My new dog barks a lot, and we are working on it. She seems to bark out of frustration, boredom, or for attention. We are trying to reward calmness before the barking starts, so she only sits by the window when someone is around.
If she starts barking suddenly (like when I am in the office and she’s barking downstairs), should I ignore her until she stops and then reward her calmness? Or should I call her to me and ask for a different behavior, risking that she learns barking leads to treats?
I recommend that you do not ignore it; I hopped on the “ignore an unwanted behaviour and reward good behaviour” train and now deeply regret it. Barking is reinforcing for the dog, so she’ll keep doing it until you stop her.
I’ve lately discovered that it’s okay to unintentionally start behavior chains because it’s easy to break them later.
Please remember her, and treat her. It may initiate a chain reaction, but it may also stop it. If it happens, she’ll probably pick up on barking a few times, just to be polite, and then come to you while you’re not even calling. You’ll need to determine what she’s barking at or for and call her back before she starts if that still bothers you. As humans, we tend to be lazy, so you can choose to ignore this advice. However, it would be ideal to identify the cues that cause the barking immediately and teach a different response to the trigger(s).
Just call her and have her lay down in her designated spot when she acts up. Give her treats or something to chew on to keep her busy. If she stays there calmly, toss her a treat now and then so she knows she gets rewarded for being calm and staying in her spot.