Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Barking for Attention

Barking is very normal for a puppy and is often used to let you know they need something - some exercise and play, a trip outside to eliminate, some water or a meal; but barking can also become an overly insistent demand for attention. This has to be corrected.

As difficult as it is (and it is very difficult and unnerving), one of the best ways to eliminate the attention-getting barks is to ignore them. With Vinson, he typically gives up after a couple of minutes. Some puppies will even see the corrections "no" and "quiet" as getting the attention reward they were looking for, which will only perpetuate the problem.'

Now you might be thinking, "Only a couple of minutes of barking? That's not too bad." Trust me when I say when you're in the room with your puppy barking at full screech and directing the barks at you, a couple of minutes will put most people's patience to a supreme test!

The best part is when the ignoring obviously works and the puppy moves off with a toy and quiets down.

Just another day in the life of a puppy!

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