Dog barking on walks

[limitededition555]

4 year old gets very excited for walks and will start barking manically as soon as anyone even touches his harness. Recently, the barking just does not stop from the moment we put his harness on until we make it back home from the walk. He also pulls so hard and lunges in every direction. He's never been great on the lead but in the past 6 months it's got drastically worse (the constant barking is a relatively recent thing). We have had a behavioural therapist in to look at him and persisted with what she suggested to get him calm before we leave the house, but there has been absolutely no improvement whatsoever. He's very food driven at home, but couldn't care less about treats when walking and all he seems to want to do is bark
Any help or advice massively appreciated.

I guess you need to take each step at a time and show him that barking doesn't get him what he wants. So when you're going out for a walk pick up his harness and if he barks go 'ah' and put it down again. Keep doing this until you pick it up and he doesn't bark. then the same with putting it on, 'ah; so he knows that's something not to do and keep taking it back off until he doesn't bark. Then the same for each stage from there. Don't give lots of exciting praise for getting it right as this will just get him over excited, calmly say 'good boy' so he knows he's done the right thing - progressing onto the next stage is the reward.

The other thing is to pick up his harness and move it around during the day so picking it up doesn't always mean walk.

It's obviously going to take some time to unteach it all! So I'd start at the weekend when you have free time and I'd take him only on very short walks and only if not barking - 'ah' and head home every time he barks until he stops. Is he getting chance to run around like mad and burn some energy at some point? How often are you walking him? Sometimes dogs get very over excited at going on a walk because they're just not walked enough.

It’s really hard to advise without knowing what breed he is and how much exercise he gets.

Ultimately, any advice could do more harm than good without knowing what the answers to the above - breed and daily exercise regime have a huge bearing on how a dog responds to a range of issues as some are, unfortunately, predominantly breed related.

Aside from breed and how much exercise, is he getting breed-appropriate mental stimulation?

He's a pug. Normally walked twice a day for 15-20minutes. Access to a large garden and often plays with our other dog out there. Admittedly, and this has just crossed my mind after reading replies, we have a young baby and he probably doesn't get the same walks as he did before baby's arrival so perhaps this has got something to do with it.

What other type of mental stimulation would you be referring to?

I don't think that's enough exercise...I'd say about an hour a day for a pug, over 2-3 walks.

Mental stimulation is things like engagement throughout the day (with humans, not other dogs), playing, hunting for treats, snuffle mats, brain games etc, learning new tricks. Pugs are quite intelligent.

He's probably really under stimulated and very bored - I am fairly sure if you up his walks, give him more attention and give him some mental stimulation he will improve. That being said, it may take some time if it's been a while since he was properly stimulated and exercise.

Yeah you could be right. It would have to be max 20mins each as he pulls so hard that he is an absolute wreck by the end of each walk,but will try to add another 20 min walk in the day.

Thanks for your help, going to give it a shot. Feeling a bit bad now, he does get lots of attention through the day but probably not stimulating enough and he may well be bored.

The tip of picking up the harness and putting it down again is good. Also, try to sort out the pulling as that must be tedious for you. I've had really good results with my dog training him not to pull and while he's not perfect he's been much better recently.

Thanks, yes it's awful. For us and himself and he pulls so hard he nearly chokes himself. What did you find worked for the pulling?

@limitededition555 I packed the tastiest, smelliest treats and went for a walk. Every few minutes I gave his lead a little tug and called him back to me with a treat. Repeat a few times and then carry on for another 5 minutes, then go through it again.

It encourages him to stay close to me and to pay attention to me during a walk. He also calms down faster after seeing a cat or a squirrel (both send him loopy).

My dog was an awful puller on the lead for a while too. I did clicker training with her, so bought a little clicker in the pet shop. Every time she pulled, I would just stop dead in my tracks and say "heel" & point to my heel. She would move back to me then & we would start walking again. Stop again the second she started pulling & repeat. Once she did 3 or 4 steps without pulling, I would click the clicker & say good girl & give a treat. It took a while & a few days wouldn't get very far with all the stopping & starting, and probably looked crazy 😂😂.
When she realised that once she was walking beside my heel I would click & treat, she started getting much better. Then when walking calmly next to me increased I would click again, good girl, and treat every few minutes. Persistence is key though & it does take time, but she's the best little walked now, and even if I take her off lead she will trot along right next to me at all times.

If he's pulling all walk, does that mean he gets no off-lead exercise other than in the garden? Is there anywhere you can let him off or give him the chance to run about with a longline? He's probably hugely frustrated: he knows he's going out, which is exciting, but that once he's out there, he'll be on the lead and not able to dash from smell to to smell.

I asked about mental stimulation as I see a lot of working-line dogs around and about who don't seem to get much, so I wondered if he might be a spaniel or spaniel x. Given that pugs are a companion breed, interaction with you that works his brain would almost certainly help: 5mins of off-lead heel training in the garden, sits and downs and stays and recalls in the house, that sort of thing. But even a treat ball he can roll around to get the treats to drop out will work his brain.

Regarding the pulling, this type of lead can be miraculous:

@limitededition555 its okay! Try not to feel guilty as it is so easily done - when I had my second I had to enlist my mum to walk mine for the first few weeks just to help out!

If you have anyone around who can join you on the walks and then maybe take him out separately once he’s calmed a bit, it might really help you and him.

Don’t forget you need time to yourself as well. A baby and a dog is all consuming and it’s important you take care of yourself!

It doesn't sound like he's getting enough exercise, so when he does go out, he just can't contain himself.

Could you perhaps hire a dog walker or an enclosed field?

Yes it is difficult, we don't really have any help but I'm now thinking I might employ a dog walker a few times a week for the days we need it. Thinking about it there has probably been other little changes in his life because of the baby, which is adding to his frustration but hopefully we'll get there. Thanks again for your advice.

Thanks I do have one of these in the garage I think so I'll dig it out to see if it helps!

Thanks, yes a dog walker is something we're going to look into

Thanks, yes we did this type of training after seeming a behavioural therapist but again we seemed to get absolutely nowhere with it and he just seems to totally forget what he has learned. Haha yes we got plenty of looks walking down the street, took an hour to reach the bottom of the street with all of the stopping. Glad it worked for you

Thanks. Does he walk well now without the treats?

@limitededition555 yes, mostly! It's definitely improved massively. I paid £67 to the "Help My Dog" people online for the 10 day recall programme and it was worth it. They describe exercises and games to play with your dog to help with walks and recall. They follow it on with a massive hard sell for subscriptions but I've ignored that.

If I were you, I'd focus on getting him the exercise he needs before you try and work on his pulling - just because an under-exercised and frustrated dog is going to really struggle to focus on walks and you'll both just end up annoyed!

When our beagle was young, I never even tried to work on lead walking until he'd had a good run and had got the majority of his energy out, otherwise it was just a nightmare.

During the day use a lick mat, a stuffed kong, a snuffle mat to help him be calm. Throw some of his food (assuming kibble) onto the grass in the garden and let him search for it, all of these take very little of your time up (important with a busy life) & will give him something to do.
As others have said, longer walks would be better - but appreciate how they aren't easy with a new baby and the fact that he barks and pulls doesn't make it a pleasant walk. I would try using high value treats on a walk to help train him (cheese, ham, sausages, even the primula tubes of cheese). You have to build value at your side, so this needs to be practiced in your garden so less distracting / interesting.
Loose lead walking is not always easy to teach, harness, halti etc are aids which can help with the right lead combination, but it really is a case of sticking with the training in the garden & practicing as much as possible. I would say off lead walks are important, if his recall is poor then use long line.
The barking in excitement is a different thing, he can't help it, it's like asking a child to not scream with excitement on a fair ride. I would try and desensitise him to the lead and collar, pick it up and move it to the table or chair several times a day. Put the collar on for periods of time and remove it, but no walk.
I will say that I did this with one of my dogs, it helped but didn't 100% stop him so I used to throw his kibble onto the grass for him to find whilst I got myself ready (saved my ears from the barking for a short time at least!)
I think a dog walker is an excellent suggestion by others and would help a lot, but mental stimulation is a good way to tire a dog out too, hence the suggestion of a kong, snuffle mat etc etc

Good luck - hope you find something that helps.