How do I stop the barking?

Hello everyone lexi is now nearly 4 months old and normally is very good and doesnt bark very much at all, but when she wants something she barks very loudly so loud that we have had the neighbours complaining and she also barks at my 15 year old brother when he is just standing there doing nothing

i'd be very greatful if anybody can advise me

thanks guys xx

Many dogs start finding their voices as they grow up and find their feet.

You say she barks when she wants something. Have you inadvertently rewarded it by giving her what she wants to get her quiet?

Does your brother maintain eye contact when she barks at him or does he look away? What is he doing when she starts? What is he doing while she does it and what is he doing when she stops?

In some cases if you teach a bark on command that gives you the opportunity to teach a "quiet" command.

Do you give her things she wants when she is quiet or do people only respond to her when she is noisy?

Does she get bored?

Resolving the behaviour is generally much easier if you work out why the dog does it and address that.

hiya welll yea we give her the thing she wants to shut her up lol oops

he does both maintains eye contact and sometimes walks away, he sometimes looses his temper with her a bit and when she stops he walks off ?

she gets mainly more attention when she is quite she gets cuddles and treats and toys when she is quite,

she does seem to have a short attention span but she has lots of toys to play with x

I think you have some answers there ^

Do some reward training with her, in short bursts of a few minutes to keep her mentally occupied, to teach her to listen to you and to reinforce that it is the quiet, compliant, attentive behaviour that will get her what she wants.

However rewarding her quiet behaviour will be less effective if she continues to feel she is also getting what she wants for the noisy behaviour.

She could be barking at your brother to get his attention - rewarded by eye contact, or even by the negative attention of shouting at her.

Or she could be barking to challenge him, in which case him shouting back can again encourage her to shout (argue) louder.

She may be trying to get him to play when again any sort of attention or interaction may be a payoff for her.

Walking off when she stops could mistakenly show her that quiet behaviour loses his attention and company.

Or it may be she is barking as she doesn't know what to expect from him, in which cases a more predictable, structured interaction via some short training sessions with people, rather than the dog, setting the agenda and taking the initiative should help, but it all takes time and consistent repetition

I have two collies who can both be pretty vocal!! Too vocal at times!

The trainer I go to helped me sort that out pretty quickly.

Teach your dog to bark on command (I know it may sound daft but just wait it does make sense) using the 'speak' command, or whatever command you want really! Reward her for 'speaking' by giving her a treat.

Then say to her 'quiet' and wait a couple of seconds (since you have already given her a treat she will most likely not be barking), then reward her for sitting nicely making no noise. Do this often, not always including the 'speak' command before hand, this will teach her the command 'quiet'.

When you say 'quiet' ONLY reward her if she sits nicely in silence.

When you both have mastered the 'quiet' command use this more often than the 'speak' command, but do not stop using the command altogether as she should get reward for 'speaking' but ONLY on command. As with 'quiet', don't just give her a treat if she is being quiet make sure you have said 'quiet'.

When she learns the command you will be able to shout 'quiet' if she begins to bark.

You cannot stop your dog barking! Dogs are meant to bark, as humans are meant to speak.
DON'T get wound up if she is barking, that will only frustrate her more.
Get your son involved, he can train her too and won't get as frustrated if she will listen to him as well.

Hope this helps! It helps with my dogs xx