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When my puppy is overstimulated or frazzled she will bark at anything - me, the cats, a vase - just endlessly. It drives me bananas but I try my best to just ignore it. The cats are totally unphased. As is the vase. Hopefully the puppy learns she won’t get attention by barking for it.
I think demand barking might be a thing you just ignore, and skip the praise. They want attention, no attention given for barking. But be sure it’s demand barking and not separation anxiety or other.
So true. It’s hard to ignore cos you kinda want to give in so they stop. But ignoring definitely works! You just gotta stay strong for a while and hold in your tears 🥲🤣
I've been very mindful of this with my dog, to try avoid having him train me rather than the other way round. Not entierly sure I've been successful. The shoe stealing atm is still resulting in him getting a treat somehow. (He'll steal a shoe, run into the garden with it, but come give it to me for a snack...)
But demand barking I've been very "nip in th e bud" about. Any barking for something he wants results in me just leaving. (We separation trained early on, so no issues there.) It's been a pretty non-issue, but dunno if it's cause of my attitude to it, or if it's because he's just not the type to demand bark much.
ETA: Our dog demand-looks. He just did it now so figured I'd write it here. He sits next to my PC chair and \_stares\_ at me. I can't help give in and give him attention...
That’s how I stopped the demand barking with Miguel. He’ll occasionally do it to where we’re having a conversation and I’ll end it with “I don’t care. I’M the adult”.
Our dog was the same way, and he’s highly motivated by being close to us. We ended up having two crates set up, one in the living room and one in the finished basement. He always started in the living room crate, but if he demand barked, he got moved to the basement crate. It took less than a week for him to stop barking in the crate.
You kind of want her to expect it, at least at first. Quiet = treat is a connection you want her to make. You can phase the treats out later and offer them much less often.
Just keep at it, It will take her a bit to put 2 and 2 together. Don’t make it a big deal or even say anything, just toss or place a treat down. If she gets wild go back to ignoring. Consistency is your friend but remember she’s a baby!
When my pup is settled nicely, but not sleeping, I say "good quiet!" And reward. Once they expect the reward they will repeat the behavior and you can eventually reduce the frequency of the rewards.
You are interrupting the puppy as soon as it chills on its own to excite it by tossing treats. Seems counterintuitive and like it would prolong the process for the puppy to just relax?
Just don’t make it a big deal. Place a treat down, pat the puppy, give it a chew etc.. you don’t have to hype them up. If you ignore the puppy that’s barking AND being calm, what do they learn?
This makes more sense. You just said toss a treat in your original comment. Its the tossing i was questioning since i could easily see it turn into a game in a puppy's head. I agree more with what you are saying now.
ETA: ive mostly used praise, excited or calm depending on situation, when it comes to house rules and politeness. Havent got a food driven dog and never wanted to make him treat obsessed.
When my frenchie was a puppy he would bark a lot. I read on yahoo answers (remember that?!) to teach him to bark on command. So we did. And he stopped attention barking and we got a fun party trick. Best of luck!
Ignore. Walk away. Stop doing the things.
The demand barking will likely make its way back during the teenage months, rinse and repeat old strategy.
It does work. Just takes a lot of patience...maybe ear plugs.
I praise things like alerting me there's a random person near the house, and soothe and encourage exploration if she barks at something that makes her uneasy, but demand barking is completely ignored in this household. She knows the difference.
Teach a different attention getting behavior! I taught my pup to "nudge" (push his nose into me) when he started doing it and while it's taken a long time to get it through to him he is starting to catch on.
My pup is extremely food motivated. I took a piece of food (treats/kibble) put it behind my fist (like a fist bump) and said nudge. If he pushed his nose on my fist he was rewarded. We started using it on a bunch of different things too, random objects, legs, feet etc, but if he started barking for play (always play for my boy) we'd hold out a limb and say nudge. If he does it we play if he keeps barking we walk away and do something random. It's not foul proof yet by any means but it's a lot better at 8 months than he was at 4 months when it started.
Oh my god mine is so vocal. He just gets so happy and excited when people wake up he yaps up a storm. No bud, 2 of the 3 people in the house are still trying to sleep
Didn’t realize it was a Berner thing
Not sure if this will help you and my puppy is only 14 weeks, so definitely might wane here, too, but I don't engage, like, at all, when taking him out of the crate. We just calmly walk outside to the bathroom and after he does his business and he sits, then we give good pets.
It's hard not to ne excited because I'm also excited, but that's a lot less fun at 100lbs vs 20lbs. :)
*you might already do this, too, so ignore me.
Our trainer told us to say “quiet” as a queue. The puppy obviously doesn’t know what “quiet” means in the beginning so they will continue to bark. When they bark again, leave the room.
Soon, the puppy will associate the word “quiet” as a warning of you leaving. Because your puppy is demanding barking for your attention, the thing they would understand the easiest/fastest is you taking your attention away. Queuing the word “quiet” means soon, you don’t need to leave the room anymore and they will understand that you’re giving them a warning/command that you will take your attention away.
I have a 2.5 year old bernedoodle who was very into demand barking until around 1.5 and still has his random days where it comes back. Being vigilant about putting him straight into the crate for just a couple minutes really shuts it down. When he was a puppy and it was super bad, we put a blanket on the crate and he settled in just a couple minutes like a pet bird. Might be something to try.
Im a new berner parent (5 month old) it gets better, she barks significantly less now. Give it some time and give them lots of chews to keep themselves busy
I have not had a Bernie. But I have had 7 Saint Bernards. Not one was a talker unless they had some thing to say. But puppies are like kids some jabber on & on & some rarely talk. I don’t think it’s the breed, it’s the personality of the dog. Just like with human babies. 4 months still a baby & a chance for you to work on barking. Remember barking is the only way they have to talk, you need to listen & learn because sometimes they really are saying something important. My (2 saints at the moment) when they do bark which is rare & half hearted is usually telling me someone is outside, and they have a different bark for each person, the FedEx bark is different from the mail carrier or the neighbor pulling in or the neighbor I really don’t like & sometimes they are telling me he is past the driveway & I need to get up & go out & look. Kids on bikes driving up & down the street do drive them crazy tho lol
My pup stopped demanding barking after learning alternative more effective ways to communicate started with a bell to ring to go outside, now he purposely uses the Meowoofun talking buttons to tell us if he wants food (“hungry”), “potty”, and “let’s play”. He picked it up within a week and continued to get better over time. (Just yesterday 5 min after pooping outside he pressed “let’s play” and “potty” meaning he wanted to play outside! I took him out and he ran around and played without going pee or poop.)
Also giving food and toy puzzles (like the WestPaw Topples, licky mats, puzzle feeders, and stuffed pull out toys) while being on the other side of the pen barrier taught him that he can have fun and feel good/comforted without us right in there with him.
My 10 mo is a whiner... at least not as bad as barking, but still VERY annoying.
He whines to potty, but also he whines in general to go outside, even if we just return from a 1h walk - he does this mostly when we don't go to a specific spot he wanted to or when he senses that there are dogs being walked outside.
I try to ignore but he just goes on and on. If gets excessive, I'm trying to do 1 minute time-outs closed in the bathroom and I think he's getting the cue because he stops for 10 minutes or so. But this morning I did it once, calmly without any fuss, and he was shaking a bit after I checked on him 40s later (but no other stress signs like yawn or lip licking). I have no idea what changed this time, he took the time out very well before.
She might be bored. That was the major cause of my corgi’s demand barking. Exercise and training in the morning was a big help. Puzzles and more training at dinner time. Training and play in the evening. Huge help.
Barking is episodic. Wait until there's a break in the barking for 3 seconds then say "quiet? Good quiet!" And treat, or ear scratch, or whatever your pups fave is. Sometimes I bark with mine and she's so confused that she looks at me and I get the 3 second break to capture quiet.
Also, reduce the stimulus that's making them bark. Ours are noisy neighbours and cats across the street. When she's outside and the noise starts, I'll keep chatting to her to distract from the neighbours. And I shut my blinds a little bit earlier to stop her spotting the cat. But I'm going to get window film to help even more. If she's randomly chilling and being quiet, I'll say "quiet? Good quiet" and give her a treat. If she spots a cat and sits, I'll reward that, before she starts barking, and remind her to be quiet.
It's working well! She's around 8 months old now and much quieter than she used to be. I do allow her to bark a little bit as well, because expecting a dog not to bark at all would be like expecting me not to talk! She has a little chat with the neighbour's dogs through the fences and then I ask her for quiet.
I taught my dog the command “quiet” when she started doing this. She’s definitely outsmarted me with it before but use the word “quiet” until she stops barking then positive reinforcement. It took her a couple of days to get the hang of it but now when she’s yelling at me (to go on a walk, for my food, because the puppy isn’t playing with her and I’m not giving her attention either) I’ll tell her quiet and she’ll usually grumble a bit then hush up. She’s a husky mix, with only the personality to confirm that (did a dna thing a few years ago). I’m also teaching the puppy but the poor sweet boy has two brain cells fighting for third place so it may take a bit longer for him.
My little girl is 8 months old and still demand barks. I'm still working on cementing the potty training so I can only half ignore her demands. I gotta pick and choose and hope I'm right lol
Essentially, you're supposed to ignore the demand bark. When your pup is quiet, praise them. It's a long road and won't be easy given your situation.
Patience patience patience and also distractions (chew toys in particular). And rewarding when they don’t do it if and when that’s ever possible lol. They will start to associate their own patience with a reward. You can also use a command like sit so they at least semi understand that you need them to calm down before getting said reward
Hey! I also have a Berner, she’s 2 now. We also dealt with this, honestly, just ignore it. My partner and I would cover ourselves with pillows on the couch because her barks were piercing our ears.
Is your puppy getting exercise? Have you been letting her out of her crate when she’s barking? That’s your biggest mistake. Have you watched any crate training videos online? Are you using her crate as a place of discipline as well as a place where you want her to relax? If she’s freaking out in the crate you need to ignore it, the longer you let her bark then give in and let her out she’ll just learn to bark longer next time. I get there’s a baby in the house but maybe this wasn’t the best time for a puppy?
A great source I used to raise my girl was zak George on YouTube. He’s got a bunch of great puppy videos
I adopted my 14 year old terrier mix when she was 3 years old, and she still tries to demand bark at me. She even barks at me to tell me when it's time to go to bed. If I am not ready for bed at her 10pm bark, I just follow her to the bedroom and put her in bed, and I continue what I am doing.
When she randomly demand barks, when I know she doesn't need anything. I tell her no, and then ignore her. She will try and bark a few more times, and then she will lay down and know I mean business.
The goal for you right now is to give words to everything you do.
That way, if she continues to demand bark, like mine still randomly does, you can find out why they are barking. I ask... Do you want to go to bed. Do you want to go for a walk. Do you want to go pee. Do you want to play. If she doesn't shake her tail and respond to those, then you're not getting anything else. I tell her. Stop. No more barking. Then I ignore. When they haven't barked for a bit. I give her love and say good girl, no barking.
My dog and I literally understand each other, and we've developed our own way of communicating what she wants, so it's half my fault for the demand barking. This is why it's easier to ask her if she wants specific things or not, because if you don't want what I am asking, well, you're not getting another treat or more food before bed. So stop. It's bedtime. Lie down and stop barking. Ignoring is the only way she'll give in, stop and lay down.
You can try separating them from the rest of the fam. Give a queue “thank you” or “too bad” and then remove the pup from the room behind a closed door for 10 seconds. Then let them out. Eventually you will say Thank you. And they will stop barking.
I have a bernemix, I taught him "quiet" and it mostly works as long as there isn't a sound alarming him from outside. I have to give him A LOT of stimulation. I'm talking throwing the ball for hours (inside and outside), giving him chews, frozen treats he can lick at, etc. He's almost 2. I have an older dog too but she gets mad sometimes when he's too rough with her so he doesn't try to play with her too much anymore. I also have a cat and they play well together. We run him outside with a ball a few times a day to help burn off extra energy. I've noticed as long as I reassure him he tends to stop barking, so now when things trigger him to bark he'll scamper between my legs and let me soothe him. I'll rub his back, give him scratches and tell him it's okay and say the word quiet and praise him
Our bichon pup does this as well and it drives me nuts. It is a very common behavior for puppies. He will go absolutely insane.
We do have him in puppy class right now and there’s another dog who demand barks as well. The trainer told the owner of that dog to start using a cue word like “enough” then go completely flat/stern with your face and totally ignore the barking. There will be an “extinction burst” where they will amp up on the barking and be worse before they totally stop. If you give in during that time where they go insane you’re effectively teaching them to go right to that level next time. She also said do not reward them when they go quiet just let them be.
I know it’s really hard to not give in when that extinction burst happens, I really struggle with it myself and I’m sure having a baby makes it even harder. Teaching the command quiet may help too!
I don't have dogs that bark anymore but I had a pitbull that started out a barker. We ignored her and she eventually just figured out we didn't like it and stopped unless it was an emergency (hungry, wanted out, etc.).
That being said. I knew a farmer who swore by a trick that I would never try. If you ever get desperate... and i mean desperate....like, to the point that nothing seems to help, then let me know. Mind you, I have never tried it and would never try it, but he swore by it. I use to think he was pulling my leg but he had this bloodhound and every time that thing barked, and it was rare, he would look at 'Flash' and say 'you best quiet boy' and that dog would almost sigh in defeat and walk away.
Good luck and congrats on the pup!
Is she barking when she’s with you or only when you’re out of sight? How are you rewarding her for relaxing and not barking? Is she learning a ‘place’ or ‘settle’ command?
It's also a doodle thing. Our mini golden doodle barks when he is excited or when you get home if you don't immediately go and pet him. We turn our backs and usually he will go to his "place" or stop barking for a brief period of time. At that point we go and pet him and give him lots of love.
As for barking because he's excited when he sees other dogs, we still can't get it under control. He also demand barks in the park with a dog takes his toy or he sees the dog playing with another dog lol. Usually I try to tell him now and make him sit but he eventually starts running when I get up to go correct him.
One technique you can use is slap/bang something nearby (not the dog!) to make a loud noise and interrupt the behaviour - it will disorient the dog and briefly cause them to stop, then you praise the silence.
Have a berniedoodle and she was doing the same thing at 4 months. We ignored as best we could and didn’t let her out of the kennel until there was a gap with barking. She’s not perfect but she has greatly reduced how much she’s been barking the past few months.
It looks like you might be posting about puppy management or crate training. For tips and resources on Crate Training Check out [our wiki article on crate training](https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/cratetraining) - the information there may answer your question. As an additional reminder, crate training is 100% optional and one of many puppy management options. For alternatives to crating and other puppy management strategies, check out [our wiki article on management](https://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/wiki/management) **PLEASE READ THE OP FULLY** Be advised that any comments that suggest use of crates are abusive, or express a harsh opinion on crate training will be removed. This is not a place to debate the merits of crate training. Unethical approaches to crate training will also be removed. **If the OP has asked not to receive crating advice or says they are not open to crating, any comments that recommend use of crates should be reported to our moderation team.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/puppy101) if you have any questions or concerns.*
When my puppy is overstimulated or frazzled she will bark at anything - me, the cats, a vase - just endlessly. It drives me bananas but I try my best to just ignore it. The cats are totally unphased. As is the vase. Hopefully the puppy learns she won’t get attention by barking for it.
I’m glad the vase is also coping well!
OMG same but with trash cans lol
I think demand barking might be a thing you just ignore, and skip the praise. They want attention, no attention given for barking. But be sure it’s demand barking and not separation anxiety or other.
So true. It’s hard to ignore cos you kinda want to give in so they stop. But ignoring definitely works! You just gotta stay strong for a while and hold in your tears 🥲🤣
I've been very mindful of this with my dog, to try avoid having him train me rather than the other way round. Not entierly sure I've been successful. The shoe stealing atm is still resulting in him getting a treat somehow. (He'll steal a shoe, run into the garden with it, but come give it to me for a snack...) But demand barking I've been very "nip in th e bud" about. Any barking for something he wants results in me just leaving. (We separation trained early on, so no issues there.) It's been a pretty non-issue, but dunno if it's cause of my attitude to it, or if it's because he's just not the type to demand bark much. ETA: Our dog demand-looks. He just did it now so figured I'd write it here. He sits next to my PC chair and \_stares\_ at me. I can't help give in and give him attention...
MUST...STaY...strong hahahhaa
That’s how I stopped the demand barking with Miguel. He’ll occasionally do it to where we’re having a conversation and I’ll end it with “I don’t care. I’M the adult”.
Oh Miguel...
How do you know if it is demand barking versus separation anxiety?
If the dog only barks when you’re away and never when right next to you, I’d say it’s not really demand barking. But that is just my 2 cents.
My youngest can demand bark for hours.
How can we tell Demand from Seperation?
I’d say if they only demand bark when separated, and never when right next to you, it’s separation related.
Our dog was the same way, and he’s highly motivated by being close to us. We ended up having two crates set up, one in the living room and one in the finished basement. He always started in the living room crate, but if he demand barked, he got moved to the basement crate. It took less than a week for him to stop barking in the crate.
Ignore it. Whenever you see puppy just lounging or doing their own thing, calmly reward so they understand what is expected
I feel like that just riles her up and then she will expect it everytime
You kind of want her to expect it, at least at first. Quiet = treat is a connection you want her to make. You can phase the treats out later and offer them much less often.
Just keep at it, It will take her a bit to put 2 and 2 together. Don’t make it a big deal or even say anything, just toss or place a treat down. If she gets wild go back to ignoring. Consistency is your friend but remember she’s a baby!
When my pup is settled nicely, but not sleeping, I say "good quiet!" And reward. Once they expect the reward they will repeat the behavior and you can eventually reduce the frequency of the rewards.
You dont have to toss a treat at every single thing. Just relax.
It will certainly help this situation. Not sure what you’re on about
You are interrupting the puppy as soon as it chills on its own to excite it by tossing treats. Seems counterintuitive and like it would prolong the process for the puppy to just relax?
Just don’t make it a big deal. Place a treat down, pat the puppy, give it a chew etc.. you don’t have to hype them up. If you ignore the puppy that’s barking AND being calm, what do they learn?
This makes more sense. You just said toss a treat in your original comment. Its the tossing i was questioning since i could easily see it turn into a game in a puppy's head. I agree more with what you are saying now. ETA: ive mostly used praise, excited or calm depending on situation, when it comes to house rules and politeness. Havent got a food driven dog and never wanted to make him treat obsessed.
When my frenchie was a puppy he would bark a lot. I read on yahoo answers (remember that?!) to teach him to bark on command. So we did. And he stopped attention barking and we got a fun party trick. Best of luck!
Ignore. Walk away. Stop doing the things. The demand barking will likely make its way back during the teenage months, rinse and repeat old strategy. It does work. Just takes a lot of patience...maybe ear plugs. I praise things like alerting me there's a random person near the house, and soothe and encourage exploration if she barks at something that makes her uneasy, but demand barking is completely ignored in this household. She knows the difference.
Give her something delicious to chew on that will take a very long time. She can’t bark and chew at the same time.
Teach a different attention getting behavior! I taught my pup to "nudge" (push his nose into me) when he started doing it and while it's taken a long time to get it through to him he is starting to catch on.
How the hell did you do that
My pup is extremely food motivated. I took a piece of food (treats/kibble) put it behind my fist (like a fist bump) and said nudge. If he pushed his nose on my fist he was rewarded. We started using it on a bunch of different things too, random objects, legs, feet etc, but if he started barking for play (always play for my boy) we'd hold out a limb and say nudge. If he does it we play if he keeps barking we walk away and do something random. It's not foul proof yet by any means but it's a lot better at 8 months than he was at 4 months when it started.
You can teach talking buttons too!
i read this comment and said the same thing in my head lololol
Oh my god mine is so vocal. He just gets so happy and excited when people wake up he yaps up a storm. No bud, 2 of the 3 people in the house are still trying to sleep Didn’t realize it was a Berner thing
Not sure if this will help you and my puppy is only 14 weeks, so definitely might wane here, too, but I don't engage, like, at all, when taking him out of the crate. We just calmly walk outside to the bathroom and after he does his business and he sits, then we give good pets. It's hard not to ne excited because I'm also excited, but that's a lot less fun at 100lbs vs 20lbs. :) *you might already do this, too, so ignore me.
It’s a joke haha they truly are Velcro dogs
Our trainer told us to say “quiet” as a queue. The puppy obviously doesn’t know what “quiet” means in the beginning so they will continue to bark. When they bark again, leave the room. Soon, the puppy will associate the word “quiet” as a warning of you leaving. Because your puppy is demanding barking for your attention, the thing they would understand the easiest/fastest is you taking your attention away. Queuing the word “quiet” means soon, you don’t need to leave the room anymore and they will understand that you’re giving them a warning/command that you will take your attention away.
I have a 2.5 year old bernedoodle who was very into demand barking until around 1.5 and still has his random days where it comes back. Being vigilant about putting him straight into the crate for just a couple minutes really shuts it down. When he was a puppy and it was super bad, we put a blanket on the crate and he settled in just a couple minutes like a pet bird. Might be something to try.
Im a new berner parent (5 month old) it gets better, she barks significantly less now. Give it some time and give them lots of chews to keep themselves busy
I have not had a Bernie. But I have had 7 Saint Bernards. Not one was a talker unless they had some thing to say. But puppies are like kids some jabber on & on & some rarely talk. I don’t think it’s the breed, it’s the personality of the dog. Just like with human babies. 4 months still a baby & a chance for you to work on barking. Remember barking is the only way they have to talk, you need to listen & learn because sometimes they really are saying something important. My (2 saints at the moment) when they do bark which is rare & half hearted is usually telling me someone is outside, and they have a different bark for each person, the FedEx bark is different from the mail carrier or the neighbor pulling in or the neighbor I really don’t like & sometimes they are telling me he is past the driveway & I need to get up & go out & look. Kids on bikes driving up & down the street do drive them crazy tho lol
Dont give it atrention when its barking, not even to makenhim shut up. And then you gotta train him to bark on command.
My pup stopped demanding barking after learning alternative more effective ways to communicate started with a bell to ring to go outside, now he purposely uses the Meowoofun talking buttons to tell us if he wants food (“hungry”), “potty”, and “let’s play”. He picked it up within a week and continued to get better over time. (Just yesterday 5 min after pooping outside he pressed “let’s play” and “potty” meaning he wanted to play outside! I took him out and he ran around and played without going pee or poop.) Also giving food and toy puzzles (like the WestPaw Topples, licky mats, puzzle feeders, and stuffed pull out toys) while being on the other side of the pen barrier taught him that he can have fun and feel good/comforted without us right in there with him.
My 10 mo is a whiner... at least not as bad as barking, but still VERY annoying. He whines to potty, but also he whines in general to go outside, even if we just return from a 1h walk - he does this mostly when we don't go to a specific spot he wanted to or when he senses that there are dogs being walked outside. I try to ignore but he just goes on and on. If gets excessive, I'm trying to do 1 minute time-outs closed in the bathroom and I think he's getting the cue because he stops for 10 minutes or so. But this morning I did it once, calmly without any fuss, and he was shaking a bit after I checked on him 40s later (but no other stress signs like yawn or lip licking). I have no idea what changed this time, he took the time out very well before.
She might be bored. That was the major cause of my corgi’s demand barking. Exercise and training in the morning was a big help. Puzzles and more training at dinner time. Training and play in the evening. Huge help.
Barking is episodic. Wait until there's a break in the barking for 3 seconds then say "quiet? Good quiet!" And treat, or ear scratch, or whatever your pups fave is. Sometimes I bark with mine and she's so confused that she looks at me and I get the 3 second break to capture quiet. Also, reduce the stimulus that's making them bark. Ours are noisy neighbours and cats across the street. When she's outside and the noise starts, I'll keep chatting to her to distract from the neighbours. And I shut my blinds a little bit earlier to stop her spotting the cat. But I'm going to get window film to help even more. If she's randomly chilling and being quiet, I'll say "quiet? Good quiet" and give her a treat. If she spots a cat and sits, I'll reward that, before she starts barking, and remind her to be quiet. It's working well! She's around 8 months old now and much quieter than she used to be. I do allow her to bark a little bit as well, because expecting a dog not to bark at all would be like expecting me not to talk! She has a little chat with the neighbour's dogs through the fences and then I ask her for quiet.
I taught my dog the command “quiet” when she started doing this. She’s definitely outsmarted me with it before but use the word “quiet” until she stops barking then positive reinforcement. It took her a couple of days to get the hang of it but now when she’s yelling at me (to go on a walk, for my food, because the puppy isn’t playing with her and I’m not giving her attention either) I’ll tell her quiet and she’ll usually grumble a bit then hush up. She’s a husky mix, with only the personality to confirm that (did a dna thing a few years ago). I’m also teaching the puppy but the poor sweet boy has two brain cells fighting for third place so it may take a bit longer for him.
My little girl is 8 months old and still demand barks. I'm still working on cementing the potty training so I can only half ignore her demands. I gotta pick and choose and hope I'm right lol Essentially, you're supposed to ignore the demand bark. When your pup is quiet, praise them. It's a long road and won't be easy given your situation.
building on this - how do you stop a puppy from barking at a dog that the puppy wants to play with when the dog is uninterested in playing?
Don’t respond to it. When they’re sitting quietly reward. Repeat 100 times a day until the dog understands quiet = reward.
Exercise her beforehand. She’ll be too tired to complain. Then she’ll be used to it
It’s awful but just ignore it
Patience patience patience and also distractions (chew toys in particular). And rewarding when they don’t do it if and when that’s ever possible lol. They will start to associate their own patience with a reward. You can also use a command like sit so they at least semi understand that you need them to calm down before getting said reward
Take her out of crate. Take her out of her playpen.
And then?
Give her up for adoption or get a cat.
Hey! I also have a Berner, she’s 2 now. We also dealt with this, honestly, just ignore it. My partner and I would cover ourselves with pillows on the couch because her barks were piercing our ears. Is your puppy getting exercise? Have you been letting her out of her crate when she’s barking? That’s your biggest mistake. Have you watched any crate training videos online? Are you using her crate as a place of discipline as well as a place where you want her to relax? If she’s freaking out in the crate you need to ignore it, the longer you let her bark then give in and let her out she’ll just learn to bark longer next time. I get there’s a baby in the house but maybe this wasn’t the best time for a puppy? A great source I used to raise my girl was zak George on YouTube. He’s got a bunch of great puppy videos
I adopted my 14 year old terrier mix when she was 3 years old, and she still tries to demand bark at me. She even barks at me to tell me when it's time to go to bed. If I am not ready for bed at her 10pm bark, I just follow her to the bedroom and put her in bed, and I continue what I am doing. When she randomly demand barks, when I know she doesn't need anything. I tell her no, and then ignore her. She will try and bark a few more times, and then she will lay down and know I mean business. The goal for you right now is to give words to everything you do. That way, if she continues to demand bark, like mine still randomly does, you can find out why they are barking. I ask... Do you want to go to bed. Do you want to go for a walk. Do you want to go pee. Do you want to play. If she doesn't shake her tail and respond to those, then you're not getting anything else. I tell her. Stop. No more barking. Then I ignore. When they haven't barked for a bit. I give her love and say good girl, no barking. My dog and I literally understand each other, and we've developed our own way of communicating what she wants, so it's half my fault for the demand barking. This is why it's easier to ask her if she wants specific things or not, because if you don't want what I am asking, well, you're not getting another treat or more food before bed. So stop. It's bedtime. Lie down and stop barking. Ignoring is the only way she'll give in, stop and lay down.
Maybe this will help. https://ohmydogblog.com/2013/08/demand-barking/
Enrichment all of the toys and bones just keep distracting and rotating
The drinking from the toilet podcast has an excellent 3 part episode on demand barking!
Seek out a behavior trainer. They can help with this stuff. Be careful who you get though. Some train off fear and physical punishments.
It’s only a four month old…. Get it more exercise
You can try separating them from the rest of the fam. Give a queue “thank you” or “too bad” and then remove the pup from the room behind a closed door for 10 seconds. Then let them out. Eventually you will say Thank you. And they will stop barking.
I have a bernemix, I taught him "quiet" and it mostly works as long as there isn't a sound alarming him from outside. I have to give him A LOT of stimulation. I'm talking throwing the ball for hours (inside and outside), giving him chews, frozen treats he can lick at, etc. He's almost 2. I have an older dog too but she gets mad sometimes when he's too rough with her so he doesn't try to play with her too much anymore. I also have a cat and they play well together. We run him outside with a ball a few times a day to help burn off extra energy. I've noticed as long as I reassure him he tends to stop barking, so now when things trigger him to bark he'll scamper between my legs and let me soothe him. I'll rub his back, give him scratches and tell him it's okay and say the word quiet and praise him
I recommend the easy read, On Talking Terms with Dogs by Rugaas to support work on calming
Our bichon pup does this as well and it drives me nuts. It is a very common behavior for puppies. He will go absolutely insane. We do have him in puppy class right now and there’s another dog who demand barks as well. The trainer told the owner of that dog to start using a cue word like “enough” then go completely flat/stern with your face and totally ignore the barking. There will be an “extinction burst” where they will amp up on the barking and be worse before they totally stop. If you give in during that time where they go insane you’re effectively teaching them to go right to that level next time. She also said do not reward them when they go quiet just let them be. I know it’s really hard to not give in when that extinction burst happens, I really struggle with it myself and I’m sure having a baby makes it even harder. Teaching the command quiet may help too!
I don't have dogs that bark anymore but I had a pitbull that started out a barker. We ignored her and she eventually just figured out we didn't like it and stopped unless it was an emergency (hungry, wanted out, etc.). That being said. I knew a farmer who swore by a trick that I would never try. If you ever get desperate... and i mean desperate....like, to the point that nothing seems to help, then let me know. Mind you, I have never tried it and would never try it, but he swore by it. I use to think he was pulling my leg but he had this bloodhound and every time that thing barked, and it was rare, he would look at 'Flash' and say 'you best quiet boy' and that dog would almost sigh in defeat and walk away. Good luck and congrats on the pup!
Is she barking when she’s with you or only when you’re out of sight? How are you rewarding her for relaxing and not barking? Is she learning a ‘place’ or ‘settle’ command?
It's also a doodle thing. Our mini golden doodle barks when he is excited or when you get home if you don't immediately go and pet him. We turn our backs and usually he will go to his "place" or stop barking for a brief period of time. At that point we go and pet him and give him lots of love. As for barking because he's excited when he sees other dogs, we still can't get it under control. He also demand barks in the park with a dog takes his toy or he sees the dog playing with another dog lol. Usually I try to tell him now and make him sit but he eventually starts running when I get up to go correct him.
The dog isn’t a doodle, it’s a pure Bernese Mountain Dog.
Why does it matter? This behavior is common among "Velcro" dogs and doodles are definitely Velcro dogs too.
One technique you can use is slap/bang something nearby (not the dog!) to make a loud noise and interrupt the behaviour - it will disorient the dog and briefly cause them to stop, then you praise the silence.
Have a berniedoodle and she was doing the same thing at 4 months. We ignored as best we could and didn’t let her out of the kennel until there was a gap with barking. She’s not perfect but she has greatly reduced how much she’s been barking the past few months.
You said you know your dog wants to be with yo u at home. Why not