dog Training Tool: the Treat & Train Remote Dog Treat Dispenser
Have you heard of it? The Treat & Train is a treat dispenser that works on a remote, which means you can trigger it to from a distance. I kind of love that Petsafe has taken a technology I don’t like and would never use with my pets (shock collars) and turned it into a positive reinforcement based training tool that actually works to help curb dog barking outdoors.
So, how do you set the Treat & Train up to help your dog stop barking?
- Set Up the Treat & Train in the noisiest area in your yard/deck.
You want to chose the area your dog usually runs to when they are triggered. For Felix, this is the corner of our deck above the visitor parking area.
- Fill the dispenser with high value treats.
Choose something your dog loves and that they will really work for. - Teach your dog that the beep means treats.
Press the remote button a few times and make sure your dog finds the treats. When they head to the Treat & Train every time they hear the beep, you’re ready to start training. - Listen for voices or people approaching.
Ideally, you want to trigger the Treat & Train to dispense treats BEFORE your dog starts reacting, but that won’t always be possible. Press the remote as soon as you can. - The beep and the treats should distract your dog and interrupt the barking cycle.
Make sure you offer lots of praise when they stop barking and then call them back to you for more positive reinforcement, like a quick game of tug of war, a snuggle or another treat – whatever works with your dog. - Once your dog is consistently being quiet at the sound of the beep, introduce a command, such as “hush” or “quiet”.
Or, if you’re me, recognize your own limitations and choose the ever classic “cram it”. - Over time, phase out the beep/treat. As your dog becomes more confident and knows the command well, you can offer the treats less and less often.
While our solution works best in a smaller space, like a deck or patio, I can absolutely see it working in a larger space as well, though it may take more patience and practice to really stick. With Felix, it took us about two weeks of practice to get him good and calm out there. It’s not flawless. Every now and then another dog will go on a barking spree and Felix will react, but it’s short and he can be called off with his command. You can actually see a change in him out there – calm, relaxed and at ease. I love seeing him conquering his fears.
How do you help prevent dog barking outdoors?
Do you have any tips or tricks to share?
This post is a part of the Positive Pet Training Blog Hop. Join Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days in sharing positive pet training stories, encouragement, challenges and triumphs.
First of all we are laughing at a most likely, typo…high bitched, insistent bark??? We think and hope it is pitched 🙂 since you with male dogs, we three girls may have a bitchy bark/howl, though. Second, your post is so similar to ours today it is funny. We are indoors doing tricks though. Our dispenser is for indoors, but you are right, we could put it outside to work on training if it isn’t raining. We love to howl at our neighbor friends to get their attention, but we are loud and it does bother Mom sometimes. You have put a good idea under Mom’s bonnet!
Definitely a clever use of radio wave technology. Glad you found a tool that helped Fe. Because who wants to stay indoors when you’ve made your deck so darn adorable?
First of all, he looks so happy next to his Treat and Train. Second, thanks for the step by step guide!
And third, my dog Mia shakes at the oven timer. She hates beeping noises. I wonder if the Treat and Train could actually help her overcome this… if a beep = treat.
He really, really loves his Treat & Train… like a lot. The more we use it to help address issues, the more I find even it’s presence helps to calm them both down. I think we’re going to tackle barking at the phone ringer next!
Though I can’t say for sure if it will help Mia love the oven timer, I can say that so far, the Treat & Train has successfully helped us overcome ever trigger we’ve tackled. Sometimes, it just has to be used in a creative way to help your dog associate something good with something they see as bad. 😉 Or you could always switch to a different style timer. I use my phone and it plays the Super Mario Theme song when dinner is ready.
Great post! I know people who have been really successful with using the T&T! Not only are you distracting the dog you’re also counter conditioning them to the thing that’s scary! It’s pretty cool! I’m hoping I can get one some day!
Thanks for joining the hop! Mr. N doesn’t really get a chance to hang out outdoors at home (we don’t have a yard/patio) but we certainly run into our fair share of indoor dogs who bark at him when we’re walking. He’s generally pretty good with the people walking by our condo although he gets all alert when it’s dogs walking by and we have the windows open.
We have a real problem with our neighbor’s dogs doing all of the barking during the summer!! It makes us NUTS as they don’t even try to tell them to stop!! They could at least TRY!! Your deck looks so nice and cozy!
I don’t prevent barking outside. If our dogs are barking too much (usually due to road work) we bring them inside or take them for a walk.
This is a really great idea. I’ve seen the treat dispensing products and thought they were a bad idea; this is a great way to use them.
Kimberly
We’re the opposite! We prevent outside barking (close neighbors!) but let them bark their fool heads off inside. Figure, our dogs, our pain!
This is such a brilliant use of the Treat & Train! And I love your “quiet down” cue. It makes me think of Patricia McConnell’s recommendation for being frustrated with your dog: call them the most horrible things you can think of in the sweetest voice you can muster. 🙂
Dude that thing looks awesome; though my dog is a real jerk and I’d be worried she’d try to rip it to shreds. You came up with an awesome way to use it though, I don’t think I’m savvy enough to use gadgets to my advantage. And you are right about the barking dog epidemic – we hear it constantly on our walks – and since it’s the same old boring route a lot of the time I know when we’re coming up to the next barking house well beforehand. Luckily Laika doesn’t care that much, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be their neighbor.
I’m really interested to try something like this for Ruby’s TV barking…if I can juggle two remotes 🙂
Thanks so much for joining the Positive Pet Training Hop this time around, I think it was our most successful to date which is why it’s taken me forever to get around to everyone’s posts!
Thanks for information. this is so amazing for those who don’t know much about pets like me. Thank you for sharing this. I will share it to my Pet group.
Thank you very much for the post! This is what I need to learn before having a Maltese, they said Maltese may bark a lot 😀 Don’t want to waking up the whole floor at night.
Barking is a real problem with my dogs. I have three rescued Treeing Walker Coonhounds – Kenji, Kyoko, and Seiji. We also have several feral cats that have taken up residence under the shed in the next yard. It’s only about a foot or so from our wooden privacy fence. My dogs can hear and smell the cats – sometimes even see them. Kenji is the worst, often barking as he runs out the door into the back yard. The other two aren’t as bad in the yard. We do have some issues with them barking in the house – especially if I leave the house. I can’t even go out the front door to get our mail without them starting. Kenji is the instigator and the other two join in. One thing I’ve been doing is walking outside with them when it’s late. I don’t mind a little barking during the day, but late at night is a real problem. I’ve been able to keep their nighttime barking down, but it also means they don’t stay outside as long after dark. I’ll have to try what you’ve recommended. Keep fingers crossed.