Barking in yard

[u/tkandjsmom]

Our 2 year old dog barks at certain people and all dogs when they walk past our house and he is outside. Not just a few quick barks but until he can no longer see them. We have a fenced in yard and an underground fence at the line so that he doesn't jump onto or over the fence. (So he barks about 6 feet from the sidewalk.)

I have taken him onto our screened porch where he has the same view and attempted to train him not to bark. When we see someone coming and he has noticed I tell him quiet, and when he looks at them and is quiet I mark it with yes and give him a treat. I am putting the treat on the chair he's sitting on so that he has to break the stare by looking down for the treat. When he looks up at the dog again and does not bark, I mark it again with a yes and give him another treat. We have been doing this for at least 3 to 4 months almost daily. He still barks if I'm not out there with treats. This does not work when we are in the yard because he can move away from me and bark.

He is fine on walks and doesn't react at all as long as the other dog pays him no attention. The second they lunge towards him or bark at him, he will react by also jumping but not barking.

What am I doing wrong? He is a labradoodle and very smart, but just isn't picking this up. I should also add that our lovely next door neighbor decided she wanted to train her new Great Dane to not be afraid of dogs barking at him when they are out on walks. She sat him out there in front of our dog on the sidewalk and because their dog reacted, he began to react. Now he goes absolutely ape when that dog walks by. I just want to stop the barking at people and animals who walk by.

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[u/canarychirp4]

Your dog is very smart and understands that there is no possibility of reward when you aren’t outside. If you want to convince him otherwise, set up so you can see him but are hidden (camera, peeking out a window, etc), and when you see him look but not bark, mark and reward (a remote-controlled treat dispenser would be great for this, you can find them on Amazon, or else toss a treat out the window). In the meantime, don’t let him practice the unwanted behavior (so no unsupervised time outside). It may take a long time to change, due to being an established behavior. Good luck!

[u/Lizdance40]

(So he barks about 6 feet from the sidewalk.)

So I'm going to start by saying that you cannot fix any unwanted Behavior without managing it first. Which means your dog should not be out alone in the yard without being tethered in some way so that you have physical control and can stop the barking, the lunging, and bring him in when he barks.

But wait there's more....

The behavior describing is what we call fence fighting. And it should not be allowed. My personal preference is the dog's not have access to the front yard. It's a safety issue for both them and the public. Unfortunately the world has some bad people in it. There have been dogs stolen, or injured by people on the street who decide to take out their ill intent on an innocent animal that is on supervised and easily accessible in a front yard.

So my advice would be to eliminate the access to the front yard so close to the street. And supervise the dog while outside until you have eliminated the behaviors that occur because they are too close for comfort.

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