There’s no getting around it, LarryDog is a barker, and he is impelled to defend his territory. At our last place, where we had over an acre fenced, he would run the fenceline at top speed, barking his head off, at the relatively few vehicles that went by. Of course, UPS was his favorite.

Now we have a long narrow quarter of an acre, with a quiet street at the bottom of a gently sloping hill and the house just about all the way at the top of the land. Larry loves to sit on our front porch and go charging down to the street when he notices motion through the slats of the gate. Once there he barks, of course.

That’s relatively easy to handle as he will almost always come when called. He’s a lovely enthusiastic sight, running back to the house, leaping the flowerbeds in his eagerness to see if there is a treat this time.

But now we have a different challenge. We’ve hired a couple of men to do some construction on the side of the house. They need to leave the front gate open, so we keep the dog inside while they are here.

And he’s been barking at their frequent comings and goings. It’s made me appreciate again the barkless Basenji we had until she died a couple of years ago.

So I’ve been working with LarryDog. I had read that dogs don’t bark when they are sitting. I’m not sure that he has read that, but it does help and he does have a very good sit. So I try that. It doesn’t always work, but reinforcing it with goodies at my desk helps. So does asking him to come to me and then rewarding him with some petting. Also rewarding silence.
On an obnoxiousness scale of 1-10, where 10 is the worst, I’d say it has dropped from a 9 to a 7 so far. think I’d better stick a clicker and some treats in my pocket!