Barking Habits – Are You Reinforcing Your Labrador’s Barking?
Curb your Labrador’s barking habits
Is your lab a constant barker?? Do they bark at everything from the sun to their own foot??? Barking is a natural reflex in dogs, but, there are ways to curb excessive barking. And some people don’t even realize that they are in fact reinforcing their lab’s barking habits!!
Whoops! Barking Reinforced
Barking is a natural instinct for dogs to alert the pack to check something out. They are looking for a reaction from you, the leader. By responding with a “Stop!” or “Stop barking!” you just *barked* back a reaction to them. WHOOPS! Behavior reinforced.
The best thing to do is give a command after the bark to do something else like “Sit”, and then reward the QUIET response to your command. The key here is showing the dog they are rewarded for being quiet, not for the barking.
Here’s to keeping this post short, and to the point! 😉
Check out more Blog Posts from Endless Mountain Labradors:
How to Break Your Lab of the Jumping Habit
How do I get my puppy to stop play-biting?
Labrador Crate-Training Manual
Endless Mountain Labrador-Approved Dog Toys!
