In last week’s Barks and Bytes, Barking Dogs, I posted about some of the constantly barking dogs in our neighborhood.

Patricia Stover said, “Unfortunately mine seem to think a leaf blowing in the wind or someone walking by while I am in the shower or on the pot is THE most opportune time to bark incessantly at what ever bird, squirrel, child coming to/from school. Which being stuck in the situation I am in keeps me from controlling said behavior….  Any advice as to how to keep barking to a minimum would be greatly appreciated.”

I replied with this, “I use treats.  When my dogs are barking at the door or window, I will check it out, then I’ll say, “It’s okay, it’s just the garbage truck, let’s go get a cookie.”  I try to distract them with treats.  They are much better now than they used to be.”

I thought it might be good to elaborate a bit on that.  FUF is not the best post to get long-winded, because it’s typically pretty long to begin with.

My dogs bark.  Make no mistake about it. 

The difference between me and my neighbors is,  I don’t let them bark without checking out what they are barking at and then letting them know, I’ve got it under control and redirecting them or taking action, whichever option suits the situation best.

Let’s break it down shall we:

The Bark: Hey, I see a squirrel/deer/cat/person/other dog walking, you might want to check it out.

You think if we stand here long enough she’ll give us a cookie?

The Response: I go to the door/window, look out.  I say, oh, it’s just a cat, or I don’t see anything.  I pet each of the dogs calmly and say, let’s go get a cookie. Cookies fix anything. 

The Bark:  OH MY DOG, someone I love is here!!  They’re here!! I see them in the driveway, oh please, please, please let me out.

The Response: I open the slider door and let them stand on the balcony greeting our guests.

Sampson pretty much keeps to those two barks.

I’m a lover, not a barker.

Delilah however, she has a third bark. Her third bark is generally saved for people/vehicles she doesn’t know.

Two different examples.  The garbage truck collecting our or our neighbor’s trash and a neighbor getting a delivery.  When she spies one of these trucks her barking becomes insane.  I will calmly pet her and reassure her it’s okay, but the thing that works best for her, is to distract her from the window.  Just offering a cookie isn’t always a great deterrent, so I try something a little different.  I take a handful of small treats and scatter them on the floor, just like I was throwing bird seed. I do this two or three times and by then, the bad thing, the thing that makes her panic, is usually gone.

The second example is worse. Poor Delilah, when the truck or service person is actually in our yard, she loses her shit.

If we are getting an appliance delivery, I secure her in a room behind a gate.  Typically, if she can see what’s going on, she’s okay with that, as long as I am home and showing no signs of distress.

Oil deliveries are another story. Our fill pipe is right by the French door and it’s a full glass door.  Delilah is right there at the window, frantically jumping and barking, her teeth are gnashing and she wants a piece of that action.

I can only imagine how many times our oil delivery man has had to clean out his shorts after delivering oil.

Putting a curtain up won’t work, she will only pull it down with her jumping.  lately I’ve taken to trying to have the oil delivered on Saturdays, so that way there’s a chance that someone will be home.  The last time it was delivered on Saturday I brought her into the bedroom, shut the door and the curtains, and fed her treats as long as she was calm.

It did work, but we haven’t done enough counter conditioning for her to actually tolerate someone at our back door.

That is how I handle their barking Patricia.  And if they are outside in the yard and start barking, I always go outside to see what it is and will call them inside by offering a cookie.

Finally for your amusement, I will share the time I forgot the bug guy was coming and left the back door open.

I was in the kitchen and saw him walk across the deck at the same Delilah saw him.  She took off out the back door and I ran right behind her, slamming the door in the process.  (That was to keep Sampson inside, because he saw us running and wanted to follow us.)  Of course, her four legs went faster than my two and luckily the bug guy had the sense to jump up on the wall.  This didn’t stop her of course, she ran right up to the wall and put her face right in the general area of his crotch and told Jimmy and the Twins in no uncertain terms, intruders weren’t welcome in HER yard.

Thankfully he was very understanding and accepted my apology.