# Stop Barking Darby!



## MamaTiff (Sep 23, 2011)

Since the day I adopted Darby I have brought her to work with me at the grooming salon. I wanted her to be comfortable in a salon and boy was she! She had her own cage, and she slept there while I worked and hung out with me when I was done grooming. She was very quiet and comfortable.
Last week I quit my job and opened up my own salon this week. Darby is definately confused as I expected her to be, but she seems to be adjusting well. The only issue is she is barking at my customers when they come in. She never did this before. And like I said I expected her to be confused but I want to curb this right away. She's good about going in the crate. I leave it open all day and she goes in on her own, and if I tell her to "go to bed" she will go in on command. So how to I get her to stop barking at my customers? She is generally not a barker at all. Only barks usually if someone comes to my door at home so I have never had to try to get her quiet.Advice?


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

Let's see........no, I would not suggest an e-collar.......but am sure someone will! Since she didn't bark previously at a salon -- is there anything you can do to try to make her area as similar to the former one as possible? How about clicker training.....to click when she STOPS the barking? I'm lucky I have not had the issue before so I guess that is where I would start. I will bet fjm will have some good insights as well as JE-UK. For some reason, they seem to have great results with their training methods in the UK (maybe it's the air)! Good luck.


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## liljaker (Aug 6, 2011)

P.S. I love the picture of her in her Miami! She is beautiful.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Could it be that as it is your salon, she is treating it like your home, and alerting in the same way? Does she continue to bark in the crate? If not, then sending her to bed is a quick fix - perhaps reinforced with an especially good Kong. 

The classic way of stopping barking is to put it one command ... and then never give the command. Both of mine know Settle Down, and it works reasonably well to stop barking - better with Sophy then with Poppy. Poppy responds better to being given something else to do. Is Darby one of those poodles that love to present people with something when they come to the door? It is difficult for a dog to bark when they are carrying something, and you could turn it into a clever piece of marketing if she presented your customers with something decorated with your logo!


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

I taught Bonnie to stop barking with the word, "quiet" in my gruff voice, with a flat hand directed her way. If that doesn't do it, I have also used a high quality spray water bottle (the kind you buy at the hardware store) to get her to stop being wild with my whippet when she wasn't paying attention to me. I only had to use it a couple of times for real and then I just held it up to show her and she stopped. Now I say 'enough' and she stops immediately whatever she is doing. I bet it would work with getting Darby to be quiet if the command doesn't.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Your clients are scheduled, right? 

Move the crate close to you (so you don't have to stop working while you train). When you get to a scheduled appointment time, start feeding. If she is eating she cannot bark. She'll get a positive association with clients and I bet she will be back to her laid-back self within 2 weeks!


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

outwest said:


> I taught Bonnie to stop barking with the word, "quiet" in my gruff voice, with a flat hand directed her way. If that doesn't do it, I have also used a high quality spray water bottle (the kind you buy at the hardware store) to get her to stop being wild with my whippet when she wasn't paying attention to me. I only had to use it a couple of times for real and then I just held it up to show her and she stopped.


I've used the spray bottle on my puppy, more for fun than for training. If I use the mist setting rather than the squirt one, and spray her in the face, she'll "bite" and lick the air trying to drink the mist. It's hilarious, I think I have a video of it somewhere. Even if I squirt her I think she quite likes it, so it wouldn't work that well as a training tool for some.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

She probably thinks she is doing her job, i.e. letting you know people have arrived. I LOVE the idea of training a greeting with something in her mouth, although not sure if that's feasible if lots of strange dogs are arriving.

What about teaching her to ring a bell when people arrive? Also cute, and should be pretty easy to train with some help from a friend, esp if the dog is already trained on a bell for other purposes.

I personally like to acknowledge the alert. It honours the dog's efforts, and it takes away any reason for the dog to keep barking, i.e. he knows he's gotten my attention and that I'm on it, whatever the issue is.

But, assuming you don't want any barking, and you don't want the dog greeting people at the door, it's easy enough to link someone arriving with the dog going to her bed. Mine knows a 'go to place' when someone arrives at the door. Just enlist a friend, and when the friend knocks, send the dog to her place and reward with a really good treat. While you are training, it might be worthwhile sticking a sign on your door asking people to wait to come in until you tell them it's okay. Then you can send her to her place and reward before people actually enter.


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## MamaTiff (Sep 23, 2011)

Thanks everyone....GREAT ideas. I started first thing this morning. Darby does great with hand signals so I put my finger to my mouth and said "SSSSHHHH!" and gave her some cheese. I did that over and over and over. I then knocked on the counter and she barked. I did "SHHH" with my finger to my mouth again and she looked at me and I gave her more. BUT THEN she looked at me and barked. I SSSHHH ed her again and she quieted and I rewarded. I think she is figuring out that if she barks, she gets SHHHHHed and then gets rewarded. DARN SMART POODLES! lol

She will get it though. My first appointment came in and she barked a few times. Good thing is she quiets and settles very quickly.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

*MamaTiff*: Glad you're seeing good results with her "shhh-ing" training already! I did basically the same thing, teaching the command, "Quiet!" with a corresponding hand signal. I also did the fake knocking and doorbell ringing while working to convince Chagall one or two barks would do. He caught on quickly! Now that you're getting the barking under control, how are you going to "control" all the whistles I_ know _Darby is getting for looking so STUNNING in her Miami?! Best of luck in your new shop and for quiet Darby customer greetings.:smile:


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

MamaTiff said:


> Thanks everyone....GREAT ideas. I started first thing this morning. Darby does great with hand signals so I put my finger to my mouth and said "SSSSHHHH!" and gave her some cheese. I did that over and over and over. I then knocked on the counter and she barked. I did "SHHH" with my finger to my mouth again and she looked at me and I gave her more. BUT THEN she looked at me and barked. I SSSHHH ed her again and she quieted and I rewarded. I think she is figuring out that if she barks, she gets SHHHHHed and then gets rewarded. DARN SMART POODLES! lol
> 
> She will get it though. My first appointment came in and she barked a few times. Good thing is she quiets and settles very quickly.


Good dog! Wait longer between the "shh" and the reward to fix that bark. 



My puppy learned 2 things in the last couple days that are the same type of learning.

He learned that when he barks outside I come see what is wrong. He started barking - an alert bark - outside to get me to come let him in. Umm no. He got to stay out in the wind for a while to extinguish that trick.

He learned that he can ring the bell to go out so that he can come in and get a treat. Nope, that's not going to fly either. A 10 minute "time out" between when I let him out and back in again was enough to stop that behavior quickly also.

Just wait a little bit longer after your "shh" cue and the bark will disappear.


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## GlennBaxterFamily (Apr 28, 2011)

I have found, in my experience, that dogs do not generalize well. A command in a one situation does not transfer to a new situation most of the time. I believe that training is ongoing for the rest of your life and the dogs. One thing that I used to say all the time was "every situation is either a great training opportunity or one lost". 

I think you are on the right path and she just needed a refresher course on behavior in the new situation.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

GlennBaxterFamily said:


> I have found, in my experience, that dogs do not generalize well. A command in a one situation does not transfer to a new situation most of the time. I believe that training is ongoing for the rest of your life and the dogs. *One thing that I used to say all the time was "every situation is either a great training opportunity or one lost". *


Brilliant! And so true ....


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

Congratulations on the new shop. I hope that Darby gets a chance to bark at tons of new people comin' in the door!


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## MamaTiff (Sep 23, 2011)

LOL That's right CB, it really IS a good thing she's barking at customers, because that means I have them!


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