Keeps Barking

tobytrek

Member
Hi everyone

I am clicked training our sprocker spaniel but getting frustrated from his constant barking during training sessions.
I have tried attending training classes but gave in after a month because he kept barking making it impossible to learn anything and the instructor didn't seem to have a clue how to stop the barking long enough to be able to train him.

I have tried ignoring him as soon as he starts but as this is pretty much as soon as i pick up the treats and clicked its making training sessions very short indeed.

Any ideas would be gratefully received regards how we can have peaceful training time because we really aren't progressing very fast with it.
 

blacknym

Experienced Member
I'd say just sit there with the treats until he stops barking. Then click and treat. Or you can give him a time out. I've had the same problem with barking and find a time out seems to working. It is a quick 5 minute time out in the bathroom. Then I let her out and go about what I wanted to do.

Not sure how you feel about a time out. My dogs loves attention and to take the attention away when she is nuisance or attention barking it helping her to learn new (quieter) ways to get my attention.
 

tobytrek

Member
I'll give that a try... I have been just turning my back on him when he barks which he hates and starts jumping up at me. I started clicking once he was doing once he was quiet but i wondered if he was including the barking as part of the behaviour.

How should i go about doing the time out? Do i take him out the room or should i remove myself from the room?
 

blacknym

Experienced Member
You can do either. If you can trust him alone and you remove to your bedroom(with closed door) then that might be easier.

This is what I do though...

I give a quiet cue (which I know she knows) and if she doesn't listen...

I take her with out any engagement or pretense and put her in the bathroom. She stays for 2 minutes. She is quiet as soon as I get up to lead her to the bathroom so she stays only a short time. If your pup jumps around barks or mouths you just ignore no engagement and put them in their time out spot. When they have been quiet for a few minutes then let them out and play.

Hope that works!
 

Adrianna & Calvin

Experienced Member
Hi there, and welcome

My dog had a similar problem in some training scenarios. He'd start jumping, and howling, and generally being Too Excited to work. What I do is give him a cue that says "we're done" and then I sit and wait. When he quiets down, I stand up and restart the session. If we get only 30 seconds in before the excitement restarts, that's fine. I sit down and wait for him to be quiet. My dog now can control himself, and if he does go over the top and I disengage, he knows to drop down into a quiet Down to cue me that he's ready to work.

I'd do the same thing with your dog. I'd sit and not respond to him until he was quiet. You don't have to click, just stand up and start working again. Some clever dogs will figure out the Bark/Quiet/Treat sequence and you don't want that :)
 

brody_smom

Experienced Member
Brody wasn't much of a barker in the house at first, but our neighbors are quite close, and we can hear their dog barking when it is inside their house. Once he started hearing her bark, he would join in. The first thing I read about how to teach a "quiet" command said you have to teach a "speak" command first. It took a while for him to get it, but once he did, it was like I had given him permission to bark as much as he wants. The "quiet" is harder to teach, and he pretty much ignores it once he has started barking. If I hear another dog bark outside, I can tell him "hush" before he barks, and he will usually not bark, or just give a couple of short, soft "buffs", and that's it. Once he gets going, though, whatever starts it, it is pretty hard to get him to stop. Ignoring him is so hard. I have also tried sending him to his crate for a time-out, but I feel like I am overusing that option lately, as he is a rebellious adolescent. Is there any other way that has worked for anyone else?
 

sara

Moderator
Staff member
Thankfully, Oliver's excited talking during training sessions is limited to him clicking his teeth together, growling or saying momma... LOL The barking would drive me nuts too :)

I used to have a sprocker, before designer names became popular. I always had to tell people she was a Springer x Cocker... LOL
 

ackerleynelson

Well-Known Member
Barking is a common thing in dogs but it becomes a headache when they don't act after asking to stop. My dog was also having the same problem then I got it trained from the Boom Towne and I found that his habit of irregular barking has been stopped and now he also acts according to my command.
 
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