Expert: Anne Springer, B.S., Dip., CAPCT - 7/13/2010

Question
She is a australian shepherd/labrador.  She is a wonderful dog other than her constant barking while playing (fetching, running after golf cart).  Also she only does this when our other dog is also playing. What can I do to make her stop barking?

Answer
One helpful thing you can do is NOT to bark back:-)  So, avoid telling her to be quiet!  Until you train her, she has no idea what you mean, and it's just going to sound like you are in a duet with her.  Some lines of Aussies are natural barkers when they work (Some people say the Twin Oaks lines can be barky, but I haven't seen enough of them to know if it's that, or just individual dogs that like to bark as they work.)  There is a great trainer, named Emily Larlham, who has placed some video tutorials on Youtube that deal with how to clicker train a dog not to bark.  I like them - perhaps you could give those a try.  The channel is called kikopup.  She also has a site called Dogmantics, on which you may find some tutorials.  One thing that works with some dogs is to practice some self control exercises with them, or to intervene by asking both dogs to momentarily lie down or do some other behavior that is well trained.  Dr. Ian Dunbar has a video on adolescent dog training that shows some self control exercises in a group class.  I downloaded my copy from Amazon video on demand, and it wasn't very expensive.