Dear Critter Corner: Our pup tends to bark at things when we are out and about, especially when they stare at something for too long. We have been working to get more focus and attention from them in this setting but are struggling. Do you have any tips for building focus around distractions?
Many dogs will escalate easily to barking if they stare at a trigger for too long. Teaching them to break the stare or do a quick check-in with you is a great way to help keep them below their barking threshold.
To start your training, you will choose an environment that is calm and familiar to your pup, typically in the home. You can have a small jar of treats or kibble with you and sit somewhere in the home and just wait. Mark with a ‘yes’ or a ‘click’ from a clicker once they look at you. Allow them to become distracted again and wait for the next time they look at you to reward them again. When your pup is giving you a decent amount of focus in this environment, make it a little harder, maybe on the back patio. Repeat until your dog is giving you lots of attention in the more distracting environment.
You can now start to incorporate another dog or person into your training. Allow your pup to look at the trigger and count to about two or three, and then mark and follow with the treat. The goal is to allow your pup to look at their trigger, and before they escalate to the bark, you mark the behavior of looking at the dog without a reaction. You will again repeat this several times in many different contexts and environments. Over time, you should start to see that your pup is doing this behavior on their own and is giving you lots of focus or attention when their trigger is around. You can fade the food rewards over time and switch to verbal praise or some other type of reinforcement that your pup enjoys. Keep in mind that there will be times when your pup may forget this new routine and go back to barking. If that happens, go back a few steps in your training and give them a refresher.