Constant barking

[Sleepymum100]

Hello, we have a 8yr old Cookerpoo who constantly barks during the day, slightest noise and he's off, any ideas?

Speak to your vet and get referred to a registered behaviourist. There's so many reasons but you really need someone to see the behaviour in person (or maybe via Zoom because pandemic) to work out how to help your dog.

I sympathise as an owner of a highly strung cockapoo. I might have to go down the behaviourist route soon too. Mine's 3 and there's no way I'm putting up with this for another five years.

Cockapoos are generally pretty highly strung, vocal dogs. You have a mixture of two high energy working dogs who need a lot of exercise and stimulation.

What's his routine like in terms of food, sleep, exercise and down time?

There are loads of reasons for barking:-

Watchdog barking - they see or hear something
Request barking - lets see what happens when I bark usually I get something and then I will stop barking
Spooky barking - what is that? I will bark and it will go away
Boredom barking - what shall I do next yep bark
Enjoyment barking - i looooove barking it makes them feel great

Some dogs have a combination of a few of the above or all of the above.
Working out why they bark can help with control and management so blocking windows so they can not see out etc.

A behaviourist would be the quickest and most direct route to get a change in this behaviour as already said above. It can be improved hugely with the right plan in place.

Thank you all for the comments, will certainly take them on board, he's walked every day jo matter what, I work from home so mostly always here with him, the street know him as the barking window dog so think I need to try and stop him getting in the window but he likes to people watch when we aren't in

You could get some film to put on the windows which could stop him seeing out, but still allows light to come in as normal.

Walking daily is great but do you vary what you do and where you go? A mixture of on/off lead, running about, sniffing walks and lots of variety in terms of location is best for a dog like a cockerpoo. They come from working dogs and a pavement walk just won't be enough (not saying that's all you give him).

I would also try and increase his level of mental stimulation to tire him out - feeding out of kongs, puzzle feeders or snuffle mats will help to tire him out, for example, and even though he's 8, you could still do training with him through the day so you can keep him occupied.