Barking for attention

We have a five-month-old puppy that is starting to habitually bark for attention. We don’t want this to become a habit; do you have any advice on how to prevent it?

Dogs will usually bark for one of the following reasons; as a warning, when it is excited, as a form of attention-seeking, in response to anxiety and boredom, or finally as a social behaviour in response to other dogs. The puppy must learn when it is appropriate to bark and when it needs to be quiet.

If your puppy is barking for no good reason and, as you say, simply in order to get your attention, start working on the problem as soon as you can. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to stop this behaviour. 58 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Give your puppy adequate interactive exercise so it has less pent-up energy. Avoid over-exercising a young dog; the aim is to simply burn off excess energy, not exhaust the puppy.

Avoid leaving it alone for long periods of time. Train the puppy to be left for increasingly longer amounts of time; initially for very brief periods. Don’t increase the length of time you leave the puppy until it has learned to settle quietly for shorter periods.

Never comfort or feed the puppy when it is barking for attention — this is rewarding unwanted behaviour. Don’t shout at it to stop barking, as this may cause it to bark even more. Try getting its attention with a clap or use the whistle. As soon as the puppy is quiet, redirect its attention to something productive and rewarding (like a toy) and after getting its attention, practise simple commands, such as “sit” or “down”, in order to shift its focus. TB

When the puppy is quiet, redirect its attention with something rewarding such as a toy