Dog barks at everything

[somewhereintheworld]

My dog barks at us when on a walk, car engines starting up, doors slamming and if we go to a café, pub etc. or stop to talk to friends we can't stay long before she starts barking. Has anyone got any ideas to stop this? At home she's a lovely dog and I wouldn't get get rid of her, but this constant barking is spoiling everything about owning her.

What is she? Is it a breed known for barking? Also how old is she?
Can you work out if it's triggered by fear or just wanting your attention?

You can (gently) teach them quiet on command, but ideally need to start before it becomes a habit.
A lot does depend on breed though.

Does she think her barking gets what she wants? ie she barks at the car starting and the car drives off, the door slams and she barks and then it doesn't slam again, you talk too much/sit down at a cafe so she barks until you resume her walk.
You could have a good treat ready and the minute she starts barking say quiet and as soon as she's quiet give her the treat. Of course if she's really clever what you might inadvertently teach her is that if she barks and then stops she gets a treat....sigh. Alternatively say 'quiet' and if she still barks do the thing she doesn't want to do - turn around and head back home. When she stops barking you can say good girl and turn round again. You might want to tire her out a bit physically first if she is a high energy hyper dog.

Dogs bark for a reason. Have you tried to work out why she is barking? Barking is communication- she is trying to tell you something, but no one is listening.

She could be fearful, anxious, over aroused/excited. A multitude of things could be behind her need to bark.

Once you work out why she is barking you can then work on helping her to regulate her behaviour in more constructive ways.

If she is anxious fearful you will need to work on helping her feel safe. Thats counter conditioning, confidence building and mangament (avoiding putting her in situations that she is unhappy without giving her the tools to cope).

If she is overaroused / excited then you need to start working on rewarding calm behaviour.

There's no quick fix without working out the WHY and if you have no idea then you really need to get a good force free trainer to work with you.

The reason she barks at car etc. is because she's frightened of them. Why she barks in cafes/pubs is boredom I think. We've tried everything with her but she's getting worse. She's a three year old Plummer terrier.

So, out on walks you can use counter conditioning to change the way she feels about the scary things. It is slow, but with consistency you can help her change her mindset. Basically pair super tasty treats with seeing the scary things. You need to start somewhere where she is not flooded - and then see scary thing - feed treats - scary thing goes/passes treats stop. If she's already barking before you treat, then she is already over aroused and can't focus. You need to find somewhere else to practice, where you can get the food in before her reaction.

You can also train some pattern games, e.g. 1,2,3 treat, that you can use on walks to get her to focus on you. Also train a solid 'this way/let's go', so when you are out and she is about to kick off, you can say 'this way' and she literally does an about turn to follow you in a different direction (and get tasty food) as opposed to reacting.

I would really get a trainer in to help you with this. Or join Reactive Dogs UK for online support and guidance from professionals as a starting point.

For being out in pubs/cafes, you can start by teaching her to settle on a mat/rug at home - that's easily portable to take out with you. Once she learns that the mat means she has to settle, move it to practising in a pub/cafe and also to help her - give her a licky mat or stuffed kong to give her something to do. There is a lot of guidance online to show you how to train this.

Also worth noting some dogs just dont enjoy being in pub/cafe environments and would be happier left at home.

There's no quick fix. It will take time, consistency and patience. I work with dogs like this every day, and if you get the training right and put in the time, you can help her feel happier and calmer in the world.

You’ll have to make cars a more positive experience for her to stop her being so fearful.
Do the same with pub/cafes or don’t take her to them if she barks in them. I wouldn’t take mine there as they’d hate it.
It will take time but it can be done and make it all more enjoyable for both of you.