meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett

Training Tips From Susan: How Barking Can Turn Into A Reinforced Habit Without You Even Realizing

Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett

DogsThat

Education, Puppy, Recallers, Animalbehaviour, Dogs, Kids & Family, Pets, Dogtraining, Dogsthat, Petmanners, Susangarrett, Pets & Animals

4.8679 Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2025

⏱️ 3 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Message From Susan


Hey everyone, it’s Susan, and you’re about to hear one of my training tips and tidbits. These are quick, actionable strategies to help you and your dog in everyday life or for dog sport. Often our short videos with tips are created from your most popular segments of podcast episodes. So, let’s dive in!

 

How Barking Can Turn Into A Reinforced Habit Without You Even Realizing 


I'm sharing how barking can turn into a reinforced habit without you even realizing. It’s easy to miss the subtle ways reinforcement happens, but once you see it, you can start to shift the pattern and create lasting change.

 

Watch the full video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfoFvBAue7c 


🎁 Unlock the secret to better focus, more engagement, and faster training with your dog by teaching one simple skill - Hand Targets! Join the free Masterclass now https://dogsthat.com/together/ 

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Dogs bark mostly because somewhere along the way we've reinforced it.

0:11.4

Now, reinforcement doesn't mean, oh, you barked, I'm going to give you a cookie.

0:15.3

Reinforcement can be something you aren't even aware of. I remember when I was renting

0:19.9

an agility field from a woman

0:21.3

and at the end, she wanted to ask me a training question. So, I went over and to the fence where she

0:26.9

was standing and I said your thing. As she started asking me the question, her border collie

0:31.4

just started barking in her face, bark, bark, bark. So she took a tennis ball off the fence that she had stuck in the fence

0:38.6

and she gave it to the dog. I said, you just reinforced the barking, you know, right? No, I didn't.

0:43.0

No, I just helped her to be quiet for when we're talking. I said, yes, you may have helped

0:48.0

her to be quiet for when we're talking, but you're going to get more of what presented

0:52.2

the tennis ball. So she didn't even see that she had

0:56.2

reinforced the dog for barking. But your reinforcement might come in the form of you turning

1:02.7

and looking at your dog, pointing at them, snapping your finger, going, shh, or zip it,

1:07.6

or kh, got it, stop, or worse, escalating that. All of that, even yelling at the dog

1:13.7

so that they cower, please don't do that, is reinforcing. Yes, you're getting a momentary stop

1:20.5

of the barking. They may not even bark for the next few minutes, but you have taught them

1:26.7

a behavior pattern that to get you to come over

1:30.1

and give you attention to the dog, they have to bark. So, you need to evaluate what reinforcement

1:37.6

the dog is getting in. It might not even getting it from you. If you live with somebody else,

1:41.0

they might inadvertently be getting it from somebody else or they're getting

1:44.3

it from the environment. So, picture the dog on guard standing on the back of your coach looking at

1:49.8

the window. I got you, mom, I got you. Whoa, there's a squirrel. Yeah, it's okay, I got it. Oh,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from DogsThat, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of DogsThat and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.