# Incessant barking .. at thin air.



## deleet (Jun 15, 2009)

Sam's 6 months old now.

He's been great, no trouble meeting other dogs, he barks at the occasional one that goes by but that's totally ok.

My problem is that the last couple days he started barking .. at nothing. And he won't stop. There's no one passing by, no dogs, anything. I've watched him bark at thin air for 5 minutes straight.

It's up to the point where I'm working on my computer and can't focus because he's annoying the [heck] out of me. It's probably not just me, my neighbours probably aren't very happy either.

I'm trying my best not to give it much attention assuming it goes away but this is hard. There's other dogs in the area and they bark / howl all the time, I really want to teach mine not to do it.

I've been with him, played some, tried to get him tired, came back in, 2 mins later barking resumes.

Please someone give me some suggestions as to what I should do. He's still barking.

Thanks.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

it's possible that he is hearing/smelling something that you can't. 
or he could be barking just to hear his head rattle, as my grandmother would say

I forgot the "helpful" part. start teaching him the "quiet" command. some people teach it in conjunction with "speak"

distract him and tell him "good quiet" much like teaching a dog to sit. create the opportunity for him to stop barking and jump in with a reward.


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## Doubleminttwin (Aug 21, 2009)

I can def sympathize w/this one. Baya is a bark at nothing pup too. We will let her out to go to the bathroom in the back yard, no one around, nothing going on and she just starts barking, some times she'll put her hair up sometimes she just barks. She'll do it when she gets out of the car and nothings there, basically anything, I think its just ehr way of anounching her presence to the leaves







It could be they are just trying out their different sounds







who knows w/puppies.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

Sometimes I swear mine loves to hear himslef Bark.

My trainer also told me that they don't bark for no reason. 
he may hear something that you can't


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## Minnieski (Jan 27, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: littledmc
> 
> My trainer also told me that they don't bark for no reason.
> he may hear something that you can't


Mine said that too. What we do is give her the "quiet-enough" command and she knows that's it. Whatever you do don't yell at him, he might think you're barking too!


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

Train a "quiet" command.

I usually tell people that a "quiet" command doesn't work, so let me explain. If there's a dog or people walking down the street, you're doing to have a hard time telling your dog to be quiet (especially if you're outside). It's easier to tell your dog to "come." Young dogs do better with activity than no activity (and "come" means running to you - activity, versus quiet -- no activity).

But in a case where dogs like to bark (and barking IS fun), a quiet command works great.

Do you know how to use a clicker? This works perfectly with clicker training.

When your pup is lying around quietly minding his own business, not barking, tell him "quiet!" in a soft but happy voice. Hand him a bit of very high value treat, like a hot dog. This isn't the time to skimp (chewing keeps him from barking too!







). Provided that he keeps being silent, repeat this. At first, you want to repeat often. Then, slowly space out the word "quiet" from the treats.

*** IF you've used the word "quiet" as your word to hush him before and he's ignored you, then he may associate the word "quiet" with "I'm barking." Remember when you taught your pup how to sit? You waited til his bottom just touched the floor; then you told him Sit! So he associated activity with word. So if you've been telling him Quiet and he's been barking the whole time, he's learned that Quiet means "Bark." Why is this important? It means you need to come up with a new word. "Silence." "Hush." "Chill." Doesn't matter. Just come up with a new word.

As I mentioned before, if you clicker train, you can click the quiet behavior, treat, then start to pair it with your quiet word.

As your pup learns what quiet means, practice it when there aren't a lot of distractions AND when you're sure you have your high value treats. Don't just jump in and try it when you have dogs running down the street and you forgot your treats in the house, becuase your pup will act like he never heard the word before in his life. Practice a lot! If you're satisfied with that, you can stop there. I actually ramp it up a bit, and wait for my kids to give me eye contact to get the treat. I want to make sure they hear me and "get it," that I'm asking for something specific, not just that they just happen to be catching their breath or waiting for something new to bark at. 

So when my kids start to bark, I tell them Quiet. They turn around and look at me. Then I tell them to come (often, they come to me anyhow, because they're hoping that they'll get a juicy treat). 


I know this sounds like it's complicated to train, but I trained my pup to be Quiet on command in about a week. If there is something on the street or someone at the door, I'll let them bark a few times while I check it out. Then I tell them "I've got this. Thank you....Quiet." 

I have two young dogs, and I would think it must be frustrating for a dog to clearly hear or see something and your leader not to follow up on it. So I always let them see me check out reasonable things they warn me about. (The squirrel in the front yard is not a reasonable threat that merits a warning), even if I know it's just the loud high school kids walking home from school. (I've lived here 10 years and know to expect the high school kids. My dogs haven't.) 

One thing to be careful of is that you don't want to get into a barking match with your dog. If your dog barks and you "bark" back at him loudly, he may think you're barking with him. What a fun game that is! Keep your voice calm and the tone low. 

Good luck!


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## lmkersnick (Jul 10, 2007)

3K9Mom ~
Thank you for this detailed explanation !! I had wondered how to go about teaching this myself. Was hoping to talk to our trainer, but she advised at Basic Obedience graduation that the training center was closing, so we didn't get a chance to go over this at all...


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## meisha98 (Aug 27, 2008)

My dogs get started if a nearby neighborhood dog starts. I may not hear it until I listen good, but they do. I do the "quiet" or "enough" commands depending upon the situation and how badly they are barking. They usually don't bark at "nothing" so take extra time to try and see what is setting them off. Now that it's winter (feels like) and the furnace comes on and rumbles, Lainey barked at that until she realised it was no big deal. Once she got used to it, she stopped.


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## deleet (Jun 15, 2009)

I'm going to give the quiet word a better (and more educated) go.

I can't tell what he's barking at since I can't see and / or hear anyone nearby (I live in a rather isolated spot). I'd understand if it was a car going up or down the street, someone passing by, whatever. It just seems like he's barking at nothing. Constantly.

I don't use a clicker but at this point I know how to get his attention pretty good so that's no problem 

Thanks a lot for the valuable info 3K9Mom!


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: Minnieski
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: littledmc
> ...


Maybe. 

What's 'No Reason"? 

Dogs bark because they're bored. Or because they want your attention. Or they bark at falling leaves. At birds. At dogs barking a mile away. They bark because they're frustrated or because they heard a dog bark on TV. They bark when they're scared. And they bark at each other in play because they're having fun, frustrated, or just being goofy barking at each other because it's fun.

I let my dogs alert bark within reason (til I check things out and tell them to stop) and bark when they're playing, as long as it's not incessant loud barking. I also let them bark *appropriately* when they're excited from working. 

All the other stuff? Those are daily tiny distractions and my dogs need to learn better impulse control. They need better stimulus discrimination (and fear needs to be dealt with). Not everything in the world needs to be barked at.

So technically, your trainers are right. And yes, there are times when your dog may see or hear things that you don't (especially the dog a mile away nuisance barking). That's why I don't just tell my dog to hush automatically. But it's an oversimplification to say that dogs always bark for a reason -- 

Anyone who has lived next to a bored nuisance barker knows that it's just not true.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

They always have a reason 9or so they think!).


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