Why Ignoring Demand Barking Just Doesn't Work

On the latest episode of The Family Pupz Podcast, we asked the founder of Positive Partners Dog Training LLC, Brianne Harris, what the most common piece of advice she hears people using that inadvertently INCREASES demand barking, and makes the training process LONGER, as a result.

Without a doubt, her answer was, "ignoring the barking".

We also love what she says about how we have to remember that stopping the barking is really rewarding for us, too.

Check out her answer above!

To listen to the rest of the conversation with Brianne, check out the podcast episode below:

[TRANSCRIPT BELOW]

Family Pupz: Great. So let's dig into demand barking for a little bit.

And so before we actually discuss how to decrease it, let's chat about how some people, with the best of intentions, can inadvertently increase it.

What are some of the most incorrect, and let's say counterproductive, ways you see people naturally - and by naturally, I mean, on their own and without the assistance of a trainer yet, let's say - try to deal with demand barking, and why do these efforts wind up making the problem worse, and in your words, “make the training process longer as a result?”.

Brianne Harris: Yeah, so one of the big things that I run into with demand barking is, you know, like I said earlier, a lot of people are trying to just do the best by their dogs and they're trying to be kind.

And positive reinforcement training has really taken off in the last couple decades.

And one of the things that has come along with that popularity is a lot of people have gotten it into their heads that if their dog is doing a behavior that they don't like, that they should just ignore it.

And with demand barking, in particular, just ignoring it is not going to work because barking is really fun. Dogs are made to bark. And so it can be really rewarding on its own.

So just ignoring it isn't going to stop it.

And then the other thing that happens with my clients, I'd say like, nine times out of ten, maybe ten times out of ten, I will say with myself, my dog does bark when he wants things on occasion, and, you know, you try to just ignore it, because you think that's the right thing to do.

And it's gonna hit a point where you can't handle it anymore, because it's starting to get really annoying.

I have a lot of clients with small dogs. And those barks are very high pitched, you might have neighbors that you're concerned about. So you can't just wait it out, because it's unpleasant for you, it's unpleasant for your neighbors. And so then after a few minutes of trying to ignore the behavior, they end up giving into it.

And then what their dog really learned was, “Oh, if I just keep barking, I’m eventually going to get what I want”.

And I honestly see that as the MAJOR DOWNFALL for most people. They just don't have the right information to get started. And they're trying, but they usually end up rewarding the barking one way or another, either by giving in, or by what I'm sure their dog thinks, joining in.

So when we’re like, “No, stop that! Be quiet!” And their dog is probably thinking, “ Yeah, now we’re all barking! This is awesome!”

And then again, you still end up eventually giving the dog what they want because it's really rewarding to you as the human to stop the barking.

And then you know, you just get stuck in that same cycle of, “the sooner I give in, the sooner my dog stops barking”, and my dog probably is thinking, “wow, the louder I bark, the sooner I get what I want”, and it just becomes this kind of vicious cycle.