03/06/2026
This is a technique I’ve used for demand barking for quite some time now with dogs of all ages.
It’s dinner time & Frisbee knows the routine means food is coming. He’s hungry, excited & frustrated so he started barking.
Each time he barks, I stop preparing food, leave the room & the meal takes longer to arrive. The function of the barking is to get me to hurry up. That’s not working so he starts to choose alternative behaviours such as sitting or lying down and waiting patiently.
These are behaviours which I have already heavily rewarded so it is important to train these as a foundation. Otherwise, ignoring demand behaviours can end up with more & more frustration, jumping, grabbing or increased barking.
Without reinforcing calm sitting or lying down in lots of contexts, it’s highly unfair on your dog to try time out as a technique & can be extremely annoying for you, the human.
Notice at 1.35 secs he gives a little vocalisation, not a full bark and so I go to leave the room but when I turn around he’s lying calmly so I change my mind on the time out in that instance.
This video is another example of the learning concept I teach all pups. Crazy gets you nowhere but calm gets results. I make sure that my feedback is clear, unemotional and easy to understand in every context.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what I’m doing when I go out of shot, I’m ignoring the puppy, stirring the dinner and drinking wine. 😬
