How thanking our dog helped reduce her barking

Having a dog that alert barks can be very annoying and stressful, especially if you have neighbours close by. We live in a mid terrace house and Roo alert barks ALOT, well she used to. It would drive us mad and probably our neighbours too.

Roo would alert bark at any noise outside the house - a car door shutting, someone walking by, people talking, deliveries, another dog barking, bin men. Sometimes even the sound of a neighbours in their houses - phones ringing, them answering their doors, having noisy guests over.

Initally we tried reducing her ability to see out of the window and moved her crate into the dinning room rather than the living room so she was in the middle of the house, rather than at the front. This helped reduce her running up to the window and barking directly at the noise but didn't really stop the barking.

We discussed this problem with our behaviourist who explained why Roo does it. As an anxious dog, Roo is trying to control the situation, she doesn't want any of these people or things making noises getting into her safe space so she is seeing them off. She is also letting us know that there is something outside that is bothering her. That is the important bit.

Behaviour modification for anxious dogs is a lot about taking control away from the dog and being their leader (not in a pack dominance way). If they are scared they should look to you for guidance, you should be offering them support and letting them know that there is nothing to be afraid of. They should trust you to make the right decision and not feel the need to jump in and react.

With Roo and her alert barking, this was a great way for us to step in when she was letting us know that she was uncomfortable. We could show her that whatever is scaring her, we will deal with and we will make it safe again.

The concept is simple and to be honest, when it was first explained to us we thought, haha yeah no won't work with Roo.

When your dog alert barks, you get up and say thank you. You then walk over to whatever window/door is in the direction that the noise is coming from and have a good look around. The more over the top the better - move the curtains (but do this slowly and calmly so not to make the dog think there is something out there to be interested in or scared by). You then calmly walk away, thanking your dog again and return to whatever you were doing before.

The first few times Roo would keep barking after we thanked her and walked away but now 9 times out of 10, she will only bark once, then stop when thanked. The idea is that eventually, you won't have to get up and look out the window, you saying thank you will let the dog know you have taken over control of the situation and they no longer need to worry.

Roo still alert barks on a daily basis, probably 4 to 5 times a day but instead of it being a 5 minute ordeal of her running around continuously barking, it is now one bark and done. There are also some noises that she doesn't even react to anymore.

This technique can work in a lot of situations. Even if you don't have a physical barrier to walk up to like a window or a door, you can still walk so you are stood in front of your dog having a good look around. We often use this when we are in the field and there is a noise that causes Roo to fixate.

You just have to be consistent with it. It can't be one day it is the thank you game and the next when you are busy it is back to "ssshhhh" or "shut up". It probably only took a couple of weeks for us to notice that Roo was getting it.