Barking outside in garden, but why?

[tritonx]

I see various threads on barking and I do have a problem with Fraser barking outside, but i don't understand why he does it. When I'm outside with him, he doesn't bark as I've got him busy chasing frisbee etc. During the day though, he'll ask to go out and runs immediately to the fence and start barking and then run down the fence and around the garden barking. There's nobody there, not other dogs, no deer or other creatures, no particular noises. He just runs out and starts barking. I've tried waiting to see if he gets over an initial impulse on first getting out, but it seems it will carry on for a while and I don't want to disturb the neighbours. So, he asks out and as soon as he runs to the fence and starts his barking, I call him back inside and he comes quite readily as he gets a treat. What I don't understand is why he's doing it. There doesn't seem to be a specific stimulus. He's just developed the routine of barking when he's out by himself. Thoughts? Theories?

[Sarah1985]

Attention seeking maybe? He's possible not asking to go out by himself hes asking you for a game of frisbee.

If he does it everytime Id suggest calling him back to you before he reaches the fence. Otherwise he might view you calling him back as a reward for barking.  Id leave him to bark it out and give him no attention for it. Wait till a day when you know your neightbours are at work/out for the day to try it out.

[lindseyp]

agree with Sarah & did think this as well at first

Attention seeking maybe? He's possible not asking to go out by himself hes asking you for a game of frisbee. If he does it everytime Id suggest calling him back to you before he reaches the fence. Otherwise he might view you calling him back as a reward for barking.  Id leave him to bark it out and give him no attention for it. Wait till a day when you know your neighbours are at work/out for the day to try it out.

My Livie is sometimes as you describe Fraser but we do have visitors in the garden - cats & foxes etc. Most of the time I don't see them but Livie knows they've been calling & I guess this is what she is barking at. When it gets a little bit more of a habit, I throw a handful of tasty treats on the ground as she goes out & give her lots of praise (a Top Barks suggestion on another thread)  This seems to work well for her. I don't have to continue with the treats for long but reintroduce it if/when her barking become more frequent again.     

[tritonx]

It could be animals in the woods I can't see or smell them as he probably does.  I wondered about that, but there seems to be something so automatic about his run to the fence and almost hitting the ground barking as soon as he goes. It's also occurred to me that maybe I'm setting up a reward cycle for barking as he gets called in shortly after and gets a treat. Plus a few times he did seem as if he is waiting for me to come out as well. I'll try throwing distraction treats on the ground and see if it makes any difference. It's such a nuisance to have him do this as I have neighbours though in every other regard, I've lucked out when I see what other people deal with. Well, he also does have a horrible habit of screaming, literally screaming when people come to the door. It's an awful sound and he only does it for that occasion.

[Hurtwood Dogs]

There could be lots of reasons this started... mine do it when there are rats around, I don't even bother checking anymore I just get the rat man out

Some dogs feel vulnerable in big spaces and bark as a defense mechanism or there could well be something that's happened that started all this and he's now in the habit of it.

I've got an issue with my two at the moment as the lady next door has put a large (flimsy) chicken run hard against the hedge between us and the dogs now have a very good view of lots of flappy chickens so I'm spending time with them to calm down their reaction to this. Dave isn't so bad but Normy has a very high prey (movement) and hunt (scent) drive so is absolutely wired and although it's only occasional barking and lunging it's the pacing and running at the hedge that I want her to stop doing. So when I let her out, I go with her and ask her to sit and wait until she's calm then I ask her to heel and we walk calmly around the garden and casually past the chickens and she's rewarded for staying calm and not reacting to them, then we sit and look at the chickens calmly and again she's rewarded for this. etc etc.. it's taking a while but it's similar to how I dealt with sheep moving in in the field behind and that's no problem at all now.

I don't think ignoring him is the best way to deal with this - it sounds like he's in a habit which is rewarding in itself so I think you need to show him how you want him to behave and reward him for that instead... I'm such a believer in instilling habits in dogs because they do tend to repeat behaviours (bad and good) which they find rewarding and once it's a habit... it's a habit (again good and bad!).

If your interaction with him in the garden with him is all high energy exciting stuff too (like thowing Frisbee's etc) he will be pumped up every time he's out there if you can make time to hang out casually in the garden and do some quiet gentle basic obedience training that should help too

Hope that helps!

[tritonx]

Thanks. That does make sense to have some calm time out there. Every morning unless it's bucketing, we go out while he does his business and then have a vigorous game of frisbee to run off some energy before brekkie. Plus, of course, it's fun to play with your dog. If I go out with him during the day, he does go straight to the frisbee, so he obviously wants to play more, but sometimes it's too cold or wet for hanging about in the garden. I do need to teach him to do distance sit and stay and stop, so that will be a good opp for calmer outside activity. Just thinking about it again, it could be anxiety outside where there are lots of critters in the woods. When I'm with him, he's fine and will only bark if something rustles in the undergrowth or he catches a whiff of something which I can always tell as his head comes up and he scents the air with full body attention and then will race to the fence and roar into the woods. 

[tritonx]

Don't mean to run a thread of me posting after myself, but thought I'd update on Fraser's outside barking. A couple of times in the last few days he's asked to go outside and as per a suggestion I was given here, I've thrown a few broken up milk bones onto the grass outside the door and each time he didn't rush off to the fence to bark. It's early times, but so far the distraction just as he's launching seems to break the pattern. Hope it continues to work. I think I'll try it at people visiting times too when he gets noisily excited, little bits that he has to search for.

[MaggieR]

pleased to hear you're making some headway with him.  Not quite the same thing but a few weeks back Maggie started getting out of the car at the park like she owned the park!  Jumped out ran onto the grass, barking her head off at nothing at all but kindof announcing her arrival.  So what I've had to do with her is keep her on the lead until we've walked a bit over there, just to take the edge off her excitement, once I've done that she's fine to be let off. Think its just working out the best way to distract them sometimes... hope fraser continues to make progress 

[lindseyp]

pleased to hear it work for Fraser ('tis trial & error sometimes, as, what works for one may not work for another)
as I said for Livie -  the treat trick doesn't have to go on for that long & replace it with praise when she goes out quietly - I just reintroduce it again if/when she starts excessive barking again 
Sounds like a clever boy - hope it continues to work for him ..... happy Fraser + happy you - can't be bad 

pleased to hear you're making some headway with him.  Not quite the same thing but a few weeks back Maggie started getting out of the car at the park like she owned the park!  Jumped out ran onto the grass, barking her head off at nothing at all but kindof announcing her arrival.  So what I've had to do with her is keep her on the lead until we've walked a bit over there, just to take the edge off her excitement, once I've done that she's fine to be let off. Think its just working out the best way to distract them sometimes... hope fraser continues to make progress 

    sounds just like Purdey, Lisa (she's a gobby mare  ) - I do just as you are & it seems to work well for her too