April 15, 2011
Our 15 month old puppy barks at us for attention. We will pet her to calm her down when she does this, but when we stop she starts barking again. What can we do?
Full Question:
Hi Cindy,Our puppy Lucy is 15 months old, she is a very smart dog we are of course still in the process of training her. One thing that really bugs us is she will start to bark and bark it seems for attention especially if we have guests over. She seems to be doing it for attention because we are just conversing with one another and she'll bark and sometimes jump on our leg, it seems to get our attention. How do we break her of this bad habit? We do say no bark to her in a firm voice however she keeps it up and it gets so annoying when someone is trying to talk. We will try to give her some attention by petting her, to calm her down she is then ok and when you stop she'll start up again. She will also do this when we sitting down at the dinner table(we never feed her table food or never give her anything when we are having dinner) or also when just our family members are having a conversation standing around in the kitchen. Help it is very fustrating!!
Thanks,
Margo
Cindy's Answer:
Lucy has you trained to pay attention to her. She barks persistently and you pet her and pay attention to her. You need to change the way Lucy interacts with you to get the attention she wants. This will entail teaching her that YOU are in charge and YOU decide when and where she gets attention and petting, not her.
Start with our groundwork program. If you don’t have a crate for her, now is the time to get one.
I’d recommend this video, Pack Structure for the Family Pet.
Lucy is behaving like a spoiled little kid that wants to control all the grown ups free time, and you can expect that her behavior may get worse before it gets better. She’s had over a year of “training” your family and if you change the rules now she’s going to try everything she knows to get things back to her way. You’ll need to expect this and stay on track with the plan. If you don’t get a grip on her now, you can expect her to become more bossy and dominant as she matures.
Learn to use the search function (located in the left hand corner of every page on our website) Simply type in your search terms or key words and you will be directed to articles, question & answers, free streaming videos and posts on our forum.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
Start with our groundwork program. If you don’t have a crate for her, now is the time to get one.
I’d recommend this video, Pack Structure for the Family Pet.
Lucy is behaving like a spoiled little kid that wants to control all the grown ups free time, and you can expect that her behavior may get worse before it gets better. She’s had over a year of “training” your family and if you change the rules now she’s going to try everything she knows to get things back to her way. You’ll need to expect this and stay on track with the plan. If you don’t get a grip on her now, you can expect her to become more bossy and dominant as she matures.
Learn to use the search function (located in the left hand corner of every page on our website) Simply type in your search terms or key words and you will be directed to articles, question & answers, free streaming videos and posts on our forum.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
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