Tips for dogs who bark too much — or not enough

Q:I have a problem with my 13-year-old Lab/border collie mix named Lucy. For most of her life, she has been barking at people who deliver anything to the house. She even barks at people walking by the house. We have to put her on leash before letting people in, but once they are in, she is pretty much OK and begging for attention.

Is there any hope for change at this age?

A:It’s never too late to train a dog. However, dogs are highly attuned to their surroundings and feel it’s their job to let you know someone is approaching.

For centuries, we have trained dogs to alert us to potential threats or intruders.

This works well if you live in rural areas and want to know if someone is approaching your home from a half a mile away.

In suburbia or the city, however, a dog is bombarded by noise and likely to alert you all day long. You can’t really stop the alert, but you can work on reducing the time she’s barking.

The trick is to let her alert you but work on changing what happens next. Keep a leash on her during this training period so she is easier to control and will be more responsive to your commands.

When she alerts (barks), take a hold of the leash and say her name so she looks at you. When she does, say her reward word or “thank you,” a form of acknowledging the alert, and then give her a treat. Then ask her to sit.

Dogs cannot incessantly bark and sit at the same time. So, work on acknowledging the alert, thanking her, treating her, telling her to sit and treating her again.

Everyone in the house should learn this pattern so they can be consistent with the training. She will learn much quicker that way.

Distraction also works well with high-alert dogs. If she has trouble “sitting,” skip the “sit” command for now and toss her a Kong with high-value treats that she can’t resist. She can’t do two things at once.

Finally, remove opportunities for alerts. Close the blinds so she can’t sit there and alert you to everyone and everything. And turn on a sound machine, radio or TV to introduce some background noise and reduce her ability to pick up on the sounds outside.

Q: My 15-month-old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel does not bark. Should I be concerned or grateful? Please let me know what this indicates.

A: While King Charles Spaniels can certainly bark, these dogs are very social and don’t bark as much at new people and animals as other dogs do. Some dogs will bark if they hear other dogs barking, so maybe take your dog to a dog park and stand at a distance to see if your dog will bark when they hear other dogs barking. If yes, then you don’t have to worry.

If not, “not barking” could actually be a sign of a medical problem. If your dog is trying to bark and no noise is coming out, that is definitely a medical problem. But if your dog is simply not barking, several medical problems like metabolic disorders and respiratory conditions could be factors in your dog’s silence. Please get your dog checked out by a vet to be sure.