Just returned from Wales - great holiday - only trouble is everytime one of us went into a shop our BC would not stop barking. She hates us to be apart - we have three boys as well and when they went away from her she just barks to get us all back together. I know we should ignore her barking but you always feel it is getting on peoples nerves. Any ideas for training her to sit and wait (one of us always stays with her - we do not leave her outside the shop on her own).
Many thanks
Linda

Hi Lindy

You are right to ignore most habits you don't want your dog to continue - however, barking is not one of them! It is self rewarding for the dog and therefore, until you train him to 'cease' or 'quiet' on command he will probably continue to bark.

How old is she? Chelsea used to do that, but only until she got used to the fact that we would go away and we would come back. We always had her 'sit and wait' and she learned eventually not to bark.

We took her everywhere with us for a while though so it was something she got used to as the norm.

Wendy

Hi thanks for advice. Becksie is 14 months old. How do we get her to stop barking - do we use the word 'quiet' and stick to it until she learns it - like 'sit'.

Thanks

Linda

Don't tell her "quiet" when she's barking! She doesn't understand English, and can only associate words with the action at the time. Tell her "quiet" when she is being quiet, then you can praise her. That way she'll learn that "quiet" means not making a noise.

I would tell her NO when she was barking, and when she would stop I would then say 'good girl no barking'. Eventually I could use 'no barking' when she was barking and she would stop.

Another way to keep a dog from barking is distraction though - have lots of little titbits in your pockets and when someone else goes into a shop keep her distracted - she will soon learn that when others leave there's a good chance she might get something yummy - and then decide that being left with someone while everyone else is in the shop is a great thing.

Wendy