Dog training?

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Jake10

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Since I've almost finished Uni I'm thinking about enrolling in some training classes with Jake - Obedience and agility :D

My problem is that he becomes so excited doing both of the above that he barks as he sits, downs, backs up, jumps etc :rolleyes: Having been in a puppy class with 2 toy poodles who did nothing but bark (didn't even learn how to sit ect) I know how annoying a constantly barking dog can be and don't want to subject others to it :o

He only barks when following instructions and so far attempts to teach him to bark and be quite have failed :o Mainly, I think, due to me confusing him by asking him to sit then when he barks saying 'speak' and rewarding. But I can't get him to bark without asking him to do something else first :confused: I also don't want to spoil his enjoyment and turn a fun experience into a not so fun one :o
 
A good class should be able to help you with this and they shouldn't make you feel bad either. I'd go along and watch some classes without your dog and see if the place looks friendly, and talk to the trainers about it too. We have some yodellers in class, and it's not a problem:)

Teaching the speak will help but you need to get him to bark without doing something else, it sounds like he might think 'sit' means 'sit AND bark'. Again, a good class should be able to help you get the timing right on this one:)
 
I'll have a google for classes in the Newark area

If he just thought that sit meant sit and bark I wonder why he does it with everything else? He is funny though when he spins around barking :)
 
He might think everything means 'do x and bark' or he might just be very excitable:D It's hard to know without seeing him! If he's getting rewarded for barking though, why stop?

What I would try, I think, would be to wait to reward him until after he stops barking, even if this takes ages at first. Wait, then when he is quiet, reward him, saying 'good sit [or down, or whatever] as you do so, so you are reinforcing the command again. At first he may bark even more, as he'll want to try and get the reward from you so he'll do what has always worked in the past. However, if you are persistant, it should click that actually, he gets the reward when he shuts up.:)
 
Agree, will take patience and if you find it cute and funny (you said it yourself!) and let him self reward, it will not get better. If he has worked out that he barks and you get frustrated and or/bored and say 'oh go on, let's go and do this thing that you really want to do if it means you are quiet' then of course it will not stop.

I have a very noisy dog and there are a number of ways of dealing with it, like, as mentioned, waiting for quiet, calm behaviour, you get NOTHING, not even attention, until you are quiet and calm. Stand still, passive, no eye contact.

Or with my dog sometimes he gets into such a tizzy he just goes straight back in the car. Out, bark, back in the car (this also helps me as I do not get frustrated = which winds him up further, it's a time out for us both), out, calm, get to stay out and have fun.

As Spudlet says, he seems to be working you and not the other way around, in the nicest possible way, just needs a bit of retuning :)
 
Thanks :) I know it's all my fault, will try ignoring the barking and reinforcing what I actually want.

The only times he doesn't bark are when we're doing heel work (inc sit, down and wait). Probably because I've never asked for him to speak during that bit. Oh well it'll give us something to work towards :)
 
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