Bits on Barking: Personality Three....

The Multi-Dog Reactive Symphony!

 You know these dogs.  One barks at something, so the others sound off too.  Not really knowing exactly what the first guy is barking at.  Like a bunch of soldiers relaying a message from the lookout, your pack (be it two or 20) is now a cacophony of noise.  The followers may be joining the initial nonsense at whatever location he's chosen, or he may be wandering around just making noise every time the other one does.

You may have more than one "Sentry" who sounds off, but whatever the case, it seems if one barks, it sets them all off.  What the H do you do with that?! 

Well, you certainly can't yell at them to "shush" as this only conveys that barking is indeed what you want, because now you've joined in the bark with the dogs.

You could attempt using a disruptor of some kind.  Such as a squirt-bottle, or canned air hissers (the Pet Corrector, for instance) but that sort of thing has its drawbacks.  Some dogs actually like being sprayed in the face with water, or are unaffected by "scary" noises."  And you can easily build one of those obnoxious dogs that are "So good.  All I have to do is pick up the _____insert disruption device of choice here_____and she quiets right down."  The dog hasn't actually learned what not to bark at, but has a firm grasp of what happens when you brandish a "weapon."  And sure, if you try one of these, and love it, then fine, by all means, use it.  Just remember, you may not always have a bottle at hand.  There will be times you won't be anywhere close to a water bottle, or your little red can--yes, they do come with holster, so there's that...

Ok, let's say you've discovered the bottle works to disrupt the barking at your house.  If you want to instill an actual, long lasting lesson with it, you will need to be loaded.....With Treats!!  Getting a break in the noise is only the first step in curbing this habit.  As soon as you've sprayed the barker, and successfully silenced them, you absolutely MUST follow the quiet with a "Good, Quiet" as you reward your dogs. 

As you administer the "punishment" of the water pistol (ohhhh noooo, it's sooo awfullll!) you can say something simple, like "no" or "Enough," and follow it with your "good" or "thank you."

Remember what I said about a dog's need to be acknowledged for doing his job?  You will find faster success if you can first remember to thank your dog for a job well-done.  In my house, when the barking begins, you'll hear me say "Good Watching...Thank you...Enough."  The Big Guy is still struggling a bit, but that is because he is also a Fearful Barker.  We will talk about that personality later.

A dog who is told he is doing a good job when he warns you, is getting the praise he needs in order to more fully understand what you want when you do tell him to be quiet.  It is a dogs natural way to say "Hey!  There's something approaching!!! Rally the troops!!"  Sometimes, this vigilance gets out of hand, and when the whole pack joins in...wow...Rewarding dogs who quiet is where they learn what "Enough" really means.

Another way to quiet a multi-house, is to capitalize on jealousy.  Observe your dogs in these moments of barking, and see if you can figure out which one of them gets quiet first.  Once you have it pegged, he's your new Tool to teach the others to shush.  Make sure you have plenty of delicious rewards readily available, and either with, or without a disruptor, start doling out yummies the moment you get quiet out of one of them.  Continue to feed the one that shut up first small bits of delicious things, until the others notice.  It's sibling syndrome wielded with skill:
     "BARK BARK BARK BAR...waitaminnut...Is he eating over there?!  What the heck! I want some!"

 Most likely, your other dogs will catch on that Somebody is getting fed, and come over to see what's up.  When this happens, go ahead and give them a few pieces of food too, but not nearly as many as you gave your Tool Dog.  As you do, say something like "good" or "thank you"---this is becoming your Cue for the quiet.  As you repeat this practice, you may find that your mere presence causes them to stop barking and come looking for rewards.

Please Note:  If your dogs have ANY kind of food guarding/aggressions, DO NOT use food rewards when other dogs are present.  No need to put anyone in danger just for a moments peace.

My Tool dog used to be the Sentry.  He used to be the first to sound off all the time, (some days, I think now he only does it to get the other guy going so he can show off how good he's being...)  but he is also the one who quieted first.  The longer we practiced this, the shorter his outbursts became.  My dogs used to feed off each others excitement:
--Little Dog would alert and begin to bark.
--Big Dog would explode and run around looking for whatever he may be barking at.
--Little Dog would then be bolstered by Big Dogs chaos, and fly into a short-lived frenzy of high-pitched barks and whines.
--Big Dog continues to bark, still not really sure what he's barking at.
--Little Dog, being of superior intellect, suddenly notices there isn't anything real to bark at, and gets quiet.

It is in that moment where we doled out rewards to Little Dog.  After a few seconds, Big Dog would notice all the fuss being made over Little Dog.  "Oh Thank YOU! Enough.  Good Quiet!  Here's a snack!  Oh it's so delicious!  Here's another!  Thank you, Enough!"  Big Dog would race over---"Heeeey!  Where's mine?"  "oh! Thank you too!  Good Quiet!  Here you go!"

These days, it looks like this:
 --Regardless of who starts it, Little Dog sounds off a few times, then runs to me for his reward.  Should he think barking at the thing is actually worth barking at, I simply have to call out "Thank you, Enough" and he will cease and run to me for his reward.
--Big Dog will follow and almost race him to me, as he has learned that the dog who gets there first, will get an extra cookie.

What we've built is a couple of dogs who are learning to Self Correct their own noise.  Awesome. Which also means, now I have dogs I can pay in Praises more and more often than I dole out food.  More Awesome.