The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs

by Patricia B. McConnell

a lot of people say “No bark” to their dogs to ask them to stop barking. “No bark” certainly sounds simple, because it is just two short words. But look at it from your dog’s perspective. First of all, have you taught your dog what bark means? After all, it’s just a noise you’re making, and the noise itself has no meaning until you’ve taught your dog what it is. The only intrinsic meaning it might have for your dog is that you’re joining in the chorus, and since barking is contagious, you’re more likely to encourage your dog than quiet him.

We’ve come back around to the problem of “Good sit” again. “No bark!” is just another example of our expecting dogs to understand that a preceding word (no) changes the meaning of the next word (bark). I know some dogs will indeed get quiet after their owners yell “No bark,” but “No” would have worked just as well.

Of course, you can teach your dog to sit without coming to you or to sit up rather than sit down. But the point is that you have to teach it. Unless you go beyond where most dog owners go, your dog probably defines sit differently than you do. You might ask yourself what other words your dog has his own definition for. I’m reminded of my favorite cartoon, with a goofy, grinning dog saying: “Hi! My name is NO NO Bad Dog. What’s yours?”

I used “Lie down” far too often, as a kind of crutch to help stop things while I could figure out what the heck to do. (Herding can be described as chess with living pieces and only microseconds to decide on and execute your next move.) “Lie down!” I’d yell, immediately following with “Lie DOWN! LIE DOWN!” In no time at all, I had trained Drift, my first Border Collie, to lie down to, and only to, “Lie down, lie DOWN, LIE DOWN!” For all I know, he was waiting for the full signal before he responded, since there was no way for him to know what the basic unit of the signal really was.

The tendency of dog owners to repeat signals is overwhelming; go to any dog training class in the country, and you’ll hear dog owners saying “Come” or “Sit” over and over again, while the instructors smile through clenched teeth, having just said, “Be sure to say ‘Sit’ just once.” “Please, please, please,” (we say repetitively) “try this time to avoid saying it three or four times!”

We, too, use amplitude, naturally getting louder and louder if we don’t get the response that we want. It’s as though we try to make something happen just with the energy that we put into our voices. (Think of how hard you worked to train your child not to stand by the phone and scream “Mom” louder and louder rather than going to get you.) But dogs don’t respond as primates do, and although a loud noise can certainly startle them and get their attention, it doesn’t necessarily get their respect.

Is there anyone in the world who hasn’t, just once, yelled at his dog to “Shut up”? The irony of this ineffectual response usually escapes us during the heat of the moment. But think about it. Since the natural behavior of dogs is to join in the barking, they well might assume that we’re barking, too, when we call out “Quiet!” or “Shut up!”

Barking is a group activity, and I’m not sure that it’s relevant to him whether he knows what he’s barking at. What matters is that Tulip is barking, and therefore, Luke is, too.

If a dog hasn’t been thoughtfully taught what the word quiet means, he’ll probably just keep barking. And even if he has been taught its meaning, if you yell it loudly, you’ve probably changed enough of the word’s acoustics so that your dog can’t recognize it. It’s so very human for us, getting frustrated, to yell “Quiet” louder and louder, sounding for all the world like just another barking pack member, but it’s not very effective.

If you have a barker, don’t try to stop his noise by being louder. Instead, get up and go over to him with a tasty treat between your fingers. This first step sounds easier than it is. Getting humans to move toward dogs at the appropriate time is a challenge for all training instructors. So know that you must focus carefully on this action, because although it seems trivial, people tend not to do it, even after they nod at my instructions and say they will.

As soon as your dog starts barking, say “Enough” and then walk all the way over to him, moving the treat to within an inch of his nose and making clicking or smooching noises to get his attention. If the treat smells luscious, and it’s right beside his nose, he’ll turn away from what he was barking at and sniff the treat. But don’t give it to him yet. Palm it in your hand while saying “Good boy” a few times and use the treat to lure him away from what he’s barking at. Then give him the treat.

What happened was that your dog was barking, you said his signal to stop, and you mechanically created a situation in which he did stop. After he stopped, he got reinforced for it with a treat. First, the treat acted as a lure to stop him from barking, and then the treat became a reinforcement for being quiet. Be sure to do this when he’s not too excited to focus: don’t start these sessions when he’s crazed with excitement because there’s a big family and two dogs at the front door. Set this up in the early stages so that you have control over the situation to avoid making it too hard for your dog (and you) to do it right. Have a friend knock just once or twice and then stop, while you lure your dog away from the door with the treat.